Chapter 8 - Sisters of Ash
The revelation shattered Maya’s reality, but it galvanized Veronica’s. The ghost was no longer a memory; it was a physical threat. Serena was coming for the throne, and she was using Damian Sterling’s unlimited capital to do it.
"We need to strike first," Elias said the next morning, laying out a tactical map of AURAINE’s primary manufacturing plant on the outskirts of London. "Damian and Serena are planning a massive short-sell of our stock. To make it plummet, they need a catastrophic PR disaster. Tomorrow, the factory begins mass production of our new flagship line, Aethelgard. If they sabotage the vats..."
"The brand dies overnight," Veronica finished, staring at the map. "Thousands of toxic units hit the shelves. Chemical burns, lawsuits, federal raids. It’s the Soho fire all over again, but on a global scale."
"I can shut down the factory," Elias offered.
"No," Maya said, stepping into the office. She looked exhausted, but her eyes burned with a new, hardened resolve. "If you shut it down, Damian’s board members will vote you out for incompetence. We have to catch them in the act. We let them break in. We catch my mother."
At 2:00 AM, the manufacturing plant was a cathedral of gleaming steel and automated machinery. Veronica, Maya, and Elias watched from the glass-enclosed control room above the factory floor.
Below, the security alarms had been quietly bypassed. The heavy loading doors slid open.
Three figures walked in. Two armed mercenaries, and a woman in a sleek black trench coat.
Serena Frost.
Veronica felt a cold sweat break out on her neck. It was the first time she had seen her sister in person in twelve years. Serena walked with a slight limp, the left side of her face obscured by a sophisticated, custom-made silicone mask.
Serena approached the massive, three-story mixing vats. She pulled a heavy, metallic canister from her bag.
"She's going to dump concentrated sodium hydroxide into the mix," Maya whispered in horror. "It will melt the skin right off the customers."
"Move," Veronica ordered.
Elias’s security team swarmed the floor, floodlights snapping on, blinding the intruders. The mercenaries raised their weapons, but Elias’s men instantly disarmed them.
Veronica and Maya walked down the metal stairs, stepping onto the factory floor.
Serena stood frozen by the vat, holding the canister. When she saw Veronica, a twisted, terrifying smile spread across her scarred face. But when she saw Maya standing beside her, the smile vanished.
"Maya," Serena breathed. "What are you doing with her? She’s a parasite!"
"You lied to me," Maya said, her voice shaking with rage and heartbreak. "You told me she stole your life. You never told me you started the fire. You never told me you were going to poison thousands of innocent women just to get a company back!"
"I built this company!" Serena screamed, slamming her fist against the steel vat. "It is my blood in these formulas! Veronica is a fraud!"
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"I am a businesswoman!" Veronica countered, stepping forward, her ivory coat sweeping over the concrete. "I took your science and built an empire. You wanted to play in the dirt, Serena. I built a castle."
"And now I'm going to watch it burn," Serena snarled. With terrifying speed, she yanked the pin on a thermal grenade she had hidden in her pocket and threw it directly into the open chemical mixing vat.
