Chapter 3 - The Secret Alliance
The man on the other end of the line was Elias Thorne.
Elias was a ruthless corporate raider and Flynn’s biggest rival in Chicago.
Three years ago, I had worked for Elias before Flynn forced me to quit my career.
"You have my attention, Mabel," Elias chuckled darkly.
I quickly explained that I needed him to initiate a massive short-sell attack on Vance Global.
I promised to provide him with highly classified internal documents proving Flynn was embezzling corporate funds.
"If the documents are real, the SEC will tear Flynn apart," Elias agreed.
"I need forty-eight hours to bypass his home server firewall and steal the files," I told him.
Elias warned me to be careful, reminding me that Flynn was a dangerously paranoid man.
I ended the call and hid the burner phone deep inside the lining of my winter coat.
The next morning, Selina unlocked my bedroom door and strolled in with a breakfast tray.
She dropped the tray onto my lap, intentionally spilling hot coffee onto my bandages.
I gasped in pain, but I forced myself to remain completely silent.
"Flynn is at the office all day, so it is just you and me, darling," Selina taunted.
She walked over to my closet and began throwing my expensive clothes onto the floor.
"I am moving into the master bedroom tonight, so I need you to clear out your trash," she demanded.
I slowly got out of bed, biting my lip to hide the excruciating pain in my abdomen.
As I bent down to pick up my clothes, I noticed something shiny sticking out of Selina’s purse.
It was a heavy, silver keycard with the Vance Global logo printed on it.
That keycard was the only way to access Flynn’s heavily encrypted home office.
I knew I had to steal it, but I needed a distraction.
"You will never actually be his wife, Selina," I said, purposely provoking her.
Selina spun around, her eyes flashing with pure, unadulterated rage.
She marched toward me and raised her hand to slap me across the face.
I grabbed my hot cup of coffee and threw it directly into her perfectly made-up face.
Selina screamed in agony, clutching her burning eyes and stumbling backward.
I lunged forward, reached into her open purse, and snatched the silver keycard.
I quickly hid the card inside my pajama sleeve just as two security guards burst into the room.
"She attacked me!" Selina shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at me.
May you like
The guards grabbed me roughly by the arms, completely ignoring my unhealed surgical wounds.
"Lock her in the basement until Mr. Vance gets home," Selina ordered furiously.
