Chapter 512
The soaring stock price of the Thomas Group didn’t go unnoticed–two people, in particular, had their eyes glued to the numbers.
One was Julian Neville.
The other was the elusive joker.
As the Thomas Group’s shares kept climbing, droves of individual investors and venture capitalists rushed in, hungry for a piece of the action.
But just as the internet was abuzz, waiting for Jonathan to announce his wedding with Marina, the world was blindsided by a bombshell.
“Holy crap! Isn’t that Marina?”
“What is this? Some kind of video she shot?”
“No freaking way!”
“Wait–she was in adult films?”
“This is wild! Mr. Thomas’s first love used to be a porn star?”
“All that talk about her being assaulted…. Was she just filming a new scene?”
“Is the Thomas Group faking this whole ‘tragic love‘ act to con us small–time investors?”
Overnight, explicit videos featuring Marina flooded every corner of the internet. The cyber security teams scrambled to delete them, but the system had been infected; nothing could be scrubbed clean.
Earlier that evening, Marina had been lying quietly in her hospital bed, Edna by her side, both of them waiting–hoping, perhaps–that Jonathan would show up out of sympathy, responsibility, or maybe just buckle under the mounting public pressure and propose.
Sprague, meanwhile, was still riding high, eager to see just how much further the company’s stock could climb.
Then everything fell apart.
“What is this? I spent a fortune sending you to Blackspire Academy, and this is what you were really up to?”
“I’m cutting all ties with you! I, Edna, have no daughter like you!”
A nurse passing by the room saw Edna storm out, slamming the door so hard it rattled the windows. Moments later, the sound of things breaking erupted from inside, mingled with Marina’s anguished, hysterical screams.
The Thomas Group descended into chaos.
After Marina’s videos exploded across the web, Jonathan’s image as the devoted lover–the persona everyone had pushed onto him, whether he wanted it or not–backfired spectacularly. Public mockery turned vicious, and the ridicule didn’t stop at him; it crashed headlong into the Thomas Group’s stock.
All those dazzling gains? Gone in a freefall.
Julian and joker, both already tracking the Thomas Group’s every move, pounced at the opportunity: they immediately began snapping up shares at rock–bottom prices. Back at the Thomas estate, Marigold fainted outright when she saw the stock nosedive, and had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance.
Clifford Thomas–despite his age–weathered the storm better than his wife. He knew his son. Whatever crisis the company faced, Jonathan would never go down without a fight.
Right on cue, as soon as Neville Corporation and joker’s shell company had amassed ten percent of the Thomas Group’s shares, Jonathan fired off his secret weapon: the poison pill.
The poison pill was a classic defense against hostile takeovers. Jonathan authorized a massive issue of new shares, allowing existing Thomas Group shareholders to buy in at a steep discount. In an instant, Neville Corporation and joker’s holdings were diluted, their grip on the company slipping away.
In the end, the two wolves circling the Thomas Group were forced to retreat, tails between their legs.
In his office, Jonathan flipped through a slim file marked “Whitelist.” He’d ha
Prescott put it together. In truth, there was only one company on the list, registered in Coralis.
“Mr. Thomas, you wanted to see me?” Prescott entered, every inch the respectful
aide.
“Yes.”
Jonathan set the file aside and looked up. For a long moment, their eyes met. Prescott felt a chill run down his spine–he hadn’t seen Jonathan look this grim,
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this cold, in ages.
“You have three days,” Jonathan said quietly. “I want you to look into someone.”
“Who does Mr. Thomas want me to investigate?”
Prescott’s question hung in the air until the silence became suffocating, as heavy
as wet cement.
At last, Jonathan spoke again, his voice icy and steely, uttering just a single name:
“Marina.”
Chapter 513
