Chapter 7 - The Counter-Strike
Marcus Vance leaned forward, placing both hands flat against the mahogany desktop. ""My daughter believes she holds every card because she assumes Colin will protect your family's name at the expense of his own survival. She believes Delaney will sign the papers out of fear.""
""I won't sign them,"" I said instantly, wiping the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand, a cold, unyielding resolve replacing the panic that had paralyzed me all morning. ""I will never sign them. Let her leak whatever forged lies she has. I will stand in front of every camera in this city and tell the truth.""
""No,"" Colin said, his voice slicing through the air with commanding authority. ""A defensive statement looks like damage control. The public has already made up its mind based on fifty seconds of edited footage. If you go on defense, we lose. The algorithms will swallow your explanation whole and spit out more hate.""
""Then what do we do?"" I asked, looking between the two men.
Marcus reached into his desk drawer and pulled out an encrypted silver flash drive, sliding it beside the headshot of the actor. ""Victoria made one fatal miscalculation. She used my old offshore server array to route the blackmail payments to Keira Sterling and the actor Julian Mercer. She assumed that because I was retired, I had forgotten the administrative root passwords to the network I spent thirty years building.""
Colin picked up the drive, a ghost of his former confidence returning to the set of his shoulders. ""Every text message, every bank transfer, and the unedited audio from Victoria’s wiretap at the club is on this drive. Including the conversation where Victoria instructs Keira to make sure Delaney takes a drink loaded with a synthetic depressant to impair her judgment.""
I froze. ""What?""
""You didn't have four drinks last night, Delaney,"" Colin said, his gaze softening for a fraction of a second with profound sorrow. ""You had two. The bartender who served you was bribed by Keira. Why do you think your balance disappeared within ten minutes? Why do you think your inhibitions collapsed so violently? You were drugged.""
The horror of that realization made bile rise in my throat. I hadn't just been reckless; I had been chemically dismantled to ensure I played my assigned role in their theater of destruction. The fog, the sudden irrational surge of anger toward Colin, the complete inability to gauge the danger of the stranger’s hands on my waist—it hadn't been just alcohol and pride. It had been a chemical ambush.
""We have twenty minutes,"" Marcus said, checking his vintage gold watch. ""The board meets at the Vanguard headquarters. Victoria has already submitted the petition to invoke the morality clause, citing the public outcry and Delaney's recorded actions.""
Colin stood up, buttoning his jacket, the sharp, formidable presence I had fallen in love with returning in full force. He looked down at me, extending his hand.
It was the first time he had offered it since the club.
""Delaney,"" he said, his eyes searching mine with intense gravity. ""If we walk through those doors together, every camera in the tech sector will be pointed at us. Keira’s father has already stationed his network's reporters in the lobby. You will be questioned, you will be scrutinized, and you will have to look at the woman who tried to destroy us and stand your ground. Can you do that?""
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I didn't hesitate. I reached out, my fingers wrapping tightly around his warm, calloused hand. The wedding band was still tucked safely in my pocket, waiting for the day I proved myself worthy to slide it back onto his finger, but the connection between our palms was real.
""I gave them fifty seconds of my worst self,"" I said, my voice steady, iron-clad. ""Let's go show them what happens when the video keeps playing.""
