Chapter 60
No.1
Twenty-four hours later. The countdown clock on the marriage contract was ticking down to its final agonizing digits. The air at the Belmont Resort's private marina was thick with the smell of lake water and burning money.
Docked at the pier was a massive, three-story superyacht. Devon Browning had rented the hundred-million-dollar vessel under the guise of a birthday party, but everyone in the New York elite knew the truth: it was a coronation ceremony for Allena Mills, the "savior" of Arthur Vance.
Elisa walked up the wooden gangway.②
She wore a razor-sharp, black Le Smoking tuxedo suit. Her hair was slicked back, her lips painted a dark, bruised crimson. She looked like a corporate assassin.
She was only here because August's lawyers had informed her that the final supplementary asset transfer documents for the divorce required his
physical, wet-ink signature, and he had arrogantly demanded she bring them to the yacht.
Elisa stepped onto the teak deck. The top level was a sea of glittering gowns and bespoke suits.Champagne flowed like water.
No.2
In the absolute center of the crowd stood Allena.
She was wearing a blindingly silver sequined gown.Resting heavily against her collarbone was the fifteen-million-dollar blue sapphire amulet. She was laughing, holding a glass of champagne, soaking in the absolute worship of the Wall Street elite.
Elisa bypassed the crowd, stepping into the shadows near the starboard railing. She leaned against the cool metal, watching the circus.
Devon Browning climbed up onto the raised DJ platform. He tapped the microphone, the feedback whining sharply over the speakers. The crowd went silent.
"Listen up!" Devon yelled, his face flushed with alcohol and excitement. "Tonight, we are here to celebrate a true hero. A woman with the hands of a god and the heart of an angel. Allena Mills!"
The crowd erupted into deafening applause.
Devon raised his glass high. "To show our gratitude,the Browning Venture Capital Fund is officially announcing a fifty-million-dollar full sponsorship to build Allena her own independent, state-of-the-art medical research laboratory!"
No.3
The cheers grew louder. Allena covered her mouth,faking tears of shock, though she had clearly known about the money.
She walked up onto the platform and took the microphone from Devon.
The power had completely rotted her brain. She looked out at the crowd of billionares and investors,her ego inflating to a catastrophic size.
"Thank you," Allena said, her voice dripping with fake humility. "Saving lives is my passion. But clinical work isn't my only frontier. With this new funding,I am excited to announce that I will be independently spearheading the architecture of a new, revolutionary medical Al system."
Standing in the shadows, Elisa actually choked on her sip of sparkling water.
She coughed, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifie a laugh.
It was the most spectacular display of suicidal stupidity she had ever witnessed. Stealing a CPR credit was one thing. Standing in front of tech investors and claiming she could architect an Al-claiming she was operating on Faye's level-was signing her own professional death warrant in blood.
No.4
Devon grabbed the mic back, grinning wildly. He pointed directly at August, who was standing near the front of the crowd, beaming with pride.
"August!" Devon yelled into the mic. "You have the most brilliant, perfect woman in the world right there!What are you waiting for? Show her how much you appreciate her!"
The crowd of sycophants instantly caught on. They started chanting, clapping their hands in rhythm."Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!"
They knew Elisa, his legal wife, was on the boat.They didn't care. It was a collective, brutal bullying tactic designed to elevate Allena and erase Elisa from existence.
August's ego swelled. He loved the chanting. He loved being the center of the universe.
He walked up to the platform, grabbed Allena by the waist, dipped her dramatically, and kissed her deeply in front of the flashing cameras.
The crowd went wild.
No.5
Elisa watched them. Her heart beat with a slow,steady,icy rhythm.
A few minutes later, the music resumed. August walked down from the platform. He grabbed a fresh drink and swaggered over to the starboard railing,spotting Elisa in the shadows.
He walked up to her, his chest puffed out,radiating the arrogant energy of a conquering king.
"You saw that?" August sneered, looking down at her black suit. "That is what real brilliance looks like.Allena is a genius. She's building an empire. You could live a thousand lifetimes and never achieve a fraction of what she has."
Elisa didn't blink. She reached into her jacket pocket,pulled out the thick stack of legal documents, and
slapped them flat against August's chest.
August instinctively grabbed the papers before they fell.
No.6
Elisa looked up at him. Her black eyes were so cold,so entirely devoid of human warmth, that a sudden,involuntary shiver ran down August's spine.
"You're right, August," Elisa whispered. Her voice was smooth, deadly, and dripping with absolute mockery. "She is so brilliant. She is shining so brightly, I can barely wait to watch her burn on the pyre she just built for herself."
She pulled a silver pen from her pocket and clicked it. "Sign the paper. I have a funeral to prepare for."
August glared at her, unnerved by her total lack of jealousy. He angrily scribbled his signature on the bottom line and shoved the papers back at her.
Elisa took them, turned on her heel, and walked away without another word.
She walked down the stairs to the lower deck,stepping onto the small, motorized tender boat waiting to take her back to the mainland.
As the tender pulled away from the massive yacht,the bass from the party thumping over the water,Elisa's phone vibrated in her pocket.
No.7
She pulled it out. It was a secure text from Alastair Cromwell.
The Global Al Summit invitations have all been confirmed. The execution stage is fully built. We are just waiting for the Queen to arrive.
Elisa looked back at the glowing yacht shrinking in the distance. She typed her reply.
Game on.