Chapter 103: The Invite

"I see." I said as I closed the envelope and set it on the table.

And this leaves us with a simple question.

"What do you want me to tell your mother? That I’m the knight in shining armor here to save you from your sister?"

She flipped me off, rolling her eyes while hiding the small smile that appeared on her face. "Fuck off, you little shit. Pick something else."

"Hmmm." I hummed with a smirk, leaning against the couch. "You come up with something for me."

"What should we go with?" She asked.

"No idea." I shrugged. "All I know is that if your mother is trying to figure out where I stand, you can bet she’s trying to figure out how to use or neutralize me."

Jenny’s eyes snapped to me. "You think she’s against me?"

"I think she’s against losing control." I said, crossing my arms. "And if backing Jasmine means maintaining her influence, she’ll do it."

People like Clarisse Newton are both predictable and unpredictable at the same time. In New York, where everything was about legacy, she won’t allow someone she can’t control to sit on the throne of Apex.

Jenny sighed, sitting down on one of the armchairs. "This is exhausting."

"It’s the game." I shrugged as I sat across from her. "This means you’re not just playing against Jasmine. You’re playing against years of tradition."

Jenny stared at me for a moment before her expression softened. "Why are you helping me, Nico? Really?"

I leaned back in my chair, tilting my head at her.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes." She held my gaze, giving me a single nod.

I sighed, looking away before turning back to meet her gaze.

"Two reasons." I raised two fingers.

"First." I dropped a finger. "Cutting Jasmine from Apex means removing one more competitor for the Voss empire."

She opened her mouth to speak but I answered her coming question with a smirk. "You’re not interested in father’s fortune. That’s why I’m backing you."

"And second," I dropped the second finger, "because Jasmine is everything I despise in a person."

Jenny blinked at my answer.

"She manipulates, she destroys and she never considers the consequences for anyone but herself. And because, despite everything, you have the potential to be better."

Jenny quickly composed herself, a small smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Nico. It’s nice to hear that."

"Don’t thank me yet." I said with a grin. "We still have a long way to go."

"Well," Jenny stood, smoothing her skirt, "I’ll see you at the gala then. Come up with whatever answer you think is best for my mother."

"Alright." I said as I walked her to the door. "I’ll just think of this as another checkpoint we have to pass to get to our destination."

"Whatever floats your boat." She smirked at me.

I flipped her off and slammed the door in her face.

I could hear her cackle in the hallway as she left.

With a smile on my face, I turned back to the envelope on the table. This gala was going to be an important checkpoint, for both Jenny and I.

Clarisse Newton wanted to meet me and I intend to make an impression she won’t forget.

I sat down on the chair and picked up the envelope, studying the Apex Investments logo. If Clarisse was really planning to get involved, then, I’ll use the card that Elsa had placed in my hand.

The card played now and would bring rewards later.

It was time to make my move.

Without hesitation, I dialed Elsa. The phone barely rang before she picked up.

"Nico." She said. "I assume you’ve made your decision.

"Yes." I said, going straight to the point. "I don’t want NovaGen."

There was a pause as Elsa took in my decision, then she chuckled. "I doubt this is the end of it."

"No." I continued. "I want whoever acquires it to have a hard time with it."

"What should I do?" She asked.

That was Elsa, always ready for the next step.

"I want you to muddle the market." I glanced down at the envelope in front of me. If I can’t have it, you can have it but with a few… caveats.

"Drive up NovaGen’s price as high as you can without linking it back to me or Imperium Holdings." I said. "Make it look like the world has found gold, that NovaGen is the next big thing."

I smirked evilly to myself. "The goal here is that whoever ends up buying the company will have to overpay for it."

"Clever." Elsa said in approval. "By the time the dust settles, the buyer will either back out or overextend themselves trying to secure the deal."

"Exactly." I snapped my finger. "NovaGen might be a good asset but it won’t be worth the price tag I’m about to give it."@@novelbin@@

"This won’t be as easy." Elsa said, her tone thoughtful. "I’ll need to use a few proxies, maybe even some shell companies to make it believable. And I’ll have to spread the buzz across different circles. Tech, venture capital, healthcare, the works."

I could almost hear the anticipation in her voice. She relished tasks like these.

"I trust you." I said into the phone. "Make it happen."

"Understood." She said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah." I leaned forward in my seat, my eyes narrowing in concentration as I pulled the invite out of the envelope. "I need you to dig up everything you can on Clarisse Newton."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before Elsa spoke again, this time, cautious. " Are you sure?" She asked.

"I am." I replied. "Clarisse is the one pulling the strings at Apex. If she doesn’t approve of Jenny, there’s no way we’ll win this."

"If I’m going to keep her neutral, I need to understand her. Her motivations, her weaknesses, her history. Everything."

"Very well." Elsa said, her tone serious. "I’ll see what I can do."