Chapter 174
Chapter 174:
Rose clicked to another folder containing documents, emails, and financial records—some real, most fabricated by the expert Herod had hired.
“All prepared,” she confirmed. “The story writes itself. Alexander Pierce, using Camille Kane to gain control of Victoria’s company through the bedroom rather than the boardroom.”
“Which outlets are you sending them to?”
Rose picked up a handwritten list. “The New York Spectator gets the exclusive on the photos. They’ll reach the widest audience fastest. The financial documents go to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg simultaneously—more credible sources for that angle.”
She checked her watch. “The Spectator will run the photos online at noon. The financial pieces will hit the wire services an hour later, just as everyone is talking about the scandal.”
“Excellent.” Herod’s voice carried grudging admiration. “I underestimated your media instincts.”
“I lived with these people for seven years,” Rose reminded him. “I know exactly how to manipulate public perception. It was my specialty, remember?”
“Don’t get too confident,” Herod warned. “Your sister has proven remarkably resilient.”
“She won’t recover from this,” Rose said, certainty hardening her voice. “Victoria Kane values control above all else. The suggestion that Camille is compromised by a relationship with a business rival, letting emotions cloud her judgment—that strikes at the heart of everything Victoria believes in.” She clicked through the photos again, savoring each one. “Victoria may have accepted Camille as her heir, but she’ll never tolerate this kind of vulnerability. Not with Alexander Pierce of all people.”
“Why does that name matter specifically?” Herod asked.
Rose smiled, pleased to know something Herod didn’t. “Victoria and Alexander have history. Years ago, Pierce Industries tried to acquire a shipping company Victoria wanted. He outmaneuvered her, and Victoria never forgives anyone who beats her.”
She pulled up another document, an old news clipping showing Victoria Kane coldly eyeing Alexander across a conference table. “Victoria sees him as a threat. She always has.”
“All the better for our purposes,” Herod said thoughtfully.
Rose stood and stretched, moving toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked Central Park. “How much more do you need to buy?”
“With what I already have, secretly acquired through shell companies, another fifteen percent would give me effective control,” Herod replied. “The remaining shareholders are scattered and disorganized. They’ll follow whoever holds the largest block.”
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