Chapter 5 - THE SMARTPHONE
"How do you know that?!" Victoria repeated, her voice rising an octave higher. "Who told you about the private schedule? Did you stalk my social media?"
Maya didn't answer right away. She slowly reached into her dark trousers and pulled out a high-end, sleek smartphone—one that didn't look like something a minimum-wage server would carry.
She tapped the screen. The blue light illuminated her face in the dimly lit restaurant.
Evelyn Vance, sitting silently beside her daughter-in-law, leaned forward. Evelyn’s eyes landed on the phone screen, and then shifted back to Maya’s collarbone.
"You..." Evelyn’s voice broke the silence for the first time all night. It was raspy, heavy with sudden, overwhelming recognition. "Your hands."
"What about her hands, Evelyn?" Victoria snapped irritably. "She’s a nobody!"
"Look at her hands, Victoria!" Evelyn demanded, her tone suddenly laced with genuine panic. "Look at the scar on her right index finger! Look at the posture!"
Victoria looked, but her arrogance blinded her. "I don't care about her hands! I want her escorted out by security!"
Maya turned her phone screen around so that Victoria and Arthur Sterling could see it clearly.
Displayed on the screen was a private encrypted email thread from the global headquarters of Luxe Global Enterprises—the parent company that owned sixty percent of the commercial real estate on Fifth Avenue, including the venue hosting Victoria’s launch tonight, and forty percent of Sterling Capital’s funding line.
At the bottom of the email was an authorization directive, timestamped three minutes ago.
It read: REVOCATION OF VENUE LEASE & LIQUIDATION OF CREDIT LINE: PROJECT VANCE.
May you like
Victoria’s breath caught in her throat. "What... what is this? Is this some kind of prank? Did you forge a screenshot?"
"You said I’d never work in New York again, Victoria," Maya said, her voice dropping to a low, smooth purr. "That’s funny. Because twenty minutes ago, I was just inspecting this restaurant to see if my family’s foundation should renew its commercial lease."
