Fourteen hours after our wedding, my husband threw a filthy cleaning rag in my face and sneered, “You’re not my wife—you’re a maid now. Earn your keep.” His mother stood behind him, smiling like she had just won a war. / Chapter 20 / 35

Chapter 20 - The Phantom Investor

At 2:00 AM, the emergency alarm rang inside Sterling Imperial’s financial operations center.

Sarah Lin stumbled into my office, holding a glowing tablet showing red plummeting charts.

"Director Sterling! Aegis Capital launched a midnight short-raid on our secondary market bonds!" Sarah reported, panic lacing her voice. "An anonymous offshore fund just dumped fifty million dollars worth of synthetic shorts into European markets!"

"Vanguard Apex," I muttered, standing up from my desk. "They aren't just trying to lower our stock price. They're trying to force an artificial bankruptcy before market opening in New York."

"We've used our liquid cash buying back shares yesterday," Sarah said, her hands shaking. "We don't have fifty million dollars to defend the bond floor!"

Suddenly, the private line on my desk began to ring. The caller ID read UNKNOWN CALLER.

I picked up the receiver. "Elena Sterling."

"Director Sterling," a smooth, deep voice spoke through the speaker. The accent was refined, faintly European, and entirely calm. "You are currently bleeding fifteen thousand dollars every ten seconds on the London exchange."

"Who is this?" I demanded.

"My name is Julian Cross," the caller replied. "I am the majority chairman of Cross Global Financial. And more importantly, I am the man who created Aegis Capital ten years ago before Richard Hayes stole it from my family."

I narrowed my eyes. "Another wolf offering shelter?"

Julian Cross laughed softly over the line. "A wolf, perhaps, but one with a shared enemy. Richard Hayes and Arthur Vance used Vanguard Apex to launder stolen assets through your husband's company. I have forty million dollars waiting in a private escrow account in Singapore."

"And what do you want in return, Mr. Cross?" I asked, my voice guarded.

"I want Aegis Capital burned to the ground," Julian answered coldly. "Transfer ten percent equity of Sterling Holdings to my firm as collateral, and I will crush Hayes's short-position within twenty minutes."