Chapter 11 - The Fall of the Stock
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By Monday morning, the fallout from our press conference hit Adrian’s firm with the force of a nuclear warhead.
Sterling Tech’s private stock valuation plummeted by sixty percent in pre-market trading as key institutional investors frantically pulled their capital. The international tech conglomerate that had originally proposed the forty-million-dollar merger issued a brief, brutal statement completely terminating all negotiations.
Inside Sterling Tech’s headquarters, chaos reigned.
Adrian locked himself inside his corner office, refusing to answer calls from his board of directors, his PR crisis managers, or his personal attorneys.
His mother, Eleanor Sterling—a woman who had spent months boasting to her country club friends about our upcoming luxury wedding—arrived at my nonprofit’s office at three in the afternoon.
She didn't march in with her usual aristocratic arrogance. She looked pale, her expensive designer clothes rumpled, her eyes filled with desperate tears.
My assistant escorted her into my private office.
“Evelyn... please,” Eleanor sobbed, dropping her leather handbag onto the chair. “You have to stop this nightmare. Adrian is facing criminal charges! They’re talking about state prison!”
I sat behind my desk, watching her without a single trace of sympathy.
“He brought this on himself, Eleanor,” I said softly.
“He’s a young man who made a mistake!” Eleanor cried out, leaning across my desk. “You were going to be his wife! How can you be so heartless as to ruin his entire future over a domestic servant?!”
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I stood up slowly, leaning forward until my eyes were inches from hers.
“Rosa is a human being, Eleanor,” I said, my voice dropping into an icy steel whisper. “And your son is a predator who thought he could use money and intimidation to crush anyone who got in his way. I suggest you spend your money on a very good criminal defense lawyer.”
