My Husband Slapped Me and Ordered Me to Kneel—He Never Knew I Owned His Entire Empire / Chapter 13 / 25

Chapter 13 - The Golden TrapFor the next forty-eight hours, the Escalante tower operated under a veil of absolute secrecy. Julian and I moved in the shadows, crafting a trap so intricate and devastating that neither Marcus nor Victoria would see it coming until the steel jaws snapped shut.

I called a private, late-night meeting with Marcus in my office.

"Marcus, I need your help," I said, projecting a mask of desperate vulnerability. I paced the floor, running a hand through my hair. "The European embargo is destroying us. But I have a backup plan. A secret acquisition."

Marcus leaned forward in his chair, his eyes lighting up with greedy curiosity. "What acquisition?"

I slid a highly classified, redacted dossier across my desk. "I am quietly purchasing the controlling shares of Aero-Tech Freight, an independent cargo airline based in Germany. If I secure this airline by tomorrow night, I can bypass Victoria’s maritime ports completely and airlift our microchips directly to the buyers before the deadline. The deal is worth five hundred million dollars. I am wiring the funds to their holding company at midnight on Thursday."

Marcus stared at the dossier, his mind clearly racing. "Mariana, this is brilliant. But... what if Victoria finds out?"

"She won't," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "Because only you and I know about this. I am trusting you with the survival of the Escalante empire, Marcus."

"You can count on me," Marcus promised, offering a slick, oily smile.

The moment he left my office, Julian stepped out from the adjoining private suite.

"He took the bait," I said, pouring two glasses of vintage bourbon.

"He’s probably calling Victoria right now," Julian smirked, taking a glass. "He’s going to tell her to buy Aero-Tech Freight out from under you."

"Exactly," I smiled, clinking my glass against his. "What Marcus doesn't know is that Aero-Tech Freight doesn't own a single functioning airplane. It is a shell company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, drowning in toxic debt and federal tax liens. It is a financial black hole."

"And when Victoria rushes to buy it to block your airlift..." Julian laughed, a deep, rich sound of pure appreciation.

"She will instantly inherit half a billion dollars in toxic debt," I finished, my eyes glittering with anticipation. "She will bankrupt Sterling Global Logistics in a single keystroke."

Thursday evening arrived with a suffocating, electric tension.

Julian and I attended a high-profile charity art auction at Sotheby's in Manhattan, playing the role of the stressed, defeated couple. The paparazzi captured photos of us looking tense and exhausted. It was a flawless performance.

Across the room, standing near a towering modern sculpture, was Victoria Sterling. She was sipping champagne, her icy eyes tracking my every move with predatory satisfaction. Marcus stood a few feet away from her, pretending not to know her, but the subtle, triumphant nods they exchanged told me everything I needed to know.

At 11:45 PM, I stepped out onto the private terrace overlooking the city. The cool night air was a welcome relief.

Julian stepped out behind me, holding his phone. The screen was illuminated with the live financial tracking data of the Aero-Tech Freight holding accounts.

"We are fifteen minutes away from the wire deadline," Julian murmured, standing close to me. "If she doesn't make the purchase, our trap fails."

I looked through the glass doors into the auction house. Victoria was frantically typing on her encrypted smartphone. She was rushing the acquisition, bypassing her own legal team’s due diligence to secure the airline before my fabricated midnight deadline. She was blinded by her obsession with destroying Julian’s new partner.

"She’s going to do it," I whispered, my heart pounding a steady, rhythmic drumbeat of impending victory.

At exactly 11:58 PM, Julian’s phone pinged with a massive, catastrophic alert.

"Incoming wire transfer to the Aero-Tech holding accounts," Julian read, a wicked, triumphant smile spreading across his face. "Six hundred million dollars. Executed by Sterling Global Logistics."