Chapter 6 - The Escalation
Cassidy didn't panic. If four years of high-stakes diplomatic translation had taught her anything, it was that men like Dominic Pierce always hit back when wounded—and they always hit dirty.
Victor’s eyes narrowed into slits of dark, icy fury. "The foolish little boy still thinks he has teeth."
"Let me speak to your owner," Natalia requested calmly, reaching out her hand for the phone receiver.
Simon nervously handed it over. Natalia placed the receiver to her ear, her tone instantly shifting into the sharp, aristocratic command of an international power broker.
"Mr. Vance?" Natalia said in English, her voice smooth as silk and cold as steel. "This is Natalia Rostova of Rostova Global Holdings. I am currently sitting at Table 4 with Victor Volkov... Yes, that Volkov."
She paused, listening to the frantic stuttering of the restaurant owner on the other end of the line.
"Listen to me carefully," Natalia continued. "Dominic Pierce is a financial corpse. By eight o'clock tomorrow morning, his fund will be under federal investigation for securities fraud in Singapore, and Volkov Capital will be calling in his primary debt obligations. If you take a single action against Miss Cassidy Brooks, we will pull our corporate hosting account from your establishment—an account worth two million dollars annually."
She listened for three seconds. A rare, razor-sharp smile touched her red lips.
"I thought so. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Vance."
Natalia hung up the phone and handed it back to a completely stunned Simon. "Your boss says Miss Brooks is officially on paid sabbatical, effective immediately."
Simon blinked, nodded frantically, and backed away with his hands raised. "Understood! Enjoy your meal!"
Victor turned back to Cassidy, his smile returning. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. You were about to accept my offer."
Cassidy looked down at her hands. The relief of knowing her father's debt would be gone was staggering, but her strategic brain was already calculating the next move. Dominic Pierce wasn't going to stop at calling the restaurant owner. A man whose pride had been utterly annihilated in front of his peers would burn down his own house just to throw ashes at his enemy.
"Mr. Volkov," Cassidy said, meeting his eyes directly. "I accept your offer. But if I am going to be your Senior Vice President, you need to know how Dominic Pierce will attack next."
Victor raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Tell me."
"Dominic isn't just an arrogant investor; he’s a tech-sector short-seller," Cassidy analyzed rapidly. "He spent the last twenty minutes in his car realizing he lost your deal. He knows Volkov Capital holds his debt. To save himself, he’s going to attempt a hostile public dump of your North American partner stock before the market opens on Monday. He will try to trigger a panic sell-off."
Victor’s smile faded into genuine corporate focus. "He controls enough float to cause a temporary dip, yes."
"Not if we hit him first," Cassidy said, her eyes burning with the quiet, brilliant intellect that had once made her an elite asset in intelligence circles. "Dominic mentioned earlier that he lost forty million in Singapore yesterday. I translated the internal briefing documents for that exact tender offer two years ago when I was at the embassy. His Singapore entity didn't just fail a bid—it violated cross-border regulatory compliance."
Natalia gasped softly. Victor leaned in so close his chest hit the edge of the table.
"You have regulatory proof of compliance violations?" Victor whispered.
"I know exactly which regulatory oversight committee holds the records," Cassidy replied coolly. "If we file an emergency injunction with the SEC tonight using Volkov Capital's legal team, Dominic’s assets will be frozen before he can sell a single share on Monday."
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Victor stared at Cassidy for five long seconds. Then, he threw his head back and laughed so hard the crystal chandeliers above Table 4 seemed to vibrate.
"My God!" Victor cheered, slamming his hand down. "You are not just a translator, Miss Brooks! You are a lethal weapon!"
