Sonia Van der Berg had never been desperate before. She'd always been the hunter, the planner, the one who watched others scramble while she moved pieces with precision.
But now her accounts were frozen. Her proxies exposed. Her network crumbling under the combined assault of Thorne Enterprises and Clark Capital.
"They're working together," she told Marcus, her voice flat. "The bitch turned him. Made him choose her over survival."
"Perhaps," Marcus suggested carefully, "we should consider alternatives. The Geneva treatment—you could offer it freely, without strings. Gain public goodwill, rebuild—"
"Rebuild?" Sonia laughed, brittle and broken. "I don't want to rebuild, Marcus. I want to win." She turned to her laptop, pulling up files she'd sworn never to use. "Adrian's medical records. The full genetic workup. Do you know what I found?"
Marcus paled. "You promised never to—"
"His condition isn't just hereditary. It's engineered." Sonia's eyes gleamed with manic intensity. "His father, his grandfather—they were all patients of a certain Dr. Voss. Experimental treatments, genetic modifications, attempts to create 'enhanced' humans. The Thorne family has been a science project for three generations."
"That's... monstrous."
"That's opportunity." Sonia pulled up Adrian's current medical records. "The surgery he had three years ago? It didn't just repair his heart. It activated dormant genetic markers. Markers that are now... deteriorating."
She showed Marcus the scans—Adrian's heart, showing stress patterns that hadn't been there months ago.
"He's dying, Marcus. Faster than before. And the only treatment that can save him is the one I control in Geneva." She smiled, beautiful and terrible. "So you see, I don't need to force a merger. I don't need to destroy Nancy Clark. I simply need to wait for Adrian to come begging. And he will. They always do."
Marcus looked at her—really looked—and saw what years of obsession had created. Not a woman in love, but a woman consumed. Not a strategist, but a monster.
"Sonia," he said quietly, "what happened to us? We started with such dreams..."
"You started with dreams." Sonia dismissed him with a wave. "I started with purpose. And I will finish the same way." She turned back to her screens, already planning. "Contact Dr. Voss. Tell him to prepare the final protocol. Adrian Thorne will be our patient within the month. Willingly or not."