"Raymond," she said carefully, "has anyone from Sharp Innovations or Next Technologies approached you recently? Professionally or socially?"
Raymond's confusion seemed genuine. "No. Why would they?"
"Just answer the question. Have you had any contact with anyone from those organizations?"
"No. None."
Elena nodded slowly. "That will be all."
After Raymond left, Elena turned to the window, staring out at the Manhattan skyline. The city stretched before her, a concrete and glass testament to ambition and power. Somewhere within that maze of buildings, Victoria Sharp was meeting with Katherine Days, potentially undermining a client relationship that Elena had spent years cultivating.
Her phone chimed with another notification: Executive committee meeting in five minutes. Elena gathered her materials, her mind still spinning with possibilities and threats. As she walked toward the boardroom, Clara fell into step beside her.
"I've sent the preliminary client retention analysis to your tablet," Clara said. "The data team says the numbers are directionally accurate but not finalized."
Elena nodded, barely hearing her assistant's words. Her mind was focused on a single question: What did Victoria know?
The executive committee meeting proceeded with excruciating normalcy. The CFO presented financial projections. The CTO detailed technical roadmaps. The HR director discussed talent acquisition strategies. Elena delivered her portion mechanically, answering questions with practiced precision while her thoughts remained elsewhere.
"Elena?" Her father's voice pulled her back to the present. Guillermo Vasquez was participating via video conference from Madrid, his image projected onto the wall screen. "Your thoughts on the Next situation?"
Elena blinked, realizing she had missed something important. "I'm sorry, could you clarify the question?"
Her father's expression revealed nothing, but Elena recognized the subtle shift in his posture—disappointment, carefully concealed. "Thomas was explaining that Next Technologies has accelerated their algorithmic development since the merger with Sharp Innovations. Their new system is showing remarkable accuracy in predictive analytics, potentially outperforming our own models by a significant margin."
Elena felt a cold knot form in her stomach. This was exactly what she had feared—Victoria leveraging Next technical expertise to leapfrog Meridian's capabilities.
"Our research team is working on countermeasures," she said, falling back on prepared talking points. "We anticipate having a competitive solution within the quarter."
"The quarter?" her father repeated, his tone neutral but his eyes sharp. "Thomas suggests we need something sooner. The market won't wait three months."
Elena forced herself to remain calm. "I'll revisit the timeline with the research team. We may be able to accelerate certain aspects of development."
The meeting continued, but Elena barely registered the subsequent discussions. Her mind was racing, calculating how Victoria could have advanced the Next algorithms so quickly. The merger had been finalized only weeks ago—integration challenges alone should have slowed their progress.
Unless Victoria had anticipated everything. Unless she had been planning this move for months, positioning her pieces on the board while Elena focused on personal revenge instead of business strategy.
The thought was intolerable.
When the meeting finally ended, Elena returned to her office and closed the door, ignoring the concerned glance Clara threw her way. She needed to think, needed to regroup and recalculate.
Her phone buzzed with another text from Parker: Sharp and Amara left Hauser after two-hour meeting. Days seen laughing with Sharp in lobby. Contract documents exchanged.
Contract documents. Elena's blood ran cold. It was happening already—Victoria was poaching her clients. The tabloid story hadn't been a distraction for Victoria; it had been a distraction for Elena herself, pulling her focus away from what really mattered.
She dialed Parker's number. "I need details on that contract. Whatever it takes."
"It might be difficult," Parker replied. "Their security is tight."
"I'm not interested in difficulties. I'm interested in results." Elena ended the call without waiting for a response.
She pulled up the Hauser Analytics contract on her secure server, scanning the terms for vulnerabilities or exit clauses Katherine Days might exploit. The agreement was solid—Elena had negotiated it personally—but there were always loopholes for determined parties to exploit.
A knock at her door interrupted her review. "Not now," she called.
The door opened anyway. Her father's executive assistant, Marcos, stood in the doorway. "Ms. Vasquez, your father would like a private word."
Elena suppressed a flash of irritation. "I'm in the middle of something urgent."
"He insists," Marcos said, his tone making it clear this wasn't a request.
Elena followed him to a secure conference room where her father's image was projected on the wall screen, the Madrid skyline visible through the window behind him.
"Close the door," Guillermo said to Marcos, who nodded and left them alone.
Elena squared her shoulders, prepared for criticism of her performance in the meeting. But her father's opening words caught her off guard.
"You've lost focus," he said simply. "This vendetta against Victoria Sharp is clouding your judgment."
Elena's defenses rose immediately. "This isn't personal. Sharp Innovations represents a significant competitive threat, especially now that it is merged with Next. My actions are purely strategic."
Guillermo Vasquez studied his daughter with eyes that had witnessed decades of corporate warfare. "The tabloid story," he said. "That was your doing."
It wasn't a question. Elena didn't bother denying it. "An opening move. One that didn't go as planned."
"Because you misjudged Victoria. Again." Her father's voice was calm but cutting. "Six years ago, you believed she would accept our offer, join our company, follow our path. You were wrong. Now you believe you can destroy her with whispers and innuendo. You are wrong again."
Elena felt a surge of suspicion. This new woman, Amara, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere to become Victoria's right hand. Elena had her team investigate Amara's background exhaustively, but they'd found nothing suspicious—just an impressive resume and stellar recommendations. The woman was either exactly what she appeared to be or had a carefully constructed cover identity. Either way, Elena didn't trust her.
"And while you search for it, our company suffers." Guillermo leaned forward. "Your quarterly projections are down. Client retention is softening. Your team is confused by your shifting priorities. This is not the leadership I expected from you."
The criticism stung more than Elena wanted to admit. "I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" Her father raised an eyebrow. "Because from where I sit, it appears you're allowing a personal grievance to undermine your professional judgment. That is not the Vasquez way."
Elena felt a surge of anger. "The Vasquez way? You mean calculating every move, maintaining the appearance of ethical behavior while manipulating markets and people to our advantage? I learned that from you."
"What you learned," her father replied evenly, "was strategy. Discipline. The difference between emotion and action. Somewhere along the way, you've forgotten those lessons."
"I haven't forgotten anything," Elena said. "Victoria Sharp is a threat to our company. I'm neutralizing that threat."
"No," Guillermo said firmly. "You're obsessing over a perceived betrayal from six years ago. This isn't about business for you—it's about the fact that Victoria chose her own path instead of following the one you laid out for her."
The accuracy of her father's assessment landed like a physical blow. Elena struggled to maintain her composure.
"Victoria didn't betray our company," Guillermo continued. "She declined a job offer. She built something of her own instead of joining what we had built. That is not betrayal—it's ambition. The same ambition I've always encouraged in you."