Two days later, Wesley’s acquisition bid was rejected, causing the stock price of Rhodes Dynamics to plummet by nearly thirty percent in a single afternoon. Investors began to panic, and the business news networks were filled with speculation about the impending downfall of the once-golden tech mogul.
However, the true masterstroke occurred during the annual Winter Gala at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, an event Wesley attended as the guest of honor. He arrived with his fiancée draped in expensive diamonds, walking the red carpet with a forced smile that couldn’t hide the sweat on his brow.
The room fell into a sudden, vacuum-like silence when the massive double doors opened and Cassie Miller stepped into the ballroom. She was wearing a structured white silk gown that commanded the attention of every person in the room, and a necklace of rare yellow diamonds glowed against her skin.
It took the photographers several stunned seconds to recognize her, but once they did, the flashes from their cameras became a blinding wall of light. Wesley turned pale, his wine glass trembling in his hand as Cassie glided toward him with the grace of a hunting leopard.