My Sister Called Me a “Deadbeat Loser” at Her Wedding—But She Had No Idea the Man Laughing Beside Her Was Her CEO, and What He Did Next Left the Entire Wedding Speechless!

My phone lit up on the desk three seconds later.

The caller ID flashed: *Lila.*

Marcus muted the room’s microphones and looked at Elias. Elias gave me a firm nod. "Put it on speaker, Maya. Let her dig her own grave."

I took a deep breath, tapped the green button, and placed the phone on the desk. "Hello, Lila."

*"Maya! Oh my God, Maya, thank God you picked up!"* Lila sobbed hysterically into the receiver. The arrogant, condescending bride from yesterday afternoon was completely gone. She sounded like an animal caught in a bear trap. *"Maya, you have to help me! Please! They’re not going to let us leave!"*

"You handed them stolen research, Lila," I said, my voice eerily calm. "What did you think was going to happen? Did you think you were going to drink mimosas on a yacht while I took the blame for your grand larceny?"

*"I didn't know!"* she shrieked. *"Jake told me it was just a corporate acquisition! He said we’d get five million dollars and we could buy a house in the Hamptons and I could give you your cut—"*

*"Shut up, you idiot!"* Jake’s voice screamed in the background, followed by a muffled scuffle.

Then, a new voice came over the line. Smooth, polished, dripping with venom.

*"Miss Vance,"* Vincent Kane said. *"A pleasure to finally speak with Dr. Bennett’s star pupil."*

"Kane," I said.

*"I see you're familiar with me. Then you know I’m not a man of idle threats. Your sister and her charming husband have put me in a very awkward position. They promised me a functional deployment. Instead, your algorithmic watchdog has locked my system and is currently threatening to wipe our primary database."*

"That watchdog was designed to protect Andrew’s life's work from vultures like you," I replied coldly.

*"A noble sentiment,"* Kane chuckled darkly. *"Unfortunately, Andrew is six feet under, and your sister is currently sitting across from two men who do not have a great deal of patience for intellectual property disputes. You have twelve minutes, Miss Vance. I’m sending a secure link to your terminal. Input the thirty-two-character master key, or your sister’s new marriage ends in a closed-casket funeral."*

*"Maya, please!"* Lila screamed in the background, her voice cracking in pure terror. *"I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything I said! I’m sorry about the wedding! Mom made me do it! Mom said you’d never amount to anything anyway so it didn't matter if we took it! Maya, don't let them kill me!"*

I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second.

Even now, facing death, she was throwing our mother under the bus. Always someone else. Never Lila.

"I won't give you the key over an unencrypted phone line, Kane," I said, opening my eyes and looking at Elias.

Elias wrote two words on a legal pad in front of me: *IN PERSON.*

"If you want that partition unlocked," I said firmly into the microphone, "you bring your terminal to the lobby of Voss Fintech. Neutral ground. Broadcast cameras in the public atrium. We do the exchange in the open, or the fail-safe triggers, the drive wipes, and your four-hundred-thousand-dollar investment turns into static."

A long, suffocating silence stretched over the call.

*"Ten minutes, Miss Vance,"* Kane whispered. *"And if Voss tries anything clever, you won't even find pieces of your sister to bury."*