Chapter 35 - The Threat in the Garden
Armed with the digital printouts from the technical archive, Ava stepped into the glass-enclosed botanical conservatory connected to the Palais to clear her thoughts before the afternoon session began. The winter sunlight filtered through the frost-etched glass dome, casting geometric shadows over exotic palms, ancient ferns, and vibrant alpine orchids.
The quiet crunch of gravel behind her signaled company.
Ava did not turn immediately. She simply paused beside a flowering white camellia, tucking the vellum folder containing the flight telemetry securely beneath her arm.
Vincent Sterling walked into the clearing, his ebony cane tapping rhythmically against the stone pathway. Gone was the diplomatic charm he had performed before the assembly cameras. His face was cold, drawn, and shadowed with predatory impatience.
"You are a remarkably persistent little creature, aren't you, Miss Carter?" Vincent said, his voice dropping into a menacing whisper that barely disturbed the warm, humid air of the greenhouse.
Ava turned slowly, facing him with the serene, unyielding composure that had become her trademark. "Good afternoon, Mr. Sterling. The alpine orchids are lovely, aren't they?"
Vincent stopped three paces away, towering over her. "Do not play precocious games with me, child. I watched you scurry down to the archives with Bennett. I know what you think you’ve discovered. But international diplomacy is not an elementary school debate tournament where the teacher hands you a gold star for finding a discrepancy in a ledger."
He took another step closer, his eyes narrowing into cold slits of slate.
"Do you have any comprehension of the forces you are interfering with? Helios Aerospace represents eleven billion dollars in sovereign state debt, three national pension funds, and the supply chains of four Western European nations. If you bring those documents to the floor, you will not just embarrass me—you will destabilize an entire continental economic sector."
Vincent leaned down, his voice turning vicious. "Take your little folder, give it to your father, and tell him that if he withdraws his fleet from the European corridor, Helios will drop Resolution 109. Otherwise, I will ensure that your family’s name is dragged through every regulatory court from London to Tokyo until Carter Aviation is broken into scrap metal. Walk away while you still have an empire to inherit."
Ava listened to every venomous word without taking a single step back. She looked up into Vincent Sterling’s furious face, her dark eyes clear, steady, and unclouded by even the slightest tremor of intimidation.
"Mr. Sterling," Ava spoke, her voice musical, quiet, and utterly unbreakable. "My father told me this morning that when a man’s arguments are righteous, he speaks about the law. When his arguments are weak, he speaks about money. But when he is completely terrified, he threatens children."
Vincent’s jaw tightened violently.
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"You think power is measured in billions of dollars and political favors," Ava continued, stepping right into his shadow. "But true power is having the courage to tell the truth when everyone else is paid to look away. Those three planes flying over the Alps have human pilots on board, Mr. Sterling. And no amount of pension money or family pride is worth their lives. I will see you in the council chamber."
She brushed past him without waiting for an answer, her navy coat sweeping behind her as she left the billionaire standing alone among the silent ferns.
