Chapter 50: RAISING UP DEAD GHOST
“The Clarkes. My biological parents. That is why he is hell bent on a collaboration with them, they are an empire that he cannot swallow, nor topple.” Sonia had a wicked smile on her face, “and you see that card, is the last I will employ.”
“There are many ways, several ways to destroy them, but I just have to remember Dev, mom, and dad, and I want to slowly torture them. I am here to play with them for a long time. And if I am unable to, I can always let Daddy Malcolm step in. The Mendez are quite insignificant in the food chain, and I would hate that I am unable to handle them,” Sonia explained, as she playfully tugged on Lara’s braids loose braids.
“You worry too much Lara, breathe, relax.” Sonia said, a smile lighting up her very beautiful face.
“Okay, I trust you,” Lara said as they played around in the office like little children, finally getting to relax.
“Could you be a darling, and go check on Lena in her new accommodation? Sonia asked when they finally sat down, tired, and out of breath from running around in the large office.
“I will meet you guys up soon; I just need to finish up quickly.”
“Sure, but come on time, she is your girl, and she needs you,” Lara said as she made for the door.
“I will,” Sonia promised as she moved to her desk, and sank into her work mode.
Her fingers moved in a blur across the keyboard.
Back at her office, Helena knew she had one chance to regain the narrative. She held a press conference draft in his hands.
The plan was simple: expose Sonia Verma as Sonia Iris, the girl from Crestwood, and paint her as a manipulative, vengeful force who had returned only to destabilize the Mendez Group.
Jane, Helena’s personal assistant approached nervously. “Ma… are you sure about this? Once you go public, there’s no turning back. The media will… eat her alive, but it will also turn some eyes toward you.”
Helena’s jaw tightened. “I don’t care. Public sentiment can be swayed, and she must be neutralized. Every analyst, every investor, every client—she can’t be allowed to gain more power. If the public sees her as untouchable, Veritas will own the narrative, and my family will fall.”
She opened a secure channel to her internal investigation team. “I want everything on her. Background, finances, connections. Every detail. I need to dismantle her narrative before she dismantles mine.”
It's a war she wants; it's a battle she would get. She would wish she had joined her family, and stayed dead, no one, absolutely no one, gets to tamper with her family, Sonia Verma or Iris, or whatever name she calls herself, will get burnt. This was a promise, Helena thought as her eyes drifted out the window, thinking, calculating, planning, how to topple down a dead ghost.
Greg monitored the Mendez servers’ pulse with activity.
Helena’s counterattack wasn’t going to be subtle—it will be the roar of a lion defending its territory.
He spoke into the earpiece, voice taut. “Marcus, she’s going to be exposed soon. Helena and Tessa are going public. We need to anticipate their moves. Sonia won’t survive a direct media hit unscathed.”
“The Mendez, despite divided public opinion still have the support of the common people as opposed to a data analyst from Zurich, and a newly founded sub branch group, Veritas. Despite how gigantic Veritas is, its main headquarters is not in Manhattan.” Greg pointed out carefully.
Marcus responded, calm but tense. “I’ve secured legal contingencies. Public relations scripts are ready. We just need to give her the right data to counter whatever that will be said without revealing her identity prematurely. Timing is everything.”
Greg’s stomach tightened. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, Richard’s appearance, Tessa’s silence, and now Helena Press conference, it reeked of a sinister plan.
“What could they be planning?” he pondered as his gaze drifted subconsciously towards the Veritas giant building.
The sight of the building was always reassuring, as if to say, “all is well, she is still standing…”
“Don’t get burnt Sonia,” he whispered softly….
The first whispers hit the wires. Journalists began receiving leaked “insider tips” suggesting that Veritas’s CEO might have a hidden identity linked to the Crestwood scandal.
Sonia saw the alerts flicker across her screens.
She smiled faintly, cold and detached. So, they’ve realized the threat. Let them push. Let them force my hand. Let the mouse think it can outrun the cat.
Lara leaned closer. “Sonia… you need to be ready. They’re not just targeting the company—they’re targeting you.”
Sonia’s fingers paused for a fraction of a second. Then she typed a response into her system. “Good. Let them try. Every accusation they make, every lie they spin—they’ll only dig themselves deeper. The world will see the truth, eventually. They’ll only burn faster if they try to light me on fire first, but they need to light me on fire to burn, so I am willing to be lit.”
Marcus, standing behind her, noted the meticulous precision. “We’ve got contingencies ready, legal, Public Relations team on standby, cyber defense… whatever they throw, we counter before it lands.”
Sonia’s eyes, cold and lethal, scanned the Mendez network. “We need to do more than counter” she said in thought.
The cameras flashed as Helena stepped onto the podium.
Every journalist in Manhattan’s media district seemed to be focused on her. Her voice was steady, but every word carried the weight of authority and subtle venom.
She had taken special care to look her best as she appeared, as if celebrating her victory over the unkillable cockroach that is Sonia Iris.
“Today,” she began, “we are addressing the situation regarding Veritas Analytics and its CEO, Sonia Verma. We entered into a partnership with her after the RFP in good faith, and based on the reputation she has built over the years. Veritas stand as one of the world’s leading giants in data analysis, data security, data tracking, and other wonderful services.
Mendez group had for a while experienced some data breaches, and due to the overwhelming need to priorize customers’ needs, we contacted, and contracted Veritas to handle our data security for us. But the past few weeks have been a very challenging time for us…”
Looking around with weighty, and emotion filled eyes, she continued on.
“We did not know that we had let in a rat, Veritas not only did not fulfill their part of the contract, but they conducted several data breaches, and infringement, that leaves one to question how they got their reputation in the first place.”
“So, we decided to dig deeper into Veritas. In conducting our research when the breaches occurred, as you all have witnessed, we discovered a chilling truth.”