Chapter 52 SONIA’S COUNTERSTRIKE
Chapter 52 SONIA’S COUNTERSTRIKE
Sonia leaned back in her chair; fingertips pressed together like a strategist preparing to strike. Every screen in the war room reflected the chaos Helena had unleashed. News channels ran ticker headlines: “Veritas CEO Exposed as Former Sonia Iris”, “Mendez Claims Betrayal and Deception”, “The Ghost of Crestwood Returns.”
Lara’s voice cut through the tension. “Sonia, the public is eating it up. Half the investors are panicking. The board of directors from Zurich called to ask what the whole thing is about, and how you plan to handle it. They are worried about the backlash, which would include boycott, and legal summons.”
Sonia’s eyes were like ice. “Exactly. Fear is a tool. Let them think they’ve found me vulnerable, that I’m on the ropes. Let them think they know who I am. As for the investors, they had better sit tight, I founded Veritas, and even if it crashes, I already made contingency plans for them, their money is not only safe, but doubled. Veritas only exist solely, and only for my revenge purpose.
Marcus, standing nearby, nodded. “We’ve already launched the Public Relation counter: press releases, interviews highlighting her achievements abroad, her legal identity as Sonia Verma, and
the falsity of Mendez’s narrative. Any public claim about her ‘true identity’ will be countered with irrefutable documentation, showing that the accident had as at the time, resulted in short time amnesia, and she only just recently recovered some of her memories. For lack of remembering, she had to go by a new name: Sonia Verma.
We already countered with this narrative, and the storm, the public outrage has lessened just a little bit, with statistics showing rising sympathy,” Marcus explained.
Sonia smirked. “Leak the documents we found on the shell companies under their name, and spin the narrative that the discovery of these companies prompted our action, to prevent funds mismanagement, and danger to public trust. And when the public dig into the shell corporations, they’ve been running… oh, they’ll wish they’d never exposed me.”
Ricky paced in his office, phone in hand, jaw tight. Every call, every press release, every social media alert reminded him that Sonia was moving faster than he could anticipate.
“She’s… untouchable,” Ethan muttered, breaking the silence. “She’s manipulating perception and data simultaneously. She’s like a storm.”
Ricky slammed his palm on the table. “No, Ethan. She’s human. Humans make mistakes.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “And you think public exposure would corner her?”
Ricky shook his head. “It should, but she’s… smarter than I expected. I need a new angle.”
He glanced at a screen displaying her latest press statements, highlighting her academic achievements, her verified legal identity, and her philanthropic work abroad. She’s rewriting the narrative before I can write mine.
I need to do something differently, he thought. Find a new angle Ricky, he thought.
Sonia watched the live feeds of media speculation. Analysts were divided: half praising her as a genius strategist, half questioning her motives. Exactly the balance she wanted. Public curiosity was her shield, and her competence was her sword.
Lara placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve got them swirling in a tornado. But be careful. Helena… she’s not just going to sit quietly.”
Sonia’s eyes glinted with determination. “Let her try. The more she pushes, the more evidence she exposes about herself. Every claim she makes is another window into their corruption.”
Marcus added, “We’ve secured every legal angle, every financial record, every PR defense. Nothing they throw will stick unless they fabricate it. And they’ll need more than lies to catch her.”
Sonia’s fingers hovered over her keyboard. Time to make them chase ghosts while I move unseen.
Ricky leaned back in his chair, a new plan forming. He couldn’t rely on public exposure alone; Sonia was outmaneuvering him at every step. He needed intelligence, and fast.
“I want every investigator, every analyst, every legal eagle on her history,” he said. “I don’t care if it takes twenty-four hours a day. I want everything: finances, travels, contacts. If she’s hiding something, I’ll find it.”
Ethan nodded. “And the Public Relation narrative?”
Ricky’s eyes narrowed. “My mother will handle that. She’ll push the angle we need.”
Helena had been watching the media storm from her private suite, fury simmering beneath her composed exterior.
Her son’s behavior with Sonia Verma had already raised alarms, hinting at a possible attraction, but knowing Sonia Verma is Sonia Iris, made things super complicated. Why couldn’t she have been a good girl, and stayed dead, and now even the exposure attempt had spiraled beyond expectations. She had released pictures, and videos of the accidents, claiming amnesia, and the public are buying into it.
“This woman… this Sonia Iris,” Helena muttered, pacing. “She thinks she can play games with us? With me? After ten years, hiding, surviving… she will pay!"
Helena activated her legal team. “Prepare a lawsuit. I want it filed by tonight. Deception. Public fraud. Faking her death. Ten years of eluding the law. And while you’re at it… bring up everything we’ve ever recorded against her: blackmail charges, arrest records, anything that can question her character. I want her bleeding in every courtroom, in every press release, in every public eye.”
Jane, her assistant hesitated. “Ma’am… won’t this backfire? People are already sympathetic towards her on the amnesia claim, and the released pictures, and videos of the accident, the doctor’s report on her heart stopping for a few minutes, the bashed in, scarred, and ghastly looking face, had already drawn a lot of sympathy towards her, any narrative we want to spin, might push people to be more in her favor. She made a really ruthless move, even I was almost sympathetic when I saw the pictures.”
Helena’s gaze was cold as ice. “I don’t care about sympathy. I care about control. She has no right to return, no right to disrupt the lives we built without her. We make the law our weapon. The law deal with order, and justice, sympathy has no place, at all where it sits, and that is going to be where we hit her from.”
By the time Helena’s lawsuit hit, Sonia already knew. Her system flagged the filings, legal notices, and public announcements instantly.
Marcus sighed. “They’re moving fast. That’s everything: fraud, deception, old arrest records, blackmail claims… Helena wants to bury you in legal fire.”
Sonia leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Good. Let them throw their fire. I’ve been ready for years. Every move they make, I’ve already predicted. Their weapons are ancient; mine are honed in darkness, in pain, in survival.”