In the hall,
The event hall’s brightness dimd gradually into a soft glow of ambient lighting, drawing the room into silence. A glass stand held stunning floral arrangents at the center of the stage.
In a crisp, tailored suit, Ezra stepped onto the stage with a microphone pinned on his blazer. He spoke as he stood tall and authoritative in front of all the top businessn of Velmora, "Good evening, and welco."
He pointed at the floral arrangent and continued without pause, "What you see before you is not just flora. It’s a symbol. Nature! Impossible to replicate in its truest form. And just like nature’s most protected creations... we introduce VANTEX Sentinel."
The back screen lit up with VANTEX Sentinel, the na flashing with unique graphics and motion.
Well, Aveline wasn’t really paying attention, though her eyes were on the stage. Her real attention was on Damien, who might look calm on the surface but had turned rigid after whatever Vivienne had pulled.
"Assistant Wilson..." she whispered just enough for the man beside her to hear.
Mike Wilson was watching the seamless panel sliding open, revealing the sentinel box, guntal gray. Sleek, surrounded by a soft pulse of light tracing its edges. The mont she spoke, his attention shifted to her.
She continued when she sensed his gaze on her. "Will you work for ?" she asked. Then she turned to face Mike and added, "Or my father?"
Aveline trusted Mike with her life, but the question was, would he keep her secrets from her father? She didn’t want to involve her parents unless absolutely necessary.
And a confidant of her father, being aware of her situation and Damien’s true colors, would help her in an ergency. This move was to avoid her parents doubting her if Damien ever pulled sothing vile.
Because Damien was capable of anything.
Mike didn’t respond to her imdiately. He watched her. He carefully studied the depth of her question and her seriousness. When he grasped that she was hinting at work that shouldn’t reach Henry Laurent’s ears, he responded, "Chairman Laurent appointed to work for you unless neither you nor the company is at risk."
The seriousness in his tone was palpable. His words promised loyalty to her.
Aveline was expecting nothing less. So she gave him his first assignnt. "Don’t you want to know why Damien Ashford chose to ignore at the event?"
Mike’s eyes imdiately shifted to where Damien had stood and found the space empty. He was quick to locate Damien moving towards the exit. He dipped his head and stepped back, seamlessly blending into the darkness of the hall.
Aveline would have preferred to follow the couple herself. But Damien’s secretary’s eyes were glued to her.
So she turned her focus back on the stage.
Ezra was now holding a unique handheld device, scanning the floral arrangent. A 3D image of it appeared on the large screen.
Before she regressed, she had read about the Vantex Sentinel when her father used it to display the rare red diamond he’d sourced.
If she had to summarise the demo: VANTEX Sentinel was a next-generation security software designed for high-stakes protection of physical assets, sensitive materials, or classified technology. It operates through a combination of intelligent laser shielding, biotric scanning, and full-spectrum body profiling.
To show support for Lancasters, many of the businessn buy the VANTEX Sentinel, but they feared using it due to the severity of breaking into the Vantex. However, the product gained a lot of attention when her father installed it at the Laurent jewel studio. That move boosted its demand overseas.
Aveline’s eyes shifted to the corner of the large screen. The clientele section was empty because Ezra hadn’t yet announced the resignation.
She watched him insert a claw into the Sentinel box as a test case. The mont the steel claw entered the box, the red light appeared, and a ssage of intrusion popped up the on connected device. Before they could even read the ssage, the activated laser burned the claw. The damage it caused was irreversible.
Gasps filled the hall.
Whereas Aveline was calm, she downed her champagne in one go.
Then she walked, slow, deliberate, and graceful, as she headed to the rightmost corner of the hall.
So guests turned their heads, distracted by her movents, but the demo was more gripping. And darkness played in her favor.
She flashed a smile at the NexGuard’s employee, who was shocked by her arrival before the announcent.
"Aveline Laurent." She said softly, placing a bank cheque on the table.
Yes, she was prepared. She was expecting this mont to let the world know about her presence. Though she had already shone on the stage, she still followed through with her plan.
Her father would be pleased she secured the system.
The employee stared for a mont, then quickly checked the cheque and began the registration process of VANTEX.
Behind the door, Alaric’s lips curled into a dangerous smirk. He had planned to give her the spotlight to give her the chance to raise and embrace the power. But she...
She aced it. With elegance. With Control. Without help.
"A true opportunist." He muttered, his voice low with amusent. The highly principled woman who once lived by rules had turned gloriously sly.
And he was proud of her.
The demo concluded, and Ezra announced, "Now let’s welco the man behind the vision of VANTEX, CEO of NexGuard, Alaric Lancaster."
The door opened. Everyone’s head turned to it. Alaric walked out of the darkness and stepped onto the stage with regal grace.
Everyone in the room knew him. The spoiled, lazy Lancaster who had walked into his mother’s black tie event in beach shorts, a breezy shirt, and a beer in his hand at 21.
Then he often made headlines with huge parties and even knocked on the doors of a police station for partying in the middle of the busy street at 23.
Then, for three years, there was nothing about him. As if he hadn’t returned to the country from his trip. As if he was imprisoned. As if dead.
Just recently, they learnt that Sentinel Solutions - a top security agency of Velmora belongs to Alaric. Now, the NexGuard.
Alaric couldn’t care less about their whispers. He subtly dipped his head, and the applause filled the hall.
When the sound died, his deep voice filled the room. "Thank you for attending the first product launch of NexGuard."
Curt, and simple, typical Alaric.
Given a chance, he would’ve stayed ho in silence or coded his next software in the darkness.
But he was doing all this for her.
Aveline Laurent.
As the applause resud, a soft chi cut through.
Ezra glanced at the screen, their first client of NexGuard was the inspiration of NexGuard, Aveline Laurent. He wondered how that might have felt for Alaric.
He didn’t wait to read it out, "Our first esteed client - Aveline Laurent." He gestured at her as the spotlight shifted, stealing it from Alaric.
The guests took a mont to grasp the shift before they applauded again.
Aveline dipped her head, her face glowing with a graceful smile. She might not rember every minute detail, but she recalls all the major events.
Ezra, not missing a beat, gestured to a staff mber to bring Aveline as he addressed the crowd, "Our experts are available for questions," he added, motioning toward the team of mbers who spread out in the hall.
Then he continued pointing towards the registration counters, "And if you would like to apply for the VANTEX sentinel, register now. We operate on a first-co, first-served basis."
It wasn’t just to create a demand, their product was never ant for everyone. Only the elite will have a lot to protect.
Well, the elites had their eyes on Aveline.
How did she grab the opportunity so smoothly?
The assistants rushed to the registration counter on the instructions of their chiefs, who watched Aveline get on the stage once again.
For the first ti in their experience, they are witnessing sobody else stealing the lilight instead of the new product or the hosts.
Alaric should have stepped off the stage by then. But he couldn’t. He stood there for her.
If only she knew.
Aveline t his gaze again. Those green eyes oddly unsettled her.
The eyes that spoke louder than the man ever spoke.
The eyes that held her gaze like...
Aveline’s thoughts paused when she saw him offer his hand. She took a mont but placed hers in his.
His voice was deep and low, just enough to caress her ears, "Thank you for choosing... us, Ms. Laurent."
She had aced her goal. Yet she didn’t let it show.
However, she smiled, but this ti it didn’t reach her eyes. She elegantly let go of his hand and walked past him in complete control.
"You’ll have a lot to thank for."
Her words echoed in his ears.
Under nurous gazes, Alaric resisted his urge to look over his shoulder. His gaze stayed fixed on where she had just stood.
The one he t at the entrance and the one who stood in front of him just a mont ago felt different.
A simple, harmless, and dutiful daughter of Henry Laurent v/s the wounded lioness preparing for the hunt.
What did she an by that?
She wasn’t just planning anymore. She was making her move.
And for the first ti in years... Alaric Lancaster felt the thrill of being outplayed.
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