Albert spoke in a worried tone:
- "What about the cars we produced?"
Elias replied with deadly calm:
- Nothing... They will remain in the warehouse.
Albert was silent for a moment and then added, staring at the horizon with his stern eyes:
- "But it's a big loss... The cost exceeded two billion dollars.
Elias smiled a distorted smile of madness:
- So what? I don't care about money.
Then he continued in a tone full of anger:
- I didn't want the money... I just wanted to put her in her place.
He was silent for a moment before whispering as if swallowing the bitterness of defeat:
- "But she... She gave me a slap like I've never received before.
Elias closed his eyes, humming a faint melody as if his mind was playing his thoughts. He said in a quiet voice, his tone clearly malicious:
- "I think there's a game behind this patent thing... Sidra didn't come to us in vain, and she didn't try to question the blueprints for nothing. If she had already registered them, why did she come here herself and why did she make it public?
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Albert with narrowed eyes:
- "Sidra is not reckless, quite the contrary... She plans well. If we had announced the product before her, we would have gotten into huge legal trouble, and she would have loved to see us drown. No, something happened that we haven't figured out yet...
He approached the window, staring at the city below the tower:
- "Look into it more... I want details, every little detail. Reach out to old employees, open the archives of associated companies, dig into their entire past.
Then he turned to Albert, a strange look in his eyes:
- I want us to have a partnership... But only if she asks for it herself. I want to humiliate her.
He smiled a cold smile, half mocking, half threatening:
- I will make her come to me willingly, with her head bowed, thinking she is the one who decides... when she is just a piece on a chessboard.
Two days later
in Sidra's office
she was standing in front of the glass window, looking at the horizon with eyes filled with anger and anticipation, still trying to control things inside the company. One of the loyal employees entered quickly, panting and looking very worried.
- Ms. Sidra... We have a problem.
She turned slowly, her sharp gaze almost piercing the air:
- Speak up.
- There's a new leak... But this time it's from outside the company.
Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly approached him:
- From where?
- from the patent office itself... Someone has altered the digital data on the timing of the recording. Now, the blueprints look like they were registered to A.G. only a month ago, and we never registered them at all!
She gasped in shock, but quickly pulled herself together:
- No way... that means they hacked the system!
The employee shook his head:
- What's more... Someone has filed a lawsuit against you for plagiarism. The lawsuit was filed this morning.
Silence fell over the place, but Sidra's eyes blazed with unrelenting fire, and she said with deadly coldness:
- "Finally... The dirty play has begun. Fools if they think I'm going to collapse?
She looked at him and said:
- "Get the SIT ready immediately, and I want a digital analysis of all the changes to the recording file. Try to find proof that the blueprints are drafts or something, and call in the legal team... The battle begins now, and I won't leave anyone standing. I will retaliate, those were her last words, but in fact she knows he is playing dirty and she can't fight him alone, and this case will be a big blow to her, causing a lot of losses.
In Elias' office
Albert chuckled as he addressed Elias
It's a big blow to her, I think she can't hold out for long
Elias spoke, his tone carrying some amusement tinged with cruelty:
- "She's like a cat... She always falls on her feet, but I will pull the ground out from under her. I want her to come to me of her own accord, to beg for a deal.
Then he turned his gaze to Albert:
- We'll give them a reprieve. Less than a week, and then we'll announce the product. The marketing team also prepared the publicity and advertising to start with small leaks, about the publicity and the product. They tried to show that her company is stealing from us, let her flounder all over the place, and then at the last minute... Boom said with a giggle.
Albert quietly interrupted him:
- What about the lawsuit filed against her?
Elias smiled coldly:
Let's see what she's going to do now.
When I hear what you're saying now, I feel like you planned it from the beginning.
Elias chuckled softly and said. You should never underestimate your enemies, because if you do, you will pay the price.
He got up from his seat and said:
- "This war is not decided by strikes... but by what comes before. And Sidra... will be defeated when she thinks she's won.
At Sidra's headquarters - Midnight
She was trying her best, enlisting the help of Marcel to try to regain control. He came in quickly, clutching his computer, and began analyzing the data. The hours passed with tension and anxiety. Suddenly.
"How could I have forgotten that device of Lux's... The emails between them must have contained strong evidence!" he said.
I looked at him with obvious fatigue: - But Lux disappeared... and the device with him.
"Disappeared? When did that happen?" He asked in wonder.
"By the time we realized what he had done, he was already gone," she replied in a weak voice.
She put her face in her hands, sighing tiredly