Later in the night, Flavia received a voucher of two million sol from Bernhard I. J., owner of Schadensabwehr Versicherung conglomerate.

The voucher was accompanied by a virtual thank-you note. The note read, “Dear Ms. Flavia. Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insights. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

Not coincidentally, this sum covered all of Ortimus’s past and future losses from the low grade shipments.

It should have felt like a win, but it didn’t. Eli’s assessment was solid, as was his plan. They had recouped all their losses.

But the glimpses of the refinery burning were etched in her mind.

She stood on the balcony of the thousand story Ortimus tower that overlooked the city of Haveskon. She had often come to this place as a child, when she needed some peace of mind. She had always been ruthless, always been ambitious, but deep down she had always thought the recipients of her cruelty had deserved it. Was it still the case though?

The vast landscape of the metropolis with its myriad skyscrapers glowing under the night sky sprawled beyond her. But her mind kept flashing back to the scene of the smoldering refinery, a sense of deep regret and loss gnawing within. The once-proud structures, now reduced to twisted, molten ruins, bore testament to the devastating consequences of her actions. She had planned the attack with meticulous precision, believing it to be a necessary evil, but as she had watched the inferno consume the refinery, she couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

The incompetence of bureaucrats and executives who had risen to positions of power through networking and family wealth had always frustrated her. She had known Emerald Crust to be the same - yet another bastion of old wealth, slowly crumbling without a steady hand to guide it forward. She had reasoned that she had only accelerated the inevitable. But to see the flames engulf the construction that had once been a technological marvel had triggered something within her.

She had wanted to be at the helm of Ortimus to take the company to unprecedented heights. Yes, she cared about profit, about power, but she also wanted to build value. For her family. For her people. For humanity. She aspired for a world where the truly worthy could rise. But if this cycle of destruction continued, she wondered what would be left behind.

Her heart weighed heavily with the knowledge that innocent lives had been upended by her actions. Families had been torn apart, livelihoods destroyed, and the community left to pick up the pieces. Her mind raced with thoughts of the suffering she had caused, and the realization that her actions had likely only served to fuel a longer chain of revenge and retaliations.

Perhaps she could achieve her goals in a different way.

An alien feeling of deep contempt and disappointment bubbled up from within.