The Thorne Heiress Unveiling Shadow novel Chapter 46

The vast marble table between them was no longer just a piece of furniture; it was a chessboard, and the game had begun. Kaelen Blackwood, having been stripped of his conventional conversational weapons, decided to probe her defenses directly. He leaned back, creating an illusion of casual conversation, but his eyes were sharp, analytical, missing nothing.

"Professor Albright tells me you have a remarkable talent for predicting market volatility," he began, his voice a smooth, deep baritone. "He seems to think you have an almost... prophetic understanding of financial systems. It reminds me of the anonymous analyst, 'Oracle.' Their predictions have an uncanny habit of coming true. The Sutton family learned that the hard way."

He watched her, looking for a flicker of pride, a slip of the tongue.

Evelyn merely took a slow sip of the water the assistant had left for her. "Dr. Albright is a brilliant man, but he's prone to academic hyperbole," she replied, her voice cool and even. "I simply believe that most market volatility isn't as random as people think. If you analyze the underlying patterns, the academic theories of market behavior suggest that most major shifts are predictable. It's not prophecy, Mr. Blackwood. It's just math."

She had effortlessly parried his thrust, turning a question about a specific, mysterious identity into a dry, academic discussion. It was a masterful deflection.

He changed his line of attack. "A similar kind of elegance was seen recently in your family's own company. The defense of the StarLink network against that ransomware attack... my analysts were stunned. They said the countermeasure wasn't just a defense; it was a work of art. The kind of elegant, minimalist code one rarely sees outside of theoretical applications."

This was a more direct probe. He was referencing an event she was directly tied to, a problem that had been solved by the legendary "Shadow."

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