Later, I leave the house. I join the traffic and pump the gas on my BMW and speed onto the highway. Few cars are about at 10 pm in the night. I roll the windows down and let in the chilly night air. I am wide awake by the time I reach the meeting spot. August made me drive thirty minutes just to talk. His paranoia is so similar to Tara's.

At the Hudson river's Chelsea Piers, I park my car and head towards a line of boats parked near the water. A man I recognize as August's chauffeur leads me to a yacht parked at the outer end of the pier. I climb onto the deck, regretting why I didn't bring a coat with me.

"You took your time." August comments dryly when I enter. He is prone to such humorless tones when he is annoyed, but I've gotten used to them by now.

"Tara was home." He nods in understanding. There is almost a shared understanding between us where Tara is concerned.

I sit down in the sole chair in the cabin. In a moment, the yacht comes to life and we set sail down to the main Hudson bridge. "I saw the latest development on the case this morning. Tara is very determined." August says. "I wouldn't put it past her if she won the case altogether."

"I trust she will. She can very well do anything she wants when she wants." August looks at me oddly. It passes quickly.

"Yes she does. Whatever she is doing is to our advantage. The documents she used to indict him are the same ones we received a few months ago." He presses a button and the wheelchair careens one eighty degrees. His back to me, he looks at the water as he speaks, "what we need to know is, how did she get that information?"

"I went back to the house some days ago, and I couldn't find anything. My guess is, she cleared everything after she moved in with me and probably has soft copies."

He turns sharply towards me, a scowl on his face, "she moved in with you?"

"Did I not tell you that?" I ask dubiously.

He approaches me slowly, menacingly. He is not pleased at all. "What did I tell you about developing feelings for her?" I look away. I cannot refute it because it's true. I have developed feelings for Tara. No matter what I tried, it just happened.

A full throated laugh erupts from him. In my eyes, I see the shards of a mad man glinting in his demeanor. I start to wonder if in fact I have created a madman out of him. "You fool. What about our plan? What about bringing my father down, huh?" His arms flail about his face getting redder by the minute. "You chose Tara over your whole life's mission?" He asks in a mocking tone.

I cross my arms, wondering why on earth he hates Tara so much. "I never let go of anything. Tara is not a barrier to our plan and besides can't I have both? Why is your sister so off limits?" My voice raises of its own accord.

He takes a huge sigh and closes his eyes for a while collecting his thoughts. "I don't care if you fall in love with my sister, go ahead, make babies if you want to. But since we were young, she was my father's wing woman and I do not trust her show of defiance towards him one bit."

At this new information, I am dumbfounded for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"I recall you said that she was there the first time my father came to your house." I nod, "Well she went with him everywhere else too. She knows so much about his companies and business associates than probably anybody in the world. Up until the time our mother died, she was always at the lapel of his coat, singing to his tune. Then everything changed. She went away for a year at some point and came back as his arch enemy?" He scoffs. "I never bought that act. Besides, she is the reason I am in a wheelchair anyway, I can't trust her if I were you."

"What happened?" I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

"A diving accident at our vacation home in Maine. She forced me to go but never told me about the rocks just below the surface of the water. Jumped and landed in the water, the rocks crashed my knee caps instantaneously. I had to be carried out quickly before I could drown. She never got to jump in after me. She was busy being moody in her room. After I came back home with irreparable damage to my knee joints, multiple comminuted fractures on my femurs, and a permanent wheelchair. I couldn't look at her the same way."

A fog of silence falls between us.

"Which explains why she could get all that information easily." He interjects.

August sowed a seed of doubt in my brain and suddenly everything looks clear to me. "What about the lawyer, the one who is representing her? Is he an acquaintance of your father's?"

"Well, technically yes, but they haven't been in touch since my father destroyed his practice seven years ago." The cruise comes to an end shortly after. I never knew time was moving so fast. "Anyways. The third phase is commencing tomorrow. Brace yourself for the turbulence."

"Don't worry about me. It's Ded we should worry about." I give him a printing nod and walk away from the yacht.

"Greet Tara for me." He says. I laugh at his expense. I would never do that. "I haven't allowed you to date my younger sister though." I give him the middle finger as I disappear from sight. August is really rubbing off on me. We grew close despite the first impressions. He is almost my only friend.

The next morning, the first of the many businesses owned by Ded is closed by the District Attorney's office on charges of deceptive marketing. Later during the day, a pub in Hell's Kitchen is suspended due to food poisoning claims by ten customers. All over the country, Ded Moroz's companies are closed, suspended or fined publicly. In the late afternoon, the man himself appears on NNC having an interview about the sudden closure of his subsidiaries.

Of course he won't say anything bad about himself, so I turn off the TV before he even starts lying. Give it one day and his stock will be at an all time low. Next will be the chain supermarkets, the resorts and finally the car manufacturing industry we partnered together in. With that business down, his entire stash of slush funds and retirement funds will be gone.

I turn the TV back on at 7:00 pm, when the first trial for Madris against Von starts. Trust Mr. Von to broadcast his own hearing. Good for me though, I get to watch it from the comforts of my office. There is already a general prejudice created against Mr. Von because of all the company closures. As Tara's lawyer presents her case, I am amazed by how much she knows. She has lawsuit papers from the past which were silenced, complaints from customers, employees and others, as well as letters from her mother which explicitly detail a life of silent suffering for a woman in a high profile leadership position.

When all of this is over, even if Mr. Von wins, he is not likely to regain the adulation he had in the business world. The court adjourns to a date to weeks after the first hearing. I can tell Ded's team is the one that requested the adjournment because they can tell they are losing footing in court and in the public eye.

I send Tara a text. "Congrats on your victory."

She answers almost instantly, "I am almost there." She replies.

"I can tell from the smile on your face right now.'' She looks up at the camera filming her from the courtroom. She looks so cute when she is confused. Then she smiles like only I can see her. "That's the one."

She sends a couple of confetti emojis, "We should celebrate."

"I know, but you have work tomorrow, remember?" I look at the TV for her expression, she rolled her eyes. "I can see you, you know?"

"You were meant to see that, party pooper." Just then the channel changes to another program.

"Hey, there is a lot of time for us to celebrate."

"I know. See you at home." She sends with a heart emoji. I wish the broadcast was back on so that I can see her now. My heart is throbbing in my chest.

I meet her in the elevator as I am going to the penthouse. She comes to my side and holds onto my arm. I put my arm onto her shoulder and listen as she recounts the hearing with excitement. Her excitement brings out new ferocity out of her, a childlike zeal that I like. She is beaming the entire way up.

I have to cut her off to make her calm down. I leave the room as she changes into lighter clothes and order out. She bounds out of the room skipping up and down and takes me with her. She makes me jump with her as she shouts and laughs. This is the happiest I have ever seen her.

When the energy finally drains out of her, she settles into the couch with a plate of steaming ramen and a contrasting desert of creme brulee. After the meal, she helps me clean up and organize again before we retreat to bed. We talk, neither of us wanting to sleep, until early in the morning. She finally falls asleep a little before 2:00 AM.

I get up from bed. I am not likely to catch any sleep now. I sit down to some work until morning. I leave for work before Tara gets up.

When I walk into the executive lobby, I notice a number of black clad figures in every corner of the expansive room. I greet Mike on my way and enter my office. As I had surmised, Mr. Von is sitting inside the office.