by Alexis Angel
"In the future, you may want to turn on the television for the two-way video screen and not just leave the camera running, folks," he says on live TV. "Because right now I can see and hear the whole thing logged in from my computer. I've been there for quite a while now. And Becca was right. Do I have quite a story to tell you."
All of a sudden, Mother notices something.
And she turns very, very white.
31
Mason
Actually, thinking about it right now, this is probably the highest ratings that Market Pulse is getting today.
The last time they probably had ratings this good was the last time I was on their show. Jesus, it feels so long ago that I was fucking Stacy Sawyer and I fucking shot my load all over the camera lens.
I know, I'm shaking my head as well, Gorgeous. I can't believe I did that.
The truth is, I was lost at that time.
Sure, I called myself the Bad Boy of Wall Street or the King of Wall Street, but all I really was doing was just fooling myself into thinking that I wasn't a lost little boy.
I mean, every other word out of my mouth was "fuck."
That's still the case a lot. Old habits die hard.
But fuck, think about what I used to do and compare it to now.
To my life...after Becca.
Until I met Becca I didn't have any boundaries. But it took almost losing her for me to see what my priorities should be.
That's why, when we realized that we were looking at an impending vote of no confidence from the Board, I got Becca to give me everything she had dug up so far and I made a few educated guesses.
Yeah, I had to leave town for a few days. There were a few hunches I needed to follow up on.
And yeah, I know I could've told Becca where I was going. But, also remember Gorgeous, we're at war. And sometimes in war you have to hold your cards close to your fucking vest.
So it actually made me smile as I saw the chips falling down just as I had expected.
I knew Becca would come to the conference room after not seeing me. It's been a hard few days not being around her, but just seeing her through the video screen was enough to keep me going.
Plus, once this is over, we'll have all the time we fucking need.
Yeah, this is pretty much over. I've got this in the bag. I'm pretty convinced. You can rest easily.
And listen, I know you've been in the dark for a bit. I've had information that you've wanted to know about and I kept telling you that I would tell you later. Well, later never came and things started coming up so I'm going to do one better.
I'm going to show you.
I smile and talk into the camera. I'm being broadcast to over 180 million homes around the country.
Why not take Lorna out in one fell swoop in front of the whole country?
Little payback for the long string of leaks and planted stories she's been doing to me the last couple months as she tries to sit in the big chair at Kane Price.
"Good afternoon, America, my name is Mason Kane and I'm the CEO of Kane Price," I say, controlling my words so as not to come across too aggressive to the people who may not know that Lorna deserves it.
When I approached the network the other day to come on Market Pulse, at first they were a bit skeptical. I mean, I came on the camera lens, remember? You can't just wipe that shit down with a damp cloth when trying to clean the lens. No, you gotta throw out the whole fucking camera is what you gotta do.
But when they saw the information that I had found, and saw that I was ready to share it, they were more than willing to help me.
After all, they were affected by this too.
They just didn't realize it.
"Many of you know me from my unfortunate event that I was involved in with a Market Pulse reporter several weeks ago," I say into the camera, trying to keep a straight face. "Caught in the moment during a sexual encounter, I may have unloaded more than I meant to during the interview. And from your perspective it may have looked like I came...on your faces."
Fuck, I forgot to tell you. One of the stipulations that I had to agree to with the network was that any fines and the like if I didn't manage to come out beating Lorna would be borne by me. I agreed. I mean, if I'm unsuccessful then it's not like Lorna will spare either of us.
"A lot happened in my life since then," I continue, thinking back to how I met Becca and the crazy fucking ride that the both of us have been on. "But my actions on this network kept coming back to haunt me."
I sigh, and lean forward. "Look, I know what they say when they see shit like that. I know they think that I'm a loose cannon. How can you trust someone like that who calls himself the King of Wall Street to manage trillions of dollars of other people's money?"
I can almost imagine America nodding its collective head.
"And yeah, I may have tried to compensate for it by compromising a bit," I say. "When Ms. Lowell showed me the reports of clients getting jittery, instead of doing the hard work and apologizing to the nation, I made her the Chief Investment Counsel at Kane Price and married her. Thought it would repair my image."
The studio is silent. "But it didn't. The demons kept coming back from that interview and they set off a chain of events that led me here, where I am one Board Meeting away from being removed as the CEO of the company that I founded."
I can see the video screen of the Kane Price conference room. Everyone is watching the television. Those fucking idiots still haven't figured out how exactly to turn on the video call monitor screen that's hanging on the room. So I can still see them because the camera is turned on, but the viewing screen being turned off means they can't see me.
"You've heard a lot about Red Lion Aviation," I say with a sigh. "You've heard that I don't think it's a viable company to invest in and this has called my judgment to lead the company into question. In fact I'm facing a No Confidence vote right now."
The people in the conference room are still. They're enraptured. Lorna looks like she might faint.
"Well, one of the interns at Kane Price did a little digging on Red Lion Aviation and they sent it to me," I say, pulling open the file.
Here's where I get to tell you everything, Gorgeous.
"Oh, and the intern that did this? Her name is Becca Lowell, and I love her," I say to the camera.
"Now I just heard a few gasps. I know what you're thinking. He's in love with his stepdaughter. His investment sense is skewed. He was caught fucking a reporter. His judgment is terrible," I say with a smile. "But let's really look at the facts, shall we?"
Now I turn my head slightly so it looks like I'm looking directly at the camera.
"To my Board of Directors," I say with declarative strength in my voice. "Becca is absolutely right. Red Lion Aviation flies planes nowadays, but they're only flying one to two flights per day. And they're all empty. Their profits are through the roof because they're getting investors left and right. And those investors are getting paid their returns based on new investments."
I see the people in the boardroom stiffen. They know what I'm describing. A ponzi scheme.
"But they have some very interesting employees," I say, not quite done. "They hired a woman a year ago who already had a job. Can we move the camera a bit?"
I see the camera swivel and there, sitting next to me, is Stacy Sawyer.
"Say hello to Stacy Sawyer, everyone," I say with a grin and I see consternation in my boardroom. "She was fired from this network earlier, but she didn't mind. Because she got a pretty big bonus from Red Lion Aviation."
I look to Stacy. "Tell us what it was for Stacy," I ask.
Stacy takes a gulp. I found her in Toronto after Becca handed me the file showing that Red Lion Aviation had hired her earlier in the year and had released her from employment shortly after the whole thing with her at Market Pulse.
"My job was to seduce and catch Mason Kane on camera in a compromising situation," Stacy says, looking into the camera like a pro. "To cause him emba
rrassment and call his judgment into question."
"Thank you, Stacy," I say with a wide grin. I can see on my laptop that people are starting to look at Lorna in the boardroom.
"And who hired you, Stacy?" I ask, knowing the answer full well, but deciding to play it out.
Stacy nods to me.
"I was hired by Lorna Lowell," she replies. "Who is the majority shareholder and CEO-at-large of Red Lion Aviation."
Now there are gasps in the studio as well.
"That's right folks," I say to the camera and the studio staff. "This shit is pretty big. So, Stacy was hired to fuck me on camera and get me into a situation. She was hired by none other than Lorna. Who then came up to me and tried to get me to repair my image by investing in a ponzi scheme that would have kept her criminal enterprise going on forever."
I pause for a second to let it sink in.
"But wait," I say with a smirk. "Let's just say that's all true, which it is. I still have the issue of being married to this woman and fucking her daughter, right?"
I pause for a moment. I can see the amount of consternation in the boardroom. I put the laptop on mute, but people are standing up and backing away from Lorna who is sitting crumpled in a corner, defeated.
"Well, I did some more digging there after I found Stacy Sawyer, and you'd be surprised what I found," I say and look to my left. "I'd like you meet a man I met in northern Canada. His name is Daniel Hoover, and he's the supposed late husband of Lorna Lowell."
Now I see Lorna perk up and look at the screen. It's not bad enough that she lost her Kane Price gambit.
Now she's going to lose everything else.
"Daniel Hoover is the biological father of the woman I love who is carrying my child, Becca Lowell," I say. "Many years ago, he was forced to fake his own suicide to get away from his horrible wife. He's been living quietly in Northern Canada, but when I mentioned to him that his daughter needed help, he was more than willing to come to New York with me. Say hello, Daniel."
Daniel is a lot more nervous than Stacy was. But he manages a, "Uhm, hey Becca. Hello, everyone."
And that's it. There are too many people in the boardroom yelling and shouting and screaming according to the camera on my laptop.
I had called the cops earlier and the last thing I see before it gets too crowded are two uniformed NYPD officers enter the boardroom.
I only have one last thing to do now.
"Listen, America, I'm sorry, okay?" I say to the camera. "Even if it was a trap, I should have controlled myself better. My enemies knew just how to manipulate me. But I'm not cheating on my wife with her daughter because I'm not married. And I did smell out a ponzi scheme and hopefully end the career of an international financial criminal like Ms. Lowell. But despite all that, I want you to know that I'll be trying to do better."
And the last bit.
"Because the final thing I have to say to the country is this. After everything I've gone through, I'd gladly do it again. Because I met the love of my life in the process. And her name is Becca Lowell," I say and give a long pause. "Thank you."
The producer cuts the taping and I swear to God the entire studio starts clapping and cheering.
I stand up and take a moment to bask in the adulation.
Back in the day, I would have fucking loved it. Maybe even fucked Stacy again.
But now, there's only one woman for me.
And I need to get to her right now.
32
Becca
It's utterly unbelievable what's going on. Actually, unbelievable doesn't even begin to describe what is going on.
Mom—Lorna—is sitting at the front of the conference room, her eyes on the television as it's playing Market Pulse. The anchors that took over are understandably stunned. For a full few minutes they did nothing but just replay sections from Mason's little speech that seems to have broken Wall Street.
Trading has been light, apparently. It seems traders don't know what to do so they've been sitting on their money and not buying or selling anything with the exception of one company.
Kane Price.
That's right. The stock has climbed up nearly 34% since Mason started talking. It really started to climb once he left.
He sent me a text about ten minutes ago also. Told me that he was on his way.
People that have been trying to leave the conference room have been stopped.
"No one comes in or out until Mason Kane gets here, folks," the detective from the NYPD says as he stands at the door with two uniformed officers.
No one has approached Mom since Mason started talking. In fact, they've given her a wide berth.
It's not every day that someone is accused and proven to be running a company that's conducting a ponzi scheme at the international level.
I'm just trying to process all this information.
I never had a clue that it was so big.
"How did you end up working for Red Lion Aviation?" the anchor is asking Stacy Sawyer on television. She stayed back after Mason left. She said she was there to answer any questions, but just between you and me, babe, I think she's just trying to capitalize on the situation and resurrect any sort of public image that she had.
"Well, I was approached by representatives of Ms. Lowell one evening," Stacy says slowly. "It turns out I had gone out with a few girlfriends for drinks after work one night and I was talking to some guy. I don't even remember who. But the next thing I knew was that whatever I had drunk had put me to sleep and when I woke up I was naked on a bed with three men having sex with me. They were filming it."
"And so it was blackmail?" the anchor asks her. She nods, tears coming down her face.
"I think now that I was set up," she says and the anchorman nods sympathetically as she continues. "They offered me a lot of money if I cooperated. And if I didn't they threatened to destroy my career. There was only one thing left to do."
I don't know what to believe at this point, but I have to say that it does sound in line with what I've seen this woman who once claimed to be my mother do.
That leaves one question remaining that I need answers to.
I start walking the length of the room toward Mom.
Unlike before, where no one could recognize me, this time everyone is watching me as I walk forward. People that are standing around talking in hushed voices part for me as I walk up to her.
Mom looks up at me.
She's been crying.
Her whole body seems defeated.
But there's still no love in those eyes. No remorse. Rather a regret at having been caught.
"Did you know he was still alive?" I ask her, my eyes searching her face.
She looks at me for a moment and then shakes her head. "He must have wanted to get away from me bad enough that he literally killed himself. Only he didn't."
"Didn't you ever view the body?" I ask.
"I never even attended the funeral," she says, almost with a distracted air.
"The way Daniel put it to me, she wanted him dead so badly that when someone told her he was, she believed it because she wanted to," a voice says behind me and I turn around.
It's Mason.
All the last four days of waiting and the last harrowing hour of emotional ups and downs comes crashing down and all I can do is wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest.
His arms hold me tightly for what seems like forever.
That's fine by me. After everything we've been through I never want him to let me go.
But eventually he does. And he looks at me.
"Your father is at one of my hotels close by to here," Mason says, looking me in the eyes. "You can go see him whenever you like but he's asked if you wanted to take it slow, he's okay."
I nod. Instead of rushing over to go see him, it makes sense to discuss the whole thing with Mason first.
"He knew you were alive and had kept tabs on you but he never wanted to cause you any harm by coming back into your life and upse
tting Lorna," he says, looking over at her. "Even though she said she never wanted you, at the time she made sure to make it clear that if he ever left her, she would keep you."
"She only must have done that to come out on top," I say slowly, as it dawns on me how incredibly fucked up my life really was. "To hurt him. The final insult."
Mason nods his head. "That's been her MO throughout her life. Don't just take, but completely destroy," he says to me. But this time, his eyes stay on Mom. "Isn't that right, Lorna?"
She looks at Mason with blank and vacant eyes. She's not used to losing so completely.
"I hope you're happy, Mason," she says. "You had to scorch the earth in order to beat me. I'll be surprised if there is even a Kane Price left six months from now."
Mason lets go of my shoulders and steps away from me.
"You've been trying to get your grubby little paws on this company ever since you caused your father's death," he says to her. "And that stops today."
"And you're the one who will stop me, Mason?" Mom asks, with the hint of a smile. "You're forgetting why I'm even here in the first place. I hold more stock in this company than anyone else except for you. There's nothing you can do about that."
"Stock that immediately loses voting rights and is liquidated in the event that you attempt to prevail against the interests of the corporation," Mason says as if he's been holding that one in for a while. "Or, if you go to jail."
That's when the two uniformed officers arrive.
"In this case, Lorna, both charges go very well against you," Mason concludes. "And that paper ownership certificate you have in Kane Price might as well be used for toiled paper in prison, since they don't provide you with any when you run out."
Mason nods to the detective who nods to the uniformed officers and they approach Mom.
"Lorna Lowell," the larger of the NYPD uniformed officers says as he takes out a pair of handcuffs. "You're under arrest for attempted conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, gross and egregious violations of the USA Patriot Act, and for violating multiple instances of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act."