Silver Tears(19)

Irene nodded with a smile and waved the waitress over to take their order.

When the champagne arrived, Faye took a cautious sip and wondered how to start.

Before she had time to say anything, however, Irene cleared her throat.

“There’s a rumor that someone is buying up shares in Revenge.”

Faye had an uneasy feeling in her gut. Of course Irene already knew.

“That’s right. I didn’t know how much you’d heard.”

Irene shrugged, took off her glasses, and set them down on the table.

“I don’t know any details. It’s just idle gossip.”

Faye put down her glass.

“It began a while ago with small numbers of shares being bought. However, these sales are now happening with such regularity that we’ve detected a pattern—we think it’s the same buyer behind all of them.”

“And you have no idea who it is?”

“No. The acquisitions have been concealed in a jumble of buyers. But we’re digging as much as we can and we will find the answer. The only problem is, that takes time, and I don’t know how much time we have. I don’t know what the next move is.”



“And you’re worried that I’m going to sell?”

A pizza arrived and was positioned on a stand in the center of the table. It smelled heavenly. Liberal toppings of Kalix l?jrom, crème fra?che, and red onion. They took a slice each; it was piping hot. But Faye wasn’t able to fully concentrate on her food. She was looking at the woman sitting across from her: urbane, sophisticated, still inaccessible in some ways.

“Yes, I don’t understand why the others have sold, and I wanted to reassure myself that you’re going to keep your holding.”

Irene was the single largest individual shareholder, second only to Faye, and it would be a disaster if she too sold.

“No one has approached me. Yet. Probably because they know we’re good friends and that the first thing I’d do is tell you. But I give you my word that I won’t sell.”

“That’s a relief to hear,” said Faye, taking another slice of pizza.

She took a bite and washed it down with her champagne. The taste was wonderful.

Are you really going to eat that? Jack’s voice came back to her. That furrowed brow. The look of disgust. In the years after giving birth to Julienne, she’d been on the end of constant digs about her appearance and her weight. Nothing she did could make Jack happy.

Now she ate what she wanted, in moderation. The insecurity that had given rise to binge eating was a thing of the past. Instead of being ashamed of her body, seeing only the imperfections, she took pride in it. Exercise had gone from being a form of punishment she was forced to endure to something that gave her pleasure, especially when she observed the toned muscles she’d acquired.

Her self-esteem was another of the many things she had won back from Jack.

“What else are you doing?” said Irene. “Has…what’s her name…Kerstin come with you to Sweden?”



“Yes, Kerstin is with me and she’s working around the clock to find out what’s going on. Yesterday, we spoke to several investors to persuade them not to sell.”

“Without giving anything else away, I hope?” Irene scrutinized her keenly while reaching for a second slice.

“Naturally. And I think it worked. But I ask myself whether that’s enough. It’s a question of how focused the person behind this is. I’m worried that it’s someone very focused indeed.”

Irene put down her cutlery and looked at Faye.

“How are you doing?”

Faye knew that with Irene it was best to stick to the straight and narrow.

“To be completely honest, I’m surprised at how badly this has shaken me. We’ve had crises in the company before in the last few years. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of crises of different sizes. Running a company is effectively a matter of crisis management. Well, you know that. But this…Someone is trying to take my life’s work away from me. I created Revenge with my own two hands and I’m still the one at the tiller. And it may be na?ve of me, but I never considered the possibility that someone would try to take away everything I’ve worked to build.”

Irene shook her head emphatically.

“It’s not na?ve. After all, how often do hostile takeovers happen nowadays? Basically never. Might it be Jack who’s behind this, somehow?”

“Jack? No, he’s got no capital left. And no contacts either. He’s wiped out and everyone has turned their back on him. I can’t see how he would be in a position to pull off something like this from prison. Especially after what he did to Julienne.”

“Is there anyone else you can think of?”

The waitress came back with their main courses and placed them on the table in front of the two women. She looked questioningly at the half-eaten pizza.

“Are you finished? Should I take it away?”

“No, no, leave it. We need carbs today,” said Faye, and Irene nodded. “Obviously I’ve picked up my fair share of enemies over the years,” Faye continued once the waitress was gone. “You can’t build a big company without treading on people’s toes along the way. But there’s no one in particular who stands out. I wish I had a clearer picture, or at least some theory about who it was. But no. Unfortunately, I have no idea.”