The Tokyo Economic Summit was a glitzy affair of global elites. Ye Xia arrived as part of the Yun family delegation, her armored designer bag slung over her shoulder. She felt the hostile auras immediately: Evangeline de Winter, shining with a vicious light, hanging on Mo's arm; Jin Lei, his amber eyes burning with hatred from across the room; and Leng Feng, who watched her with the cold interest of a snake.
The Mo matriarch's plan unfolded during a panel on sustainable development. Evangeline, during the Q&A, stood up with a sweet, concerned smile.
"…and while we all applaud innovation," she said, "we must also be wary of... unpredictable elements. I'm thinking of the recent, volatile moves by the Yun family's new heiress, Miss Ye. Such aggressive, loss-making strategies can destabilize entire markets. It almost makes one wonder about her... emotional fitness for such responsibility."
The insult was delivered with a velvet glove. The room's attention swung to Ye Xia. This was the public humiliation Mo had warned her about.
But Ye Xia was prepared. She had wasted money on a private intelligence firm to dig into Evangeline's past. She stood up, her voice amplified by the microphone, calm and cutting.
"Thank you for your concern, Miss de Winter. It's true, I believe in bold strategies. But I also believe in transparency. Unlike, for example, the 'De Winter Foundation for Clean Oceans,' which, according to my reports, has funneled over 80% of its donations into administrative costs and private yachts, with less than 5% actually reaching any environmental cause."
She paused, letting the gasps ripple through the audience. Evangeline's face turned chalk-white.
" I have the documents right here," Ye Xia continued, tapping her armored bag. "Perhaps we should have a panel on true sustainability? Financial, as well as environmental?"
The counter-attack was devastating. Evangeline was exposed as a hypocrite. The narrative of Ye Xia as "unstable" was shattered, replaced by one of her being ruthlessly well-informed. She had used her wealth to buy the information that protected her, turning the Matriarch's weapon back on itself.