A few days later.
Los Angeles.
In the car, Morgana sat in the back seat, watching people walk by with smiles, some with exhaustion.
"How's the plan going, Sofia?" Morgana asked Sofia, who was driving.
"Everything is going as you wanted, although there were some issues at first with people who didn't want to move."
"And the buyers?" Morgana asked.
"With enough money, they were willing to sell."
"Haa, people are really willing to do anything when money's involved, even a single penny can save a life."
"Really," Sofia clicked her head, looking at the road ahead.
"However, some things can't be bought with money, no matter how much you have," Morgana said with regret in her eyes, as the car fell into heavy silence.
A few minutes later.
The car stopped in front of a modern and elegant building, where there were a lot of people.
"Morgana, we've arrived."
Morgana snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Sofia's voice, looked ahead, and saw a crowd of journalists standing on the side, leaving only the path to the entrance of the building.
Sofia got out of the car, then opened the back door through which Morgana stepped out, dressed in a red dress. The journalists immediately started taking pictures of her, some even tried to run toward her, but the guards stopped them.
Morgana smiled faintly and waved, then started walking towards the building, with Sofia following behind her, dressed in a professional suit instead of a maid's outfit.
When she arrived in the boardroom, she was met with loud criticisms.
"Morgana, you're half an hour late..."
Morgana looked at the old men who pointed fingers at her, showing no respect, as if she hadn't arrived as the chairwoman, but as a regular employee.
"What do you old fossils know about women?"
Morgana said in a disdainful tone as she walked to the chair at the head of the table. Those who had criticized her turned red in the face, clearly furious at her remark.
"Yo, sis," Morgana greeted as she sat down, and Pepper, with a tight smile, nodded her head.
Morgana also noticed Obadiah to her left, wearing a happy grin, as if his plan was going exactly as he wanted. Morgana gave a small mysterious smile, which Obadiah noticed.
After that, Morgana carefully listened to the board members saying she was incapable of leading. For that, she stared at the old men with a dead look in her eyes, who had forgotten that they were sitting in front of a genius greater than Tony Stark, who, before Pepper came, had been running Stark Industries on her own, increasing the stock by 30% in just six months while Tony was having fun.
Morgana clapped her hands to attract attention.
"Since I see that you all think I'm incapable and too young to be the chairwoman, I think I have the perfect candidate for this position."
The group went silent, waiting for her response.
"I think you all know her. Pepper Potts, she worked for a few years as Tony's secretary, and I think she's experienced enough to take over the chairmanship, since I'm too young and inexperienced, unlike her."
"Impossible!" Obadiah hastily said, panic written all over his face, seeing that the plan wasn't going as he wanted.
Morgana looked at Obadiah and the old men who opposed her, then she noticed Pepper looking at her in disbelief. Finally, she sighed softly and looked at Sofia, who immediately reacted to her gaze.
Sofia pulled out papers from her briefcase and began handing them out to everyone, while those who received them started reading with furrowed brows.
"Since I'm worried that you old antiques have forgotten how to read, I hope your ears are still functioning," Morgana said with a contemptuous and venomous tongue as she started to read. The old men who heard her contempt immediately grew angry, but could only listen quietly, their faces red, veins popping from their foreheads in pure fury.
"'I, Tony Stark, leave all my assets to my sister Morgana Stark, in case something happens to me or I die.' Although it's short, I believe my brother wrote this, because if it were longer, I doubt it would be him..." Morgana said with a small smile on her face. "...Now, if you still have doubts, we can call the lawyer who brought it and the police."
When she finished, Morgana noticed that everyone was silent. She glanced at Obadiah, who had a grim face, while his body trembled slightly, either from anger or something else.
"Now, if my memory serves me right, my brother has 50% of the shares, along with my 5%, that makes 55%, doesn't it?" She looked at the old men, who nodded their heads, their faces heavy.
With a sadistic smile, she added: "Now, I think Pepper is capable of sitting in the chairmanship instead of me."
The old men looked at her smile and trembled slightly, knowing that they had been in her hands the whole time. They swallowed their pride and nodded their heads.
"I'm glad we all agree, otherwise it would be problematic if you didn't," she clapped her hands as she had an innocent smile on her face, making the old men shudder even more, because they saw everything but an innocent smile.
"Alright, I think the meeting is over," Morgana said, getting up from the chair. "I'm counting on you, sis, and I'm sorry for putting this burden on your shoulders."
She gently patted Pepper on the shoulder and left the room, with Sofia following.
Several months later
Afghanistan
In a part of the country, inside a cave, two men can be seen sitting and playing backgammon. One is in old clothes, with a gleam visible in the middle of his chest, while the other is in neat clothes with glasses. These are Tony Stark, who has been kidnapped, and Jinsen.
"Nice shot... Nice shot," said Jinsen.
"Where are you from?" Tony asked.
"From the town of Gulmira."
"Nice little place, actually," Jinsen replied to Tony's question.
"Family?"
"I have one, and I'll see them when I leave here."
"You, Stark?" Jinsen asked Tony.
"My sister Morgana," Tony said, in an unusual voice, as he became deep in thought.
"A genius greater than you. She must be worried about you."
Tony smiled when he heard what Jinsen said.
"Maybe at first, now she's probably laughing at my misfortune. I wouldn't be surprised if she's watching us right now."
Jinsen suspiciously looked at Tony, who was now smiling.
Tony noticed Jinsen's suspicion. "Don't let her innocent and kind smile fool you, what you saw, she's a very cruel and protective person."
"When she was 11, during a trip, she experienced her first assassination attempt, in which her bodyguard, who tried to protect her, died."
"Just ten days later, the news announced that a politician had committed suicide."
"Since I was free, I had doubts about that incident, so I started investigating. That's when I came across something so cruel that I couldn't sleep..." he paused for a moment before continuing. "The politician who committed suicide had ordered the assassination of my sister. At that moment, I felt immense anger and was actually glad he committed suicide. However, when I began to investigate further, I became more and more shocked and filled with fear."
"His child, who went to school with my sister, suddenly disappeared one day. In the end, they found him on the street, raped, all his organs were removed, he was tortured in various ways. What scared me the most was that, when his organs were being removed, he wasn't sedated during the procedure. The doctors couldn't even confirm how he died. Some say he died from pure pain, some from blood loss during the surgery, and some from the organ removal. They even said they gave him an unknown drug that increased the pain by ten times and gave him greater endurance, so he stayed alive until the end of the surgery, even though various organs were removed and he was in immense pain."
Jinsen was in deep shock and fear when he heard what Tony said.
"I had the same expression," Tony said when he saw Jinsen's face.
"When I continued reading, although it wasn't as terrifying as with the child, his wife had been missing for several days and hadn't answered the phone, until they found her in the house she had bought, hiding it from her husband. She was lying dead, and according to what the doctors and analysts said, she had also been continuously raped. In the end, she lost consciousness, and the doctors said she had been tested with various drugs, one of which increased the pain by as much as 50 times, while another made her feel like her entire body was on fire, along with some others."
"How did they discover the function of the drug? It's not easy to discover, it's even impossible to figure out if the person is dead," Jinsen asked with a suspicious and trembling voice.
"They discovered it on the politician's computer, when he committed suicide. There was a video showing the torture of his wife and child, and they even mentioned what each drug was for. They also found a message saying he had to commit suicide within an hour, or he would experience the same as his wife and child. They also found a voice message in which an anonymous voice said: 'You shouldn't have sent the assassin.' The FBI, CIA, and some other organizations began to suspect that my sister was behind all this, and even I started to believe it. In the end, they only discovered that the politician had committed suicide due to stress, while hiding the other details."
"After seeing all that, I couldn't sleep for several days, while I suspected my sister had done it all. One night, I saw her sitting and looking through the window. When I approached her, she suddenly asked me a question that made me feel such fear that I almost fainted."
POV Tony
"What does it feel like to doubt your own sister?"
When I heard what Morgana said, I felt immense fear deep in my soul. Still, I asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue.
"Why? He was just a child."
"A child? Hahaha... I was also a child who faced an assassination attempt, who watched my bodyguard die right in front of my eyes, a child who had to heal the assassin who had just tried to kill me."
The longer Morgana spoke, the more I lowered my head, realizing that I hadn't thought about any of that at all.
I looked at her as she turned, but instead of her usual innocent and kind smile, I saw dark green eyes like an abyss, eyes that could swallow anyone. Her face was cold, and I felt such a chill that it seemed like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped.
"Remember, brother... Everyone wears a mask that hides their true face. Whether a child or an adult, everyone hides behind something. Some wear a mask of happiness while actually concealing sorrow. Some wear a kind and innocent mask, but behind it lies cruelty or fragility. And you..."
"... You wear a mask of arrogance, but inside, you hide sadness. You can't hide your mask from me..."
"... There are few who live without a mask."
With a trembling voice, I asked her, "And you, sister?"
"When I faced that assassination attempt and watched my bodyguard die while protecting me, I realized how precious life is and how it must be guarded like a drop of water in the palm of a hand."
"This world doesn't need my kindness. It should be reserved for family, not strangers. And now... it seems I must wear this mask and hide behind it."
I looked at Morgana as she walked toward me. My body instinctively moved backward.
She saw me retreating but simply stopped in front of me and gently hugged me. I immediately froze.
"Brother, you can avoid me, you can look at me with fear and disgust... but remember, I will always be here for you. Even if the whole world turns against you, you can always come to me when you need something."
She softly kissed my cheek, then turned and walked toward her room. All I could hear were her footsteps gradually fading away.
Tears started rolling down my face on their own.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, sister, for doubting you."
POV end
The room fell silent after Tony finished his story.
"Your sister is truly right, but something bothers me... How was she able to travel if she was underage? And one more thing... You mentioned that she healed the assassin?" Jinsen broke the silence, while Tony, with a hint of doubt in his voice, responded:
"Oh, that? She simply hacked the system and entered that she had a rare disease that caused her to grow slower. She changed her name and date of birth, creating a new identity for herself. As for the assassin... Well, she started working as a surgeon when she was just ten years old."
Tony answered nonchalantly, while Jinsen, in complete shock, silently stared at him.
"She really is..."
"A genius," Tony interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.
"That's what I thought too."
"But how did no one recognize her? After all, she was well-known even as a child," Jinsen asked.
"Simple... She created a mask that covered her face with severe burn scars and wore a regular surgical mask over it to further hide her appearance."
Silence took over once again.
"Tomorrow will be a tough day," Jinsen said quietly.
"Yeah," Tony answered briefly.