LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 41.2
Lena Luthor looked good. Damn good even, despite the clear exhaustion Kara could see.
She could have easily been a model in another life, looking older than Kara by about five to ten years but only in the sense that she looked more mature and responsible. Her hair was tied into a bun and she wore a pair of thin designer glasses; mere accentuations to the stern look she naturally gave that screamed battle tested competence.
Upon entering, she took a second to scan the restaurant in search of Kara, who would be surprised if the Luthor wasn’t simultaneously casing all the other customers as well. Taking a bite from some cookies she had ordered, Kara watched as a waiter quickly approached and led the businesswoman towards her table.
The meeting was supposed to be an informal thing. A quick pit stop in the middle of Lena’s busy day for a promising young businesswoman to pitch her a new idea, or at least that was what Kara hoped it would look like from the outside.
She didn’t really need a lot of time to talk with Lena, Kara doubted she’d manage to steal the woman away from her brother’s company in a single afternoon anyway. The dark side had its claws sunk deep into this one. But, she could lay the first seeds of temptation and that was good enough for now.
Of course Kara had done her homework beforehand. Lena, like her brother, was both a great businesswoman and a great inventor but, as the younger sibling, she was always forced to be one step behind.
She had managed to stay clear of her brother’s more… questionable business deals and even fought against some of his decisions, but she didn’t have much support in LexCorp thanks in no small part due to Lex’s manipulation of the chess pieces involved.
Currently, she was working as the CEO of LexCorp Robotics, but the vast majority of what she created was under the broader LexCorp name, not her own. In effect, despite her talent, very few people even knew she existed, always overshadowed by her egomaniacal brother.
Kara watched as the woman approached and couldn't help admiring her. Lena didn't quite have the same athletic build as Kori, but she obviously took care of herself and exuded an air of authority the Tamaranean just lacked, even if the latter did, technically, have far more power than Lena, probably in all aspects.
"Miss Kara Danvers, you went to a lot of trouble to arrange this meeting," Lena opened when she arrived at the table, taking a second to stare at Kara with an appraising look. "I'm surprised you even managed it. Despite your most recent accomplishments, your company isn't big enough to normally get a meeting with me in less than a month."
"I have my ways, Miss Luthor," Kara replied with a polite smile as the waiter pulled a chair for the business woman. "To be honest, I'm more surprised you accepted the offer on the first try."
"The fact that you managed to get such a huge deal closed with WayneTech drew a lot of attention," Lena answered as she settled herself. "In truth, I wasn't going to accept this meeting, but the designs for your solar panels are absolutely brilliant, and I do require at least one intelligent conversation in my day to day."
"Thank you, you should see the finished product,” Kara lifted an eyebrow at that last sentence. Giving the woman some time to order her own drink, she continued. “Still, I wasn't sure you'd be able to make it, what with all of LexCorp's latest troubles."
"I… actually, that was part of why I accepted," Lena said with a tired and frustrated voice. "I needed a break from dealing with all that…"
"Well, I'm glad I could help out," Kara said with obvious faux chipper. She honestly felt a bit guilty though, a lot like those scam businesses that created a problem just to swoop in and offer a solution later. The woman was clearly exhausted if she was letting comments like that escape in an introductory business meeting. “Should I get right to business then?”
“It would be for the best, yes,” Lena said. Thanking a waiter when he handed her a cup of coffee, she sipped the dark roasted brew and relaxed a little. “I have read everything there is to know about you, Miss Danvers. Which is another way of saying there is incredibly little to find, but one thing I could gather was that you’re very direct in your business dealings. So, please, present your proposal. I’m eager to see what you could bring to LexCorp.”
Kara narrowed her eyes at the quick turn in atmosphere. Was what she’d said earlier not something Lena had accidentally let out after all? She was a Luthor; she could very easily be trying to seem more familiar and open to manipulate a younger, talented business owner.
Really, it wasn’t like she had revealed any great secret, everyone knew the state LexCorp was in right now.
“Actually, I’m not really interested in LexCorp, I’m interested in you,” Kara said, smirking a little at the woman’s subtly raised eyebrow. “I’m offering you a job, Miss Luthor, a job as the CEO of my company.”
“You’re… actually trying to poach from LexCorp… You are aware we’re one of the biggest companies in the world?” Lena said with an all-too-perfect tone of disbelief. Taking another sip of coffee, she let her amusement show as she decided to indulge Kara. “Ignoring the disparity in capitalization, intellectual property and human resources and the fact that the company you’re trying to poach me from literally has my brother’s name on it. Why would I work for you? The only things you have to your credit are a few circuit boards, a couple of old buildings and new solar panels that, if you’ll forgive the pun, haven’t truly seen the light of day yet.”
“Well, you wouldn’t have to desperately lie to protect said brother’s oh-so-good name, for one,” Kara took her own sip and leaned forward on the table. “Tell me Miss Luthor, just what has LexCorp done in the last 5 years? What has it really achieved?”
“We have achieved more than you can ever imagine… I have to say, you haven’t started well,” Lena sighed, but didn’t start revealing company secrets to Kara. Still, she looked down to her coffee and took another sip. “Still. This place really is good, I just love the coffee here. It would be a shame to just walk out without finishing my cup so you have until I finish it to convince me.”
“Hmmm, yes, I guess you did achieve a lot in your own way. As CADMUS was one of your investments one can look at what they made; an entire new race of genetically designed sentient beings,” Kara praised, causing Lena to flinch at the unspoken accusation. “And yet where are the products? Where are the cloned organs? The cures for diseases? It doesn’t take much imagination to know how much value is being left on the table, but your brother had scientists capable of creating a new race and he used them to fight Superman… How many of LexCorp’s other projects has he turned to that same goal? How many of its inventions ever end up in civilian hands anymore?”
“That… is not a completely inaccurate view,” Lena nodded, taking another sip and pausing to think. “Still, let’s for the sake of argument say I agree, why wouldn’t I attempt to change things from within my own company? Why would I agree to work for such a comparatively small business?”
“Do you really think you can make changes? With Lex there? How much do you really think he’d ever let anyone but himself dictate the company’s direction?” Kara asked rhetorically, sensing from Lena’s demeanor exactly how much. “And that’s before we get into LexCorp’s dual class shareholder structure. The board would never be able to oust him without you and to openly defy him would have consequences. Besides, Danvers Enterprises is far better positioned than you may think. Did you know we managed to hire a sizable number of the scientists from CADMUS? I spoke with Caldecott Industries earlier this week and managed to secure a deal to produce a new lab, one that will actually use the knowledge acquired at CADMUS for more than just playing Supervillain.”
“I have absolutely no intention of stopping at producing solar panels, Miss Luthor. That was simply the first step. What I’m offering you is a chance to get out from under your brother’s thumb,” pulling out a small flash drive, Kara pushed it across the table towards the older woman. “You said I have no idea what LexCorp has achieved lately. You’re right, but that was because nobody has any idea. It barely does anything exciting or innovative these days.”
The flash drive contained some of the more promising projects Kara had decided to drop, for one reason or another. Things that she wouldn’t actually mind being stolen, but that were good enough to show Lena a peek at what Danvers Enterprises, or well, Kara herself, was working on.
Lena finished her coffee, a fingertip tapping the memory stick in thought. “I take it this is to further tempt me?”
“Of course,” Kara said shamelessly, finishing her own drink and ordering another. “Can you imagine it, Miss Luthor, actually making a difference? How long can you stay under Lex before some of his dirt starts falling onto you?”
“I’ll think about it,” Lena finally said, grabbing the flash drive and putting it in the inner pocket of her blazer. “This… was not what I had expected, not by a long shot.”
“Take as long as you want,” Kara replied, pretty happy with the meeting. She could see how angry Lena was at Lex.
Kara wasn’t actually sure she had managed to tempt Lena enough but, even if she hadn’t, she was pretty sure the woman was planning on making some kind of play against her brother in the near future. And really, anything that caused trouble for Lex was a win in her book.
Who knows, LexCorp had lost over 39% of its stock value since Kara had started releasing their dirt to the world, Lena may actually have a chance of ousting her brother if things went low enough and she could get enough outside investment.
“I’ll be in contact,” paying for her own drink, Lena walked right out of the building, but Kara could see her eyes glancing down at the flash drive in her pocket as she walked back towards her office.
With a tap of her finger, Kara dropped the interference field around her table. Watching Lena through the building’s walls, Kara smiled when she caught her pausing to look back towards the coffee shop.
Picking up another cookie, she bit another piece off and absentmindedly whispered. “Come Lena, I know there’s good in you; Lex hasn’t driven it from you fully.”
Looking at the clock, Kara left the building in a hurry; she was already late for training with her cousins.