A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Lena Lord meets with Lucien Luthor, unaware that he knows more about this meeting than she expects~

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She hated to admit it, but Lena Lord… was defeated. The Gala was supposed to be her big break, but instead it had merely shown Lena exactly where she stood with everyone else.

It didn't matter that she'd been the one to turn her father in for his crimes. It didn't matter that she'd renamed his company from Maxwell Lord Enterprises to merely Lord Enterprises. Nothing she'd done mattered so much as what the last name Lord had become associated with.

Either that or what mattered too much to some people. She'd 'betrayed' her father, she'd shown she was 'disloyal' and 'untrustworthy'. Never mind that her father was a criminal who had literally tried to take over the world by way of the Justice League. He didn't even get close to succeeding, so to certain businessmen, she was tainted by lack of association instead.

Put bluntly, Lena was hated by everyone and nobody wanted to do business with her at this point. Her father's former allies wanted her and Lord Enterprises to fail so they could buy it off of her for pennies on the dollar, while everyone else wanted nothing to do with her or the company because they were tarred with the same brush as Maxwell.

In the end, despite hosting the Lord Gala and talking with dozens upon dozens of different CEOs and executives, Lena Lord had managed to secure one single meeting that night. Despite being ogled by man after man, despite putting up with them all eye fucking her all night long, only one single person had been willing to truly give her the time of day.

Lucien Luthor.

Truth be told, after their short conversation, when Lucien had told her to have their assistants set up a meeting, Lena had initially thought that he was snubbing her just as much as everyone else. After all, surely he had to know she didn't have an assistant at this point… right?

She'd been too desperate to say anything though, and before she knew it she was directed over to the rather cute, bespectacled Kara Danvers, who was surprisingly happy to set up a meeting between her boss and Lena. Before she knew it, she had a meeting with the CEO of the most powerful company in the world.

Lena had kept waiting for the other shoe to drop this past week. She'd expected delays or postponements, or even maybe just an outright cancellation altogether. But it had never come. The meeting hadn't been moved back so here Lena was, standing in an elevator in LexCorp Tower, watching the number at the top of the doors climb and climb as it takes her all the way to the very top floor…

Ding!

Until finally, she arrives at long last. Swallowing thickly, Lena makes sure to have a confident, easy smile on her lips before the elevator doors open. Once they do, she steps out with grace and poise, making her way over to the desk outside of Lucien Luthor's office where a familiar face is waiting for her.

"Ms. Lord, it's so good to see you again!"

She sounds sincere, Lena notes, even as she smiles and nods.

"You as well, Ms. Danvers. I'm here for my appointment with Mister Luthor. I hope there's no… problems there?"

This would be the last hurdle. If Lucien Luthor was just playing some game with her, if he was just aiming to humiliate her… then turning her away at his office doors without ever even seeing her in the first place would be the way to do it. News would spread like wildfire, given that this was literally the only meeting she'd been able to secure. She would-

"Of course not! In fact, Mister Luthor has been looking forward to this meeting and cleared his whole morning to be ready for you! Please, right this way!"

Lena blinks, caught off guard by the enthusiasm. Not just Kara Danvers' enthusiasm either, but also the enthusiasm of the man she's supposed to be meeting today. Still, she has no choice but to follow Kara when the blonde hops up out of her seat and walks over to the waiting double doors that no doubt lead into Lucien Luthor's office.

"Mister Luthor, Lena Lord is here for her meeting with you!"

"Wonderful."

Lena follows Kara into the office, trying not to be too intimidated by the size of the space or the richness of the décor. It's an understated sort of wealth, not nearly as gaudy as some of the businessmen she's dealt with in her life, but still very clearly costly in a way her trained eyes can't help but notice.

She mostly focuses her attention on the man she's come here to meet though. Lucien Luthor, the son of Lex Luthor and the new CEO of LexCorp as of about a year ago. His was the success story where hers was the failure.

His father had become President of the United States despite his checkered past, working off of having spared no expense in helping to save the Earth from Brainiac's invasion. Her father, meanwhile, had crashed and burned in the most public of ways, failing in his own plans for power completely and utterly.

Lena keeps all of these thoughts off of her face as she strides forward, still smiling. Holding out a hand, she lets Lucien take ahold of it and kiss the back of her knuckles in greeting before pulling it back.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mister Luthor."

"But of course, why wouldn't I? Please, have a seat. Kara will get us refreshments, so pick your poison."

Back when she'd originally arranged this meeting, before she'd understood just how bad things really were, Lena Lord had… intentions for how this was going to go. And that Lena would have certainly asked for water, wanting to keep things as professional as possible.

In the time since, as she'd realized how fucked she was and that this meeting was the only lifeline she had available to her… Lena's plans had changed.

"Ah, well… if I could trouble you for a glass of wine, that would be lovely."

Lucien barely reacts, though out of the corner of her eye, Lena notices his secretary jolts at the request. To be fair, it is rather… gauche to ask for wine at a meeting like this. Unless one is trying to send a certain type of… message.

"Of course. Kara, bring us a bottle and two glasses please."

"Y-Yes Mister Luthor."

As the blonde moves to do as she's told, Lena settles as gracefully as she can into a chair in front of Lucien's desk while he does the same in his own chair on the other side. He gives her a smile once they're both seated.

"I would be remiss if I did not start by saying how much you impress me, Ms. Lord. It takes a very brave, very heroic woman indeed to turn on family when they're engaging in criminal activity."

Outwardly, Lena flushes at the compliment while inwardly her thoughts race as she tries to figure out if it's a backhanded one or not. It also might be a thinly veiled barb and not intended as a compliment whatsoever.

In the end, as Kara comes back over with the bottle and glasses and begins to pour, Lena stops trying to figure it out and just smiles.

"Please Mister Luthor, feel free to call me Lena."

Again, Lucien Luthor barely reacts to the suggestive offer, while his secretary very nearly spills the wine from how she stiffens up. She doesn't actually spill, the poor thing, but its quite close indeed before she manages to correct course.

As the wine is finished pouring, Lena takes her glass and takes a long sip, while Lucien does the exact same with his own, watching her with a steady gaze for a moment. Finally, he smiles.

"Very well. Call me Lucien then. It only seems fair."

Smiling back at him, Lena raises her wine glass in wordless agreement before taking another sip.

After another moment passes, Lucien tilts his head to the side, studying her curiously.

"What exactly do you hope to gain from this meeting, Lena? Back at the Gala, I got the impression that you hoped to explore whether LexCorp and Lord Enterprises could potentially do some small amount of business together."

Skillfully hiding a wince that threatens to undo her, Lena simply nods instead, still smiling as she brings up the thin briefcase she's brought with her.

"… Yes, admittedly that was my hope at the time, Lucien. Unfortunately, I've realized since the Gala that my eyes were too big for my stomach."

Opening the briefcase up, she removes a thick folder and sets it aside, even as Lucien's brow lifts in response. The source of this content ɪs ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt

"Oh?"

Letting out an explosive sigh, doing her best to keep her poise and remain as 'prim and proper' as always, Lena slowly nods.

"Yes. The truth is… Lord Enterprises doesn't have much to offer you and LexCorp as a business partner. It would be far from an equal relationship."

Humming, Lucien tilts his head to the side again.

"In all fairness, LexCorp is one of the largest companies in the world, Lena. Most business relationships are far from equal for us."

That brings a fraction of a real smile to Lena's face as she makes a small, amused noise in the back of her throat.

"Indeed. But I imagine that LexCorp didn't get as big as it is by making bad deals that are only detrimental to your health in the long run. Which is what any deal we made today would turn out to be. Except for this one."

With that, she pushes the folder across the desk, allowing Lucien to take it from her. He looks at her curiously for a moment before opening it up and beginning to read. Lena takes another sip of her wine as he does so, watching the man carefully for a reaction.

This time around, she gets one. Both of his eyebrows lift up in wordless surprise when he gets to the heart of her proposal, and his lips even part ever so slightly in shock. He keeps reading for a moment longer before finally looking up at her slightly incredulous.

"You want to sell me your entire company."

Lena starts to nod and even opens her mouth to say 'yes' but before she can…

"What?! You can't do that!"

Blinking, she slowly turns to stare at Lucien's secretary. Kara Danvers was a cute young woman… but truth be told, Lena hadn't even realized that the blonde was still in the room after pouring the wine. And she definitely hadn't been expecting the personal assistant to interrupt an important meeting between Lena and her boss with… her opinions.

To her credit, Kara seems to realize her faux pas almost immediately, her face going bright red as she squirms under both Lena and Lucien's gazes.

"I-I mean… I just… w-why would you want to sell Mister Luthor your company?! There are so few female CEOs in the world! It's important to have feminine representation in b-businesses like yours!"

Despite herself, the unsolicited comment actually makes Lena smile just a little bit. Kara's impassioned words remind her of the conversation she'd had with Supergirl over at the White House just a few days ago. Of course, by that time Lena had already realized she and Lord Enterprises were both up shit's creek without a paddle.

In the end, the conversation with Supergirl, as nice as it had been, had also been rather depressing given that Lena knew by then that she was probably going to try and sell her company to Lucien Luthor.

She stays quiet now, waiting for Lucien to bring his secretary to task for her interruption… but instead, when she looks back to the man, he simply looks at her curious.

"My assistant does have a point, Lena. Why exactly are you trying to sell me Lord Enterprises?"

Straightening up, Lena considers how to approach this for a moment. It wasn't like she hadn't prepared for this question, after all. In fact, she'd maybe overprepared for it, because she'd had several different tacks she had thought to take and had never fully decided which one to go with.

Did she pretend like she was just a socialite who didn't want to have to run a company and wanted one big payday? Did she allude to having some other scheme that she needed a cash infusion for and thought shedding her father's company would be the best way to get it? Or… did she tell the truth?

The truth had been the last thing Lena expected to go with when she came here today. And yet, as she sits across from Lucien Luthor, with him and even his personal assistant looking at her expectantly… the truth is what comes from Lena's lips.

"Do you know how many employees Lord Enterprises has at this point in time, Lucien?"

"… I can't say that I do, no. Over ten thousand last I recall, right?"

But Lena shakes her head.

"At our peak, before my father's arrest, Maxwell Lord Enterprises had over sixteen thousand employees. As of today, though it might have changed if there have been even more resignations since I checked this morning, Lord Enterprises has only eight thousand, six hundred, and fifty two employees left."

Kara gasps from off to the side, while Lucien just sits quietly, studying her. Lena takes the opportunity to lean forward a bit, giving him just a taste of her cleavage as she stares him down.

"Almost everyone who CAN jump ship at this point has already done so, I'm afraid. The employees who remain are either too loyal or too desperate to quit. Many of them really don't have anywhere else to go and most have families that they need to take care of."

Leaning back, Lena lets out a breath.

"As I'm sure you noticed before, the contract for selling you my company does come with stipulations. Such as the fact that you must retain every single employee of Lord Enterprises for at least a year after the purchase goes through, and once that year is up, each is entitled to six months of severance if they need to be let go for any reason beyond malicious criminal activity."

If she did nothing, the vultures would continue to pick away at Lord Enterprises until there was nothing left and she really was selling the company for pennies on the dollar. At which point, any remaining employees would be up shit's creek without a paddle.

Lena was willing to do whatever she needed to in order to make sure that happened. She was ready to do anything to make this deal go through. That's why… she leans forward again, posing in a practiced manner to draw Lucien Luthor's eyes to her… assets.

"I'm VERY eager to make this transaction go through, Lucien. So much so that I'd even be willing to discuss things further with you later tonight at your place… if you deem it necessary."

At this point, Danvers' sputtering off to the side is honestly expected. Lena ignores the blonde though, focusing solely on Lucien Luthor as she waits for his reaction.

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The Vote:

[X] Lucien agrees, inviting Lena to dinner at his place (with Kara too of course) - 56%

[ ] Lucien doesn't think that will be necessary, they can come to a deal to sell her company here and now - 21%

[ ] Lucien doesn't think that will be necessary, but he won't buy the company, he still wants to be business partners - 24%

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