The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 81

Chapter 72: The Hart Plot

Bella POV

The press conference was a nightmare wrapped in professional smiles and careful PR statements. Caleb and I stood side by side announcing the Meridian partnership while reporters shouted questions about Tom, about Jade’s stunt at the penthouse about whether we were back together.

“Ms. Hart, is it true you kept Mr. Black’s son from him out of spite?”

“Our personal matters are being handled privately,” I said into the microphone, my voice steady despite wanting to scream. “Today we’re here to discuss a business partnership that will create jobs and drive innovation in emerging markets.”

“Mr. Black, do you plan to seek full custody?”

Caleb’s hand found the small of my back, a gesture of support that the cameras caught immediately. “Tom’s wellbeing is our priority. Ms. Hart and I are co-parenting successfully, and that’s all we’ll be discussing on the matter.”

After thirty excruciating minutes, our PR director finally ended it. Caleb and I escaped to his office where I collapsed into a chair.

“That was brutal,” I said.

“Could have been worse.” Caleb poured us both water. “At least we presented a united front.”

My phone buzzed with a message from my CFO: “Emergency. Call immediately.”

I dialed Mark, my chief financial officer, with a bad feeling in my gut.

“Bella, we have a problem.” His voice was tight. “Someone’s been quietly buying up shares of our Singapore subsidiary through shell companies. They’ve accumulated almost 30% in the last week.”

My blood went cold. “Who?”

“We traced it back to Hart Industries.” Of course, of fucking course my father would try this.

“How much time do we have before he can force a board vote?”

ľ

“If he gets to 51%, he can take control of the entire subsidiary. At his current rate of acquisition, maybe three days.”

“Send me everything, every transaction, every shell company, every connection you can find.” I was already opening my laptop. “And get our legal team ready. We’re going to war.”

After I hung up, Caleb was watching me with concern. “What happened?”

“My father is attempting a hostile takeover of my Singapore subsidiary.” I pulled up the financial reports Mark. had sent. “He’s been using shell companies to hide his purchases, probably funding it by liquidating Hart Industries assets.”

“How much damage can he do?”

13

Chapter 72 The Hart Plot

+25 Points

If he gets control of Singapore, he can use it to destabilize the entire company, force a sale, or just run it into the ground out of spite.” My hands were shaking with rage. “He’s willing to destroy his own company just to hurt me.”

Caleb moved behind my chaif, looking at the screen over my shoulder “What do you need?”

“Time to trace every transaction and find a way to block him.” I started making notes. “And probably a lawyer who specializes in hostile takeovers.”

“I know several.” Caleb pulled out his phone. “I make some calls.”

For the next six hours, we worked. Caleb brought in his financial team and legal experts while I coordinated with my own people across three time zones. Food appeared at some point, probably ordered by Lisa, but I barely tasted it.

By midnight, we had a full picture of Richard’s scheme. He’d been planning this for a while, slowly accumulating shares through a network of shell companies registered in different countries. Smart, sophisticated, and completely illegal.

“He violated about fifteen different securities laws,” Caleb’s lead attorney said, pointing to the evidence we’d compiled. “The shell companies weren’t properly disclosed, he used insider information about your expansion plans, and he coordinated with other shareholders to manipulate the price.”

“Can we stop him?” I asked.

“We can do better than stop him.” The attorney smiled grimly. “We can destroy him.”

I looked at the evidence spread across Caleb’s conference table, years of my father’s crimes laid bare. Securities fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, and that was just the Singapore deal. If we dug deeper into Hart Industries’ books, there was probably more.

“Do it,” I said. “File everything with the SEC, the Singapore regulatory board, everywhere. I want him buried.”

“Bella.” Caleb’s voice held a note of caution. “Are you sure? Once we do this, there’s no going back. He’s still your father.”

“He stopped being my father when he sold me like property, and he definitely stopped when he tried to destroy the company I built from nothing.” I met Caleb’s eyes. “I’m not that scared girl anymore. If he wants war, I’ll give him one he can’t win.”

Caleb nodded slowly. “Then let’s make sure he never sees it coming.”

We worked through the night, coordinating with regulators, filing complaints, freezing the shell company accounts. By dawn, Richard’s entire scheme was unraveling.

But I wasn’t done.

“Pull up Hart Industries’ financial statements,” I told Mark over a video call. “I want to see everything.”

What I found was even better than I’d hoped. Hart Industries was leveraged to the hilt, drowning in debt because Richard had liquidated assets to fund his takeover attempt. He’d bet everything on winning, and now that bet was about to fail spectacularly.

“How much would it cost to buy out the remaining shareholders?” I asked Mark.

23

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify