Chapter 9
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“Cyril, what the hell are you up to?” Shirley demanded.
I looked at her, a slow smile spreading across my face. “Shirley, for the five years we spent together, I thought I’d give you a little parting gift.”
Ignoring the fury in her eyes, I turned my gaze to the massive screen counting down with an incredibly bright smile. The numbers hit zero, and right on cue, a breaking news banner flashed across the trading floor’s giant screen.
[Breaking News: Davison Group Under Investigation for Financial Fraud and Commercial Bribery! Securities Regulatory Commission Launches Formal Inquiry.]
The room exploded into chaos, and Shirley turned pale. She whipped around to face Digby, panic lacing her voice. “What the hell is going on?!”
Digby stammered, eyes darting wildly. “I–I don’t know! How could this happen?”
Cameras immediately swiveled to capture Shirley’s reaction. Reporters bombarded her with questions:
“Miss Davison, how do you respond to these allegations? Is Davison Group really involved in financial fraud?”
Forcing a tight smile, she tried to maintain her composure. “This must be a misunderstanding. We’ll clear things up soon.”
Before she could say another word, a stern–faced staff member of the stock exchange approached. “Miss Davison, sorry to inform you, but due to these allegations, we’re suspending your company’s listing process. Please cooperate with the investigation.”
Her face ashen. Hands trembling, she clenched her fists, barely holding it together.
Digby even grabbed her arm and asked in a low and frantic voice, “Shirley, what do we do? This wasn’t supposed to happen!”
She violently shook him off, eyes blazing with fury. “Shut up! This is your fault! If you hadn’t pushed me into all this, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
Digby gaped at her, incredulous. “My fault?! You were the one who approved everything! Now that things have gone south, you want to pin it all on me?!”
The two of them spiraled into a heated argument right there on the trading floor, their voices rising, accusations flying. The crowd watched in stunned silence.
I stood quietly in the corner, watching them tear each other apart.
Some love story, huh? Crumbling at the first sign of trouble.
Suddenly, Shirley spun toward me, eyes blazing with hatred. “Cyril! This is your doing, isn’t it?!”
I met her glare calmly. “Come on, Shirley. You give me too much credit. I’m just a pretty face who climbs into bed with rich women, remember? How could I possibly pull
12:30 Sun, 23
much I
3,91%1
112ielsen hare Cami. Come on, smney. To give me to un crean just a pitity face who climbs into bed with rich women, remember? How could I possibly pull
something like this off?”
Her eyes narrowed, sensing something wasn’t right. “If not you, then who else hates me this much?!”
I shook my head slowly, almost pitying her. “You still don’t get it, do you? I didn’t destroy you. You destroyed yourself.”
The moment she revealed her true colors, I knew there was more to her betrayal. She hadn’t just wanted me out of the company – she wanted to crush me completely. That desperation made me suspicious.
Growing up watching my father handle business, I learned to spot the cracks in a company’s armor. Before, whenever things didn’t add up to me, I would ask her and she would explain patiently. But recently, I found her explanation full of flaws.
–
all to Never did I imagine she’d taken shortcuts, falsifying reports, bribing officials fast–track the company’s IPO. In my estimation, it would take a year before her publicity, but to my surprise, it happened so soon. I even thought my parents had secretly pulled some strings for her behind the scenes. Turns out, she was too impatient to wait for legitimate success.
Shirley shook her head violently, denial written all over her face. “No! I didn’t ruin anything!” could I let out a cold laugh. “Financial fraud, commercial bribery… You really thought you get away with it forever? The law might move slowly, but it never sleeps.”
Cyril’s POV
