I never told my parents that I had invested $500 million to save their failing company. My sister took credit, claiming she had closed the deal. At the victory party, my five-year-old son accidentally spilled water on his dress. She hit him so hard he lost consciousness. My mother snorted, “You clumsy speculator! Take the boy and go!” I gave them one last chance to apologize. Instead, they shouted, “Your sister saved us! You’re nothing but a burden!” Then they turned their attention to me. “Hello, our CEO…” What I had done had completely shattered their world.

I looked down at her. “I’m not ruining everything, Vanessa. I’m just taking back what’s mine.”

Chapter 5: Destruction
The crowd fell silent again. The terminology was familiar to every investor in the room.

“When I signed the merger agreement,” I continued, “I included a standard ‘default clause.’ It states that if the management of a subsidiary—in this case, Titan Corp—engages in unethical behavior, a public scandal, or commits a crime, Aurora Holdings has the right to launch a full, hostile takeover. Effective immediately.”

Marcus Rossi finally found his voice. “Isabella… Bella, honey, let’s talk about it. We didn’t know! If we knew you were the one…”