Chapter 4

Lorenzo straightened, but the respect in his voice didn't change.

“Welcome back.”

The room was dead silent.

Jack stared at me, completely frozen.

“Donna Valenti?”

He repeated the title under his breath, as if trying to understand what he had just heard.

I didn't answer.

Lorenzo turned toward the board.

“I apologize for arriving earlier than scheduled.”

His voice was calm, but no one in the room dared interrupt him.

“I had planned to meet with Carter's management tomorrow.”

“But after reviewing the information my family received, I decided there was no reason to wait.”

Jack's expression tightened.

“Mr. Valenti, I'm afraid there may be some misunderstanding.”

He forced a smile.

“I am the CEO of Carter Group. If you have questions about the partnership, I'm the person you should be speaking with.”

Lorenzo looked at him.

Then he smiled faintly.

“I know.”

“That is precisely why I came today.”

Jack's smile disappeared.

Lorenzo turned to me.

“Donna, may I?”

I gave him a slight nod.

He reached into his briefcase and placed a document on the table.

“The Valenti family has completed its final review of Carter Group.”

“We are prepared to invest two billion dollars and open our European distribution network to Carter.”

Jack's eyes lit up.

But Lorenzo continued.

“On one condition.”

He looked around the room.

“The person who founded Carter must remain its ultimate decision-maker.”

The entire board went silent.

Jack's face slowly changed.

“That won't be possible.”

Lorenzo raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Because Carter is already being run by the current management team.”

Jack tried to steady his voice.

“My mother has been away from daily operations for ten years. She transferred most of her shares to us and senior management years ago.”

He glanced at the directors.

“Carter needs stability, not sudden changes.”

One of the directors immediately nodded.

“That's right.”

“Mr. Valenti, Catherine hasn't been involved in day-to-day management for years.”

Lorenzo listened patiently.

Then he asked one simple question.

“Are you finished?”

The director's face stiffened.

Lorenzo picked up the document again.

“Because the Valenti family isn't investing two billion dollars in a company controlled by people who have mistaken temporary authority for ownership.”

Jack's face turned pale.

Lorenzo's gaze moved to him.

“And certainly not one whose management team uses company resources to settle personal disputes.”

Jack's hand tightened around the edge of the table.

“You don't understand what happened.”

“I understand perfectly.”

Lorenzo opened another file.

“Emily Carter earned her place in the International Youth Business Competition.”

“Her submission was replaced.”

“The replacement was connected to Ava.”

“And the person who authorized the change used Carter's executive access.”

Jack's expression changed completely.

Lorenzo closed the file.

“My family doesn't partner with companies where the word ‘family’ is used as an excuse for abuse of power.”

He turned back to me.

“Donna Valenti.”

“The offer stands.”

“For Carter under your leadership.”

“Not theirs.”

No one spoke.

For the first time since I had walked into that conference room, Jack looked genuinely afraid.

He slowly turned toward me.

“Mom…”

I looked at him calmly.

“Now do you understand?”

Jack said nothing.

I picked up the transfer agreement he had pushed toward me earlier.

Then, in front of the entire board, I tore it cleanly in half.

“You wanted my last two percent?”

I let the pieces fall onto the table.

“I'm afraid you'll have to find another way to take it.”

I looked around the room.

“These past ten years, I've been letting you believe Carter belonged to you.”

“But you made one mistake.”

I paused.

“You forgot who gave you the right to believe that in the first place.”

Lorenzo stood quietly beside me.

I looked at Jack, Alex, Daniel, and Ryan.

“Effective today, Jack, Alex, Daniel, and Ryan are stripped of every position, share, and privilege they hold within Carter.”

Their faces went white.

“Freeze every Carter family asset under their names.”

I turned back to the four of them and spoke each word slowly.

“And from this moment on， blacklist them across the entire business world.”

Jack collapsed to the floor.

His gold-rimmed glasses slipped from his face and shattered against the floor beside him.

He stared at me in disbelief.

Only then did he finally understand.

He hadn’t just lost the Carter family’s protection.

He had lost every position, every privilege, and every connection that had allowed him to stand at the top.

Without Carter behind him, he was nothing.

I took Emily’s hand.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

Lorenzo stepped aside without a word, clearing the way for us.

No one in the room dared to stop us.

And under the fearful, reverent gazes of the board members, Emily and I walked slowly out of the conference room.