Chapter 4

Rihanna POV

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic Ocean, the atmosphere inside the Sterling Group headquarters in New York was pure chaos.

"What do you mean we owe eighty percent of our debt to one single fucking company?" Edrian screamed, slamming his fists onto the long mahogany table in his private office. His neat brown hair was completely messed up, and his deep brown eyes were wide with panic. "Who the hell is Taylor Global? We took those loans from three different banks! How did this happen?"

Arthur Sterling sat in his usual leather armchair, but for the first time in his life, he didn't look calm or snobbish. His cold, blue-steel eyes were staring at the document in front of him, and his hands were trembling as he gripped his silver-tipped walking stick.

"It says that they bought the debt, Edrian," Arthur said, his voice sounding old. "They bought it over the last six months. They targeted our weakest financial points and snapped up our liabilities before we could even notice."

The office door suddenly flew open, and Valerie strutted inside, wearing a bright yellow silk dress and carrying three expensive shopping bags from Chanel.

"Edrian, darling!" Valerie complained, tossing her bags onto the sofa. "The company credit card just got declined at the boutique! It was so humiliating. Everyone was staring at me. You need to call the bank and fix this right now!"

"Shut up, Valerie!" Edrian yelled, turning on her with a furious look. "Just shut up! We are about to lose the entire company, and you are crying about your stupid shopping bags!"

Valerie gasped, her big blue eyes going wide with shock. "Excuse me? How dare you yell at me like that! I am your wife! You can't talk to me like I am that useless Rihanna!"

"If Rihanna were here, she would have actually fixed this!" Edrian snapped back, the words flying out of mouth before he could stop them. "She actually knew how to handle the banking systems! You just know how to spend my fucking money!"

"Don't you dare mention that dead girl to me!" Valerie screamed, her face turning red under her thick makeup. "She jumped into a river because she was weak! Arthur, tell him to fix this!"

"Both of you stop this childish bickering!" Arthur roared, slamming his cane against the floor. The loud noise made both Edrian and Valerie freeze. "We have an emergency. Taylor Global just sent this ultimatum to our entire board of directors. The board is completely panicking. They are already talking about voting us out of our executive positions to save their own skins."

Edrian walked over to his father's desk, his face completely pale and covered in sweat. "What do they want, Father? Can we pay them off? Can we ask for an extension?"

"They don't want an extension," Arthur said, tossing the paper toward Edrian. "Read it yourself. They are demanding an immediate emergency meeting right here in Manhattan. They want us to surrender full corporate control of the Sterling Group to them. If we refuse, they will start the public bankruptcy process by Friday morning. We will be completely ruined. The Sterling name will be trash."

Edrian grabbed the paper, his eyes scanning the cold, formal words. "This is insane. We don't even know who we are dealing with. Who is the CEO of Taylor Global?"

"Nobody knows," Arthur muttered, staring blankly out the window at the New York skyline. "The company is run by an elite family in Europe, but their main representative is a mystery. Whoever they are, they have enough money to buy and sell us ten times over."

Valerie walked over, her anger turning into sudden fear as she looked at the worried expressions on their faces. "So... what are we going to do? We can't lose the company. I have a charity gala next week! I already ordered my dress!"

"Forget your dress, Valerie!" Edrian groaned, rubbing his temples as a massive headache started to form. "Father, we don't have a choice. We have to agree to this meeting. We have to see what this person wants. Maybe we can convince them to let us keep a minority share."

"We will agree to the meeting," Arthur said, his jaw tightening into a cruel, desperate line. "But I refuse to let us look like we're begging them. We will not look weak. We will gather our best legal experts, and we will show this European tycoon that the Sterling family does not break easily. They might have our debt, but we have the connections in this city."

Edrian nodded slowly, but his heart was pounding wildly against his ribs. He looked down at the signature line on the document, which just read ‘Taylor Global Executive Office’. For some strange reason, a cold shiver ran down his spine. He felt a sudden, bizarre memory of his dead ex-wife looking at him with those terrifyingly cold green eyes in the rain two years ago. He quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought. Rihanna was dead. She was gone forever.

He had no idea that the mysterious, powerful tycoon who held his entire life, his family name, and his precious company in her hands was currently boarding a private luxury jet in London, ready to fly back to New York and destroy his entire world.