جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 580

Ryan’s POVI sat alone in my study with the city spread out beneath the windows, lights flickering like a living thing that didn’t care what I was about to do. The room smelled faintly of leather and old whiskey, untouched on the desk. I hadn’t poured myself a drink in days. I didn’t trust my hands not to shake.Two months’ worth of evidence lay open in front of me.Emails first. That had been how it started, harmless enough, at least on the surface. Vanessa’s tone had always been deferential when she wrote to my father. Strategic flattery. Carefully placed admiration. She never ordered him. She nudged. Suggested. Framed every move as protection of Crown Luxe, as loyalty, as inevitability.And Maximilian, my father, had answered.Not with resistance. Not with caution. With approval.I scrolled slowly, my jaw tightening as I reread messages I already knew by heart.Celeste is getting too much traction at IJA.Rosemary’s supply chain is vulnerable.You were right to let me handle it.You

Ryan’s POVThe room was already full when I stepped up to the podium.Cameras. Microphones. Faces sharpened with expectation. I recognized most of them, industry journalists, financial analysts, a few people who had built careers off my father’s name. Crown Luxe loomed behind me in gold lettering, a logo I’d grown up tracing with my finger on glossy brochures.Maximilian Edwards. My father. Current CEO of Crown Luxe.I adjusted the microphone once, more out of habit than nerves. I wasn’t nervous. I’d burned through that weeks ago, somewhere between the third wire transfer and the email that proved intent.“Thank you for coming,” I said evenly. “I’ll get straight to it.”The room quieted. Pens hovered. Red recording lights blinked to life.“For the past two months, I’ve been conducting an internal investigation into Crown Luxe’s executive operations,” I continued. “What I found makes it impossible for me to remain silent.”I didn’t look for my father. I knew where he was, watching from

Ryan’s POVI found him in his office after the building had emptied, the way it always did when something irreversible had happened.Crown Luxe at night was a different creature, quiet, echoing, stripped of the performance it put on during the day. The lights along the corridor were dimmed, the carpet muffling my footsteps as I walked toward the door that had once felt untouchable.It was open.Maximilian stood with his back to me, jacket discarded over the chair, hands braced against the desk as he stared out at the city. He looked smaller like that. Not diminished, just human in a way I’d never been allowed to see growing up.“You don’t need to pretend I’m not here,” I said.He didn’t turn around. “I didn’t.”I closed the door behind me. The click sounded louder than it should have.“I didn’t come to gloat,” I said. “And I didn’t come to argue.”“Then why are you here?” he asked, finally turning. His face was composed, but his eyes were sharp, searching for weakness. “To finish the j

Ryan’s POVThe vote didn’t sound dramatic when it happened.No gavel. No raised voices. Just a quiet sequence of names and decisions spoken into the stillness of the room, each word landing with the finality of a door locking behind you.“Effective immediately.”Those were the words that changed everything.I sat perfectly still as Chairman Liu concluded the count, his voice level, his expression unreadable. Across the table, Maximilian hadn’t moved. He didn’t argue. He didn’t interrupt. He simply stared ahead, jaw set, hands folded with the kind of rigid control that had built an empire, and just lost it.“The board has reached a decision,” Liu said. “Maximilian Edwards is hereby removed as Chief Executive Officer of Crown Luxe Group.”A pause. Not for drama. For acknowledgement.“And Ryan Edwards will assume the role of CEO, effective today.”That was it.Power didn’t roar when it changed hands. It settled. Heavy. Absolute.I felt it then, not triumph, not relief, but gravity. The ki

Vivian’s POVI stared at my phone for a long moment before hitting FaceTime. Steven’s name blinked across the screen, his image appearing instantly, crisp and sharp despite the distance. Belgium looked calm behind him, a soft wash of evening light spilling across his apartment, but I couldn’t shake the tension in my chest.“Hey,” he said casually, though I could hear the subtle tightness in his voice. “How are things over there?”I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Busy. Complicated.” I couldn’t find the words yet for the mixture of relief and worry that had settled inside me. “Ryan… everything he’s done today. I didn’t think he could, but he… he took over Crown Luxe. He’s officially CEO now.”There was a pause on the other side. Then Steven’s lips pressed together, eyes narrowing slightly. “I figured that would happen eventually. He’s been planning this for months, hasn’t he?”“Apparently.” I shifted in my seat, leaning back against the sofa, eyes tracing the edges of the ro