CHAPTER 140: CHAPTER 140

At that moment, as the tension in the conference room lingered like thick smoke, one of the board members cleared his throat gently and stood up. His expression was composed, but the weight of what he was about to say hung in the air like a thundercloud waiting to burst.

Then Everyone turned their heads toward him as he pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose and looked directly at Cora.

"Miss. Cora," he began slowly, respectfully, "please understand that what I’m about to say is not meant to challenge your authority or question your intentions. I have deep respect for you... and for everything you’ve done for this company and what you’re about to do." His voice was steady but cautious. "However, there’s something that I believe you deserve to know, something that all of us in this room have been keeping to ourselves until now."

Cora narrowed her eyes slightly, nodding once. "Go on."

The board member took a deep breath. "None of us... actually know who Mr. B is. His identity remains a complete mystery, even to this very moment. When he first contacted us, it was through a secure channel no name, no face, no physical meetings. Just clear instructions, swift payments, and legal backing from one of the most sophisticated legal teams we’ve ever dealt with, The King ."

He paused to let that sink in, and the room fell completely silent.

"At first, we honestly thought it was a scam," he admitted, shaking his head. "It seemed ridiculous. Why would anyone want to pay three times the actual market value for our shares? But everything checked out. The money was real. The contracts were real. The lawyers? Very real. So we followed through. One by one, we sold our individual 2% shares to this ’Mr. B’."

Cora’s eyes were still, unblinking, her fingers tightening subtly on the edge of the table.

"That’s not all," he continued, his voice growing more serious. "What I think you really need to hear, Ms. Cora, is this, Mr. B, whether intentionally or not, made you a kind of... leverage. You see, there’s been talk. We heard from someone on the inside that you had transferred 20% of the company’s shares to someone else recently. We assumed it was part of some long-term strategy, but..."

He hesitated, and Cora leaned forward just slightly.

"...from the look of things, I think there’s been a very costly mistake. That 20% you transferred, it wasn’t from the company’s dormant holding or from the extra pool. It came from your own personal shareholding, your original 50%."

Immediately the words hit Cora like a slap across the face.

"In other words," the board member added carefully, "you didn’t realize you were giving up that much power. Right now, you only hold 30% of ZXZ’s shares."

At that moment a cold silence filled the room as he let the statement land properly. Then he added, almost reluctantly:

"And Mr. B... he holds the same. 30%. So... as it stands now, Ms. Cora... neither of you is a majority shareholder."

At that moment, hearing what the man just said, Cora’s face stiffened as if something had snapped inside her. Her mind was spinning, trying to process the weight of the mistake she hadn’t realized she made. All this while, she had thought she was in control, strategically moving her pieces, outwitting James, and securing her position as the true owner of ZXZ. But now, this revelation pulled the ground right from beneath her feet. She had unknowingly trimmed her own power.

If James had succeeded in reclaiming that 20% and adding it to the 10% that had been spread among the board members, which they now sold to Mr. B, he would have easily owned a 30% stake. Combined with the company’s untouched 20%, which was left dormant James could’ve effortlessly taken back control and pushed her out like a pawn. It would’ve been a clean and legal checkmate. That thought alone made her stomach turn.

The worst part? She never even saw it coming.

The fact that the board members had sold their shares for three times the value showed how powerful and calculated Mr. B was. He didn’t just buy shares. He purchased silence. He bought his way into the heart of the company without ever revealing his face. And now, he owned just as much as she did. That was what haunted her the most.

Mr. B was not just a shadow. He was a threat.

At that moment Cora’s fingers curled slowly around the edge of the table. "Robert," she whispered to herself. That 20% she had transferred to him... it might be the only leverage she had left. If she could pull that back, or at least secure his loyalty then maybe, just maybe, she could shift the power balance back in her favor.

She needed answers, she needed control, she needed to know who Mr. B really was.

And she would find him, whoever he was, wherever he was. Because no one hides behind initials and thinks they can outplay her.

**

Meanwhile...Far across the city, a black luxury sedan slowly pulled into the circular driveway of a high-profile mansion surrounded by tall iron gates. The weather had turned humid, and as the car came to a smooth halt, the man in the backseat sat silently for a few seconds, his hand resting on the handle.

The door opened, and the man stepped out with no tie, his collar open.

He stood tall, calm on the outside, but there was a storm of fire in his eyes.

Samuel drew in a slow breath, his eyes fixed on the mansion ahead like a soldier eyeing the battlefield.

His manager, walking beside him checked his watch and said quietly, "Sir, the meeting is set. According to the assistant, your wife should be here already. Everything is prepared."

However Samuel didn’t respond immediately. He looked up at the building once more, then his jaw clenched.

"She better be here," he said coldly, his voice sharp and firm like steel.

"She just can’t destroy me this quietly, this easily and expect to walk away like nothing happened. Not after what she did. Not after what I lost. No... if she wants peace of mind, she better come out and correct what she started."