Chase looked down at the business card resting against his shirt. He let out a loud, mocking laugh. He reached up and yanked his tie even looser.
"Ryan Investments is nothing without the funding of the Young family," Chase said, looking down his nose at her. "You step out that door, and I will pull every cent of our capital. You will have zero."
Harper did not argue. She reached out and grabbed the handle of her suitcase. The metal clicked loudly in the quiet bedroom.
Chase saw she was not stopping. He stepped sideways, blocking the bedroom door. His eyes turned dark. "If you walk out right now, do not ever think about coming back."
Harper lifted her chin. Her eyes were completely dead. "Move. Or I will call the police and press charges for false imprisonment."
The coldness in her voice made Chase freeze. His body reacted before his brain did. He stepped back. He watched Harper walk past him without a single hesitation.
The heavy front door of the penthouse slammed shut. The loud noise made Chase's heart physically jump in his chest. A sudden, cold panic gripped his stomach.
Harper walked from the penthouse lobby to the underground parking garage. She opened the trunk of the Porsche she had bought with her own money before the engagement and threw the suitcase inside.
She got into the driver's seat, but she did not start the engine immediately. She sat in the darkness of the parking garage, gripping the steering wheel with both hands. The adrenaline that had carried her through the confrontation drained out of her body. Her shoulders began to shake. She pressed her forehead against the cool leather of the steering wheel and closed her eyes.
She did not cry. She had no tears left. But the weight of the last twelve hours pressed down on her chest like a concrete slab. She sat there, breathing slowly, as the minutes ticked past. The digital clock on the dashboard glowed 2:47 AM. She watched the numbers change. 2:48. 2:49. The exhaustion was so profound that her mind simply shut down. She fell into a shallow, dreamless sleep, still sitting upright in the driver's seat.
When Harper opened her eyes again, pale gray morning light was filtering through the grimy windows of the parking garage. The dashboard clock read 7:15 AM. Her neck ached from the awkward sleeping position. Her stomach was a tight, empty knot of hunger and nausea. But her mind was painfully clear. She had left the Young family. She was free. And she had a company to save.
She started the engine, put her Bluetooth earpiece in, and merged into the heavy morning traffic. She spoke rapidly, giving her assistant Chloe a list of demands.
Harper drove downtown and walked into the lobby of Ryan Investments on Wall Street. Her high heels clicked sharply against the marble floor.
The receptionist and the analysts walking by stopped and stared. They looked at her black suit and the bruise on her forehead. She was supposed to be on her honeymoon.
Harper ignored them. She walked straight to her glass-walled office, pushed the door open, and slammed her bag onto the desk.
Chloe ran into the office holding a massive stack of folders. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost knocked over Harper's coffee mug.
"Harper, the CGI Studio acquisition," Chloe stuttered, her face pale. "Everything went wrong yesterday while you were gone."
Harper frowned. She snatched the financial reports from Chloe's hands. Her eyes scanned the numbers rapidly. She saw the massive gap in the funding chain.
Marcus Bell, the lead project manager, walked into the office. He looked sick. "The target studio was bought out yesterday. We lost it."
Harper slammed her hands flat on the desk and stood up. "Who has the capital to eat a deal that size overnight?"
Marcus wiped the sweat off his forehead. He spoke the name that made everyone on Wall Street nervous. "Antoni Donovan."
Harper dropped back into her leather chair. The glare from her computer monitor highlighted the tight clench of her jaw. Antoni Donovan. Her biggest rival.
She pulled up the latest acquisition records for Donovan Group. The screen filled with red profit margins. The numbers burned her eyes.
"Antoni bought the whole thing," Chloe whispered. "He is taking all the core engineers."
Harper took a deep breath. Her stomach cramped with the stress, but she forced her brain to focus. She scrolled through the contract clauses.
She stopped. She found a gray area in the intellectual property management section. A spark of adrenaline hit her blood.
"Draft a joint-management proposal right now," Harper ordered Chloe. "We are going to use this as leverage."
Marcus shook his head. "That is suicide. Antoni is ruthless. He will never give up a single share."
Harper let out a cold laugh. "There are no permanent enemies on Wall Street. Only permanent interests. I need to see him."
She picked up her desk phone. She dialed the direct line to the Donovan Group executive office. The phone rang five times.
A man answered. His voice was smooth and completely professional. "Alex Reed, executive assistant to Mr. Donovan."
"This is Harper Ryan. I need ten minutes with Antoni today," Harper said, pushing authority into her voice.
Alex Reed let out a soft chuckle. "Mr. Donovan has no interest in speaking with the losing side, Ms. Ryan."
The line went dead.
Harper sat in her office, staring at the phone in her hand.
