Damian froze dead in his tracks, standing rooted to the polished marble floor as if stuck by lightning. The words “Chairman Carter” vibrated continuously in his ears like a deafening gong, shattering his mind into absolute chaos. He couldn't process it. He refused to believe it.His eyes darted frantically away from Ryan, fixing desperately on Marcus Vance. Damian looked at the white-haired Executive Director, practically begging with his eyes for this legendary corporate titan—who had steered Carter Group for decades—to laugh aloud, step in, and say the magic words: “It’s all a misunderstanding.” He waited for Marcus to give him a way out, a ladder to climb down from this humiliating peak.Marcus met Damian’s pleading, sweaty gaze squarely. The veteran director said absolutely nothing. He didn't offer a nod, didn't provide an explanation, and didn't raise a finger to save him. Instead, Marcus slowly, deliberately turned his head and shifted his eyes away—denying him a response, refus

Alistair Blackwood walked through the automatic sliding glass doors of the headquarters, ignoring the whispers of the security guards on duty. With a dignified, unyielding posture, the white-haired patriarch approached the chief of security and formally requested a brief private audience with the newly acceded Chairman.On the main floor, Ryan did not keep the old man waiting. He authorized Alistair’s entry into the grand hall. Damian and Claire hovered nervously right behind him, entering the venue once more like two disgraced shadows.The moment Alistair stepped into the room, he performed a deep, formal ninety-degree bow directly toward Ryan, offering a sincere public apology for his son’s intolerable disrespect."Chairman Carter," Alistair spoke, his voice heavy with weight and experience. "My son’s arrogance tonight was unspeakable, and I apologize on behalf of the Blackwood family. However, I propose that we reopen negotiations regarding Carter Group's investment in Blackwood Gr

Following the sound of hushed, aggressive voices, Ryan moved soundlessly along the edge of the estate wall, stepping behind a manicured hedge near the driveway entrance.Under the pale glow of a streetlamp, four broad-shouldered men clad in dark tactical suits had pinned a young woman against the stone masonry. One thug braced a heavy forearm across her chest to hold her in place, while another reached aggressively for the leather briefcase she clutched fiercely against her ribs."Give up the core technical decryption key for the high-precision manufacturing patents," the lead attacker demanded in a low, raspy growl. "Your family firm won't survive the month anyway, Miss Redvale! Hand over the drive, or we’ll make sure you don't walk out of this alley!""You want me to hand over the core technical patents for my family's manufacturing firm?" the woman snapped back, her voice fiercely defiant despite her position against the stone wall. "Dream on! Don't forget who you're threatening—my

Directly defying his father’s strict, unyielding house arrest orders, Damian Blackwood locked himself inside his lavish private suite and initiated a series of urgent, encrypted international calls. His survival instincts had been warped by a toxic cocktail of wounded pride and desperation. By midnight, he managed to secure a massive, high-leverage emergency funding package from a shadow offshore entity known to the public only as Dark Diamond Capital.Damian had no idea that Dark Diamond Capital was, in reality, a private offshore investment trust secretly established by the late Jonathan Carter and now fully controlled by Ryan.With dozens of millions in newly injected, high-risk speculative credit lining his corporate accounts, Damian’s initial terror vanished completely. It was instantly replaced by an explosive, violent wave of unhinged megalomania. Believing he had miraculously cheated economic execution and outsmarted the entire financial district, he was burning with a demonic

With the massive influx of secondary funding cleared into his company's operational accounts, Damian Blackwood completely lost all remaining semblance of sanity. He had willingly surrendered fifty-one percent of his core voting rights and signed over his primary tech patents as collateral to Dark Diamond Capital—never suspecting for a second that the predatory offshore fund was an execution tool entirely owned and controlled by Ryan Carter.Inflated by the illusion of unlimited financial firepower, Damian launched a chaotic, aggressive campaign to assert his market dominance.By sunrise, massive digital billboards across the central financial district lit up with bold, glowing letters, broadcasting a high-profile announcement:[BLACKWOOD GROUP ANNOUNCES INDEPENDENT IPO PUSH — EXPANDING MARKET LEADERSHIP, EXCLUDING CARTER CAPITAL INTERFERENCE]The arrogant, public declaration sent shockwaves through the local business community. Tech media outlets rushed to cover the story, speculating