Chapter 5

The room fell into a tense silence.

All eyes darted back and forth between Wilbur and me.

I had once been a forsaken woman, and now I returned triumphantly with the backing of a top conglomerate.

It was like something out of a soap opera.

Nora was the first to react.

She forced a smile and stepped forward, attempting to take my hand. "Alina, is it really you? Where have you been these past three years? We've both been so worried about you. Wilbur often talks about you."

I sidestepped her hand and brushed my sleeve disdainfully as if it had been sullied.

"Miss Clarke, please behave yourself. I am not so close to you, and I felt disgusted when you touched me."

Nora's hand froze in mid-air, and her face turned pale with embarrassment.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Alina, how can you say that... I know you're still upset with Wilbur and me. But love cannot be forced. You signed the divorce papers yourself back then, and you left by yourself..."

Her pitiful appearance used to stir Wilbur's protective instincts.

As expected, Wilbur frowned and instinctively shielded Nora. "Alina, if you have grievances, direct them at me. Don't make things difficult for Nora. We were in the wrong about what happened back then. But you don't need to be so aggressive now, do you?"

I looked at his protective stance and found it ridiculous.

Three years had passed, and Wilbur hadn't changed at all.

He was still blind as ever.

"Am I aggressive?" I sneered. "Mr. Chapman, I think you've misunderstood. I didn't come here today to reminisce or to engage in petty jealousy."

I snapped my fingers, and my assistant promptly handed over a document.

I continued, "This is the Norris Group's acquisition proposal for the Chapman Group. Given the Chapman Group's recent financial troubles and the enormous risk associated with the land project in the southern part of the city, I have the right to request an emergency board meeting as a major shareholder to dismiss the current CEO, Wilbur Chapman."

My words exploded like a bomb among the crowd.

Wilbur's pupils contracted sharply. "What did you say? Did you dismiss me? Alina, have you lost your mind? I built the Chapman Group from the ground up."

"You know clearly whether you built it or not," I said, my gaze as sharp as a knife. "The land in the southern part of the city is a failed project, with severe underground cavity risks. You misappropriated thirty billion dollars of the company's working funds to acquire it. If this news gets out, you know better than I do what will happen to the stock price of the Chapman Group."

Wilbur's face turned deathly pale at that moment, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

That was the Chapman Group's highest secret.

Only he and a few core executives knew it.

"How did Alina know it?" Wilbur wondered.

"You... you're lying," he shouted, and his voice was unsteady. "Security, remove this madwoman."

"Let me see who dares," Theo said flatly.

His sentence was short, but it carried an unquestionable weight of authority.

The surrounding security guards exchanged looks, and no one dared step forward.

Theo looked around the hall, and those under his gaze lowered their heads. "The Norris Group has acquired 40% of the Chapman Group's circulating shares. Combined with Alina's holdings, we have absolute control of the Chapman Group. From now on, Alina calls the shots here."

Wilbur staggered and nearly collapsed to the floor.

He looked at me, and his eyes finally showed fear. "Alina, what exactly do you want?"

I walked up to him and leaned slightly to whisper in his ear, "What do I want? Wilbur, this is just the beginning. I want you to experience the feeling of losing everything."