Chapter 8 - THE ASHES OF AN EMPIREBy evening, the emergency restructuring committee had taken control of what remained of Han Meridian Group.
With Marcus and Ethan facing federal indictments carrying decades in prison, and Victor Han stepping down from the chairmanship due to failing health and complicity in regulatory oversights, the board was forced to look for leadership that wasn't tainted by corruption or arrogance.
They looked at the only person holding clean shares and a legal seat at the table.
Daniel Han.
The press conference in the grand ballroom of the St. Arden Hotel—the very same room where, less than forty-eight hours earlier, Daniel had been disowned in front of five hundred laughing socialites—was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with journalists, flashbulbs popping like continuous lightning.
Daniel stood at the podium in a simple, unpretentious dark suit.
Standing just off to the side, wearing a sleek, emerald-green dress that commanded the room without a single diamond, was Lena.
"Han Meridian Group will undergo a complete restructuring," Daniel announced into the wall of microphones, his voice calm, clear, and resonant. "We are liquidating non-essential luxury holdings, compensating every defrauded vendor, and returning our focus to ethical, sustainable enterprise. The old era of fear and intimidation is over."
A reporter shouted from the front row: "Mr. Han! Rumors say your marriage to Lena Brooks was a high-stakes corporate maneuver! Is the Han dynasty just rebranding?"
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Daniel paused, looked directly into the camera lens, and then turned his head to smile at Lena.
"My marriage wasn't a corporate maneuver," Daniel said into the mic, his voice carrying absolute conviction. "It was the only real thing that happened to this family in thirty years."
