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Jasper stood frozen on the Denver tarmac, the chill of the mountain air doing nothing to dull the sudden, violent racing of his heart. The three boys clinging to Clara weren't just similar—they were mirror images of his own childhood photographs. Same unruly dark hair, same sharp jawline, same distinct dimple on the left cheek when they laughed. / Chapter 4 / 8

Chapter 4 - The Boardroom CoupThe morning sun illuminated the executive boardroom of Sterling Energy's Denver branch. Jasper sat at the head of the long marble table, surrounded by stunned board members. At the opposite end sat Clara, accompanied by her legal team and Julian Vance.

"This is hostile," Richard Thorne snarled, slamming his fist on the table. Richard, now the acting Managing Director, looked pale and flustered. "Clara Whitmore was dismissed from this company five years ago for gross misconduct and ethics violations! She has no standing here!"

"Actually, Mr. Thorne, I have a 51% controlling stake," Clara said calmly, sliding a stack of legal documents across the table. "Acquired through Vance Global’s subsidiary over the last forty-eight hours. Which means my first official order of business is your immediate termination—and your arrest."

Richard laughed nervously. "Arrest? On what grounds?"

The boardroom doors burst open. Two federal agents stepped inside, flanked by local law enforcement.

Jasper stood up, looking directly at Richard. "On grounds of corporate espionage, wire fraud, and the illegal fabrication of digital evidence used to commit grand larceny of intellectual property."

Richard’s eyes darted frantically around the room. "Jasper... you can't believe her! She’s playing you!"

"I believed you five years ago, Richard," Jasper said, his voice dropping an octave into pure malice. "And it cost me my wife and my children. I personally spent the entire night handing over the encrypted server backups you thought you deleted five years ago. They found everything."

Richard slumped into his chair as federal officers placed him in handcuffs and led him out of the room.

As the door clicked shut, silence fell over the remaining executives. Clara stood up, picking up her briefcase.

"Thank you for your time, gentlemen. The restructuring of Sterling Energy begins immediately," she announced.

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Jasper followed her out into the hallway, catching her before she reached the elevators. "Clara, wait. I did what was right. I helped you take down Richard. Can we please talk about Ethan, Mason, and Leo now?"

Clara turned around, looking at him with a mix of pity and absolute determination. "You did the bare minimum by fixing your own mistake, Jasper. That doesn't buy you a ticket into my children's lives."

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