Chapter 7 - The Hostile TakeoverThe arrest of Lord Richard Ashbourne sent shockwaves through global financial markets by Monday morning.
The Ashbourne family conglomerate—a massive real estate and shipping empire funded largely by stolen Aveline royal assets—was placed into immediate federal receivership.
And who held the primary controlling equity stake in the restructured corporate holding company?
Aveline Global Holdings, managed by Managing Director Onyinye Aveline Carter.
I didn't just inherit a title; I inherited the very corporate infrastructure the Ashbournes had used to build their American fortune.
On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, Celeste Ashbourne—now stripped of her social standing, her corporate board seats, and her family fortune—walked into my newly established executive office on the top floor of the downtown Ashbourne Tower.
She looked ten years older, her designer clothes rumpled, her arrogance completely shattered.
“What do you want?” Celeste spat bitterly, refusing to sit down.
May you like
I leaned back in my leather executive chair, slowly spinning a silver fountain pen between my fingers.
“I want my bakery back, Celeste,” I said calmly. “Well, not just the bakery. The entire city block it sits on. Which I now own.”
