The Paper Wife’s Empire novel Chapter 199

“You can forget about it!” Griffin was shaking with rage. “Ramona, even if you own shares, you don’t get to decide the fate of the management on your own! Holt Group is the legacy of the Holt family. If you want a fight, we’ll trigger a counter-motion. If anyone’s leaving, it’ll be you!”

“Go ahead and try.” Ramona met his fury with complete composure, shooting a glance at the lawyer beside her. “I was planning to conduct a full audit of the last three years’ finances anyway. When that’s done, I sincerely hope, for your sake and Jotham’s, that all you lose are your positions.”

For any company, nothing is more terrifying than a thorough audit, especially not for Holt Group.

Ever since Jotham had taken over, he’d been dipping into company funds for Brianna without restraint, and Griffin was hardly innocent himself.

If the audit went forward, they’d be lucky to avoid jail time.

Ramona’s words clearly rattled Jotham; he hadn’t imagined she’d go this far, that she’d be so ruthless, even toward him.

“Ramona, please don’t do this, okay? If you have a problem, take it out on me. My dad was never unfair to you…”

Griffin, desperate, jabbed a finger in Ramona’s direction and sucked in a shaky breath. He looked around at the senior executives and board elders, barking, “She’s staging a hostile takeover! The company can call an emergency shareholders’ meeting and overturn her decision! Where’s Legal? Someone, file a lawsuit against her, now!”

Normally, Griffin’s word was law. But right now, everyone in the room exchanged uneasy looks; not a single person dared answer his call.

“Ramona, I’ll do anything you want, just don’t drag the company into this. Besides, Holt Group isn’t something you can shake with a handful of shares! Our connections and resources are beyond your imagination!”

Though Jotham tried to sound threatening, his words were hollow, and his demeanor betrayed his desperation. He was practically pleading.

He couldn’t believe the woman he’d once cared for so deeply could humiliate him like this. Did she really hate him that much?

Ramona ignored them both, tilting her head slightly to signal her lawyer.

The attorney stepped forward, voice even and clear, “According to the company’s bylaws, Ramona has absolute authority over personnel appointments. As for the emergency shareholders’ meeting to challenge her decision—”

He paused, sweeping his gaze across the room, catching the anxious faces of the executives and the two shareholders.

“Unless every shareholder opposes her, the counter-motion is invalid. The assembled parties may proceed to a vote right now.”

Jotham immediately looked to the two shareholders—old friends of Griffin’s and longtime allies of the Holt family. Aside from the Holt family’s own holdings, these men controlled the last two percent of the shares.

As her words settled, a wave of chaos swept through the meeting room. Several executives shifted in their seats, unable to hide their anxiety.

The two shareholders went pale, all color draining from their faces.

Jotham was still trying to process what was happening. Griffin’s jaw dropped as he stared at the headline on the screen, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Ramona! You traitor, you venomous woman!”

The news displayed on Ramona’s tablet was a bombshell business exposé that had exploded online that morning.

[CEO of Prominent Havencrest Family Business Exposed as Bigamist—Secretly Married Employee for Two Years While Already Having a Wife and a Kid!]

The article was thorough, chronicling Jotham and Brianna’s “illustrious achievements” in painstaking detail. The scandal was so outrageous, so contrary to public decency and set against the backdrop of high society, that it went viral within hours.

Though the names “Jotham” and “Brianna” weren’t explicitly mentioned, there was a barely blurred photo of the pair, their faces unmistakable. Even the “changed” names of their school and company were obvious to anyone who knew the circles they moved in.