Chapter 140: House Ashbourne’s Crisis

Inside the study sat a middle-aged man and his secretary. Both were glued to the holographic screen, waiting for the call to connect, but neither was having any luck getting a call through.

The secretary was about to update his boss when their eyes met.

Recognizing the look in each other’s eyes, the secretary remained silent, a single glance was enough for both of them to know the outcome.

"Damn nouveau riche bastards! I was generous enough to help them break into the capital’s elite circles, and they dare bite the hand that fed them?!" Dominic snarled in sheer frustration.

Out of nowhere, the Finch Company had severed their partnership with House Ashbourne and purged all House Ashbourne personnel from the Ashbourne Feed Factory.

"Sir, without our people inside, that factory will fall completely into the hands of the Finch Company..."

"Do you think I don’t know that?!" Dominic barked, cutting his secretary off.

Dominic had been desperately trying to contact the head of the Finch Company, Peter Finch, to demand an explanation.

After all, the decision to pull out of the partnership had been executed by Edgar Finch, Peter’s younger brother, who held a senior executive position in the company.

Unfortunately, Peter refused to answer his calls. Dominic’s secretary tried reaching out to Peter’s assistant as well, only to receive the exact same cold shoulder, complete radio silence.

BAM! The study door burst open with a loud thud. Emilia rushed into the room, her face pale with panic.

Dominic’s already foul mood soured even further at his wife’s sudden intrusion. He slammed his hand onto the desk and growled with suppressed rage, "Get out! Now!"

Emilia knew that Dominic’s secretary coming straight to their mansion on a weekend meant a massive crisis was unfolding. She also knew that barging in like this would infuriate her husband.

However, she was certain that what she had to report was far more critical than whatever crisis they were currently discussing.

Standing her ground, she blurted out, "Emma Rosenbaum is dumping her Ashbourne Jewel shares far below market value!"

Dominic froze, shock and disbelief etched on his face. After a long silence, he looked up at Emilia as if silently warning her that now was not the time for sick jokes.

Naturally, Emilia was dead serious. She pressed on, "Within hours, Ashbourne Jewel’s stock crashed, and the other investors are panicking, dumping their shares one after another!"

Dominic shook his head in utter disbelief. The barrage of bad news felt like a nightmare in broad daylight.

"It’s impossible for Ashbourne Feed Factory and Ashbourne Jewel to hit rock bottom at the exact same time," he muttered, looking utterly devastated.

Emilia’s brow furrowed at his words. She offered cautiously, "I heard whispers that Emma Rosenbaum took this course of action on Noella Rosenbaum’s advice..."

Dominic’s head snapped up, glaring straight at his wife. "Noella...? You mean that Noella...?"

Emilia nodded at his unspoken question, confirming that he meant Shani’s friend. There was no denying this sabotage was linked to Shani.

Emilia had suspected as much the moment she heard the name Rosenbaum, even before receiving insider intel regarding Noella.

Dominic was the only one struggling to come to terms with reality, unwilling to accept, yet forced to acknowledge, that Shani’s influence ran this deep.

Her reach was truly capable of beating House Ashbourne to a pulp.

While Dominic and Emilia were discussing the Ashbourne Jewel crisis, Dominic’s secretary received a private call from a contact working at the Finch Company.

After listening to his contact, the secretary’s face twisted in extreme discomfort. He paused for a few moments before finding the right opening to deliver the news.

"Sir, there is an internal dispute within the Finch Company," he reported.

"And?" Dominic raised an eyebrow, already sensing that this wouldn’t be good news.

"Edgar Finch uncovered dirt on Peter Finch, forcing Peter to voluntarily yield complete control over the Finch Company. Edgar holds all the authority now... And we don’t have a single ally on his side."

"Lord, do you know what dirt Edgar has on Peter Finch?" Emilia asked, turning to her husband.

Dominic shook his head slowly. "Before partnering with the Finch Company, I thoroughly investigated them for leverage, but I turned up absolutely nothing..."

"Which means Edgar Finch has been orchestrating this coup for a long time," Emilia murmured solemnly.

A moment later, a spark ignited in her eyes. "Right now, Edgar has taken over the company and is purging anyone he suspects of siding with Peter..."

"Doesn’t that mean we simply need to reach out to Edgar and clarify our stance?"

Emilia’s assessment wasn’t wrong, but right now they were completely stonewalled, unable to reach anyone at the Finch Company, whether it was Peter or Edgar.

"If Edgar Finch truly wanted the factions loyal to Peter to defect to his side, he wouldn’t cut off communications with us so entirely," Dominic said, his voice grim.

He turned toward his secretary. "Go check on the status of the other companies partnered with the Finch Company."

While the secretary made the calls, Dominic and Emilia reached out to their own contacts within the capital’s high society.

Though Lord and Madam Ashbourne were no longer held in high esteem among the elite, a few acquaintances were still willing to throw them a crumb or two of information.

Before long, Dominic’s secretary finished contacting two acquaintances at companies partnering with the Finch Company.

"Sir, the two companies I spoke with are continuing their partnerships with the Finch Company as usual. They received official notice regarding the leadership change, but no other operational changes were made," the secretary reported.

Doubt began to creep into Dominic’s mind. "Keep checking on the rest."

Just then, Emilia finished a phone call with one of her socialite acquaintances. She looked over at her husband with a grave expression.

"My Lord, are you absolutely certain you exhausted all your connections when digging up dirt on Peter Finch before? Because as it turns out, Edgar Finch isn’t nearly bright enough to hold greater influence or connections than you."

Emilia had learned that Peter Finch was far sharper and more ambitious than Edgar.

In truth, Edgar was more like an incompetent younger brother who relied on his older brother to handle every little detail.

There was no way Edgar could have uncovered enough leverage to pull off a coup against Peter without significant outside backing.

The realization hit Dominic instantly, especially when his secretary confirmed that a third company had suffered no hostility whatsoever, unlike House Ashbourne.

"There’s someone else targeting House Ashbourne..." Dominic trailed off before suddenly shouting, "Does this have something to do with Shani as well?!"

Emilia offered no verbal response, but the grim set of her jaw spoke volumes, silently agreeing with her husband’s outburst.

"If this really is Shani’s doing, why now?" Dominic demanded.

"Actually... Shani and Vivi are classmates now," Emilia offered almost in a whisper, though it was loud enough for Dominic, who glared daggers at his wife.

"They’re in the same class?! How on earth did that happen? No— what matters most is what that wretched girl did to make Shani retaliate like this?!" Dominic growled.

Before Emilia could attempt to soothe her husband, Dominic barked orders to the butler standing outside the door to summon Vivienne immediately.

Moments later, Vivienne, dressed extravagantly for a trip to the mall, stepped into the study.

Dominic’s rage surged instantly at the sight of Vivienne acting so carefree after bringing ruin upon their house.

Emilia quickly tried to intervene.

"My Lord, Vivi has been on her best behavior and hasn’t caused any trouble since the previous incident. Today is the first time she’s left the mansion for anything other than academy grounds."

Vivienne had no idea what was going on, but seeing her father’s thunderous expression, she hurriedly nodded in agreement with her mother.

Dominic brushed Emilia’s words aside, glaring straight at his daughter. "You didn’t do something stupid to Shani again, did you?"

Hearing her father interrogate her over Shani, as though Shani were some untouchable entity, all the suppressed rage Vivienne had harbored toward Shani instantly erupted.

"Father! She told me you were no better than her dead father, even though dead people can’t do anything!" she blurted out.

Envisioning Shani uttering those words with a smug smirk, anger flared within Dominic as well... Until a crucial realization struck him.

"You got into another clash with Shani?!"

Dominic’s voice boomed like thunder, making Vivienne reflexively cover her ears. Looking up at her father, she saw his eyes bloodshot with rage.

Vivienne never wanted to relive the terrifying incident in the restroom, but reading the suffocating tension in the room, and seeing that even her mother wasn’t coming to her defense, she reluctantly confessed everything about her confrontation with Shani.

"You tried to attack Shani and got beaten back?!"

Dominic didn’t know which infuriated him more: the fact that Vivienne was weaker than Shani, or that Vivienne had dared to pick a fight with Shani in the first place.

With a dark, menacing expression, he stepped toward his daughter.

SLAP! A sharp, resounding slap landed squarely across Vivienne’s cheek.

"I told you not to act stupidly!"

...