148 A Calculated Offer
Hazel’s POV
The plan crystallized in my mind as I pushed open the door to the private dining room. Vera and Cora looked up from their menus, their expressions shifting to concern when they saw my face.
“What happened?” Vera asked, setting down her menu.
I raised a hand, signaling them to wait. Without sitting down, I pulled out my phone again and dialed Aunt Patricia’s number. She answered on the first ring.
“Hazel? That was quick-”
“I’ve made a decision,” I cut in, my voice calm and measured. “I’m willing to sell my shares in Shaw Enterprises.”
“What?” Her shock was evident. “All of them?”
“All eighty million dollars’ worth,” I confirmed, catching Vera’s widening eyes across the table. “But not to Harold or Tanya directly.”
“Then to whom?”
“To you.”
The silence on the other end of the line told me I’d caught her completely off guard. I smiled to myself and continued before she could recover.
“I’ll sell for sixty million. That’s twenty million below market value.”
“Sixty million?” Aunt Patricia’s voice pitched higher. “That’s… that’s still an enormous
sum.”
“It’s a bargain,” I replied coolly, finally sliding into my seat. “Those shares are projected to increase in value by fifteen percent within the next quarter alone. You’d make your money back and then some within a year.”
I could practically hear her mind racing through calculations.
“Why would you offer this to me?” Suspicion laced her tone.
“Because I want out completely. No ties, no complications. And I’d rather sell to family than strangers.” The lie slipped easily from my lips.
“I… I don’t know if we can raise that kind of capital quickly-”
“I have other interested parties,” I interrupted. “Several board members have already approached me. But I thought I’d give you first refusal.”
“Can you give me some time to discuss this with Robert?”
“You have until tomorrow afternoon. After that, I’m entertaining other offers.”
Vera slid a glass of water toward me, her eyebrows raised in silent question. I took a sip, watching Cora’s bemused expression.
“Tomorrow? That’s hardly enough time to arrange financing of this magnitude!”
“Funny,” I remarked. “Harold and Tanya arranged to steal an entire company in less time. I’m sure you can manage a simple purchase.”
“Hazel, please-”
“Sixty million by tomorrow afternoon, or I move on. That’s my offer.”
I could hear her talking to someone in the background-likely her husband-their urgent whispers carrying through the phone.
“We’ll find a way,” she finally said. “Can we meet tomorrow to discuss terms?”
“My lawyer will contact you in the morning with the paperwork. If the terms are acceptable, we can close by end of day.”
“Yes, yes, that works. Thank you, Hazel. You won’t regret this.”
“I know I won’t,” I answered, ending the call.
Vera leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “What the hell was that about? Are you seriously selling your shares?”
I set my phone down and reached for the wine list. “I’m getting rid of a hot potato and making a tidy profit,”
“But your mother’s company-”
“Isn’t
my mother’s company anymore,” I finished firmly. “It stopped being her company
the day Harold and Tanya took over. What matters now is the percentage I built at Evening Gala.”
Cora nodded slowly. “Smart move. But why sell to your aunt?”
A slow smile spread across my face as I poured myself a glass of water. “Because the moment she becomes majority shareholder, Tanya will come crawling out of the woodwork demanding a piece of the pie.”
Understanding dawned on Vera’s face. “You’re setting them up to fight each other.”
“Exactly. Aunt Patricia thinks she’s getting a bargain. Tanya will think she deserves a share of the windfall. Harold will feel entitled to control. They’ll tear each other apart while I walk away clean.”
“Diabolical,” Vera whispered, looking impressed. “But what about the money? Sixty million is nothing to sneeze at.”
I traced the rim of my water glass, thinking of Sebastian. “It solves another problem.
The debt I owe the Sinclairs.”
Cora’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s the real reason, isn’t it? Getting out from under his
thumb.”
I shrugged, unwilling to admit how much the thought of being free from obligation to Sebastian lightened my heart. Our relationship-whatever it was-needed to be on equal footing.
“It’s business,” I said simply. “And good business at that.”
“To good business, then,” Vera raised her glass, then paused. “Though I can hardly believe you’re walking away from your family legacy.”
I clinked my water glass against hers. “I’m not walking away from anything. I’m building something new-something that’s truly mine. Evening Gala is my legacy now.”
The weight that had been pressing on my chest since Aunt Patricia’s call had lifted. For years, those shares had been both shield and shackle-protection against Harold’s schemes but a constant reminder of everything I’d lost. Selling them felt like cutting the final cord tethering me to a painful past.
“This calls for a celebration,” I declared, reaching for the wine list. “Let’s order something special.”
21.01
“I’ll drink to the demise of toxic family ties,” Vera agreed enthusiastically. “About time you cut them loose.”
“Speaking of drinking,” I glanced at Cora, who had been quieter than usual. “Red or
white?”
Cora shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Actually, I can’t drink tonight.”
“Designated driver?” I asked, flipping through the wine selection.
She exchanged a quick look with Vera. “Not exactly.”
Something in her tone made me look up. There was a hesitancy in her expression I hadn’t noticed before, a subtle glow that made me pause.
“Cora? Is everything okay?”
“More than okay,” she replied, a small smile playing at her lips. “But that’s a conversation for another time. Tonight is about your brilliant escape plan.”
I narrowed my eyes, sensing there was more to her abstention than she was letting on, but decided not to push. We all had our secrets, and tonight, for the first time in months, I felt truly free of mine.
“To new beginnings, then,” I said, setting aside the wine list. “And to finally shaking off the Shaw family curse.”
As Vera and Cora lifted their glasses in agreement, I couldn’t help but feel that tomorrow would mark the true beginning of my independence-not just from Harold and Tanya, but from the ghosts that had haunted me for far too long.
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2104
The Revealing Pho
