157 Karma and a Convenient Debt
157 Karma and a Convenient Debt
Hazel’s POV
The door crashed against the wall as Aunt Helen stormed into the conference room, her face contorted with fury. Her husband Richard and their two adult children
followed close behind, looking equally outraged.
“You conniving, backstabbing witch!” Helen screamed at Tanya, completely ignoring everyone else in the room.
Tanya rose from her chair, her newfound confidence as majority shareholder evident in her stance. “What are you doing here? This is a private meeting.”
“Private?” Helen laughed bitterly. “You think you can steal my brother’s company behind my back and I wouldn’t find out?”
I settled back in my chair, suddenly in no hurry to leave. This unexpected confrontation was about to become very interesting.
“I didn’t steal anything” Tanya snapped. “I purchased Hazel’s shares legally.”
Helen’s gaze darted to me for a split second before returning to Tanya. “You had no right! Harold promised me those shares years ago!”
The lawyer cleared his throat awkwardly. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion another time-”
“Shut up!” both women shouted in unison.
I caught the eye of one of the shareholders, who looked deeply uncomfortable. I gave him a small shrug as if to say, “Family business, what can you do?”
“Harold is in jail because of your incompetence!” Helen jabbed a finger at Tanya. “If you hadn’t pushed him to evade taxes, none of this would have happened!”
“Don’t you dare blame me for his mistakes!” Tanya’s voice rose to match Helen’s. “I saved this company while you were off living your perfect little life in Boston!”
Helen’s face reddened dangerously. “Saved it? You’ve been bleeding it dry for years! Those funds were meant for expansion, not your shopping sprees and cosmetic surgeries!”
The other shareholders began quietly gathering their things, eager to escape the family drama unfolding before them. I remained seated, fascinated by the spectacle. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion.
“At least I was here!” Tanya screeched. “Where were you when the company was struggling? Nowhere to be found until there was money to be made!”
Helen lunged forward suddenly, grabbing a handful of Tanya’s perfectly styled hair. “You gold-digging parasite!”
The conference room erupted into chaos. Tanya screamed and clawed at Helen’s face while Helen’s husband tried to pull them apart. Papers flew off the table as the women crashed against it.
“Stop it!” the lawyer shouted, backing away from the brawl. “This is highly unprofessional!”
I watched with detached amusement as my aunts, both well into their fifties, fought like teenagers. All those years of pretending to be refined socialites, only to end up pulling each other’s hair in a corporate conference room.
Karma really was a beautiful thing.
Helen’s daughter jumped in to help her mother, while her son blocked the door to prevent Tanya from escaping. It was four against one, and Tanya was clearly outmatched.
My phone buzzed with an incoming call. Cherry’s name flashed on the screen.
“I need to take this,” I announced to no one in particular as I stepped away from the unfolding disaster. “Cherry?”
“Hazel, the design team is waiting for you to approve the final sketches for the winter collection,” she said urgently. “They need an answer today or we’ll miss the production deadline.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I replied, glancing back at the fight. Tanya was now pinned against the wall by Helen’s husband while Helen screamed accusations about stolen family heirlooms.
“Is everything okay?” Cherry asked. “You sound distracted.”
“Just witnessing the disintegration of my father’s side of the family,” I said calmly.
157 Karma and a Convenient Debt
“Nothing important.”
I hung up and gathered my belongings. As I headed for the door, Tanya broke free from Richard’s grip and lunged toward me.
“This is your fault!” she hissed, grabbing my arm. “You planned this!”
I removed her hand from my arm with deliberate slowness. “I simply sold my shares. Everything else is the natural consequence of twenty years of lies and manipulation.”
“You can’t leave now!” she demanded. “Tell them I have legal rights to the company!”
I smiled coldly. “Consider this payback for all the times you and father made my mother cry. For every birthday you ignored me while showering Ivy with gifts. For every time you made me feel like an unwanted stain on your perfect family portrait.”
The room fell silent as everyone stared at me.
“A woman has to be ruthless to secure her position,” I continued, echoing the words Tanya herself had often used. “Isn’t that what you always told Ivy?”
Without waiting for a response, I walked out, leaving them to their self-destruction. As the elevator doors closed behind me, I heard the shouting resume with renewed vigor.
Two hours later, I sat in my office at Evening Gala, reviewing the winter collection sketches. With the sixty million from the share sale safely in my account, I felt a strange sense of emptiness. Revenge hadn’t brought me the satisfaction I’d expected.
My thoughts drifted to Sebastian Sinclair. I still owed him for his help, and now I finally had the means to begin repaying that debt. At least, that was what I told myself as I picked up my phone during lunch break.
My finger hovered over his number. Was I really calling to discuss business, or was I looking for an excuse to hear his voice again?
With a deep breath, I pressed call. The phone rang once, twice, three times. My heart raced with each ring. By the seventh ring, I was ready to hang up, convinced he was ignoring me.
Just as I was about to end the call, his deep voice answered. “Sebastian Sinclair speaking”
HI
