Farewell to Love: The CEO's Desperate Chase novel Chapter 747

"But keeping it open for three days also gave the sharks time to run their due diligence on you."

"You didn't dare approach Alden City's apex predators like The Erickson Group, The Glenn Group, or Donovan Group. Their risk assessment teams would have torn your books apart and found the leak immediately."

"But you desperately needed a massive war chest to convince Elias Thorne to stay."

"So you played smoke and mirrors. You artificially inflated the buy-in threshold, and then conveniently leaked the news of a massive overseas order at eleven o'clock last night."

Emilia flawlessly mapped out his entire psychological operation.

Through her own quiet investigations, she knew Aegis's tech was revolutionary. The only fatal flaw in the foundation was Elias Thorne's impending departure.

And as for why he was leaving...

Emilia had literally bumped into Caleb at the hospital.

It made no sense for a CEO to be at a hospital during the most critical week of his company's existence, so she had followed him.

She had heard them arguing in the stairwell.

Elias was the company's core engineer. Caleb ran the business, and Elias built the tech. They had founded Aegis together.

But Elias's mother had been struck by a critical illness, and the ICU bills were astronomical. They were completely out of money.

"Don't blame me, Caleb," Elias had sobbed in the stairwell. "I can't just watch my mom die. I have to sell my shares. I promise I won't work for any competitors for six months."

"If you leave, Aegis is dead in the water! We'll lose everything!" Caleb had pleaded.

But Elias just shook his head in despair.

"I'll get a loan! Don't sell yet, I'll find the money to save her!" Caleb begged. "We've been best friends for years. We built Aegis together. Give me a chance, please!"

It meant he was stepping away from the industry indefinitely.

No one knew if or when he would ever return to Aegis.

In the glass room, Emilia calmly laid all her cards on the table.

Caleb's legs gave out. He collapsed into the chair opposite her.

He looked utterly defeated.

"We've been best friends since college," Caleb whispered, his voice cracking. "We starved for this company. But I can't blame him for choosing his mother."

"I thought I could manage this... I'm not a fraud, Emilia. Our tech is real. With Elias, we can change the world. But this..."