I Stopped Loving Him When He Let Me Bleed Out novel Chapter 285

The door at the end of the corridor was left slightly ajar. The brass plaque next to it read: VIP Lounge.

A sliver of warm, golden light bled through the narrow crack between the heavy mahogany door and the frame, slicing across the dark marble floor like a glowing blade.

Finn stood right at the threshold, his back facing the hallway, deep in conversation with someone inside.

His broad shoulders blocked out most of the gap.

"Come in, Finn, the board members are here."

Sienna froze in her tracks.

She only caught that one sentence before the door clicked shut.

But her stomach plummeted.

She remembered the countless times she and Finn had curled up together, listening to him insist that he hated the corporate world. He only ever wanted to be a pilot.

He was endlessly grateful that his older brother, Ford, was willing to shoulder the family empire so he could chase his own dreams in the sky.

So why the hell was Finn holding secret meetings with the board of directors?

The fact that he was even at a medical symposium made zero sense.

Nothing added up, and her mind was spinning with contradictions.

Sienna took a sharp breath, forcing herself to turn around and walk away.

It wasn't her business.

She and Finn were over.

She was dating Silas now, and her sole focus needed to be on her research, her career, and the future she was actively building for herself.

Inside the VIP lounge, the air was pulled so tight it felt like it might snap.

"The three subsidiary companies Ford launched over the last few years have hemorrhaged money for thirty-six consecutive months. Yet, the financial reports he submitted to the board show pure profit. The second the IRS starts digging, this whole house of cards comes down."

A suffocating silence filled the room.

Jarvis Dayton, the most powerful shareholder outside the Fletcher family, didn't even glance at the damning dossiers. He just kept his eyes locked on Finn.

Finn easily translated that look—it was a vicious calculation, drenched in skepticism.

"Even if every word of this is true," one of the other board members finally spoke up, "if Ford goes down, Grant Fletcher's attention is entirely overseas. Who exactly is going to take the reins? You?"

"I can."

Two words. Calm, absolute, and undeniably lethal.

Some of the executives leaned back in their leather chairs, while others exchanged cynical, half-hidden smirks. Nobody said a word.

Finn watched their reactions, entirely unfazed. This was exactly what he expected.

He slid the final folder across the polished mahogany table.

"Fletcher Group has been chained to traditional manufacturing for thirty years. Our profit margins have plummeted from fifteen percent to less than five. You all know better than I do that this path is a dead end."

It didn't matter how brilliant Finn's presentation was, or how lucrative a partnership with Silas Hayes sounded. Until they saw concrete, irrefutable proof, no one was going to risk their neck.

"I've spoken with Silas personally," Finn said, his voice as steady and unbothered as a pilot reading out coordinates mid-flight. "He's fully committed to the partnership."

Low, frantic whispers immediately broke out across the boardroom.

Jarvis pulled off his reading glasses and locked eyes with Finn.

"Silas Hayes told you this himself?"

"Yes." Finn didn't blink.

In truth, Silas's absolute commitment was the one piece of the puzzle Finn hadn't entirely secured yet.

But to rip the board out of Ford's grip, he had to play Russian roulette.

Jarvis remained dead silent for what felt like an eternity before slipping his glasses into his breast pocket and planting his cane to stand up.

"You've got more nerve than your father and your brother put together," the old man rasped. "Flying planes was a waste of your..."

He pushed himself up with sudden, aggressive energy.

But his body violently lurched sideways.

His grip slipped right off the gold handle of the cane.

"Dad?" Lance noticed first, slamming his coffee cup down and lunging forward to catch him.