She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 384

My phone was broken. It's fine now.

He typed the reply to his mother, not caring if she bought the excuse or not.

The screen locked, plunging the room back into darkness.

He remained wide awake.

That message felt like a terrible omen.

He wasn't the only one suffering from insomnia that night. Dominic was wide awake, too.

Instead of returning to Rosecrest Villas, he was at the Hale Group headquarters.

At this hour, the only lights still on in the entire building were coming from the chairman's office.

Dominic and Gregory were inside.

Gregory took a long drag of his cigar, blowing out a dense cloud of smoke.

"I never expected Melanie to be this capable..."

"Of course she is. My wife is brilliant!"

Seeing the smug grin plastered on his son's face, Gregory's temper flared.

"You have the nerve to brag? She's about to be your ex-wife!"

His father's words struck a nerve, twisting Dominic's expression into an ugly scowl.

"Dad, is there really no way to fix this? Melanie and I... we belong together..."

"Now you want to fix things?!" Gregory roared, glaring daggers at his son.

"You brought this on yourself! Marrying into the Royce family was supposed to secure their resources. No matter what, Melanie is Nathaniel's only biological daughter. He can parade Sabrina and Aria around all he wants, but he only gave his shares to Melanie... If you had just kept her happy and played the perfect son-in-law, the Hale Group would have been guaranteed a slice of the pie."

"But instead, you slept with your adopted sister, had an illegitimate kid that became a walking liability, and worse—you let Melanie find out!"

"Here."

Gregory pulled an elegant shopping bag from under his desk, snapping Dominic's attention back to reality.

"Melanie officially starts her new role tomorrow. Give this to her as a congratulatory gift."

Dominic reached into the bag and pulled out a dust cover. Slipping it off, he revealed a handbag.

"A Hermès crocodile Birkin with rose-gold hardware... This has to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!" he gasped.

Ever since the divorce scandal broke, the Hale Group had been strapped for cash, their stock prices tanking with no signs of recovery.

If Nathaniel hadn't tossed them a lifeline, corporate would be facing imminent bankruptcy.

"Dad, where did you get the money for a bag like this?"

"Mind your own business. Just make sure she gets it tomorrow."