The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 534

The tenth day of the New Year.

A shocking piece of news rocketed St. John Global back to the top of the trending lists.

#Massive Shakeup! Sebastian St. John Steps Down as CEO, Montgomery St. John Takes the Helm!#

Riley was eating lunch when she saw the headline. The fork slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the floor. Her pupils dilated, and all the color drained from her face as an overwhelming wave of sheer panic consumed her.

Mrs. Gable jumped at the noise. "Riley, what's wrong?"

"Something terrible has happened." Without elaborating, Riley grabbed her phone, her fingers trembling wildly as she pulled up Sebastian's number. She was about to press call when she froze.

He had to be completely swamped. He probably didn't have time to answer.

Her finger shifted, and she dialed Franklin instead. It rang for what felt like forever. Just as the call was about to automatically disconnect, he answered. "Ms. Vance."

"Is the news real? Did Sebastian... step down?" Her voice shook, tight with suppressed panic.

"It's real. We completely underestimated Montgomery. He's been the one pulling the strings this whole time—that's why the negative press wouldn't die down. He took advantage of the massive stock drop to secretly buy up massive shares, and he swallowed up a few of the other shareholders' stakes too.

"He finally showed his true colors at the board meeting this morning. He rallied a group of shareholders to force Mr. St. John out, using his position as the majority shareholder to take the CEO seat."

Even through the phone, Riley could hear the raw fury and gritted teeth in Franklin's voice.

Listening to him, her mind completely blanked out for a second.

How could this happen?

How did things deteriorate so fast?

When she spoke to Sebastian the night before, he had assured her everything was fine. He had claimed he was close to tracking down the person manipulating the media and promised the storm would blow over soon.

She had thought they were turning a corner. She never realized they were standing on the edge of a cliff.

Gripping her phone tightly, she swallowed hard, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. "How is he?"