The Rose He Showed Off Is Putting Down Roots in a Garden of Her Own novel Chapter 19

Zane rubbed his temples. "Jocelyn, drop it. How many pills I take is none of your business."

"You're a disgusting bastard! You can barely perform and you're out here ruining young girls?"

"What's the appeal? You like them when they belong to someone else? Gets you going?"

"Yeah, exactly. I like women who belong to other men," Zane fired back, loading his words with double meaning. "So stay out of my business, alright?"

"You think I care about your pathetic life?"

"If Gideon hadn't called me, I wouldn't have wasted my breath on you!"

Jocelyn was a tyrant who demanded total control. Zane knew that better than anyone.

Zane glared at her. "We've been divorced for years. Can you please just let me live?"

"Divorce changes nothing!" Jocelyn snapped.

"You try pulling this stunt again, and we'll see what happens!"

"I'd like to see who actually wants you!"

-

After leaving the Sterling estate, Elara took a brief moment to breathe at her parents' house before diving straight into her new role at Vance Properties.

Liquidating a major corporate asset like Vance Properties required a brutal, multi-phase strategy.

Phase one was securing the board's approval.

The Vance Group board formally voted to sell 100% of Vance Properties' equity.

A restructuring task force was assembled, pulling in top executives from finance, legal, acquisitions, engineering, and public relations.

The goal was to offload the equity fast, inject liquid cash into the parent company, isolate Vance Group from the impending fallout, and ensure current projects didn't collapse.

Phase two was a merciless internal audit.

This involved liquidating physical assets, tracking debt obligations, locking in a baseline valuation, drafting the buyout terms, and establishing the exact framework of the acquisition.

Now, Elara was at phase three: finding a buyer with deep pockets.

Grant Group's initial offer was insulting. Elara desperately needed a new player at the table.

As the newly appointed President of Vance Properties, she immediately ousted the former general manager and assumed total control of operations.

She kept the former manager's secretary, Aaron, who had been with the company for over a decade and knew where all the bodies were buried.

Her first order of business was having Aaron set up a meeting with Zane Whitaker, the CEO of Whitaker Group.

She had bad blood with Gideon Grant, and Grant Group was trying to buy them for pennies on the dollar. Her only shot was to court Whitaker Group, hoping they would offer a fair market price to save her family's empire.

Thank god she at least had a passing acquaintance with Zane.

Sitting in her office, a wave of bitter regret washed over her.

For years, she had hidden in the background, pouring all her energy into her marriage and Julian, completely neglecting her professional network.

It might not be a man's world entirely, but the reality was that the people writing the checks at the top of the food chain were mostly men.

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