Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 131

Elara understood his meaning. Her tone softened, shedding some of its initial frost as she seemingly accepted his explanation. "Is Mr. Winthrop also a shareholder in Beckett Corp? You never mentioned it."

"He wasn't before," Julian explained simply. "Last year, a shareholder needed cash fast and sold his stake to Mr. Winthrop."

"You never cared about my work, so I didn't bring it up."

He closed the distance between them, reaching out again. When Elara didn't pull away, his hand settled firmly on her shoulder.

"But you have to believe me—everything I'm doing is for you and Melody. For her future."

He clearly didn't want to dwell on the topic.

Elara glanced at the hand on her shoulder, feigning confusion as she kept her tone perfectly neutral. "But I remember when Sebastian turned eighteen, his father already transferred some of his shares to him."

"When it comes to inheriting the company, Sebastian has the absolute advantage. You can't beat him, can you?"

"He definitely has the upper hand with shares," Julian admitted honestly. "But Sebastian is now the head of the Vance family, and our two groups are in competition. The Beckett Corp board won't allow him to act as executive director for both simultaneously."

"Ark Solutions' growth is undeniable, but since I've never officially held a position at Beckett Corp, even if my father wanted me in management, the shareholders might not welcome me. That's why I need a strong backer's recommendation."

He stopped there, unwilling to say more.

Elara pretended not to notice the glaring contradictions from his excuses a few days ago, seamlessly following his logic.

"So you want to use Mr. Winthrop's support to get into management, gain real power, and then dismantle the old guard to compete with Sebastian?"

Elara pushed him away without hesitation. "Save the promises for when you actually do it."

"I will, I'll prove it to you," Julian promised, raising his hands in surrender. "I'll pay the fine and transfer the apology money to Melody's account."

Elara leveled a cool look at him. "Melody deducted four points from you. You only have five left on The Daddy Scorecard."

Julian froze. If he remembered correctly, Melody had explicitly said dropping below six points meant she wouldn't forgive him...

"Paying the standard fine now... wouldn't that show a lack of sincerity?" Elara asked.

Julian nodded vigorously. "Right. I'll multiply the transfer by four to match the points."