The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 189

Orion

*I knew you'd force my hand eventually, you bastard.*

"I'm authorizing the immediate use of all available corporate liquid assets to execute a massive stock buyback program," I announced. "We're going to purchase our own shares aggressively enough to drive the price back up."

The silence that followed was deafening. Then Devan began to smile.

"All available liquid assets?" he asked with obviously feigned concern. "Are you certain about that decision? Because unless my memory fails me, we're required to deposit one billion dollars into a Federal Reserve monitored escrow account by tomorrow evening to maintain our eligibility for the Artery of the Future project bidding."

*There it is. The trap.*

I realized with crystalline clarity what they'd engineered. By forcing me to choose between defending our stock price and maintaining our qualification for the government contract, they'd created a no-win scenario. If I let the stock price collapse, we'd be vulnerable to takeover. If I used our reserves for buybacks, we'd forfeit our chance at the most lucrative contract in the company's history.

"Two separate issues," I said coldly. "Right now, our immediate concern is preventing our stock from becoming worthless. As for the billion-dollar deposit, I'll find alternative funding sources."

Devan's expression suggested he'd been waiting for exactly this response. "I have no objections to the buyback strategy. I'm simply ensuring you've considered all implications of your decision."

"Those implications," I said, my voice dropping to barely above a whisper, "include making sure we don't have any dead weight among our shareholders. When I need support, I expect support—not sabotage disguised as concern."

"What exactly are you implying?" Devan's voice rose with manufactured indignation. "I've worked for this company for decades! You're accusing me of sabotage when you're the one making reckless decisions!"

Charles leaned forward with his trademark condescending smile. "Orion, you need to learn respect for your elders, especially family members who've supported this company since before you were born. I understand young people like to... experiment... but when your personal behavior starts affecting business performance, that becomes everyone's problem."

The murmur of agreement from several board members told me Charles had calculated this response carefully.

"Since we're apparently moving beyond polite pretense," I said, allowing my own smile to turn predatory, "let me be direct. You've both been working against me for months, and tonight's coordinated attack proves it."

Devan's laugh was genuinely delighted. "You know what, Orion? You're right. I'm tired of pretending we're on the same side. Since you want to play hardball, let's make this interesting."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

"You want to bet everything on that government contract," Devan continued, "even after spending our qualification money on stock buybacks? Fine. Let's make this a formal wager."

"What kind of wager?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew.

"Simple. You're betting that somehow, impossibly, you can secure funding for the deposit and win the Artery of the Future project. I'm betting you can't." Devan's eyes gleamed with anticipation. "Loser forfeits their position and their equity stake in the company."

The audacity of it was breathtaking. He was essentially challenging me to a winner-take-all corporate duel.

"Interesting," I said slowly. "But your stake alone wouldn't be equivalent to mine. You'd need to increase the pot."

Charles straightened in his chair. "You're looking at me, aren't you? Fine. I'll add my shares and my board position to the wager. Between Devan and myself, we control enough equity to make this worth your while."

The other board members looked like they were watching gladiators prepare for combat. I could hear fragments of whispered conversations: "One billion dollar deposit... all our liquid assets... this is corporate suicide..." "The kid's too proud for his own good..."

I stood slowly, ignoring their commentary entirely.

"Marcus," I called to my assistant, who'd been taking minutes from the corner of the room. "Execute the buyback order. All available liquid assets, as discussed."

Marcus's face went pale. "All of it, sir?"

"Given the current rate of decline, we have no choice but total commitment," I said coldly.

After Marcus left to implement the order, I placed both hands flat on the conference table and looked directly at Devan and Charles.

"The terms are clear, the stakes are set," I said. "The game officially begins now."

As I walked out of the boardroom, I could hear the explosion of nervous conversation behind me, but I didn't look back. I had a company to save and enemies to destroy, and failure was simply not an option I was willing to consider.