Page 59 of The Next Door Billionaire's Deception

“Those are our terms. Emerald is not available under any other terms but these. They’re not negotiable as well.”

I smile. Emerald’s board has played their hands.

“Thank you for your consideration, gentlemen. Please give us three weeks to review the demands, then arrive at a conclusion.”

Rising to my feet, I shake all three once more, before striding out.

Emerald’s board has just declared they aren’t for sale. This means there’s only one way left for me to acquire the company – expose the company’s underground dealings and bring down the top people using the company as a means to their own illegal ends.

My phone rings when I’m near my office. It’s Melissa.

“Hey. Did you get home safely?”

“I did. Hey, about that thing we discussed earlier. That issue troubling you and all.”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Has it been resolved?”

“No. The other firm brought up some impossible demands.”

“There’s something you can do about it.”

I fall back to my chair. “What’s that?”

“It’s a takeover strategy that just might work for your consultancy firm.”

“I’m intrigued.”

“So, here’s how it works. You’ve had a proposal rejected, right? Well, there’s a way you can still take over them. By entering a partnership.”

“A partnership?”What?

“Yes. By entering a partnership with them, you’ve succeeded in your first task of merging. Now all that’s left is for you to simply buy your way into total control of the partnership.”

A partnership? With a company that has underground dealings?

Genius. They won’t see it coming.

“Hon’, you’re a genius.”

She giggles. “I didn’t become CEO by chance.”

Chapter 18

Melissa

“MissDurham?Chadspeaking.”

I pause my typing. The computer screen lies idle, displaying a worksheet filled with figures and lists.

For more than a week, I was absent from work on the instruction of the FBI, after the burglary of my apartment. As a result, the volume of work I’m handling only piled up. Thank heavens, I did some work from home during that period.

On my ebony desk, files and folders lie stacked on top of each other, clustering the space and leaving little room for other things. There’s a lot to be done. It's a busy Monday, after all.

I'm sure Chad is busy as well. His calling means there's a new important development.

“Chad. I’ve resumed work, just as you advised me last weekend.”

---