Chapter 76 Welcome Gift II

Chapter 76 Welcome Gift II
♤SEBASTIAN♤

“Since the logistics division is now under my control,” I interrupt, leaning forward and resting my forearms on the table.

“I want to see her operational file. I need to know what kind of mess I am inheriting before I sign off on the quarterly budget.”

“Of course,” the secretary says, pulling a red folder from his briefcase and sliding it across the table toward me.

“These are the balance sheets and ledgers, sir. The rest of the data is located in her old office on the floor below. But these are the most critical documents.”

I pull the folder toward me, flipping it open. My eyes scan the top rows of numbers. The figures don’t add up cleanly, but I don’t have the time to audit forty million dollars while sitting in front of a panel of sharks.

For the next hour, the meeting is a brutal game of chess.

Every time Jonathan tries to slip a clause into the transition contract that gives him oversight of my decisions, I counter him instantly.

I rewrite the boundaries right in front of the board, stripping his office of any voting power in all the departments I control.

I am not here to be his puppet.

By the time the final vote is cast and the board members sign the transition papers, everyone is already exhausted.

The older men quickly pack their briefcases, rushing out of the room to escape the toxic atmosphere between father and son.

I stand up, pick up the red folder, and move toward the exit. But before my hand can touch the door handle, Jonathan’s voice stops me in my tracks.

“You see, Sebastian? It isn’t that hard to be my heir,” he chuckles, his voice incredibly smug as he walks up behind me.

“You handled the board perfectly. You’re managing things well, just like I always knew you would.”

I spin around slowly, my eyes burning with hatred as I look down at him.

“Don’t confuse my compliance with respect, Jonathan,” I hiss, lowering my voice.

“You and I both know the only reason I am standing inside this wretched building is because you threatened an innocent woman’s life.”

I look around to make sure no one is eavesdropping.

"If you hadn’t used Yasmin as leverage, I would rather see this entire empire burn to the ground than sit at your table. So don’t act all high and mighty in front of me. You are a blackmailer, nothing more.”

Jonathan’s face goes cold, his jaw tightening as he stares back at me.

Before he can find his voice, I throw the door open and step out into the hallway.

“Everything alright, boss?” Noah asks as he falls into step beside me, his eyes quickly scanning my face to assess the damage.

The board secretary who gave me the file follows close behind, gesturing toward the staircase.

“This way, Mr. Cross,” the secretary says politely.

“I will show you to Miss Beauty’s old office so you can take official possession of the main ledgers.”

We walk down to the lower floor in silence.

When we arrive at the office, the secretary unlocks the doors and ushers us inside.

The office is spacious, but it looks like a disaster area.

Files are scattered across the desk, drawers are half-open, and the lingering scent of Beauty’s oud perfume still hangs in the air.

“The ledger files from the last three shipping quarters are right here on the desk, sir,” the secretary says, patting a stack of black binders.

“If you need anything else, my office is down the hall.”

He bows his head and quickly excuses himself.

I sit down behind the large desk, tossing the red folder onto the blotter.

“Noah, pull up the access codes. Let’s look at these shipping contracts.”

Noah pulls out his tablet and gets to work.

I pull the black binders toward me, opening the first ledger, while Noah tracks the movement of funds on his screen.

At first, everything looks like normal mismanagement: inflated shipping costs, late-delivery penalties, and unauthorized bonuses.

But twenty minutes into the review, the numbers stop making sense entirely.

I pause, my pen hovering over a column of international freight data.

I frown, my eyes narrowing as I trace a series of outgoing transfers to an offshore terminal in Panama.

“Noah,” I call.

“Look at the third-quarter supply chain logs for the European routes. Cross-reference the outbound cargo weight with the port clearance records.”

Noah’s fingers fly across his tablet, his brow furrowing as the data scrolls down the screen.

A few seconds later, he stops, his face losing all color as he stares at the information.

“Wait… this isn’t making sense, boss,” Noah whispers, his voice shaking slightly.

“Look at the account routing. Beauty didn’t just mismanage forty million dollars. She legally tied this entire department to a long-term maritime logistics contract with a front company owned by Notch Holdings.”

My heart stops.

Notch Holdings.

They are Cross Holdings’ fiercest competitor in the global market.

“Look at the clause, boss,” Noah says, turning the tablet toward me.

“She structured the contract so that if our shipping division fails to meet the monthly cargo quota —which we are already missing because of her audit freeze— the entire infrastructure, including our deep-water ports, automatically transfers to Notch as collateral.”

I grab the tablet, my eyes flying across the screen.

My stomach drops. Noah is right.

It is a flawless trap.

If I try to cancel the contract to save our ports, Cross Holdings faces an immediate thirty-million-dollar breach penalty that will trigger bankruptcy within the logistics division.

But if I keep the contract running, the current deficit means we will miss the quota in two weeks, and Notch will legally seize our most valuable global ports anyway.

If we do this, we lose the money.

If we do that, we lose the ports.

“This looks like a dead end, sir.” Noah rubs his hands over his face nervously.

“This isn’t just a regular loss. Beauty signed these papers two days ago. She knew she was going to get caught, and she intentionally rigged the entire department to explode the moment you took it over.”

He begins pacing around the room, breaking down the situation as if I don’t already understand exactly what I’m dealing with.

“For your reputation as the newly named heir, this is catastrophic. If the department collapses during your first week in charge, the board will vote to strip you of the title.”

A suffocating silence fills the office.

Suddenly, Beauty’s words from the hallway echo clearly in the back of my mind.

“I hope you truly enjoy the welcome gift I prepared for you…”

This is it.

This is what she was talking about.

Fucking bitch.

She didn’t just lose a fight; she set the entire house on fire before she left, making sure that if she couldn’t have the throne, I would be buried under the rubble.

“Nice one, Beauty,” I growl through my teeth, my hand curling into a tight fist.

“You really outdid yourself with this one.”