Chapter 203 Information Leak Incident

Chapter 203 Information Leak Incident

Ember's POV

Inside the Hart Group conference room. I stared hard at the bid results on the projection screen.

Hart Group ranked third.

That meant we didn't even make it to the second round. I had poured every bit of liquid capital Hart Group could spare into this critical new energy chip project — mortgaged two properties on top of that, and taken out a substantial bank loan. Now that we'd lost the bid, it was all basically gone.

"Mr. Hart, our team ran the numbers again. The final offers from first and second place were both less than one point below ours. It's almost like the other parties knew exactly what our floor price was." My assistant stood up and spoke carefully.

I closed my eyes for a moment, exhausted. The shareholders in the room had already erupted into chaos — some slamming their fists on the table, others venting through thinly veiled complaints, a few storming out and slamming the door behind them.

After the meeting ended, I locked myself alone in my office. The bid documents were scattered across my desk. I had personally rechecked every key figure, and the numbers themselves were fine. The pricing was strictly confidential — besides me and a handful of senior executives, no one outside should have known the final floor price. Unless someone at the top had leaked it. But who would do something like that.

Then my phone rang. Asher's name lit up the screen.

The moment I picked up, his voice came through: "I heard something went wrong with your chip project. Do you want me to—"

"No." I cut him off, a little irritably. "It's my problem. I can handle it."

"Ember, don't be stubborn right now." Asher's voice was low and firm.

"I said no." I turned him down coldly and hung up.

I slumped back in my chair and pressed my fingers against my throbbing temples. Then, almost immediately, a second piece of bad news hit.

My assistant didn't even knock — he pushed the door open in a panic, looking even worse than he had in the conference room. "Mr. Hart, we just got word. Someone filed a formal complaint against Blackwood Group for tax evasion. The tax authorities have already moved in to investigate. All of Alpha's funds are frozen, and that emergency transfer they promised us has been frozen along with it."

My hands went still.

The timing was too perfect. Hart Group had barely hit the wall before Asher's company got hit with a pinpoint-accurate complaint — both things blowing up at almost the exact same moment. It was obvious someone had planned all of this in advance.

I called in my assistant and a few trusted people and questioned each of them hard. Nothing came of it.

I rubbed my aching brow, and right then my phone rang again. I picked up. Zane's voice came through: "Got a minute? Come have coffee with me."

---

A little while later, at a private booth in a café, Zane was already sitting there, perfectly at ease, a cup of coffee in front of him.

I walked over, pulled out a chair, and got straight to the point. "Zane, why did you want to see me?"

"I heard your chip project bid fell through." He looked at me steadily. "Things must be rough for the company right now. Do you need my help?"

"No. What I really want to know is who leaked my floor price — someone outside Hart Group's inner circle."

The room went quiet for a moment. Zane asked slowly, "Do you have any leads?"

"A few suspects. But I want to hear what you think."

"Me? I'm not part of Hart Group. What would I know about it."

"Is that right?" I set my cup down, the ceramic base hitting the saucer with a sharp little click. "I always had the impression you kept yourself very well informed about my company."

Something shifted in the air. Zane lifted his eyes slowly and met my gaze without flinching.

"Ember." He put his coffee cup down. "Are you suspecting me?"

I sat there and said nothing.

"You think I stole your bid documents and stabbed you in the back. That's what you think, isn't it?" He said it word by word.

"I didn't say that." My voice was flat.

"You didn't say it out loud. But that's exactly what's going through your head." He leaned back in his chair. "The fact that you came here today to test me means you've already leaned toward an answer."

I pressed my lips together. I had prepared a lot of things to say before coming here, but looking at him now, I didn't need any of it. I looked him in the eye and asked directly: "Was it you?"

"No." Clean and simple. "I don't know where you heard something, but I can promise you — this was not me."

I looked down, a little deflated, my fingers slowly tracing the rim of my cup. "Zane, we grew up together. You have no reason to hurt me. I believe you."

"I get why you suspected me, Ember. But why didn't you suspect Asher? Why was it me you came after?" His voice had gone slightly rough.

"I—" I opened my mouth, quickly trying to figure out what to say that wouldn't make things worse.

"You don't have to answer that." Zane stepped in before I could. "I understand where you're at. You just took over Hart Group and something this big goes wrong right away — the board and everyone else is watching you. You're under enormous pressure. You need to find whoever did this and give people an answer. That makes sense."

I nodded, genuinely grateful. "Thank you for understanding, Zane."

"So you could really use some help right now, couldn't you?" He shifted gears suddenly.

I frowned slightly, not sure where he was going.

"I can help you get Hart Group through this crisis. But you have to agree to be my mate." He laid out his terms, calm as ever.

He watched my expression and smiled, then kept going. "If you're not willing, I won't force you. But I might just do you the favor of giving Hart Group one more push on its way down."

"Why?"

"Because I'm done. You've never seen me, no matter how much I've given you. You and Asher keep pulling each other back and forth, but you won't accept even a little of what I offer."

"Ember, you agreed to marry me, then turned around and slept with Asher. You lied to my face for him. You cried for him. You take his side every single time. What about me? What have all these years of everything I've done for you actually meant to you?"

I opened my mouth, stunned — and found I had nothing to say back to any of it.

"Since being good to you never worked, I'm trying something different. Say yes to my proposal, and I'll back you with everything I have. Every business resource the Sawyer family has is yours to use."

I listened to his ultimatum, my fingers curling slowly under the table.

"Say yes right now, and I'll cover every funding gap Hart Group has by tomorrow. Losing the chip project doesn't matter — I have two bigger new energy projects in my hands right now, and I'll hand them both over to you. But you have to walk away from Asher completely, and stay with me as my mate."