Chapter 57

Third-Person POV

Stefan stared at the offer letter on his desk until the words blurred together. Thirty cents on the dollar. For shipping routes his grandfather had established. For contracts his father had nurtured. For a legacy three generations of Rodriguez men had built with sweat and sacrifice.

Thirty cents on the dollar. A number designed to wound as much as to acquire.

Behind him, the Rodriguez Shipping headquarters buzzed with the frantic energy of a dying animal. Staff packed personal belongings into cardboard boxes. Security escorted tearful employees to the elevator. Phones rang unanswered throughout the building as news of their financial collapse spread through the industry.

Three hours earlier, the board had voted to remove him as CEO. Only his father’s intervention, and their family’s controlling shares, had prevented his complete dismissal. Now he clung to the title of “Executive CEO,” a meaningless position created solely to spare the