Chapter 156: Online blowout
No one answered. Because no one knew. And that was the most terrifying part.
This wasn’t just competition. This was precise. Calculated. Someone hadn’t just copied their work. They had studied it. Recreated it.
Released it all at once, like a weapon. And as Janet stood there, surrounded by ringing phones and rising panic, one thought began to settle heavily in her chest.
–
In the far corner of the office, away from the frantic movement and the rising noise, Raymond sat with his head slightly bowed, still, almost detached from the chaos unraveling around him.
To anyone watching, he looked like just another employee caught in the storm. Quiet. Concerned. Overwhelmed.
But beneath that carefully worn expression, his mind was anything but calm. It was sharp. Focused. Moving faster than the ringing phones, faster than the panic spreading through the room.
Because none of this had surprised him. Not the calls. Not the accusations. Not even the way Janet’s voice had begun to crack under the pressure. He had seen it all before it happened.
The night before replayed in fragments behind his steady gaze, dim lighting, hushed voices, numbers being moved across accounts, instructions given with quiet precision. He had chosen every step carefully, placing each piece exactly where it needed to be.
A clean strike.
Not to destroy. No. Never that. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. I’ll fix it later. The promise surfaced again, the same one he had clung to since the moment he set everything in motion.
He wasn’t here to ruin her. He was here to bring her back. Because the silence of this place without Amara... it wasn’t just unsettling. It was unbearable.
He lifted his eyes slightly, watching as Janet struggled at the center of the storm, her composure slipping with every call she answered, every demand she couldn’t meet.
For a brief moment. Just a second. Something flickered inside him. Guilt.
It came quietly, almost hesitantly. But just as quickly, it was gone. Replaced by something stronger. Clearer. The image of Amara walking through those doors.
Commanding. Unshaken. Fixing everything the way only she could. And just like that... the doubt disappeared. "Janet, the main supplier is on line three!"
His voice cut through the chaos, loud enough to be heard, strained enough to sound real. He rose halfway from his chair, gripping the edge of his desk as though the pressure was getting to him too.
"He says if we don’t pay by noon, he’s stopping all shipments!" The words landed exactly where they needed to. Janet froze.
"I can’t..." she whispered, her voice breaking as she shook her head, her grip tightening around the phone in her hand. "I don’t have the authority to release that much money."
Her eyes shimmered, panic finally spilling over into something more fragile. She looked around, at the ringing phones, the worried faces, the cracks forming everywhere at once.
"We can’t handle this," she said, barely holding herself together. "None of us can." That was the moment. Seb...Raymond...stood.
Slowly. Deliberately. His shadow stretched across the floor as he moved, steady and unhurried, in complete contrast to the chaos around him.
When he reached Janet, he didn’t touch her. Not directly.
Instead, he placed a firm, grounding hand on the edge of the desk beside her, close enough to anchor the moment, distant enough to remain appropriate. Control.
Even now. "There’s only one person who can fix this," he said, his voice lower this time. Calmer. Certain.
It cut through everything else. "You have to call her, Janet." A beat.
"If she doesn’t come in now..." His eyes flickered briefly toward the storm around them, the ringing phones, the collapsing order, the fear tightening its grip on everyone in the room.
"...there won’t be a company left to return to." The words settled heavily between them.
Janet stared at him. Then on the phone. Then, at the office falling apart around her. Her breath hitched. Because she knew. She knew what she was about to do.
Amara was supposed to be resting. For once... she had stepped away. Trusted them. And now. Now they were about to drag her back into the fire.
Janet’s fingers trembled as she reached for her mobile, hesitation clinging to her every movement.
Around her, the noise didn’t stop. It only grew louder. More desperate. More urgent. Her thumb hovered over Amara’s name. One call.
That was all it would take. One call... and everything would change. Across from her, Seb watched in silence. His expression was steady. Unreadable.
But deep within, something tightened, not doubt, not regret. Anticipation. Because the moment that phone rang...
Amara wouldn’t just return. She would walk straight into the very storm he had created for her. And this time. She wouldn’t know where it came from.
—
At home, the morning had begun quietly, almost deceptively so.
Soft light filtered through the curtains, settling gently across the room. The world outside moved at its usual pace, unaware that somewhere, something had already begun to unravel.
Amara lay on her bed, propped slightly against the pillows, her body still, but her mind never quite at rest. For the first time in a long time, she had nowhere to be.
No meetings. No deadlines. No fires to put out. It should have felt like peace. It didn’t. The door opened softly.
Julian stepped in, balancing a tray in his hands, breakfast neatly arranged, still warm, still untouched by the chaos waiting beyond their walls.
"No phones, Amara," he said gently, setting the tray down beside her. His tone wasn’t firm, but there was quiet insistence in it. "Just eat."
For a second, she looked at him. Really looked. At the effort. At the care.
And for that second... she almost listened. Then her phone lit up. Not once. But repeatedly. A string of notifications stacked over each other like a warning she couldn’t ignore.
"Julian..." her voice shifted, subtle, but enough.
She picked up the phone. Scrolled. And everything changed. "Look at this." She turned the screen toward him. At first, his expression didn’t move.