The atmosphere in the executive boardroom of the Chen Group was thick with the scent of stale coffee and the palpable vibration of fear. Chen Shao sat at the head of the table, his fingers laced so tightly his knuckles were white. Opposite him sat three directors who had, until yesterday, been his most trusted allies. Now, they wouldn't even meet his eyes.
"The credit lines are frozen, Shao," Director Zhang said, tapping a pen rhythmically against a tablet. "The Su family has effectively cordoned off our logistics. If we don't file for a restructuring by noon, the shareholders will be wiped out. We have a proposal from an outside firm to buy the Chen Group's debt... at ten cents on the dollar."
"Restructuring is just a polite word for a hostile takeover," Chen Shao gritted out. "You're asking me to hand the keys to the people who are currently strangling us."
The door to the boardroom hissed open. It wasn't the secretary with the coffee.
