Sylvia Sheele stared at the young man across the mahogany table for two long, agonizing seconds. The sharp, polished composure that had carried her through a decade of high-stakes corporate acquisitions was stretched paper-thin. In Jake's dark, unblinking eyes, she saw no hesitation, no posturing, and above all, no fear. He was entirely willing to incinerate a billion-mark stake held by the Sheele Group—and his own multi-billion-mark position—just to ensure the absolute extinction of the family sitting around them.
Across the long table, the silence among the Newmans turned from tense to utterly horrifying.
