The Billionaire's Revenge

Chapter 1 Leah “For the hundredth time, we can’t just give up the winery Noah, this is our inheritance! Our legacy! Mum and Dad would roll in their graves if they could hear you right now.” My head throbbed violently, warning me of an incoming headache. I was worked up from all the arguing, and yet? I gaped in disbelief as Noah doodled shapes on the pricey mahogany desk before him. Really? “C’mon Lee, there’s nothing I can do for the winery at this stage. I tried getting a loan from the bank some months ago, but we don’t have the capacity for the collateral needed.” His eyes darted nervously, like he was trying to evade my piercing glare. “Besides, the last harvest for the grapes was so poor, it’s almost like a sign to sell off.” Yeah right. The monthly “5 reasons to sell off”. If I weren’t so sure that he would never do something like that, I’d have suspected that he was ruining those grapes himself! I scrambled my head for the reason I thought it was a good idea to let Noah run the winery. I must have been out of my mind. “And you didn’t think to tell me all this? Months Noah, and you tell me now?” “I’m sorry Lee. Really—I just wanted to fix this for once without bothering you with it.” I combed through my hair wearily, my breath coming in short spurts. This was all my fault. I should have been here, running the winery with him. I couldn’t pop up now, playing the angry sister because Noah was unable to do it all on his own. I gazed at my brother’s shiny jet black hair, my eyes softening instantly. He reminded me so much of my dad. Noah favored my dad with his dark hair and his big puppy blue eyes while I looked just like my mum, my hair a thick mass of flaming red tresses and my eyes a dark shade of green. But the similarities ended there. Noah was nothing like my dad, at least business-wise. At 23, Noah was a grown man but here he was, acting like the baby brother I raised. Ughh, and I left the management of the winery to him? Stupid stupid Leah! He’d seemed so eager to prove he could do it all on his own and I just.. let him. Now look where that got us. With a shark after us— Literally. “This Conti group, what’s the deal with them?” Conti Group. The name sent cold shivers down my spine. Everyone knew how ruthless they were, taking over smaller companies and breaking them into pieces. And how the hell did the Conti group notice our small winery? Oh God! “Well, they’ve been on my neck. Their lawyer was here just the other day.” He tapped a set of documents on the desk to emphasize. “It’s a good deal, Lee. Good deal. With the amount they are offering for the winery, we can even start a whole new business!” Uh oh “ I have this business idea, it’s a goldmine. Think of this, a ....” I zoned out of Noah’s excited rave. He had a new business idea every fortnight anyway so it wasn’t anything new. Hell would freeze over before I let that happen. Edwards Winery was my family’s legacy and it would stay that way. My Dad built this business himself, he toiled day and night for it and now I’d let it go to some…stranger? Hell no! I stared at Noah blindly as he yapped on, my mind drifting to my business. My pastry shop. Ever since I was a little girl, I’d play with rolling pins and flour instead of the porcelain dolls the girls in school carried around. By 14, I could bake killer scones with my eyes closed. I poured all my time into doing what I wanted, what I loved most—running Leah’s treats. Somehow, I forgot about what needed to be done. Well, not anymore. “Hey Noah, do you have the contact details of this Conti lawyer?” Noah paused mid-rant, looking pointedly at me with a puzzled expression. The boy could yap for days. “Yes… I do. I can see that stubborn smirk on your face, Lee. What are you thinking?” I smiled smugly. The Conti group had another thing coming if they thought they could rob me of my family’s legacy without a fight. Like I’d just sit and watch them. “Oh, Nothing. I just think it’s time I paid the lawyer a visit myself. After all, we’ve never met.” “I know what you’re thinking, but that wouldn’t work. I agreed to the buyout already, all that’s left is a few signatures and ….” “Well, you can’t agree to the buyout ALONE Noah!” I retorted. “The winery belongs to both of us, and you do need my signature on those documents to do that. I have no intention of selling off the winery, if you haven’t realized that yet.” I knew without asking that he hadn’t considered that. That was how irrational Noah could be. It was bad enough that he agreed to sell without my knowledge. And this Conti guy? An opportunist! Noah was too young to make that kind of a decision alone and they knew that. Yet no one reached out to me. Well, it’s time they faced me instead. Not Noah. I fumbled in my paper brown tote handbag for my phone and dialed my best friend’s number. Talking to this lawyer wouldn’t cut it for me. I needed to talk to whoever called the shots in that company, and that was something Maddie could help me with. She worked as a junior accountant in one of their subsidiaries. I’m pretty sure she could figure out a way for me to get to the big man at the top, whoever that was. The line clicked and Maddie’s giddy voice filled my speaker. “Hiya pumpkin!” “Maddie, I need your help…”