The dining room erupted into pure, unadulterated chaos.
Board members scrambled to their feet, their faces pale as they furiously tapped on their phones, screaming at their personal brokers. "My portfolio is frozen!" one of them shouted, his expensive leather chair knocking backward onto the floor. "He’s shorting our assets!"
"Alex, you monster!" Eleanor hissed, her aristocratic composure completely shattering as she stood up, her knuckles turning white against the edge of the mahogany table. "You would bankrupt your own family dynasty for this... this nobody?"
"I am the dynasty, Mother," Alex replied, his voice a low, chilling rumble that completely silenced the room. He didn't look at her. His gray eyes remained fixed on Austin, who was staring at the digital tablet on the table in a
