Chapter 7
I didn’t sleep that night.
I sat at my desk until sunrise.
Going over the numbers.
Sterling Partners was good.
Ruthless.
They’d outmaneuvered me.
While I’d been fighting for Leo in the courts, they’d been quietly buying up every share they could get their hands on.
The sale closed at 9 a.m.
If I didn’t have a better offer on the table by then…
I lost Langford.
I lost Mia’s job.
Twelve thousand people lost their livelihoods.
And Helen got a new war chest to come after Leo again.
At 7 a.m., I called the head of my investment bank.
“I need a tender offer for all outstanding Langford Group shares,” I said.
“$42 a share. 20% over Sterling’s offer. Cash. No contingencies. I want it on every news wire in the country in thirty minutes.”
“Ms. Voss,” he said, his voice hesitant.
“That’s $3.8 billion dollars. That’s almost half your personal fortune. Are you sure? Sterling is loaded. They could come back over the top. You could lose billions and still end up with nothing.”
“I’m sure,” I said.
“Send it.”
Thirty minutes later, the offer was public.
The stock market went crazy.
Langford stock jumped 25% in ten minutes.
Sterling responded within an hour.
$45 a share.
I countered at $48.
They went to $50.
By 8:30 a.m., we were at $52 a share.
$4.7 billion dollars.
My bankers were begging me to stop.
Sterling had deeper pockets.
They could keep going all day.
I was going to bleed myself dry and still lose.
I looked at the clock.
8:42 a.m.
Eighteen minutes until the deadline.
I picked up the phone.
Called the CEO of Sterling Partners directly.
He answered on the first ring.
“Voss,” he said, laughing.
“You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that. But you can’t win this. I’ve got $10 billion in dry powder. I’ll go to $70 a share before I let you beat me. You might as well fold now and save yourself a few billion.”
“Maybe,” I said.
“Or maybe we can make a deal.”
He paused.
“What kind of deal?”
“You walk away from Langford right now. You sell me all the shares you’ve bought at $55 a share. You make a quick $300 million profit this morning. No muss, no fuss. And in exchange… I give you the exclusive rights to all of Voss Global’s industrial real estate portfolio for the next ten years. That’s $12 billion in assets. You’ll make more in fees on that in one year than you’d make tearing Langford apart in five.”
He was quiet for a long time.
“$55 a share is $3 a share over my last bid,” he said.
“That’s another $270 million out of your pocket.”
“Consider it a bonus for walking away,” I said.
“Deal or no deal? I’ve got nine minutes left.”
“Deal,” he said.
I hung up.
Fell back in my chair.
Exhausted.
It had cost me almost $5 billion dollars.
Half my fortune.
But I’d won.
Langford was mine.
At 8:58 a.m., I walked into the Langford Group boardroom.
Mia was already there.
Pale.
Scared.
The other board members were staring at their phones, waiting for the hammer to fall.
I walked to the head of the table.
Sat down.
“The Sterling deal is dead,” I said.
“Voss Global has acquired 100% of Langford Group. Effective immediately. Mia Langford remains CEO. No layoffs. No factory closures. The pension fund is being fully restored, plus a 15% bonus for every employee to make up for what Helen stole.”
The room erupted.
People cheered.
Cried.
Mia ran over and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe.
That afternoon, I held a press conference.
I didn’t talk about the money.
I didn’t talk about the victory.
I talked about Helen.
About her daughter Anna.
About how hurt she was.
About how mental illness and grief could turn even the strongest people into monsters.
I didn’t call her names.
I didn’t gloat.
I just told the truth.
The public’s opinion turned overnight.
People stopped hating me.
They started feeling sorry for Helen.
They started seeing her not as a monster, but as a broken woman who’d made terrible choices.
I thought that would be the end of it.
I thought Helen would finally accept defeat.
I was wrong.
That night, I was walking Leo home from his favorite ice cream shop.
We were crossing the street, holding hands, laughing about something silly he’d said.
A black car came out of nowhere.
Driving straight for us.
Seventy miles an hour.
No headlights.
I saw it out of the corner of my eye.
I didn’t think.
I shoved Leo as hard as I could onto the sidewalk.
The car missed him by inches.
It hit me.
Hard.
I flew ten feet through the air.
Hit the pavement.
May you like
The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Leo screaming my name.
And the black car peeling away into the dark.
