The Reborn Heiress Strike Back-Chapter 70 - CHL Plays Innocent

The Carter Group boardroom had never felt so cold.

Phones buzzed.

Screens flashed red.

Executives murmured in frantic whispers as numbers bled across every monitor.

Nick Carter stood at the head of the long table, shoulders stiff, jaw clenched, looking like a man holding back a storm.

"Call them again," Nick said quietly.

"Sir, we’ve called all of them twice," an executive replied, voice trembling. "Every investor— every single one—has declined emergency support."

"Try the Rydell Fund," Nick said, swallowing hard.

"We did."

"Crescent Capital?"

"Mr. Carter... Elevate bought them out last night."

A dead silence fell over the room.

Nick closed his eyes.

Samantha.

Of course it was her.

---

Chloe sat two seats down, face pale, one hand squeezing her designer bag so tightly the leather wrinkled. She forced a shaky voice.

"This is—this is unbelievable! Why would Elevate... why would Samantha do this?"

Nick didn’t look at her.

Because if he did, he’d see it—the guilt flickering beneath her mascara, the panic behind her forced innocence.

"You seem awfully nervous today, Chloe," he said quietly.

She flinched.

But kept her voice high, dramatic.

"How can I not be? My entire career is burning!"

Nick didn’t respond.

He knew this wasn’t about careers anymore.

This was about truth.

About punishment.

About Ally.

---

Marcus Makes His Move

The boardroom screen suddenly changed.

A live broadcast.

Marcus Reed stepping up to a podium, cameras flashing.

Jake—watching from Elevate—saw it seconds before Samantha did.

"Sam," he said, eyes widening, "turn on the news."

She did.

Marcus smiled at the cameras, voice smooth, polished, heroic.

"Given the tragic instability at Carter Group," he announced, "I have acquired several of their subsidiaries at a premium value to prevent job losses and stabilize the market. We will keep thousands employed. We will rebuild what was broken."

Reporters exploded with applause and questions.

Marcus basked in it.

Samantha leaned back in her chair, lips curling slowly.

Jake glanced at her.

"You’re not angry?"

She gave a small laugh—sharp as glass.

"Marcus wants to be the savior in my story," she murmured.

"Let him. Heroes tend to die faster."

Jake stared at her.

"My God, Sam... you’re terrifying when you do that."

She smiled without apology.

---

Nick’s Breaking Point

Back in the Carter boardroom, people were applauding Marcus’s broadcast like he was their rescuer.

Nick slammed his hands onto the table.

"STOP applauding the man who’s cutting our limbs off!"

Everyone fell silent.

Nick exhaled shakily, gripping the chair for balance.

"If we don’t act now," he said, voice hoarse, "then this company dies today. All of you—your families, your futures—we lose everything."

He inhaled deeply.

"We need liquidity. We sell our remaining ownership stake. All of it."

The room gasped.

"Seventy percent?" one board member whispered. "Are you insane?"

Nick’s voice cracked.

"I’m trying to save what little is left."

Chloe swallowed hard, her guilt growing by the second.

And right on cue—

the door opened.

Marcus stepped in, smooth as ever.

"Nick," he greeted warmly, like an old friend, "I heard the news. You look... tired."

Nick’s jaw tightened.

"What do you want, Marcus?"

"To help." Marcus sat casually, crossing one leg over the other. "I have a buyer lined up. Someone very private. Very capable."

Nick narrowed his eyes.

"And you trust this buyer?"

"Completely."

"He’ll save the company?"

"He’ll buy the company," Marcus corrected. "Whether he saves it is... optional."

Chloe’s stomach twisted.

Nick looked at the table.

At the faces watching him.

At the legacy falling apart.

And then he whispered the words he never imagined he would say:

"Fine. Arrange the meeting."

********

Later that night, Jake stormed into Samantha’s penthouse office, hair tousled, face tight with worry.

"Sam, Marcus convinced Nick to sell the company. All seventy percent. Tonight."

She didn’t react.

Jake slammed the folder on her desk.

"If that buyer takes the deal, Nick loses EVERYTHING. His home. His employees. His legacy."

Samantha’s expression remained perfectly still.

Jake stepped closer.

"Sam... let him breathe. Please."

She looked at him slowly.

"He already died, Jake."

Her voice was soft.

Hollow.

Deadly.

"He died seven years ago."

Jake’s chest tightened.

"And what about the man standing now?" he whispered. "Is he not worth saving?"

She turned to the window, watching the city lights shimmer beneath the night sky.

"The man standing now," she said quietly, "will understand the cost of burying a woman who loved him."

Jake’s face filled with worry.

"But Sam... you’re letting him walk into destruction."

Finally, she looked at him.

Her eyes were calm, frighteningly calm.

"I’m not letting him."

She stepped closer, lifting the folder.

"I’m the buyer."

Jake’s breath stopped.

"You... you’re—"

"Yes," she whispered.

"I am the one Marcus will bring to the table. But he himself does know I’m the one behind the curtains"

Jake stared at her, horrified and mesmerized.

"You’re taking Carter Group from underneath them."

"No," Samantha corrected gently.

"I’m taking back what was stolen from Ally Miller."

She closed the folder.

The sound echoed like a final verdict.