She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 802

Hearing Dominic explicitly name-drop the 'anti-diabetic supplements,' Melanie locked eyes with Preston once more.

This time, Preston's gaze was dark and stormy, a silent storm brewing beneath the surface. Melanie broke the eye contact, her mind racing as the puzzle pieces snapped into place.

Her instincts had been dead on. The supply chain crisis wasn't a random corporate acquisition—it was a surgical strike.

Dominic had targeted her.

She didn't know exactly who had leaked the intel, but there were no true secrets in the corporate world. Dominic had found out she was partnering with Stellaris to launch a new line of blood-sugar management supplements, and he had deliberately bought out Apex Organics to cripple the project.

Growing up with ties to her family, Dominic was intimately familiar with the vulnerabilities in the Royce Group's supply chain. He knew the Arctic Burdock Root required the specific Type-L Bio-Fertilizer to thrive, and that finding a domestic substitute was nearly impossible. Apex Organics had been aggressively pushing for a buyout ever since they changed legal ownership, and Dominic had clearly capitalized on it.

Melanie knew the Lockridge portfolio inside and out; they didn't own a single asset that required industrial agricultural fertilizer. Yet, by locking down the market, Dominic had created an artificial monopoly. He was holding all the cards, which explained his insufferable arrogance today.

"I'm sorry, Dominic, but I have absolutely zero interest in your fertilizer," Melanie said, her tone final as she pushed her chair back and stood up.

Preston stood in unison, a silent, imposing shadow at her side.

Dominic panicked, his face draining of color. She couldn't walk away. That fertilizer was the lifeblood of her burdock crops.

"Are you not interested in the fertilizer, or are you just not interested in the Lockridge family?" he demanded, his voice rising.

Melanie offered a tight, unapologetic smile. "Both. But definitely more of the latter."

Her blunt honesty sent a spike of fury straight to Dominic's head.

"You're that desperate to cling to Stellaris?!" Dominic sneered, losing all sense of decorum. "Do you honestly think that just because you're sleeping with Gabriel Whitmore, he's actually going to save you?"

Preston's hand shot out, casually but forcefully deflecting Dominic's arm. Dominic recoiled violently, snatching his hand back as if he had been burned. The phantom pain of Preston nearly snapping his wrist during their last encounter flared in his memory, freezing him in place.

Safely behind Preston, Melanie delivered her final verdict. "The Royce Group operates on integrity, VP Hale. I made an agreement with Stellaris, and I refuse to break it. Your terms are unacceptable."

She turned on her heel to leave.

"Is it the breach-of-contract penalty?" Dominic screamed at her back, his voice cracking with desperation. "Whatever Stellaris is charging you, I'll pay it!"

Melanie stopped. She slowly turned her head, genuinely surprised by the sheer financial weight he was willing to throw around.

Before she could even part her lips to speak, Preston's cold, merciless voice cut through the room.

"Three billion dollars."