CHAPTER 133: CHAPTER 133

Upon hearing what James just said, Her eyes widened slightly, but she stayed silent, letting him continue.

"If, and only if everything goes exactly as I’m planning, if I can somehow force Cora out of ZSZ, then maybe I’ll have leverage. Maybe I’ll find something worth handing over to William. Or maybe Lovi will finally pull through and recover what’s inside that laptop."

James stopped pacing and turned to face her, his jaw tight. "But right now? Right now, I’ve got nothing."

At that moment, Emily’s voice rose, panic clear in every word. "This is bad, James. This is extremely bad. Do you even hear yourself? If William finds out what’s really going on that you’re bluffing, that you’re just playing games with him he’s going to lose it. You know what that means."

James stood by the window, his hand resting on the glass, jaw set tight. He didn’t reply immediately, forcing Emily to keep talking.

"You’re going head-to-head with the Victors," she pressed, her tone sharper now. "That’s suicide, James. Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you crossed them? Do I need to remind you how fast they cancelled the contract they were about to hand you? You almost lost everything then. And now you’re... doing this?"

Then James turned toward her, his eyes cold but burning with determination. "Life is risk," he said plainly. "And this... this is a risk I’m willing to take."

Emily frowned, disbelief etched across her face. "A risk? James, this isn’t gambling at some backroom table. This is the Victors. One wrong move and they’ll bury you before you even know what’s happening."

But James only stepped closer, his voice low, steady, and full confident. "I’ve got two hours. That’s all I need. Plans are already in motion. I’m calling for an emergency meeting with ZXZ, they won’t have time to react. Cora won’t have a choice but to show up and face it also."

He started pacing now, his hands moving as he spoke, his eyes sharp with focus. "William’s already pulled their support from her. That alone cuts her down to nothing. Without the Victors backing her, she’s got no leverage, no voice in the room. And once the meeting starts, everything shifts in my favor."

At that moment Emily’s lips parted, almost wanting to argue, but James kept going, his tone harder.

"By the time this is over," he said, almost smiling now, "Cora’s shares won’t mean a thing. She’ll be stripped of whatever she thought she had. No support. No influence. Nothing."

He stopped pacing and looked straight at Emily, his voice dropping to a quiet, almost cruel certainty.

"She’ll be left with nothing but an empty hand."

At that moment, James leaned back in his chair, his voice steady but brimming with a quiet triumph as he continued laying out his plan to Emily.

"Everything is already in place now," he said, almost as if reassuring himself. "Now that Victor William is with me, this is finally moving the way I want. I’ve already messaged the man holding my thirty percent shares to transfer. The twenty percent share from the first guy and the other ten percent from the second guy, I’ve sent both of them an email. Told them to transfer the shares to me immediately. They’ve seen the message. I know they have. By now, the shares should already be in my hands."

He paused for a moment, glancing at Emily with a faint smirk. "That’s thirty percent, secure."

Emily stood by the window, arms crossed, listening quietly as he paced the floor.

"And there’s the extra twenty percent," James continued, his tone sharper now. "Nobody owns it. Just sitting there, free because I’m the founder of ZXZ, I can’t catch out from it, but I can use it in my favor. That makes it even easier. With that twenty, I’ll have fifty percent in my control. Which leaves the other fifty. Either Cora or William has it, and I’m betting it’s William."

He stopped pacing, looking out toward the city as though he could already see the outcome unfolding.

"That means Cora’s nothing," he said, his voice low and certain. "An empty vessel. No real power, no leverage. Once I kick her out of ZXZ, she’ll be out of the picture completely. After that, I talk to William. We find a way to consolidate the remaining fifty between us. One way or another, I’ll own the company outright."

James’ hand tightened into a fist at his side, a spark of satisfaction flickering in his eyes. "This is how I take it back, once and for all."

Hearing those words, Emily couldn’t help but let out a long breath, her chest rising and falling in disbelief at how far James was willing to go.

Deep down in Emily’s mind, her thoughts were far from the excited face she wore. She stood there, arms folded loosely, nodding at James’ every word, but inside she was already calculating her exit. Ever since James’ fall from grace, she had been planning her escape quietly, no drama, no confrontations either. She had seen how quickly power shifted in their world, and she wasn’t about to sink with him if he truly went under.

In her heart, she believed James would never recover. The scandals, the lost contracts, the whispers about him everywhere it all looked impossible to come back from. And Emily knew she wasn’t built for suffering. She wanted comfort, security, and being tied to James when he was drowning wasn’t part of her plan.

But now... now it felt different.

As she listened to him explain the pieces falling back into place, the shares he was pulling together, the Victors backing him her mind shifted. Maybe James wasn’t finished after all. Maybe this was the start of his climb back to the top.

Then Emily smiled, her voice soft but eager, pretending to share his excitement. "That’s a very good plan, James. What are we even waiting for, then? Let’s just go straight to ZXZ and claim what’s yours. It’s time."