Chapter 523

Chapter 523:

The hotel stood half-finished, its renovations abruptly stalled.

At this pivotal moment, Orion vanished, pulling the entire Haynes Group down with him.

Overnight, the company’s finances collapsed.

Payroll was on the verge of default; employees might not even receive their wages.

і𝗇𝘵𝖾𝗇𝗌𝘦 𝗋𝗼𝗺a𝗇𝘤e 𝗈𝘯

In the tense meeting that followed, Gabriela fixed her gaze on the administrative director. “You promised this project would be seamless, without complications,” she said, her voice like steel.

Now that catastrophe had struck, who was going to take the blame?

The director merely shrugged, his tone dripping with indifference. “Every venture carries risks. There’s no such thing as guaranteed profit. Besides, the contract states clearly: if the Bolton Group defaults, the hotel reverts to us. That means we now own the hotel outright. I’d say we’ve struck gold p>

His smug self-justification ignited Gabriela’s fury.

The hotel project had already swallowed every last cent of the Haynes Group’s liquid assets.

Two hundred million had been poured in, with the expectation that profits would slowly flow back once the grand opening took place.

But with the Bolton Group vanishing overnight and leaving behind a wreck of half-finished construction, the Haynes Group was left holding the ruins.

Gabriela’s patience finally snapped. “If the hotel doesn’t open even for a single day, then it’s nothing but a monument to failure p>

Across the country, unfinished developments littered the landscape, grim reminders of builders who cashed out and vanished mid-project.

Now, Haynes Group teetered on the same edge.

A darker suspicion gnawed at her: the director might have seen this trap from the beginning, yet deliberately led her straight into it.

But he was too skilled at wriggling out of accountability, and worse, the board stood behind him.

Without a concrete reason to dismiss him, firing would cost the company dearly in severance, months of salary, benefits. The thought of that betrayer walking away with a payout made Gabriela’s blood boil.

As the dispute spiraled, Kaleb finally spoke up, his voice steady but heavy. “I, too, share responsibility for this outcome. But right now, what matters most is securing the remaining funds p>

He had once been convinced the hotel’s prime location guaranteed success. With their capital strong enough to risk two hundred million, the gamble had seemed reasonable.

But who could have predicted that Orion, after investing more than five hundred million, would simply disappear without a trace?

What game was the Bolton Group playing?

Unlike the director’s evasions, Kaleb’s admission was sincere. He apologized openly to Gabriela and put forward a path forward.

Though frustrated, Gabriela could not lay true blame on him. Instead, she urged that they focus their energy on raising funds.

The meeting broke up with tension still simmering in the air.

Gabriela walked into the bank to apply for a loan. She needed exactly two hundred million.

She had never borrowed a cent in her life, and yet now, as head of the company, she was drowning in debt. The thought hollowed her out.