After I Left, His Empire Collapsed Chapter 22

After I Left, His Empire Collapsed Chapter 22

Finally, Ms. Miller lowered her voice. Careful.

“Ms. Vance. Several suppliers in our circle have received calls from Mr. Croft.”

“He’s made it clear. Anyone who refuses to work with your company? He’ll double their price.”

“Double.”

The word came out as a whisper. Then I laughed.

So Julian’s threat at the airport. “Make you unhireable.” That wasn’t just rage.

He meant it.

He was burning his own cash. Sacrificing profits. Tanking his margins. To force me back.

Impressive. Truly.

With his balance sheet? Doubling offers to poach my clients? He wasn’t making money. He was hemorrhaging it.

A suicide run.

Where was he getting the confidence? The resources?

The answer sliced through me like cold water.

The contract. The one I’d locked down for him. The long-term deal with Sterling & Sterling Group. The Asia-Pacific giant. Three years. Hundreds of millions in annual net profit.

I alone brought in seventy percent of his revenue.

I was the one keeping his entire company alive.

He thought with that contract in his pocket, the golden goose laying forever, he could torch everything else. Burn money. Burn me. All for spite.

He’d forgotten something.

I’d spent a month without sleep to win that contract. Every clause. Every word. Burned into my brain.

I’d made sure it was bulletproof. So his company would survive.

And the terms were clear. Each year required new design submissions. Original work. Sterling & Sterling Group had to approve them for the contract to renew.