They Thought I Was A Fool, I Was Their Only Chance Chapter 01

They Thought I Was A Fool, I Was Their Only Chance Chapter 01

I was the youngest daughter of the multibillion-dollar Sinclair dynasty, and the most notorious idiot in our circle.

I’d seemed vacant since childhood. You couldn’t get two words out of me if you tried.

The Sinclairs, on the other hand, were born to live at the top.

My older brother had conquered Wall Street by eighteen, and my older sister had earned two PhDs by twenty.

My parents could not believe I was really their child. They had ordered eighteen DNA tests and brought in every renowned neurologist and specialist they could find.

After more than a decade of tests, the whole family finally gave up.

The truth wasn’t that I couldn’t speak. I simply did not want to.

In my previous life, I had been a star attorney who had never lost a case. I had spent a lifetime saying everything that needed to be said. In this life, I only wanted to be a quiet mute.

That was until today, when Sinclair Holdings was hit by a coordinated short-selling attack and pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.

Our rivals had cornered us at headquarters with an acquisition agreement. My father looked livid, while my brother searched every clause and found no way out.

The family had paid a fortune for ten years of legal counsel, only to have our chief legal officer bought off years ago.

He looked every inch the righteous man.

“Mr. Sinclair, sign it. This is the only way to save the family. I’ve reviewed the agreement. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

My father let out a long breath and shakily picked up the pen.

I was so irritated that I couldn’t keep pretending.

Under the stunned eyes of my entire family, I stepped forward and flipped the agreement to page three.

“The master agreement and the attachment contain conflicting forum clauses. If you sign this, the Sinclairs will walk away with nothing and my father will be left carrying a billion-dollar debt.”

I looked at Blake Mercer, smiling without warmth.

“Counsel Mercer, you really don’t shop clearance sales, do you?”

“A billion-dollar debt package for free? That’s one hell of a discount.”

…

“Mr. Sinclair, sign it. This is the only way to save the family. I’ve reviewed the agreement. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Blake Mercer’s voice was gentle, like a calm spring morning.

He wore a perfectly tailored custom suit, and his gold-rimmed glasses were spotless.

He had even poured a glass of water and set it carefully in front of my father, Richard Sinclair.

The top-floor conference room at Sinclair Holdings had fallen completely silent.

Despair thickened the air until it was hard to breathe.

I sat on a sofa in the corner with a Rubik’s Cube in my hands, turning it mechanically.

Click.

Click.

No one looked at me.

To them, I was Sloane Sinclair, a piece of furniture. A useless girl who could not understand a word anyone said.

Across from me, Grant Calloway took a sip of coffee.

He was the man behind today’s hostile takeover.

He was also known in financial circles as a smiling tiger who never let go once he had his teeth in you.

“Time isn’t on your side, Mr. Sinclair.”

“When the market opens tomorrow morning, Sinclair’s stock will crater.”

“By then, you won’t even be able to raise enough cash to keep the lights on.”

Grant’s tone was lazy, as if he were discussing tomorrow’s weather.

My father’s face turned ashen with fury, the vein in his forehead pulsing.

He stared at the thick acquisition agreement on the table.

It looked like a snake with its tongue out.

My brother, Ethan Sinclair, stood nearby, his eyes red from exhaustion.

He had become a Wall Street wunderkind at eighteen, the family’s brightest business prodigy.

But now he clutched a pen so tightly that his knuckles had gone white, and he could not say a word.

He had gone through every line of the agreement.

He had found no opening.

“Ethan, look again. There really isn’t another way?”

My sister, Claire Sinclair, spoke with a faint tremor in her voice.

She was usually cool and proud, but today her eyes were red too.

My brother finally let his hand fall.

The pen rolled across the polished table with a sharp click.

“They have three times our capital. Their short attack was too carefully hidden, and we missed our window to fight back.”

“Our liquidity is gone. The banks are calling in our credit. Unless a miracle walks through that door, we’re finished.”

He closed his eyes, his voice rough and hoarse.

Blake Mercer sighed softly.

He walked over to my brother and patted him on the shoulder.

“Ethan, I know this hurts.”

“Sinclair Holdings has been like a home to me. I’ve worked here for ten years. No one wants to see this happen more than I do.”

“But the law is about evidence and language, and business is about leverage.”

“Grant’s terms are brutal, but at least they’ll keep your family safe.”

“You have to survive the winter before you can rebuild.”

Every word Blake said made it sound as if he were fighting for the Sinclairs.

From the corner, I felt sick listening to him.

In my previous life, I had been a star attorney who had never lost a case. I had met too many polished hypocrites like him.

I could see the trap in his agreement as clearly as if the table of contents had spelled it out.

But I didn’t want to interfere.

I had worked myself to death over cases in my previous life. This time, I only wanted to be a quiet mute.

If the family went bankrupt, so be it. I could live off my trust fund and move somewhere rural to grow vegetables.

I lowered my head and kept twisting the cube.

Click.

I turned the wrong piece, and the cube slipped onto the cashmere rug.

The sound was small.

But in the silent conference room, it sounded like a gunshot.