Chapter 278
The moment the second shareholder spoke, the atmosphere in the boardroom shifted again.
“I agree as well,” he said quickly, almost as if afraid to hesitate. “Khloe, please proceed immediately with the resolution.”
Arthur’s head snapped toward him.
“Traitors!” he roared. His voice cracked with fury. “All of you—ungrateful, spineless traitors!”
His finger trembled violently as he pointed across the table, but the rage in his chest turned on him before anyone else could respond. A harsh cough tore through his throat.
His face flushed deep red, then rapidly paled into something alarming. He staggered, gripping the table edge for support.
“Dad!” Trey rushed forward to catch him.
Arthur clung to his arm, shaking, barely able to breathe properly. “You… all of you…” He rasped, then coughed again, the sound wet and ragged. “Trey… look at her… look at what she’s doing…”
Trey’s expression darkened as he steadied him. “Dad, don’t talk.”
Arthur’s eyes burned with fury as he lifted his head toward Khloe.
“This is the woman you trusted,” he said hoarsely. “This is the woman you once gave everything for. She’s ruthless… she’s—”
“Enough.”
A security officer stepped forward, breaking the tension cleanly.
Within seconds, guards entered the room.
“Mr. Fox, Mr. Trey Fox,” one of them said professionally, though visibly tense, “please leave the premises. If you refuse, we will have to involve law enforcement.”
Arthur froze.
For a moment, it looked as if he might explode again.
But then reality hit harder than anger ever could.
This was no longer his company.
“Get out of my way!” Arthur barked, shaking off Trey’s support and forcing himself upright.
His steps were unsteady, but he walked anyway—each one heavier than the last. A lifetime of authority had never prepared him for being escorted out like this.
Trey followed closely, one hand still supporting him.
Neither of them looked back at Khloe.
But Trey did.
Just once.
His eyes lingered on her face—searching, refusing to accept what he was seeing.
Cold. Detached. Final.
As if everything between them had never existed.
And then they were gone.
—
The emergency room corridor was suffocatingly bright.
Arthur collapsed shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Doctors rushed in. Machines beeped. Orders were shouted.
And when everything finally stabilized, the diagnosis came like a sentence.
A sudden cerebral hemorrhage triggered by extreme emotional stress.
He had been saved—but only just.
And even then, the prognosis was grim.
He would survive.
But he would likely never fully recover.
Trey stood outside the ICU window, unmoving.
His face was drained of color, his eyes bloodshot and hollow. His hands hung at his sides, but his fists were clenched so tightly that blood seeped from his palms without him noticing.
If he hadn’t hesitated… if he had acted sooner…
His father wouldn’t be lying in there.
Khloe’s face flashed through his mind.
Not soft. Not warm.
Only calm.
Only decisive.
And that calmness cut deeper than any anger.
His phone kept vibrating in his pocket—calls, messages, notifications piling up one after another.
He ignored them all.
Because he already knew.
Fox Group was finished.
His family’s reputation was finished.
And in Goldmont City’s elite circles, the Fox name had already become a joke.
Slowly, Trey slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.
His head dropped into his hands.
For the first time, there was no strategy left. No confidence. No control.
Just silence.
“TREY!”
Angela’s voice cut through the corridor as she arrived, breathless.
She froze the moment she saw him sitting outside the ICU.
Her shopping bags slipped slightly in her hands.
And in that instant, a cold, sinking fear gripped her chest.