They thought they could bring Valentina down with cheap tricks, but right now, nobody around truly understood what was happening anymore.
Sebastian’s jaw clenched tightly, and just then, his phone rang sharply—breaking the tension in the air like a whip. He glanced down at the screen.
"My father," he muttered, a bit more proudly than he should have. He raised the phone for them all to see, as if it was supposed to an sothing.
The mont Maria and Valentina’s father heard that, their entire energy shifted. Maria’s hand twitched by her side, and Valentina’s father shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Both of them stiffened. The na of Sebastian’s father wasn’t just a title—it was power, and they both knew it. And they both feared what Sebastian might say next. If he told his father what happened here, they could be dragged into it. They stood still, watching closely, praying he wouldn’t drag them down with him.
Sebastian answered the call casually.
"Hello, father..."
But before he could say another word, a roar erupted from the speaker.
"You bastard! What the hell have you done this ti?!"
Imdiately Sebastian’s hand jerked slightly from the shock. The expression on his face froze as if the slap he expected from Valentina earlier had suddenly landed through the phone.
"F-Father?" he stamred, confused. "What did I do?"
"Don’t play dumb with , boy!" his father’s voice thundered through the phone. "You’re asking what you did?! What’s wrong with you?! Can’t you keep your head straight for once?!"
Everyone could hear the shouting, even from a distance. Sebastian stepped back slightly, bewildered.
Sebastian looked around, his eyes flickering nervously between the stunned faces of Maria, and Valentina’s father.
His father wasn’t done.
"I told you to be careful, didn’t I?! This ss you just made... this one might cost all of us. Are you happy now?!"
Still Sebastian couldn’t even respond. The phone dropped slightly from his ear, but the voice still ca through, filled with raw anger and pure panic.
Sebastian father paced the living room like a man on fire, veins bulging along his temples, his chest rising and falling with fury he could barely contain.
"If anything happens to us—if this family loses even a cent—it is all on your head, Sebastian!" he roared. "On your head!"
He was ranting now, stomping back and forth, gripping his phone tightly like he could strangle the bad news from it. His tie had been yanked loose, his hair scattered from running his hands through it too many tis.
At that mont Sebastian frowned, confused.
"What are you talking about father?" he asked, genuinely lost in the chaos unfolding before him.
Sebastian father almost lost his foot, his face a mix of rage and fear. "GSK just cancelled their partnership!" he yelled.
"Do you hear ? Cancelled! Everything—every single deal we had with them—it’s gone!"
"What?" Sebastian blinked. "That’s a lie. GSK would never cancel anything."
His words hit the room like a match dropped in oil. Silence followed. Valentina’s father and Maria turned their heads at once, their expressions frozen, eyes wide in disbelief. For a second, they looked like statues—caught in between hope and horror.
At that mont Sebastian father, eyes turned deadly.
"Did I look like soone who’s joking?! Does this look like I don’t know what the word ’cancelled’ ans?!"
He took a step forward, voice cracking now, anger laced with panic. "What is wrong with you?! I said they’ve cancelled the partnership. Everything that has to do with GSK has been cancelled."
At that mont Sebastian stood there, confused, helpless, and drenched in disbelief. His breath ca in short bursts.
"What... What did I do?" he finally asked, his voice cracking as he tried to grasp what was happening. "Why are you accusing like I did sothing wrong?"
His father didn’t even look at him. Instead, the old man’s tone was colder than stone. "You’re asking that?" he snapped. "Don’t stand there acting clueless. You better start talking."
"I didn’t do anything!" Sebastian defended, his hands raised.
"I swear, I didn’t—what is going on?"
Then ca the crushing blow.
"That’s not even all," his father said flatly, his arms folded. "Do you know that Citadel Bank—the number one financial institution in the country—just called ?"
Sebastian blinked, stunned. "Citadel? Why? What about?"
"They said the loan they gave our company has to be repaid... in one week."
At that mont Silence followed Sebastian’s mouth opened but no words ca out.
His father’s gaze was steel.
"They said we’ve been given enough grace. One week. That’s it."
"But..." Sebastian took a shaky step forward, his mind racing.
"But the branch manager said we could stretch it to a year. We pleaded with him and he agreed. He said we could pay in a year’s ti."
"They changed their mind," his father said sharply, eyes now filled with fire.
"They need their money in a week."
Imdiately Sebastian’s heart dropped to his stomach. One week?
He knew what that ant. If they paid off that debt in a week, there would be nothing left. No capital, no reserves—no business.
They would be completely zeroed.
At that mont they were 100% down.
The tension in the room was thick, like a storm waiting to explode. Sebastian stood with his hands on his hips, pacing back and forth like a man trapped in a burning house. His father sat stiffly on the edge of the leather couch.
"Ten million," his father said quietly, almost in disbelief.
"That’s the most we’ll have left after selling almost all the properties."
Sebastian stopped pacing. "What?"
"I said ten million," the old man repeated, voice firm now.
"That’s all we’ll have in liquid cash. Our only option is to start selling fast."
Sebastian blinked rapidly, trying to process it.
"Sell? Yes. Sell everything," he said quickly, nodding to himself. "We need to liquidate now. If not, we’ll sink. The stocks are falling by the hour—what are we still doing holding on?"
However his father’s eyes didn’t move. He stared straight ahead, his voice low and cutting. "There’s no one willing to buy."
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