Chapter 6 - The Hostile Takeover ThreatWhile Victoria's personal life bloomed, her professional world hit a sudden tempest.
A rival private equity firm, Vance Global, launched a hostile board takeover against one of Sinclair Capital's core subsidiaries—the very logistics company that supplied local businesses across the Pacific Northwest, including small food distributors.
If Vance Global succeeded, they planned to liquidate the company, lay off thousands of workers, and triple distribution fees for small businesses like Proof Bakery.
Victoria spent seventy-two continuous hours in corporate war rooms, fighting off legal ambushes, securing shares, and negotiating with nervous board members.
Exhausted, her eyes dark with fatigue, she sat in her corner office late Thursday night. Her phone buzzed on the desk. It was a text from Ethan:
“Look outside your office window.”
Victoria stood up and looked down at the street sixty stories below. Parked near the main entrance was Ethan’s old pickup truck.
She took the elevator down to the lobby. Ethan was waiting in the rain, holding a thermos of hot cocoa and a warm paper box filled with fresh, hot cinnamon rolls.
"You look like you haven't slept in three days," Ethan said softly, stepping into the glass lobby.
Victoria leaned her head against his chest, smelling the comforting scent of vanilla and butter. "I haven't. It's a bloodbath up there."
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"Then eat," Ethan said, handing her a warm pastry. "You can't save an empire on an empty stomach."
Standing in the lobby of her corporate tower, eating pastry with her hands, Victoria realized Ethan wasn't just a distraction—he was her anchor.
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