Building The Strongest Family-Chapter 118: Fabricated Ruin

"Exactly," Arthur affirmed as he displayed a chemical formula on the screen. "Without it, their serum oxidizes within days, turning into an unappealing shade of sewage brown."

He tossed his phone onto the table with purpose. "Leak that info to every influencer who matters; let Vesta’s customers scream about rancid skincare while you short-sell their stock."

Silence enveloped the room until Ashley exhaled sharply through her nose and asked incredulously, "Cousin, when did you become so terrifying?"

Arthur adjusted his cufflinks with a smirk and replied playfully, "I’ll take that as a thank-you."

----------

With Arthur highlighting some critical flaws in their plan, Ashley and her team sprang into action.

That very day, Bella’s crew burned the midnight oil.

By dawn, they had distributed 1,200 "anonymous" samples of Celestial’s serum,manipulated to speed up oxidation, into the hands of top beauty vloggers. The first video went live at 9:00 AM with the catchy title:

"Guys! My Face After Celestial’s ’Jasmine Dew’ Expired On My Shelf!"

The clip featured a horrified influencer scrubbing brown sludge off her cheeks and went viral in just twelve minutes!

As two weeks flew by, Ashley and her team didn’t let up on their countermeasures.

Especially Ashley, her brokers were busy short-selling Veata Group shares. Inside a bustling trading room filled with massive screens flashing red numbers, she watched as Vesta’s shares plummeted 18% within the first hour.

Her brokers capitalized on every dip, amplifying the crash. By month’s end, Jennifer Vesta was forced to halt trading—but it was too little, too late.

At 3:00 PM, Olivia’s "leaked" trend forecasts hit the dark web like wildfire.

By 5:00 PM, Mirage Couture’s factories were scrambling to produce a nonexistent "neon Victorian" collection, a frantic attempt to keep up with the chaos.

Ashley made her final move at midnight on the last day of the month: a press release announcing Osborn Fashion’s groundbreaking "Self-Destruct Fabric," a patented material that dissolves upon illegal duplication.

The demo video showcased a Mirage knockoff disintegrating in a washing machine, it was fake but created real panic!

-----------

Meanwhile, chaos reigned in Vesta Group’s penthouse office. Stock tickers flashed red across every screen as phones rang unanswered.

Jennifer Vesta, the once undisputed queen of fashion’s underbelly, stood before floor-to-ceiling windows, her reflection shattered like her empire.

"The Blackstone Consortium?" she asked coolly, though tension crackled in her voice.

Her CFO swallowed hard before stammering out an answer: "They’ve... liquidated their position. All of it."

A champagne flute shattered against the wall.

Jennifer’s private line rang just once before the Rothschild liaison picked up, no greeting; just chilling silence.

"You promised backing," Jennifer hissed through clenched teeth.

"We promised returns," came the crisp reply laced with Swiss precision. "Your incompetence turned our investment into pulp; you couldn’t even manage a small company established mere months ago! The Jasmine Dew fiasco alone cost us..."

"I can fix this!" Jennifer’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her phone tightly. "A press conference, new designs... We’ll sue Osborn for defamation!"

A dry chuckle echoed from the other end of the line. "You’ll do nothing. The Consortium has severed all ties. Effective immediately."

The line went dead.

Jennifer stared at her phone, disbelief washing over her. Taking a deep breath, she dialed another number. "Mirage, Silverthread, Celestial, emergency meeting in one hour."

-------------

The conference room at the Grand Skylight Hotel felt cold and empty. Out of the twelve CEOs Jennifer had summoned, only five showed up, and none dared to meet her gaze.

Mirage’s founder broke the silence first, his voice dripping with disdain. "We’re pulling our Fall collection. There’s too much overlap with Osborn’s... self-destruct line." He spat those last words like venom.

"You coward," Jennifer shot back, anger bubbling beneath her skin."Those patents are nonsense! Ashley Osborn bluffed..."

"And you lost!" Celestial’s CEO slammed his palms on the table, frustration radiating off him. "My factories are filled with expired product! My retailers want refunds! Do you even understand what brown sludge does to a brand’s reputation?"

Just then, Jennifer’s phone buzzed, a notification that sent chills down her spine: Vesta Group stock suspended from trading pending bankruptcy review.

The room emptied in seconds.

------------

Meanwhile, Ashley watched the live feeds from her office while sipping on Darjeeling tea. Olivia lounged on the sofa, grinning as financial analysts picked apart Vesta’s downfall on every channel.

"Too easy," Emily chimed in with a smirk. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Ashley rolled her eyes at Olivia and said, "It might seem easy now, but without cousin help... do you really think we could have taken down someone as powerful as Jennifer?"

Olivia pouted playfully at Ashley but couldn’t hide her grin.

Bella scrolled through Celestial’s fire-sale inventory and exclaimed, "We should buy their labs! The equipment alone is worth..."

Suddenly there was a knock before Arthur entered the room with a smirk plastered across his face.

"Looks like you guys are having fun!" he said cheerfully.

"Of course! We have to celebrate," Olivia replied proudly. "This is our first real enemy we’ve defeated!"

"You think this is an enemy?" Arthur shot her a disdainful glance. "Why don’t you go ask your cousin Edward what kind of enemies he’s really up against? That’ll give you a taste of the real deal!"

Olivia was momentarily taken aback by Arthur’s words. "Come on, cousin! Isn’t the Vesta Group a formidable foe? They’ve been entrenched in Aurelian Prime for decades, while we’ve only just set up shop a few months ago. I’d say we’re doing pretty well!"

Arthur merely shook his head and tossed a file onto Ashley’s desk with a flourish. "Here’s Jennifer’s flight manifest. She’s headed to Jakarta."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Is she running away?"

"More like bargaining," Arthur replied with a smirk. "She’s meeting with the Surya Group tomorrow. They’re blissfully unaware of..." He tapped the file meaningfully.

Bella snatched it up, flipping through the pages quickly. "Oh my goodness! She falsified clinical trials?"

Arthur grinned, clearly pleased with himself. "I dug a little deeper and sent this straight to the FDA. By the time her plane lands, Jakarta will have her deported!"

Ashley lifted her teacup in celebration. "To family!"

The cousins clinked their glasses together as they watched Jennifer Vesta’s face crumble under the weight of her impending downfall on screen.