She let the sentence hang, unfinished but crystal clear in its implication.
A younger executive at the far end of the table, a Chinese-American man named David Liu who held 3.5% of shares, raised a shaking hand. "Miss Zhou, I... I'll sell. Your offer is fair. I'll sign whatever you need."
"Excellent," Zhou Yuxi said, nodding to Li Feng, who immediately moved forward with documents. "A wise decision, Mr. Liu."
The dam broke. One by one, voices around the table murmured agreement. The offers were generous, genuinely generous, and the alternative was prison or worse. The math was simple, even for people whose judgment was clouded by fear.
Within fifteen minutes, eight of the twelve board members had signed transfer documents, selling their combined 23% stake to Mu Conglomerate for prices that left them wealthy despite the coercion.
But four held out.
