Ms. CEO’s Baby Daddy Is the Merchant of Death – Episode 34
Scarlett returned to Hayes Group beneath a wall of cameras. Employees applauded her survival, but the damaged company’s accounts told a harsher story. Cross’s attack had frightened away lenders already weakened by Stephen’s theft.
Richard offered a Reed Foundation credit line large enough to stabilize every division. Scarlett thanked him and refused. She would not replace dependence on her father with dependence on Connor’s.
Connor admired her resolve but worried pride was limiting her options. Scarlett explained that accepting transparent investment was not the problem. The company needed an identity no family patriarch could claim.
Her mother’s original incorporation papers provided the answer. Before marrying Stephen, Evelyn Hayes had founded Asterion Capital as a small technology fund. Stephen later buried the name beneath Hayes Group.
Scarlett announced that the surviving legitimate business would return to its original name. Asterion would focus on civilian navigation, emergency infrastructure, and ethical investment. Her mother’s legacy would no longer finance weapons.
Connor offered Dominion’s defensive research under public oversight. Scarlett accepted only after independent directors approved the terms. Their marriage would not substitute for corporate governance.
Summer spent the afternoon with Lily under heavy security. Lily treated her like a child rather than an heir, which earned Scarlett’s cautious trust. Richard, meanwhile, repaired the broken watch himself.
He had once built electronics beside Connor when his son was young. The memory made Connor uncomfortable, but Summer delighted in seeing two powerful men argue over a tiny circuit. For once, the argument ended in laughter.
The moment vanished when Cypher delivered court documents. Bennett had secured temporary release by claiming Cross had fabricated evidence against him. Whitmore money had produced witnesses, experts, and a judge willing to listen.
Bennett emerged from the courthouse before waiting cameras. He called Connor a terrorist who had endangered three cities to preserve control of Dominion. He described Scarlett as a victim manipulated by a violent husband.
Scarlett answered from Asterion’s steps. She stated that Bennett did not speak for her and never had. His concern began only when she refused to become his property.
Public opinion divided immediately. Some praised her courage, while others questioned every contract tied to Dominion. Asterion’s remaining lender suspended negotiations.
Richard renewed his offer with published terms and no controlling interest. Scarlett agreed to review it through the board. The compromise showed Connor that accepting help did not require surrender.
Cypher traced Bennett’s legal funding to the same Whitmore companies that financed Cross. The pattern was compelling but not yet admissible because several records had vanished during the Dominion collapse.
Connor wanted Bennett watched continuously. Scarlett supported surveillance within the law, refusing to hand him another argument about Connor’s power. They would expose Bennett without becoming what he accused them of being.
Lily helped Summer choose a dress for the recovery gala. Summer insisted Connor wear a tie matching her pendant. Connor claimed the Merchant of Death did not coordinate formalwear, but Scarlett caught him searching for one.
That evening, Asterion’s board received an emergency demand from Whitmore Holdings. Bennett claimed Stephen had sold him enough Hayes shares to control the reorganized company. The contract carried Stephen’s verified signature.
Scarlett knew her father had threatened such a sale, but she had believed the transferred shares were frozen during the criminal inquiry. Bennett had purchased them through a subsidiary before the injunction took effect.
Worse, the agreement claimed ownership of assets inherited from Scarlett’s mother. If upheld, Bennett could seize Aegis-related patents, Asterion, and everything Scarlett had fought to preserve.
Bennett sent a private message with the filing. He welcomed Scarlett back to their unfinished engagement and promised that, by the end of Richard Reed’s gala, her company would belong to him.
