?Chapter 600:


    Ste stormed into her apartment, still fuming. She dropped onto the couch and pulled out the contract she had signed with Marc. There it was—IG specs spelled out in ck and white, in as day.


    She groaned, massaging her temples. This was bad. Really bad.


    The materials werepletely useless, but she was already locked into a long-term agreement. And if she bailed now? The penalty fee was an outrageous five hundred million dors.


    That number alone made her feel like the walls were closing in.


    After buying her apartment, her bank ount barely held a few million, which was just a drop in the oceanpared to what she owed.


    Leaning back into the couch, she sighed, realizing how badly she had messed up by not being more careful with Marc.


    And worst of all, William still had no idea any of this was going on.


    Just as the panic started sinking in, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Marc.


    “Ms. Gilbert, the materials have been delivered. We need your signature immediately. If not, this will go to court. Let’s not make it messy.”<fn6344> Follow current nov?ls on find?novel</fn6344>


    The message hit her like a p. Her hands trembled as she stared at the screen.


    Half of her wanted to throw her phone across the room, and the other half just felt helpless.


    Trying to figure a way out of the mess, Ste considered calling Sharon or Josie for help.


    If she could somehow pull together the five hundred million on her own, she wouldn’t have to involve the Briggs Group, and Neb Group wouldn’t take a hit either.


    Taking a deep breath, she tapped Sharon’s number.


    As soon as Sharon heard what Marc and Alonzo had done, she was livid and jumped into her car to drive over.


    Updates always at galnoνe??s


    When she walked into Ste’s apartment, the angry words she had prepared to vent about Marc died on her lips the moment she saw how pale and worn-out Ste looked.


    “Stel, don’t worry,” she said gently, pulling her down onto the couch. “We’ll figure this out. I’ve got your back.”


    Her tone was soft, but there was fire in her eyes as she flipped through the contract.


    Ste hadn’t told Sharon the penalty amount yet.


    But when Sharon saw it in the contract, her mouth fell open.


    “Five hundred million? This is insane.” She had never seen anything like that before.


    “Stel, this contract is…”


    Sharon wanted to say it was a total scam, but the look in Ste’s eyes made her pause.


    After all their years of friendship, Ste didn’t need her to finish the sentence; she already knew what Sharon was thinking.


    She curled up on the couch, hugging her knees, trying to block everything out for a bit.


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