CHAPTER 5 — The Vote That Ended His Reign
CHAPTER 5 — The Vote That Ended His Reign
No one spoke.
No one even reached for a glass.
The only sound inside Aurelia's private dining room was the soft crackling of candle flames and the distant hum of the city beneath the glass walls.
Nathan stared at Evelyn as though she had spoken another language.
"...You can't do that."
His voice was barely audible.
Evelyn looked at him with quiet disappointment.
"I already did."
Nathan laughed once.
A short, nervous sound.
"This is emotional."
"No."
"It is business."
"You can't mix our marriage with the company."
Evelyn tilted her head.
"Interesting."
She took one slow step toward him.
"You spent years mixing the company with our marriage."
"You expected me to entertain your investors."
"You expected me to smile through rumors."
"You expected me to ignore your assistant sitting in my seat at charity galas."
Her voice never rose.
"You used our marriage whenever it benefited your image."
She paused.
"And now you're asking me to separate the two?"
Nathan had no answer.
The CEO of the acquiring corporation, Daniel Mercer, finally cleared his throat.
"Mrs. Grant..."
Evelyn turned politely.
"Yes?"
"I assume this is... temporary."
Nathan immediately nodded.
"Exactly."
"This is simply a misunderstanding."
"It'll be resolved tonight."
Evelyn looked directly at Mercer.
"No."
The single word landed like a hammer.
"This decision was approved by the committee at five forty-three this afternoon."
She opened a slim leather folder from her handbag.
Several signed documents rested inside.
She handed the first page across the table.
Arthur Beaumont adjusted his glasses.
His expression darkened.
"It's official..."
he murmured.
Every required signature.
Every legal seal.
Every emergency credit line...
Suspended.
Effective immediately.
Nathan grabbed the document.
"This is impossible."
"You needed my board's approval."
Evelyn calmly shook her head.
"No."
"You needed ours."
Phones began vibrating around the table.
One after another.
Board members.
Bankers.
Legal advisors.
Someone answered a call.
His face drained of color within seconds.
He looked at Nathan.
"The banks..."
"They've frozen the overnight extension."
Another executive checked his phone.
"The acquisition escrow account is under review."
A third whispered,
"Our stock..."
He stopped.
Looked again.
"...It's falling."
Nathan snatched his own phone.
The share price refreshed.
Down six percent.
Refresh.
Down eleven.
Refresh.
Down seventeen.
Someone at another table had already leaked what happened.
Not the slap.
The funding suspension.
The market smelled blood.
Nathan looked at Evelyn with genuine panic for the first time in years.
"You'll destroy everything."
She answered quietly.
"No."
"I've stopped protecting it."
"There is a difference."
Clara finally found her voice.
"This is insane."
She pointed at Evelyn.
"You're ruining thousands of employees because of one dinner?"
Several investors looked toward Clara with open irritation.
Evelyn met her gaze.
"No."
"I'm holding one executive accountable."
She turned back to Nathan.
"The employees deserve better leadership."
Nathan slammed both hands onto the table.
"I built this company!"
"No."
Evelyn's interruption was immediate.
"You built the headlines."
Silence.
"I built the runway that kept you airborne."
She looked around the room.
"Perhaps everyone here deserves the complete story."
Nathan whispered,
"...Don't."
Evelyn ignored him.
"Seven years ago..."
She looked at Arthur.
"You remember the Singapore expansion."
Arthur nodded slowly.
"It nearly bankrupted Grant Technologies."
"It did bankrupt it."
Gasps rippled through the room.
Nathan closed his eyes.
Evelyn continued.
"The public never knew because Hartwell Trust quietly absorbed four hundred and eighty million dollars in exposure."
More stunned silence.
"Five years ago..."
She looked toward Margaret Lin.
"The federal procurement investigation."
Margaret nodded.
"I remember."
"Nathan believes his lawyers solved that."
She shook her head.
"They didn't."
"My legal team uncovered the accounting errors before prosecutors did."
Nathan looked physically ill.
"And three years ago..."
Evelyn's eyes settled on Clara.
"When Nathan insisted on acquiring Solvex Dynamics..."
She smiled sadly.
"I voted against it."
"Why?"
Clara demanded.
"Because your market analysis was catastrophically wrong."
The room became deathly still.
Evelyn reached into the folder again.
She placed another report onto the table.
"This."
She said calmly.
"Is the report Clara submitted."
Then another document.
"And this..."
"...is the report my analysts prepared."
Arthur compared them.
His eyebrows shot upward.
"They're completely different."
"They predicted opposite outcomes."
Evelyn nodded.
"My analysts were right."
Nathan looked away.
Because he knew exactly what came next.
"I overruled my own committee..."
Evelyn said quietly.
"...because Nathan asked me to trust him."
She looked at her husband.
"It cost us two hundred million dollars."
"And I still stayed."
No one looked at Nathan the same way again.
Not one person.
May you like
The image of the brilliant self-made CEO was cracking...
...piece by piece.
