31

CHAPTER 31

The room froze after hearing what Sarah had just uttered,

Imani frowned. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

Sarah laughed, even as the guards pulled her. “You trapped me with a fake file? Cute. But your precious Luke tortured a few of the shareholders! He almost killed them! Just so he could become partners with you! He wanted your company, not you!”

Luke stood up so fast that his chair fell. “She’s lying! She’s insane! Don’t listen to her, Imani—” he defended and looked over at the guards.

“Guards! Take her out,” Luke yelled and they kept pulling Sarah out but she only laughed like a maniac.

Then just as she was being dragged away, messages, videos, news flew through everyone’s phone, gasped followed.

Emily who has received a message as well,ran towards Imani with a dark and pale face, holding an iPad with trembling hands, “Ms Shawn... you need to see this.”

On the screen — a video. Shaky, taken in a dark steakhouse. Luke Anderson sitting with two of Imani Tech’s biggest shareholders, Mr.Landon and Mr. Adria, tied around a pole with rope as half beaten. “ I heard you two have refused to adhere to my requests,” Luke voice came on.

He then slides a an envelope sliding across the table. Luke’s voice, clear as day, “Just say yes to whatever I say in the boardroom. All I need is yes from you two…and by that, Imani trusts me, you benefit as well, a win-win, huh?”

The video ended and Imani almost stumbled from where she stood.

Videos of it had spread so wild like a fire. It has gained over millions of views across all social platforms, everyone givin an hateful comment to Luke and Imani’s company.

Imani managed to run her eyes towards the comments section, “She’s a desperate bitch!”

“She should be jailed as well,”

“I heard she has a son, which school does he attend..”

Imani anger went up when she saw they were already bringing in her kid. She tightened her fist, “Emily, report all comments about my son, NOW,” she instructed.

Imani was too stunned to even speak, she looked at Luke and he returned the gaze, his face white, sweating.

“Imani, I can explain— I was trying to protect you— I—”

“You tortured them? my shareholders?” Imani’s voice was barely a whisper. “You decieved me? Again, Luke?”

“Imani, please—”

The boardroom door burst open again, a lot is happening at once. This time, two uniformed officers came in.

“Luke Anderson?” one officer said. “We have a warrant to bring you in for questioning regarding corporate bribery and fraud. You need to come with us.”

Cops came and took Luke away, Imani couldn’t believe what’s happening. Her eyes couldn’t believe it. . Luke kept looking back at Imani as they walked him out.

“Imani! Imani, tell them! Tell them I was doing it for us! Imani!” He screamed.

The door closed and immediately the boardroom turned to Imani and it turned into chaos.

A board member stood, “Imani Shawn, this is a disaster. First a fake leak, now bribery? Our stock is dropping as we speak!”

He was right. Emily had checked the live ticker on the big screen.

Imani Tech stock had dropped drastically.

Everyone started to speak against Imani like she wasn’t the one who has been managing her company.

“She was desperate! I know a newbie like her can’t control this company!”

“Does she even deserve to be the CEO?”’ Another muttered.

“She let someone manipulate her! — what kind of CEO does that?”

Before she could even defend herself, most of the shareholders started discussing her dismissal.

“Maybe we need a vote of no confidence,” one mentioned and everyone in the room suddenly agreed with it.

“Maybe we need another CEO until this blows over,” someone added.

Imani stood in the middle of it all, feeling the room spin. She was draining. Her ears were ringing. She could hear Jaden’s voice in her head: Mommy, why are you crying?

She wasn’t crying but if someone attempt to console her, she may want to at that moment.

Emily rushed to her side. “Ms. Shawn?, let’s go. Let me drive you home. You can’t stay here.”

Imani nodded, numb. Emily wrapped an arm around her and pulled her out of the boardroom, through the hallway where employees were staring and whispering and filming with their phones, toward the private parking garage.

She couldn’t get to her car as reporters had filled her garage. Ten, fifteen cameras. Microphones. Flashbulbs. They had gotten past security.

As soon as they saw Imani heading out, they gathered around with their microphones and camera flash.

“Ms. Shawn! Is it true Project Echo was stolen?”

“Ms. Shawn! Did you know your partner was bribing shareholders?”

“Is Imani Tech shutting down?”

“Ms. Shawn, are you being dismissed?!”

Imani put her hand up to shield her face. Emily shouted, “Move! Move back!”

They pushed through but the crowd was too thick. Someone shoved. Emily lost her grip.

And while Imani was walking, trying to get to her car, a bottle came rushing over — a glass water bottle, thrown hard from the crowd, aimed right at her head.

Imani lifted her head up, she saw the bottle coming and she really thought it’d hit her head, She closed her eyes.

But it never hit her. So, she slowly opened her eyes and saw someone had stopped it with their body.

A broad back in a black coat stepped in front of her and took the hit. The bottle bounced off his shoulder and fell to the floor, breaking into pieces.

Imani lifted her eyes, her heart pounding, and looked up into the person that had just saved her from these beasts named reporters

She saw Killian.

Killian Morgan, breathing hard like he had run all the way from his meeting, his hair messy, his eyes furious, looking at the crowd like he wanted to kill them all.

Without saying a word, he wrapped his body around Imani. One arm around her head, one arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest, shielding her completely. His cologne sink deep into Imani’s nostril.

“Get back!” he shouted at the reporters, his voice raw, loud enough to shake the concrete garage. “Get the fuck back from her! NOW!”

“Unless you all want to be sued. Touch her again, and spend the rest of your lives in the jail,”