Chapter 4

Elio flinched and shrank back, his fingers clutching Sigourney’s sleeve.

Her face darkened. Finally, she lifted her chin toward the seat opposite her.

“Sit.”

I stayed where I was.

“What do you want to talk about?”

She got up, came over, and lowered her voice.

“There’s a small press conference at ten tomorrow morning. You have to be there. You’ll apologize to Elio in public, then announce that you’re resigning voluntarily.”

I stared at her face.

“What did you just say?”

“Apologize. Then resign. This has gotten out of hand. Everyone on the floor saw what happened. Elio needed three stitches. If he goes to the police, you could be charged with assault. You could end up in jail.”

“But I didn’t push him.”

She reached for my shoulder. I moved away.

Her hand hung in the air before she slowly lowered it. She sounded tired, but her tone softened again.

“Ansel, I’m thinking of you, too. It’s already gotten out of hand. If you apologize and step down now, at least you can leave with some dignity. That’s better than being led out by the police. I don’t want to see you locked up.”

I glanced at Elio in the armchair, then back at her.

“When you hid the fact that you were supporting him, you said it was for my sake. You didn’t want me to get the wrong idea. When you kept contacting him, that was for my sake, too. You didn’t want me to worry. Now you want me to apologize, resign, and hand everything over. Is that for my sake as well?”

I twisted my mouth into a smile.

“How noble of you, Sigourney. Should I thank you?”

Her face stiffened.

I looked them both over, still smiling bitterly.

“But fine. I’ll be there at ten tomorrow.”

Elio looked up in surprise, then quickly lowered his head and raised a hand to hide his smile.

Sigourney stared.

I didn’t look at him again. I went into the study and locked the door behind me.

Then I opened my laptop, logged into my email, and calmly sent my attorney an encrypted message.

The confirmation appeared on the screen.

No more chances, Sigourney.

The conference room was packed. Middle managers, department heads, and several representatives from our business partners were already there.

The clock on the wall read 9:58.

Sigourney sat at the head of the table, in the CEO’s seat. Elio was at the back of the room. His bandage had been replaced by a smaller, flesh-colored adhesive strip.

I opened the door. Every head turned.

I walked to the table and stopped.

Sigourney looked at me and gave me the floor.

“Ansel, if you have something to say, go ahead.”

I turned toward the door, my voice calm.

“Tess, come in.”

She entered carrying a stack of bound documents.

Moving quickly around the table, she handed a copy to everyone present.

Pages rustled through the room.

Someone sucked in a breath. A few department heads looked up and exchanged glances.

The last copy went in front of Sigourney.

She lowered her eyes and opened it to the first page.

The room fell quiet.

The moment she read it, her fingers tightened. Her casual expression turned to horror.

Clutching the papers, she shot to her feet. Her chair scraped loudly across the floor.

“Ansel! You…!”