Chapter Six

~~ETHAN WILDER~~

"Association with a criminal is a terrible thing, which is why, as the majority shareholder, I am firing you for cause. Security will escort you out.”.

Her mouth dropped open in astonishment as she glared at me. “You are firing me?” she asked incredulously.

“You heard right, Sarah Bennett. As of today, you are no longer a partner of the Vance Corporation,” I said, spelling out every word flatly. I turned my attention to the rest of the room“Meeting is dismissed.”

Sarah whipped around to face her new man, who was simmering with a lame rage. “Do something, Julian! You are the heir! An outsider shouldn't have a say in this, right?!”

He did nothing to acknowledge her rants. He was too busy staring at the ruins of his empire on his phone screen.

I didn't wait for the fallout. I turned on my heel and walked out of the boardroom.

I was halfway down the corridor when I heard the frantic, uneven clicking of heels running behind me.

"Ethan! Ethan, stop!"

I didn't slow down, but she caught up, sidling into my path and forcing me to look at her. Her face was flushed, her breath coming in short rasps.

“Did you mean it? You were joking in there, right?”

I made no attempt to give her the satisfaction of a response.

"I can’t believe you actually did that," she panted, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You fired me? After everything? You're making a huge mistake, Ethan. You don't know how to run a company like this. You need me. Julian is weak, but I—I’m the one who actually knows how it’s done."

I kept walking, my gaze fixed straight ahead.

"Ethan, listen to me!" she cried, her voice shifting into a desperate tone. She reached out to grab my arm, but I pulled away before she could make contact. "I only did it for you! Don't you see? I had to pretend to be with Julian to protect your interests while you were inside. I had to climb the ladder so that when you got out, we’d have a foundation! The divorce papers... they were just a way to keep the Vanes from digging into our past. I was doing it all for us!"

I stopped abruptly, unable to take any more of her gibberish.. I turned my head slowly, looking down at her. Teary brown eyes stared right back.

My breath caught in my throat. It reminded me of the time she had pleaded with me to help her father’s dying business, to help save her brother’s reputation by serving time in his stead.

It was a way she manipulated me, the move I always fell for.

“I have no time for your theatrics, Sarah. Im my won’t work. Not this time. If you aren't out of this building in sixty seconds, I’ll have the guards treat you with the same 'loyalty' you showed me years ago."

She grabbed my arm. “My father is terribly ill. I need this to work. I need to pay his medical bills. Firing me is like stripping me off the last opportunity to save him” The tears slid down her cheeks this time..

My forehead ceased in confusion. “You climbed ro the top of Boston’s Elites. You are a CEO worth fifty million dollars. Paying your father’s bills should’nt be a hassle”

“I lied” she looked down at her hands. “I lied so I could be with Julian who could help me out.” She released a long sigh. “I regret it all now. You have every right to fire me but could you please retain me till Ive had enough to save my father?”

My throat bobbed in a hard swallow..

I stared at her, my jaw tight. My thoughts are conflicted. If truly, her father was ill, I couldn’t do this to her.

I removed my arm from ger grip. “I’ll have my men prepare the contract”

She let out a gasping breath of relief, her eyes lighting up. “Thank you, Ethan. Thank you, I…“

“Don’t thank me yet,” I cut her off. “I’m not retaining you as a partner. You’re no longer a CEO, and you aren’t a partner of the Vance Corporation. If you want to pay those bills, you’ll work in the archives. Lower basement level. “

She swallowed hard, the humiliation visible in the way her shoulders slumped. But she nodded. “I’ll take it.”

I spun on my heels and walked towards the elevator, heading to my waiting vehicle.

~ALINA JOHNSON~~

I remained in my seat long after the door slammed shut. The boardroom was eerily quiet, though a few members remained, sending me furtive, terrified glances.

My hands were still shaking as I tried to straighten my misbuttoned blazer. I reached up, trying to redo my hair, which had completely escaped its ponytail during my frantic entrance. I felt like a fraud in this expensive chair.

It all felt surreal. An executive vice president.

I finally gathered my scattered files and walked out, my heart pounding. I needed to find him. I needed to thank him for saving my life’s work, for saving my father’s dignity.

I reached the lobby just in time to see Ethan’s tall frame near the exit. I started to call out his name, but the words caught in my throat.

He wasn't alone. Sarah was there, cornering him, she had a look of desperation on.

I stopped in my tracks, hidden partially by a decorative pillar. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but from where I stood, I felt the tension between the duo.

I didn't know the history between the Phoenix representative and the woman he had just ruined, but it clearly went deeper than business.

I watched him leave, his back straight and unyielding, while Sarah stood frozen in the lobby.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

There were several missed calls from my father.

I hesitated, my thumb hovering over the redial button.

I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment. Just last night, I had called him, heavily drunk and sobbing, wailing that I was going to be jobless and that the Vanes were going to strip everything away.

He had sounded so helpless on the other end, and now...

I took a deep breath and hit dial.

"Dad?" I whispered when he picked up.

He sounded tensed on the other end. “How did it go?”

I sighed. “He promoted me father, to the executive vice president”

“Don’t get too excited” a foreign voice startled me. I spun around to face Julian. “You won’t last a week in that office. I’ll make certain of that”