“Claire, sit down,” Victoria commanded, her voice so terrifyingly low it was worse than a scream.
I shook my head, my spine stiffening. “I’ve been sitting down for years, Victoria.”
I don’t know what made more noise in the room: my outright defiance, or the heavy gray folder Arthur dropped onto the main table. He opened it in front of the furious investors.
Inside were certified copies, internal bank seals, and something I hadn’t even seen until that exact moment: a budget reallocation request signed by Julian that very morning. They hadn’t just used company money to sleep together. They had tried to illegally cover it up hours before this meeting.
Julian left the podium, marching aggressively toward me. Two security guards reacted almost simultaneously, blocking his path.
“Did you do this?” he hissed, his face red.
I looked him dead in the eyes. For the first time all day, his jaw trembled. “No,” I replied coldly. “You did this. I just finally refused to keep cleaning up your mess.”
Vanessa tried to catch her breath, looking desperately at the man in the center of the room. “Arthur, you cannot possibly condone this public humiliation!”
Arthur didn’t even turn to look at her. “The public act was using company resources for a private lie.”
The meeting was adjourned in absolute chaos at 9:21 AM. The investors stormed into a closed room with Arthur and the finance director. Victoria tried to follow them, but security barred her entry.
Ten minutes later, the boardroom was empty. The nightmare was over. Or so I thought.
Arthur walked out of the private room, handed me a glass of water, and guided me to his private elevator. We went up to the forbidden 14th floor in total silence.
