Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Guillotine
Adrien didn't shower. He threw on yesterday’s tuxedo, his hands shaking so violently he couldn't button the cuffs. He left Camille crying in the lobby and forced a taxi driver to break every speed limit getting to the Veil International headquarters.
He expected chaos. He expected reporters.
Instead, the lobby was terrifyingly silent. His keycard beeped red at the private elevator. The security guard—a man Adrien had personally hired—stepped in front of the glass doors.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Vale. Your access has been revoked."
"I am the CEO of this company!" Adrien roared, his silver hair disheveled, the beautiful billionaire facade completely cracking. "Get out of my way!"
"Let him up, Marcus," a voice crackled over the guard's radio.
Adrien ripped his arm away from the guard and stormed into the elevator, jabbing the button for the 60th floor. He was going to fire everyone. He was going to rip the board apart. He stepped out of the elevator and marched directly into the glass-walled executive boardroom.
The entire board of directors was seated around the massive marble table. They looked pale, exhausted, and utterly defeated.
But Adrien didn't look at them.
He looked at the head of the table.
Sitting in the CEO's chair, wearing a razor-sharp white suit and holding a cup of black coffee, was Evelyn.
"Evelyn?" Adrien choked out, the anger momentarily short-circuiting into absolute confusion. "What the hell are you doing in my chair? Where is Sterling? Who authorized a Vanguard takeover?"
"I did," Evelyn said. She didn't raise her voice. The quiet was so dense it suffocated the room. "Please, Adrien. Sit down. You look terrible."
"What is going on?!" he slammed his hands on the table.
"What is going on," Evelyn replied, taking a slow sip of her coffee, "is that six years ago, when you were breaking glasses in your study crying about bankruptcy, I restructured the debt. I didn't just find you lenders, Adrien. I became the lender. I put the controlling debt into a trust in my name. I wrote a morality clause tied to the Marseilles acquisition reserve."
Adrien stared at her, the blood draining from his face so fast he swayed on his feet.
"You spent twelve million dollars of corporate funds to buy your mistress a necklace," Evelyn continued, her voice as smooth as glass. "Which constituted a gross misappropriation of restricted assets. You triggered the default, Adrien. Not me."
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"You... you set me up."
"No," Evelyn smiled, a cold, terrifying curve of her lips. "I just gave you the rope. You were the one desperate to hang yourself in front of the entire city."
