"She is unstable. The preschool incident proves it." Gary’s voice crackled through the earpiece. "We invoke Section Four. I take emergency control of her shares today."
"Are you sure she won't fight back?" an older man asked on the recording. Marcus.
"She is a wreck," Gary scoffed. "She is sitting in a hospital room crying over a bruised kid. She doesn't have the stomach for a boardroom war right now. Plus, once I control the assets, Shannon and I can finally move Luke into the main estate."
My jaw tightened. He wasn't just stealing my company; he was planning to move his replacement family into my home.
Joe had intercepted the call ten minutes ago.
I pulled the blanket up to Emily’s chin. My daughter’s breathing remained shallow. The doctor said the kick to her stomach caused severe bruising, but no internal bleeding. Still, she trembled in her sleep. She looked so fragile against the stark white hospital pillows.
"Nobody enters this room," I told the two large security guards flanking the door. "Not nurses without prior clearance. Not doctors I haven't met. And definitely not my husband."
"Understood, Ms. Hawthorne," the taller guard replied, shifting his stance to block the doorway completely.
I swapped my blood-stained sweater for a tailored charcoal blazer. I wiped the dried blood from my scraped palm with a wet towel, wincing at the sting. I grabbed my car keys.
Gary thought I was broken. He was about to find out what fifty million dollars of authority looked like.
Outside the frosted glass doors of the top-floor boardroom, I paused. Gary’s voice drifted into the hallway, loud, arrogant, and too comfortable.
"Once the mental instability injunction goes through, I will redistribute her seventy-five percent," Gary said. "You have all been loyal. You will get your cuts. We modernize the operations, we cut the dead weight, and we finally run Hawthorne Technologies the way it was meant to be run. No more of her conservative expansion models."
"What about the legal hurdles?" another voice asked. David. "She has ironclad contracts."
"I am her husband," Gary replied smoothly. "The courts will grant me conservatorship if I push the narrative. She assaulted a child's mother in public today. The police were called. It is a slam dunk. We just need a unified front from the board."
I shoved the double doors hard enough that they slammed against the walls.
Gary froze, his mouth half-open. He stood at the head of the long mahogany table, looking like a king holding court. Four of the oldest board members sat around him, their pens hovering over thick stacks of paper.
My stilettos struck the hardwood floor like hammer blows, echoing through the sudden, dead silence of the room. Behind me marched twelve attorneys in dark suits, moving in step.
"Jasmine," Gary stammered, his face paling. "What are you doing here? You should be at the hospital with Emily."
"And miss you dividing up my life’s work?" I asked, stopping at the opposite end of the table. "Not a chance."
"You need to leave," Gary snapped, recovering his composure. He adjusted his tie, trying to project dominance. "This is a closed executive session. You are currently under review. Security shouldn't have even let you up here."
"I own the building, Gary. Security works for me."
"You don't have the authority to barge in here," Marcus spat, his comb-over shifting as he glared at me. "We are in the middle of a critical vote regarding your fitness to lead. Your erratic behavior today—"
I tossed a thick stack of stapled papers onto the polished wood. It slid down the center, stopping inches from Gary’s hands.
"That is the notarized confirmation of my seventy-five percent controlling stake," I said. "And as of thirty seconds ago, this board is restructured."
Gary stared at the document, a vein pulsing at his temple. "You can't do that. We already initiated the medical review! You are locked out of executive decisions until the psychiatric evaluation is complete!"
"You initiated a fantasy," I replied, my tone dropping an octave. "Marcus, David, Robert. You are out. Clear your desks."
"This is illegal!" David shouted, rising from his leather chair. "You can't dissolve the board without a formal shareholder meeting! We will sue you into oblivion! You will lose everything!"
Ben, my Director of Legal, stepped up beside me. He held up a bright red folder.
"Embezzlement records, gentlemen," Ben stated flatly, his voice cutting through the outrage. "Offshore accounts. Kickbacks from our primary steel suppliers. Falsified expense reports dating back three years. Ms. Hawthorne has been very patient."
The three older men looked at the red folder, then at each other. Marcus swallowed hard, avoiding my gaze entirely. He slowly sank back into his chair.
"If you walk out that door right now," I told them, "you keep your freedom. If you say one more word, Ben calls the feds. I have the audit trails printed, highlighted, and ready for the prosecutor."
Nobody spoke. The silence was absolute. The three men gathered their briefcases, kept their heads down, and scurried out the side door without looking back.
"You are firing them?" Gary yelled, gripping the edge of the table. "I am the CEO! I run this company! You gave me that title!"
"You ran my errands," I corrected him. "And you did a terrible job. You are fired, Gary. Pack your things."
Gary’s face twisted into an ugly snarl. "You bitch. You think you can just toss me aside after everything I have done? I built the new supply chains! I secured the tech contracts! I made this company profitable!"
"You played pretend with my money," I said. "You spent five years playing boss while I funded your vanity projects. And today, you let some brat kick my daughter."
"You can't fire me," Gary sneered, pointing a finger at my chest. "I have the loyalty of the entire executive team. If I walk, they walk."
"Let them," I said. "I bought this company with cash, Gary. I can buy a new executive team by tomorrow morning. You are replaceable."
"You are bluffing," he said, his voice wavering.
"Try me." I raised a hand, signaling the two security officers waiting in the corridor. "Remove him from the premises."
The guards advanced, their faces blank, grabbing Gary by both arms.
"Get your hands off me!" Gary thrashed, his polished image shattering. He kicked at the nearest guard, but the man easily sidestepped the blow. Gary dug his fingers into the edge of the mahogany table, his knuckles turning white.
"Drag him," I said.
The guards yanked harder. Gary’s grip slipped, his nails screeching across the wood in a desperate, pathetic sound. He hit his knees, still clinging to the table leg.
"Wait!" Gary screamed, his voice cracking.
He wrenched his right arm free just enough to plunge his hand into his suit pocket. He yanked out a small, metallic object and held it high above his head.
The silver USB drive caught the overhead lights.
"The core lab data is right here!" Gary shouted, his eyes wide and frantic. "You touch me, I wipe it, and I destroy this entire company!"
