Chapter 8 - The Boardroom
The European Board of Directors sat in the massive, glass-walled conference room of Vance Global. The twelve men in expensive suits looked at Julian Vance with stern, unforgiving expressions.
“Mr. Vance,” the Chairman said in a thick German accent. “The rumors surrounding your... arrangement with Miss Knox are deeply troubling. We require stability. We require honesty. If this engagement was a sham, we cannot trust you with a sixty-billion-dollar merger.”
Julian sat at the head of the table. He hadn’t slept in three days. He looked immaculate in his black suit, but his eyes were hollow. The fire that usually intimidated rooms into submission was gone.
He looked at the empty chair next to him. The chair Ava used to sit in during his late-night work sessions.
He looked down at the legal contract in front of him. The merger. The crown jewel of his life’s work.
“You want honesty,” Julian said, his voice quiet but echoing in the large room.
“Yes. A sworn statement that the relationship was real, and an explanation for her sudden departure.”
Julian stood up. He picked up the sixty-billion-dollar contract.
And he ripped it in half.
The board members gasped in absolute horror.
“Mr. Vance! What are you doing?!” the Chairman shouted.
“I am being honest,” Julian said, his voice rising in power, the predator returning to his eyes. “The engagement was fake. I paid her to pretend to love me so you archaic fools would sign this paper. But then a funny thing happened.”
Julian threw the torn pieces of the contract onto the mahogany table.
“She showed me that this empire you all worship is nothing but cold glass and empty bank accounts. She left behind five million dollars and a ten-carat diamond because she loved me, and she thought she was protecting my company. I have spent my entire life building wealth so I couldn’t be hurt. And in doing so, I let the only thing that actually matters walk out my front door.”
Julian buttoned his jacket.
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“Keep your ships. Keep your merger. Vance Global is withdrawing from the acquisition. I have a woman to win back.”
Julian walked out of the boardroom, leaving twelve billionaires in stunned, speechless silence.
