Chapter 1: The Emergency Board Meeting
Chapter 1: The Emergency Board Meeting
The moment the mansion doors closed behind Isabella...
Lucas finally exploded.
"Get the cars!"
Richard was already barking orders into his phone.
"Call every board member. Freeze every transaction. Tell Legal this is a hostile takeover!"
His assistant's trembling voice answered almost immediately.
"Sir... the board meeting has already started."
Richard froze.
"What?"
"They're waiting for Ms. Isabella."
Silence.
The words struck harder than any punch.
Lucas snatched the phone.
"This is my company!"
"No, sir."
The assistant hesitated.
"According to the updated ownership records... it hasn't been yours for thirty-four seconds."
Lucas's hand began shaking.
Sophie grabbed his sleeve.
"Lucas... tell me this isn't real."
He couldn't answer.
Because for the first time in his life...
He didn't know the truth.
Across the city...
Inside the headquarters of Hartwell Global Holdings...
Every board member stood as Isabella entered the executive conference room.
No one applauded.
No one spoke.
They simply acknowledged the woman they had been protecting for years.
Her executive assistant placed a leather folder before her.
"Madam Chairwoman."
"The transfer is complete."
She opened the folder.
Lucas Holdings.
Controlling Interest: 72%.
Owner:
Hartwell Global Holdings.
Chairwoman:
Isabella Hartwell.
She signed one document.
Then another.
"Effective immediately," she said calmly, "Lucas Bennett is removed as CEO."
The corporate secretary nodded.
"Motion carried unanimously."
Another document slid across the table.
"Richard Bennett is removed from the Board."
"Approved."
Another.
"Launch a forensic audit."
"Approved."
Another.
"Freeze all executive bonuses pending investigation."
"Approved."
Every decision took less than a minute.
Three years of humiliation...
Erased in twelve.
Her assistant looked at her carefully.
"They're begging for a meeting."
Isabella closed the folder.
"They had three years to speak to me."
"Today..."
"They can listen."
At that exact moment...
Lucas received the official email.
Termination Notice.
His executive access had been revoked.
His company phone locked itself.
His security badge became inactive.
Even the elevator in his own headquarters refused to recognize him.
The guards approached awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bennett..."
"We've been instructed to escort you outside."
Lucas stared at them.
The same security staff he had once ordered to remove Isabella...
May you like
Were now escorting him.
History had a cruel sense of symmetry.
