Chapter 3

3

Arthur Walsh's formal notice to withdraw his funding arrived on Wednesday morning.

I stood before the floor-to-ceiling glass in the executive conference room, watching my assistant place the gold-stamped legal document onto the long walnut table.

"Our cash flow is bleeding, and we will be forced to lay off staff by next month if this continues," Marcus Kane stated grimly, tapping the table.

"That intern in marketing needs to be terminated immediately."

Logan sat at the head of the table, his thumb scrolling mindlessly across his tablet.

Reflected in the glass, I saw Maisie's text message glowing on his screen: "Logan, nobody else will hire me…"

"Give her another chance," Logan murmured, his voice heavy and strained.

The entire boardroom fell dead silent.

"Another chance, Logan?" Leah Ross let out a cold, biting laugh. "Her last 'chance' cost us thirty million dollars in lost market value."

She slammed a thick stack of audit reports onto the table.

"Out of the three initiatives she handled, two were forty percent over budget, and the third completely incinerated our relationship with a major client."

"Firing her right now is the bare minimum we owe our shareholders," Marcus pushed his glasses up his nose. "Otherwise, I will be reconsidering my own equity in this firm."

Logan shot up from his leather chair, the metal legs screeching violently against the hardwood floor.

"She is young talent that this company chose to invest in!"

"Invest?"

I set my crystal glass down, the heavy base clinking sharply against the marble coaster.

"Invest until we file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy?"

Logan's pupils constricted sharply.

I knew that exact expression all too well; every time I exposed Maisie's utter incompetence, he wore that same wounded, stubbornly defiant look.

"I will mentor her personally," he declared suddenly. "From the ground up, starting with basic operational training."

A wave of derisive scoffs rippled through the executive table.

Leah stood up, shaking her head. "Logan, you have completely lost your professional judgment."

"Enough."

I rose from my seat, and the room instantly silenced under my commanding presence.

I locked eyes with Logan.

"This is your company too. You can run it into the dirt if you choose."

I picked up my smartphone from the table.

"However, let me remind you that my attorneys have already finalized our divorce settlement. As for the joint ventures between our two family estates, consider them terminated."

The color drained from his face in a split second.

"Did you think I was bluffing?"

I let out a soft, icy chuckle.

"The moment you started indulging her childish theatrics at the expense of our enterprise, you should have known this day was coming."

As I turned toward the heavy double doors, the loud clatter of an overturned chair echoed behind me.

Logan sprinted into the hallway and seized my wrist in a desperate grip.

"Valerie, you don't understand the situation at all!"

I jerked my arm free from his grasp without hesitation.

"Understand what? Understand how she plays the fragile victim in your office crying about how scared she is? Or understand how you let her treat our marketing division like a sandbox playground?"

He stood frozen in the corridor, his tailored Tom Ford suit rumpled and unkempt.

"She's just…"

"Just a spoiled child wrecking a china shop?"

I finished his sentence for him with cutting precision.

"Logan, it's been seven years. When did you become so utterly pathetic?"

The elevator doors glided open, and I stepped inside without looking back.

The mirrored walls reflected my hardened eyes and Logan's disheveled figure standing alone in the hallway.

Just as the stainless-steel doors were about to seal shut, I caught one final glimpse of him staring down at his glowing screen.

A new message from Maisie was flashing: "Logan, can I still come to work tomorrow?"