He sighed aggressively and walked to the main lobby elevators. He would have to ride with the common employees. Humiliating, but he would yell at IT as soon as he got upstairs.
He walked into the grand lobby of Vance Global. It was a cathedral of glass and steel, bustling with hundreds of employees.
Mark marched toward the turnstiles. He tapped his card again.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
The turnstile remained locked.
Behind him, a line of employees began to form. “Excuse me, sir, can you move?” someone asked.
“Do you know who I am?!” Mark shouted, spinning around. “I am the CEO! This machine is broken!”
“Sir, please step aside,” a deep voice boomed.
Mark turned. Three large security guards were standing there. They weren’t the usual friendly lobby guards. These men were wearing tactical vests.
“My card isn’t working,” Mark snapped at the lead guard. “Let me through. I have a board meeting in twenty minutes.”
“Mr. Miller,” the guard said, his face made of stone. “Your card isn’t working because it has been deactivated. You do not have access to the secure areas.”
“Deactivated?” Mark laughed, a high-pitched, incredulous sound. “By whom? I run this building! I am the CEO!”
“Not anymore, sir,” the guard said.
“What did you say?”
“We have received orders to bar your entry,” the guard stated. “Please leave the premises.”
“This is insane!” Mark screamed, causing the entire lobby to go silent. “Who gave that order? Call the Chairman! Call the Board! I want answers!”Chapter 4: The Chairman of the Board (THE TWIST)
The sound of a chime cut through the tension.
The central elevator bank—the VIP elevators that Mark had tried to use in the garage—slid open.
The lobby went dead silent.
Two security officers stepped out first, clearing a path. And then, She stepped out.
It was Anna.
But it wasn’t the Anna of yesterday. It wasn’t the exhausted, broken woman in the hospital gown.
She was sitting in a sleek, motorized wheelchair, her movement smooth and silent. Despite the wheelchair, she looked ten feet tall.
She was wearing a sharp, white power suit that fit her perfectly. Her hair was pulled back in a severe, elegant chignon. She wore dark sunglasses, hiding the fatigue in her eyes, but projecting an aura of absolute, terrifying mystery.
She glided across the marble floor, flanked by the General Counsel and the Chief Financial Officer.
Mark stared at her, his mouth hanging open. “Anna? What… what the hell are you doing here? You should be in the hospital! You… you look ridiculous!”
He marched toward her, his face red with rage. “Did you do this? Did you lock my card to be petty? Get out of here! Security! Escort my ex-wife out of the building! She’s hysterical!”
The security guards didn’t move toward Anna. They moved closer to Mark, hands hovering over their tasers.
Anna stopped her wheelchair five feet from him. She slowly removed her sunglasses. Her eyes were cold, hard flint.
“Mr. Miller,” the General Counsel said, stepping forward. “Show some respect.”
“Respect for who?” Mark shouted. “For a housewife?”
The General Counsel adjusted his glasses. “For the Chairman of the Board.”
Mark froze. The words bounced around his skull, refusing to settle. “Chairman? What are you talking about? Her father was the Chairman. He died!”
“And when he died,” Anna said, her voice calm and amplified by the acoustics of the silent lobby, “he left the entire controlling interest of Vance Global to me. To his daughter.“
The Twist was revealed.
“I appointed you as CEO five years ago, Mark,” Anna said. “I wanted you to feel important. I wanted you to have a career. I stepped back. I worked from home. I managed the Board and the shareholders from the shadows so that you could shine in the spotlight. I let you believe you were the king.”
She looked at him with profound disappointment.
“But you never owned this company. You never owned a single share of voting stock. You were an employee. A high-paid, glorified manager hired by me.”
Mark staggered back. The reality of his life crumbled. He wasn’t a self-made tycoon. He was a husband who had been given a job by his wife.
“No…” Mark whispered. “That’s… that’s not true. I built this!”
“You maintained it,” Anna corrected. “And poorly, I might add. Your expense reports are a disaster. But that’s a matter for the auditors.”Chapter 5: The Order of Termination and Seizure
Chloe, who had been waiting in the lobby coffee shop for Mark’s triumphant entrance, walked over, looking confused. “Mark? What’s going on? Why is she here?”
Anna turned her gaze to Chloe.
“Ah, the ‘brand fit’,” Anna said dryly.
She pulled a piece of paper from her lap. It was the divorce agreement Mark had forced her to sign less than 24 hours ago.
“Yesterday, Mark,” Anna said, holding up the document, “you forced me to sign this. You were so eager to protect ‘your’ assets that you insisted on a clause: ‘Total separation of assets based on legal title.’“
She smiled. It was a terrifying smile.
“You forgot to check whose name was on the title of the corporation, Mark. It’s mine. You forgot to check whose name was on the deed to the penthouse. It’s mine. You forgot to check whose name was on the lease for the Aston Martin. It’s the company’s.”
She handed the paper to the General Counsel.
“You wanted a clean break? You got it.”
Anna looked at the Head of Security.
“As Chairman of the Board and majority shareholder,” Anna announced, her voice ringing out, “I am hereby exercising my authority. Mark Miller is terminated from the position of CEO, effective immediately, for Cause.“
“Cause?” Mark choked out. “What cause?”
“Gross misconduct. Moral turpitude. Public embarrassment of the firm. And,” she gestured to Chloe, “misappropriation of company funds to finance an illicit affair with a subordinate.”
She turned to Chloe.
“You are fired too, Chloe. Pack your desk. You have ten minutes.”
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