Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Battle
Monday arrived with a torrential downpour,
the grey sky over Manhattan reflecting the mood inside the Blackwell Building.
Ambrose was already in the boardroom,
pacing like a caged lion,
his eyes bloodshot and his suit slightly rumpled.
The board members sat in silence,
avoiding his gaze,
whispering among themselves like children in a haunted house.
When the doors opened,
all heads turned.
I walked in,
wearing a tailored navy blue suit that accentuated my pregnancy rather than hiding it.
I wasn't wearing a mask,
nor was I wearing the diamonds he had bought to buy my silence.
I carried a single leather portfolio and a sense of calm that seemed to radiate from me like a heat lamp.
Ambrose stopped pacing,
his face a mixture of relief and fury.
"Jackie,"
he said,
stepping toward me.
"Thank God."
"Tell these people this is all a misunderstanding."
I didn't stop until I reached the head of the table.
The seat that was traditionally his.
I pulled out the chair and sat down.
"This is not a misunderstanding,
Ambrose,"
I said,
my voice projected to the back of the room.
"This is an intervention."
"Sit down."
He looked around the room,
hoping for support,
but the men who had once bowed to him were now looking at the documents I had placed in front of them.
"I am invoking the morality clause of the Blackwell-Hart merger,"
I began.
"As of this moment,
Ambrose Blackwell is no longer the CEO of this company."
"You can't do that!"
he roared,
slamming his fist on the table.
"I built this!"
"We built this,"
I corrected him.
"But you're the one who violated the bylaws."
"You used company resources to fund your private liaisons."
"You used the corporate jet for non-business purposes."
"And most importantly,"
"you’ve brought a scandal upon this name that our investors will not tolerate."
I nodded to Sarah,
who began to distribute the folders.
"These are the resignations of the executive committee,"
she said.
"Unless Ambrose Blackwell steps down immediately."
Ambrose looked at his friends,
his allies,
his "brothers."
They all looked away.
He was a liability now,
a sinking ship,
and they were looking for the lifeboats I was providing.
"You're doing this because I cheated?"
Ambrose whispered,
the realization finally hitting him.
"You're destroying my life over a girl?"
"No,"
I said,
leaning forward.
"I’m doing this because you’re a bad investment."
"You’re a man who doesn't know the value of what he has."
"And a man like that cannot be trusted with the future of this company."
"Or the future of my child."
He looked at my stomach,
then back at my face.
For the first time,
I saw true fear in his eyes.
It wasn't the fear of losing money.
It was the fear of being forgotten.
"I'll fight you,"
he hissed.
"I’ll spend every penny I have to make sure you get nothing."
"You don't have any pennies,
Ambrose,"
I said,
closing my portfolio.
"Check your personal accounts one last time."
"I believe they’ve been liquidated to cover the 'loan' you took from my father's trust ten years ago."
"You’re broke,
May you like
Ambrose."
"You’re just a man in an expensive suit in a room that doesn't want you."
