Chapter 9 - THE COLLAPSE OF WHITMORE GLOBAL
The news hit the global markets like a tsunami.
Whitmore Global stock plummeted 60% in four hours.
By the time the sun rose in New York,
the company was in receivership.
Ethan was being held in a French prison,
his lawyers unable to secure bail.
The Vale family issued a statement distancing themselves from the "Whitmore scandal."
Madison Vale disappeared from the public eye,
rumored to be hiding in a villa in Switzerland.
I sat in the Harrington office in Paris,
watching the numbers scroll across the screen.
Whitmore Global was being dismantled.
Piece by piece.
I had authorized the sale of the Manhattan headquarters.
I had fired the bodyguards who had beaten me.
I had replaced the entire board of directors.
I was no longer the discarded wife.
I was the Chairman of the Board.
Grace Sullivan entered with a final report.
“Ethan’s mother has been moved to the Harrington medical facility in London,”
she said.
“She will receive the best care.”
“Thank you,
Grace.”
“And the New York apartment?”
“Seized,”
Grace said.
“Along with all of Ethan’s personal accounts.”
“He has nothing left but the clothes he was arrested in.”
I felt a strange sense of emptiness.
The revenge was complete,
but the three years of my life were still gone.
The broken ribs had healed,
but the scars on my soul remained.
Charles Harrington walked into the room,
looking at the view of the Seine.
“Your mother would be proud,
Ava.”
“I hope so,”
I said.
“She wanted you to be free,”
he said.
“And now you are.”
I looked at the 37% share in my hand.
It wasn't just money.
It was a legacy of survival.
“I want to rename the company,”
I said.
“To what?”
I looked at the photo of my mother.
“Elena International.”
May you like
Charles smiled.
“I think that’s a perfect name.”
