Chapter 3 - The Empire in Flames
By Monday morning,
the news of the Calloway Global share dump hit the markets like a tidal wave.
The stock price plummeted twenty percent in the first hour of trading.
Investors were panicking,
sensing a bloodbath in the upper echelons of the company.
Grant sat in the boardroom,
the leather chair feeling cold and unfamiliar.
The faces around the table,
once filled with sycophants and yes-men,
were now masks of hostility.
"You lost the majority,
Grant,"
Arthur Vance,
the oldest board member,
said with a thin,
unpitying smile.
"Meridian Crown now holds the leverage."
"They've called for an emergency audit of your personal expenses."
"They want to know why corporate funds were used to pay for Brooke Mercer’s private security."
"And the maternity wing."
Grant felt his stomach twist.
The 1.4 billion dollars Avery had taken was just the beginning.
By handing the shares to his rivals,
she had triggered a series of clawback provisions in his own contract.
He was being liquidated.
He was being erased.
He returned to the hospital that afternoon,
not out of love,
but because he had nowhere else to go.
Brooke was sitting up in bed,
holding the baby,
her face pale and drawn.
"Grant,
what is happening?"
she demanded,
her voice shrill.
"The hospital says we have to move to a standard room."
"The guards are gone."
"My agent says the lifestyle contract you signed is being questioned by the board."
Grant looked at the baby,
who was sleeping soundly,
unaware that his father was no longer a king.
"Avery sold her shares,"
Grant said,
his voice devoid of emotion.
"She’s in Switzerland."
"She took everything,
Brooke."
"The money,"
"the control,"
"the power."
Brooke’s eyes widened,
not with sympathy,
but with a sharp,
calculated panic.
"What do you mean,
everything?"
"You have the estates."
"You have the private jets."
"They’re all tied to the company,"
Grant whispered.
"And the company is no longer mine."
Brooke looked at him,
and for the first time,
he saw her clearly.
She hadn't loved the man;
she had loved the empire.
Without the Calloway Global crown,
he was just an older man with a complicated legal situation and a crying infant.
She didn't offer him comfort.
She didn't offer him a hand.
She simply looked down at the child and then back at the door.
"I can't be a part of a scandal,
Grant,"
she said,
her voice turning cold.
"My career...
my reputation..."
"Your reputation?"
Grant asked,
a spark of his old anger returning.
"I built your reputation!"
"And Avery just tore it down,"
Brooke replied.
"I think it’s best if you leave."
Grant walked out of the hospital,
the cold air of the parking garage hitting him like a physical blow.
He reached into his pocket and found a small,
handwritten note that Noah had found in the library that morning.
It was from Avery.
It said:
"You wanted a son to inherit your world."
"So I left you the world you created."
May you like
"Enjoy the silence,
Grant."
