23. Breaking Point
Chapter 23
Breaking Point
T he boardroom's pristine glass walls felt more like prison bars this morning. Reuben and Hayes had been tag-teaming their presentation for what felt like centuries, their voices droning on about market projections and strategic concerns that were so obviously manufactured I was almost impressed by their creativity.
Almost.
My phone remained stubbornly silent. No good morning text from Jimmy, no cat photos, no updates about Luna's latest conquests of household furniture. The absence sat like lead in my stomach, making it hard to focus on Reuben's increasingly desperate attempts to make inflated numbers look legitimate.
Mia's elbow found my ribs with surgical precision. “Focus,” she whispered, but I caught the concern in her eyes. She knew my morning routine by now - knew that Jimmy's silence was as unusual as my father showing genuine emotion in a board meeting.
“What do you think, Ethan?” Reuben's voice dripped with fake collegiality, his smile reminding me of a shark that had watched one too many corporate training videos. “About these concerning trends?”
I stood slowly, buttoning my jacket with deliberate care. Eight years of corporate warfare had taught me the value of timing, of making every movement count. Mia's subtle nod told me she had my back - and probably several contingency plans ready.
“What do I think?” My voice came out cooler than the building's overpriced air conditioning. “I think this presentation is the business equivalent of a child's creative writing assignment - imaginative but ultimately fiction.”
The room went silent. Even the usual keyboard clicking from the tech department representatives stopped.
“These numbers,” I continued, moving to the front of the room with measured steps, “are about as real as your commitment to innovation. You've manipulated data to support a narrative that even a first-year business student would see through.”
Reuben's face had achieved an interesting shade of red. “Now see here-“
“No, you see here.” I pulled up my own presentation with a casual tap on my tablet. “I spoke with Miller Tech yesterday. Their concerns? None. The integration? On schedule. Your attempts to manufacture a crisis? Transparent at best, desperate at worst.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but this wasn't the moment to check it - not when I had Reuben exactly where I wanted him.
“Furthermore,” I continued, enjoying the way sweat had started to bead on his forehead, “your focus on my travel schedule is particularly interesting. Tell me, how's your investment in Miller Tech performing? The one you thought no one knew about?”
The color drained from his face so fast I was worried we might need medical assistance. Mia's smile turned predatory - she'd probably had that particular piece of information ready for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment.
“I- That's not-“ Reuben sputtered.
“Relevant?” I supplied. “Like your concerns about my management style? Or perhaps like your attempts to undermine this company's future because you're afraid of change?”
My father, surprisingly, remained silent throughout this exchange. His expression was unreadable, but something in his posture suggested approval.
“The truth is,” I concluded, turning to address the entire board, “while some of you have been playing corporate espionage, I've been securing our future. The small town investments you're so concerned about? They're part of a larger strategy to revolutionize how tech companies interact with rural communities. Something you'd understand if you'd bothered to read the full proposal instead of plotting corner office coups.”
“Additionally,” I continued, savoring the increasingly panicked looks on their faces, “our legal team has uncovered some... interesting patterns in your recent trading activities. Would you like to explain the rather suspicious timing of your Miller Tech investments? Or should we let the SEC handle those questions?”
The room temperature seemed to drop several degrees. Even my father looked impressed, which was saying something considering he'd practically invented the corporate takedown.
“The board bylaws are quite clear about conflicts of interest,” I pulled up another document on the display screen. “Section 7, paragraph 3 specifically addresses unauthorized investments in competitor companies. Mia, would you mind refreshing everyone's memory?”
Mia stood, her professional smile carrying just the right amount of predatory edge. “According to the bylaws, any board member found to have significant undisclosed investments in direct competitors is subject to immediate removal, pending review.”
“Which brings us to the review.” I paused, letting the moment stretch uncomfortably. “It's done. You're done.”
Reuben's face cycled through several interesting colors. “You can’t do this!”
“I can, and I am. Effective immediately, you're both off the board. The severance packages are more generous than you deserve, but unlike some people in this room, I believe in maintaining professional standards.”
Hayes started to rise, but my father's quiet “Sit down, Hayes” kept him in place. The power dynamics in the room had shifted so completely you could almost hear them cracking.
“Mia,” I turned to my most trusted ally, “handle the paperwork, please. And make sure security escorts our former board members to their offices. We wouldn't want any sensitive documents to go missing.”
“With pleasure,” she replied, already pulling up the necessary forms on her tablet. The slight curl of her lips suggested she'd been looking forward to this moment almost as much as I had.
“Now,” I straightened my already perfect tie, “shall we discuss actual business, or would anyone else like to present their creative writing projects?”
The silence that followed was deafening. Reuben and Hayes sat there sputtering like expensive fish out of water, but I was already moving toward the door. My phone had buzzed four more times during this exchange, and the knot in my stomach had grown into full-blown anxiety.
Something was wrong with Jimmy. I could feel it.
And I'd just cleared my schedule in the most dramatic way possible.
The victory champagne would have to wait. I barely made it back to my office before my hands started shaking, the adrenaline from the boardroom finally giving way to raw fear. Jimmy still wasn't answering. Fifteen calls, twenty-eight texts, and enough voicemails to make me sound like a desperate ex - which, technically, I guess I was.
My office felt too big suddenly, all that carefully curated power meaningless in the face of unanswered rings. The Steinway in the corner watched accusingly as I paced, its polished surface reflecting morning light that felt too bright, too normal for the panic clawing at my chest.
“Come on, Jimmy,” I muttered, trying his number again. “Pick up. Please pick up.”
The familiar voicemail message hit like a physical blow: “Hey, you've reached Jimmy Reed. If this is about The Incident, I still maintain my innocence. If it's about anything else, leave a message!”
His laugh at the end of the recording made my knees weak. I sank into my ridiculously expensive chair, the leather creaking in protest as I leaned forward, elbows on knees, phone clutched like a lifeline.
The city sprawled below my window, unconcerned with my personal crisis. Somewhere down there, deals were being made, lives were changing, and I'd just orchestrated one of the most spectacular corporate takedowns in recent memory. None of it mattered. Not with Jimmy's silence screaming in my ears.
Liam. Liam would know.
My fingers shook as I pulled up his contact. Three rings that felt like eternities, then-
“Ethan.” His voice carried something that made my blood run cold. “I was just about to call you.”
“Where is he?” The words came out raw, stripped of corporate polish. “Liam, he's not answering, and he always answers, even when he's mad at me, even when-“
“Ethan.” The gentleness in his tone stopped my spiral. “We can't find him.”
The world tilted sideways. “What do you mean, you can't-“
“He worked a late shift at The Watering Hole. Helping Nina with the bar.” Liam's voice stayed carefully steady, like he was talking someone off a ledge. Maybe he was. “Security cameras show him leaving around midnight. But he never made it home. Luna's fine - Caleb stayed over to watch her, but Jimmy never came back.”
Each detail hit like shrapnel. I pictured Jimmy closing up, probably humming something under his breath like he always did. Walking through streets he should have been safe on. Streets I should have been there to walk with him.
“Jake's already looking,” Liam continued. “Nina's got half the town searching.”
“Gary,” I said, the name tasting bitter. “Has anyone seen him?”
“That's the thing - he's gone too. Completely vanished. His motel room's cleared out.”
The implications made my chest tight. My reflection in the window looked foreign - still wearing the perfect suit I'd chosen for battle, the armor I'd put on to take down Reuben and Hayes. Now it felt like a costume, something belonging to a version of me that didn't matter anymore.
“I'm coming back,” I said, already moving toward the door. “How fast can you get me security footage from Main Street?”
“Already done. Jake's reviewing it now.” A pause. “Ethan... drive safe, okay? We need you in one piece. He needs you in one piece.”
The call ended but I stayed frozen in my office, mind racing through possibilities - each worse than the last. The city continued its morning dance below, unaware that my world was imploding forty-two stories above it.
I nearly bowled over Mia and my father in my rush to leave. The look on my face must have been something special because even my father's perpetual stoicism cracked.
“Ethan.” My father's voice had lost its boardroom edge. “What's happened?”
The question hit harder than any of his business critiques ever had. Maybe because for once, he sounded like my father instead of Harrison Cole, Corporate Titan.
“Jimmy.” My voice cracked embarrassingly on the name. “He's missing. Never made it home last night.”
Mia's sharp intake of breath matched the stabbing sensation in my chest. She'd been there through everything - had watched me build walls around my heart after Rosewood, had fielded Jimmy's calls in those first months when I was too much of a coward to answer them myself.
“Your car's already waiting,” she said, her professional mask slipping just enough to show real concern. “I've cleared your schedule through next month.”
A surprised laugh escaped me - wet and slightly hysterical but real. Leave it to Mia to call me out on my workaholic tendencies even in crisis.
“Son.” My father's hand landed on my shoulder, warm and steady in a way it hadn't been since I was a kid learning piano scales. “Whatever you need - resources, connections, the corporate jet - it's yours. No questions asked.”
The offer stunned me more than any million-dollar deal ever had. This was my father, the man who made me argue for every business decision, every investment, every deviation from his carefully plotted path. Yet here he was, offering blank-check support because his son's heart was breaking.
“The board-“ I started, but he cut me off.
“Will survive without you. Some things matter more than quarterly projections.” His grip tightened slightly. “You taught me that, remember? When you chose to stay in Oakwood Grove despite every corporate reason not to.”
Something hot and unexpected burned behind my eyes. “Dad, I-“
“Go.” He squeezed my shoulder once before letting go. “Find him. Bring him home. And Ethan?” The ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Try not to break too many traffic laws. I'd hate to have to call in favors with the highway patrol.”
It was such an un-Harrison-Cole thing to say that I actually laughed - a real one this time, even if it was slightly watery.
“I've alerted your security team,” Mia added, already typing on her tablet. “They'll be ready when you need them.”
“Thank you,” I managed, the words feeling inadequate for this strange new reality where my father was offering unlimited support and Mia was basically assembling a tactical response team.
“Don't thank me.” My father straightened my tie - a gesture so paternal it made my chest hurt. “Just bring him back. Preferably before your mother finds out and decides to handle things herself. You know how she gets about people she considers family.”
The casual inclusion of Jimmy in “family” hit like an uppercut to the heart. Eight years ago, I'd walked away thinking I had to choose between my family's expectations and Jimmy's love. Now here was my father, basically offering the corporate equivalent of a blank check to help find the man I'd left behind.
“Now go,” he said gruffly, something suspiciously like emotion roughening his voice. “And son? Next time, lead with the heart instead of checking the spreadsheets first.”
Coming from him, that was practically a Hallmark card.
The elevator doors opened with perfect timing - though knowing Mia, she'd probably orchestrated that too. I stepped in, turning to find my father and my most trusted colleague watching me with matching expressions of concerned determination.
“Bring him home,” my father said again, and this time I heard what he wasn't saying: Bring yourself home too.
The doors closed on their nodded support, and I let out a breath that felt like I'd been holding it for eight years. Three hours to Oakwood Grove. Three hours to figure out what Gary Reed was hiding.
And this time, I had the full weight of the Cole empire behind me.
Hold on, Jimmy. I'm coming. And I'm bringing reinforcements.