The Speech
Valeria
Dante gathered all of Aurenza’s employees in the auditorium without giving me any explanation as to what he was planning.
I’m seated in the front row with the other executives.
Three hundred people sit behind us, perhaps more. A subdued murmur drifts through the room.
All eyes are fixed on the stage. The giant screen displays nothing but the Aurenza logo.
No title.
No agenda.
Nothing to explain why the entire company has been called together.
Dante steps onto the stage alone.
As always, he waits a few seconds before speaking. Just long enough for silence to settle naturally.
Then he takes the microphone.
“Thank you all for coming.”
His voice carries through the auditorium.
“As many of you know, the investigation has now progressed far enough to establish the facts. Bianca Fabre has been arrested for industrial espionage and the attempted murder of Valeria Delorme.”
A slight ripple moves through the audience.
Most of the employees already know. Rumors have been circulating for weeks.
But hearing it stated officially is different.
More real.
More final.
“But that is not why I asked you here today.”
The silence immediately returns.
“Today, I want to talk about Valeria.”
I feel several heads turn toward me.
I remain perfectly still.
“Two years ago, we all believed we had lost her. Myself included.”
His gaze leaves the audience and finds mine.
“Yet even in her absence, she never stopped being at the heart of this company.”
His voice remains calm.
“The research that secures Aurenza’s future today is hers. The innovations that allowed us to endure are hers. The treatments that will soon enter commercial development are hers.”
He pauses.
“A great deal was taken from her.”
The silence grows heavier.
“Her work. Her identity. Almost her life.”
No one moves.
“And despite all of that, she came back.”
His eyes remain locked on mine.
“She came back and picked up her work exactly where she left off. She kept moving forward when many others would have given up.”
I feel my throat tighten.
“As for me...”
His fingers close slightly around the microphone.
“I owe her an apology.”
Absolute silence falls over the auditorium.
“When the world collapsed around us, I was not always worthy of the trust she placed in me.”
He takes a slow breath.
“I cannot change what happened.”
A second passes.
“But I can say this in front of every one of you. There is no one in this company whose work, courage, and integrity I respect more.”
For a fraction of a second, no one moves.
Then someone starts clapping.
Another joins in.
Then the entire room rises to its feet.
The auditorium erupts into applause.
I keep my eyes fixed straight ahead.
Because if I look at Dante right now, I will see far more than a CEO standing on a stage.
I will see the man who never truly let me go.