Chapter 50
Artemis
Ibarely slept, my hands are sweaty, and the breakfast Xavier essentially forced down my throat—with backup threats from my siblings—is threatening to come back up.
But I’m not alone. I’m sitting in the boardroom of the new company, our new company. Mathias, Thiago, and Alejandro may be a little young for the roles they’ve been hired for, but I have full confidence they’ll excel in their areas of expertise if they’re given half a chance.
They’re eager, excited, and grateful to be given the opportunity to show their mettle. They know exactly why they’re here—and exactly how hard they’ll have to work to stay.
Thiago has been hired as our chief technical officer, Alejandro is our chief financial officer, and Matthias is chief human resources officer.
Big titles, big personalities, big expectations. And they’re right here next to me in the board room with the rest of our siblings.
The twins, Isabela and Lucía, are finishing out high school, and I’ve already told their mom that when they decide what to do next, to give me a call. They may not be my responsibility, but they are my family, and they deserve a seat at the table, too.
Alonso expects lawyers, maybe even just me alone, or maybe he thinks he’ll find Apollo posturing outside as a silent support. He does not expect a firing squad. Or maybe he does. Who knows? He seems to have been a step ahead on every aspect of this takeover from the get-go.
Apollo sits back, arms crossed, expression pleasantly lethal.
Athena scrolls through a tablet like this is just another Tuesday.
Ares lounges in his chair, his long legs stretched out, heels crossed on the edge of the table, ice cold violence coiled not too far under the surface.
Mathias and Alejandro flank the far side, unreadable, perfectly still.
And Thiago stands near the windows, arms folded.
It's funny, they haven’t been among us for long, but they fit in like they have always been here.
It’s clear they were always meant to be.
Alonso robbed us from having a relationship with our siblings for far too long, but he also robbed them of the chance to shine, to excel, to surpass their mothers’ needs for his money.
They all went to college—Thiago our little genius, ahead of his time.
Talk about gifted and talented—they got good degrees, but the opportunities aren’t a dime a dozen anymore, and they’ve struggled to get off the ground in their respective industries.
I can’t fucking wait to see how high they can soar.
We’ve also hired Thiago’s two older sisters into senior management, keeping the business well and truly in the family. And once this morning’s over, I’ll be proposing Alejandro’s mother for the position of CEO.
This company was created to be a family business, and somewhere along the way my father lost sight of that. I’m bringing it back.
And then there’s me, at the head of the table. Scrambling for calm. Waiting. Feeling more supported than ever before… because I finally let them.
Alonso barges through the door and freezes—just for half a second. It’s long enough to tell me my plan worked. He’s off balance.
“Well.” He scoffs, recovering fast. “What’s this supposed to be? A coup?”
“No,” I say blandly. “An intervention.”
His gaze snaps to me, sharp and mean. He smiles like he’s about to enjoy this. “You don’t belong at that end of the table, Arte. That’s where the grownups sit.”
He doesn’t deviate from his script. He calls me a nickname to reduce me in size, mock me, sneer down his nose at me.
But he’s underestimated me my whole life, and I have too.
This time, however, it’s different. I might not fully believe in myself, but I’m surrounded by people who do, and I’m not letting him win.
Alonso de la Pena winning comes at too high a cost to my whole family. Over my dead fucking body.
Apollo chuckles. Ares cracks his knuckles. Athena doesn’t even look up. Alonso ignores them all. “This is still my company,” he continues, stepping forward. “You think you can sit there because you threw your money around like a dumb—”
“I wouldn’t.” I interrupt quietly, though there’s still a razor-sharp edge to my words.
The room stills. Our father laughs, it’s hollow, fragile. “Wouldn’t what?”
I tilt my head, it’s not aggressive, but curious, like he’s a bug I’m deciding whether or not to squash. Joke’s on him because I’ve already made the decision, and he’s already under my fucking boot.
“I wouldn’t throw shade at me, or anyone else in this room.” I force my voice to stay level, ready to deal the final nail in his coffin. “Given your arrhythmia diagnosis. Or the beta blockers you’ve been hiding from the board.”
That lands like a slap. Another, almost imperceptible flicker in his face… but it’s there. His smile tightens.
My siblings can’t hide their shock either. It’s something I found out by myself, without any of their help or anyone knowing, and I have fucking proof. Did I acquire the information through channels he assumed were untouchable? Yes.
Was it legal? Probably not. Was it necessary? Absolutely, because when it comes to Alonso de la Pena, you gotta go low, because he’s such a slimy snake, he’ll slither through the smallest of cracks.
Apollo leans forward. Athena finally looks up. Alonso sneers. “You don’t know a damn thing.”
“I know about the Zurich account,” I continue evenly. “The shell company in Lisbon. The consultant fees that don’t align with any deliverables. I also know which regulators would be very interested in the timing.”
Ares grins, slow and feral.
Alonso’s jaw clenches. “You’re bluffing.”
I slide a single, bulging folder across the table toward him. It stops right at his fingertips.
“I know about the morals clause you violated no fewer than three separate times,” I add. “And the NDAs you thought buried it.”
He doesn’t touch the folder.
“That information,” I say calmly, “either stays right here… or it becomes very loud and very public.”
“You wouldn’t.” He spits venom with every word. “You’d burn the company you’re killing yourself to win.”
Like he’s not burning the company to stop me from winning it. The fucking hypocrisy. I’ve already mourned the version of this company he built. I finally smile, and it’s not kind. “No. I’d save it.”
Silence presses in. Heavy. Suffocating.
Athena closes her tablet. “The board votes today.”
Thiago steps forward. “You’ll announce a medical leave. Effective immediately.”
“And sign over voting control.” Apollo speaks with a saccharine tone that makes Alonso’s eyes narrow.
“And if you don’t.” Ares leans forward. “This stops being civilized.” My youngest brother lives for chaos. Like his namesake, the God of War, he thrives on the swift, brutal, and chaotic aspects of battle. It’s a side of him we haven’t seen much since he met Eloise, the light to his darkness.
Alonso looks at all of them, then back at me. You can see it happen, the math clicking into place. Every exit sealed. Every weapon turned back on him by the fruit of his fucking loins. “What do you want?” His demand echoes off the walls.
I fold my hands on the table. “I already took it.” My words sit heavily in the room. Power isn’t the moment you threaten someone—it’s the moment they realize you didn’t need to raise your voice at all.
“You can acquiesce, or you can be removed. Either way the company is mine to do with as I please.” I look at the trio of new hires with a smirk. “I already am.”
Alonso’s going to lose his mind at the idea of a female CEO at the top of the pecking order, worse still because she’s a fucking titan, and she’s going to run the company like Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.
Another long silence settles over us, presumably while he weighs up his options. “Fine.” Finally—grudging. Furious. And fucking defeated.
I nod sharply. “Wise choice.”
With gritted teeth, he signs the paperwork I offer to him, and when the door closes behind him, no one speaks for a full ten seconds.
Ares lets out a low whistle. “That was hot.”
Apollo smirks. Athena exhales like she’s been holding it for months.
I don’t move. I wait for the rush. For vindication.
Relief. Anything. But it doesn’t come. I thought this would feel like winning.
Like closure of some kind. Instead, it feels like standing over a body I expected to hate and realizing I don’t feel anything at all.
Beating him doesn’t fix what he broke, it just proves how long I’ve been living with the damage.
All that’s left is the echo of my father’s footsteps fading down the hall and a hollow in my chest that no amount of victory seems capable of filling.
Damn.