Chapter 32 Aiden
Aiden
The conference room at Winter Financial is all frosted glass and sleek chrome, a shrine to power. I sit at the long, polished table I once claimed with pride.
Now, it feels like a battlefield.
All twelve members of the board are seated. Dad’s managed to get them all in.
He presides at the head like a mad king, smug and already savoring his win. Tristan is next to him, looking proud of himself, like he’s earned the right.
There’s shifting and murmuring around the table.
Some look guilty. Most look bored. I recognize the signs. Decisions have been made behind closed doors.
Dad opens the meeting, talking about the future of Winter Financial, about leadership, and about a new direction.
Then he tosses the grenade, one I’ve been expecting.
“We’re recommending a vote of no confidence in Aiden Winter, effective immediately.”
No one seems to have a reaction.
These people don’t. They deal in millions. They ruin companies and people with a pen stroke. And here they are, trying to do the same to me.
Tristan meets my gaze across the table.
He smirks.
After everything I’ve done for him. After all the work he’s dumped on my plate, the meetings I’ve covered, the quiet interventions when his screwups threatened to blow up. He’s voting against me.
Surprisingly, I don’t care.
I woke up in bed with Mia this morning, and that seemed more special, more important than this.
“Let’s vote then.” I stand and start to button my suit jacket slowly, the way my father taught me—presentation is everything.
Then I look each member in the eye. Calm. Cool. Collected.
They vote.
Each yes slams into me hard, but not as strongly as I expected. In the past months, I have evolved. This means less.
The vote is finalized by Dad, who is enjoying himself.
It’s official.
I’m out.
Well, they did ask me to stay an extra four weeks for transition.
Fuck that.
I pull out a sheet of paper and slide it across the table. I came prepared.
“That’s my formal resignation. Effective immediately. You’ll need to buy me out. I’ll accept the current valuation. If not, I’ll sell my shares on the open market.”
Murmurs ripple around the room.
“And since half of those shares are now legally going to my ex-wife, you’ll be dealing with her.”
Dad slams a hand on the table. “This is extortion!”
“No,” I reply evenly. “It’s business.”
Tristan chuckles, the little shit. “Oh, big bad Aiden finally grew some balls. Too bad he waited until we kicked him out.”
I walk over to him, lean in slightly. “You’re welcome for the years I carried your ass. You won’t last six months without me.”
He blanches. As much as he wants to play “whose dick is bigger,” mine is monstrous when it comes to Winter Financial, and he knows it.
I head out of the room before anyone else can say another word.
I feel many things.
Angry.
Humiliated.
Helpless.
And…for the first time in my life, I feel free.
Diana stops me in the hallway outside the CEO’s suite. I don’t have anything in my office to pack. I already did that last week, knowing what was coming.
“They’re naming me interim CEO,” she tells me. “Just so you know.”
I look at her and try to be objective. I can’t see how I could find her attractive. She’s blonde, polished, and boring as fuck. She’s plain. There’s no joy inside her. It’s all about getting ahead, about money, about power.
Mia is warm, human, and loving. She’s all about welcoming you. Hugging you. Holding you. Making you feel special.
“Knock yourself out.”
She comes closer, heels clicking. “You’re really just walking away from everything?”
“I’m walking toward something better.”
She glares at me, confused and angry. “This isn’t you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You don’t know me, Diana, you only think you do.”
“No! I know you and—”
“Diana, I don’t give a shit about Winter Financial or being CEO.” And as soon as the words are out, I know they’re true. My face breaks into a smile.
She narrows her eyes. “I know you love me.”
I laugh. It’s real and honest. “Not in a million years. I have only loved one woman my whole life and that’s Mia.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want. It doesn’t matter in the slightest.”
I turn on my heel and walk away, refusing to give her another second of my time. She calls my name, sharp and insistent, but I don’t slow down. Reaching the door to the office suite, I shove it shut with a satisfying slam—right in her face.
Jolene nods at me as I stop at her desk. “Bastards.”
I shrug. “Gonna pick up my bag.”
She grins. “Okay.”
I frown, puzzled at how happy she looks.
I put my hand on the doorknob of my office and feel my chest tighten at the futility of what I’ve been doing for most of my life. I spent years chasing my father’s approval, killing myself to earn his respect.
But now, I’ve realized something that changes everything.
I don’t respect Nelson Winter. So why should his opinion mean a damn thing?