18. Keep the Bricks #2
She recoiled as if she had touched a live wire.
Her hands flew off the wood. She opened and closed her mouth, stunned.
The surrounding executives watched the confrontation in mute horror.
When nobody intervened to offer her a lifeline, she looked toward the far end of the room, begging for Arthur to step in and shout me down.
My father remained frozen where he stood.
He stared down at the ruined merger documents, his expression darkening with rage.
With the firm destroyed, he didn’t even notice her panic.
Realizing she was stranded, Vanessa spun back toward me and gripped the top of a chair to steady her balance.
“I built the acquisition strategy for the hospitality sector,” she countered, her pitch rising again. “I am the only reason this board didn’t collapse a month ago!”
Her desperate attempt to remind me of her past work meant nothing.
Her division was built on my back. The panicked woman clung to the chair, and I savored every second of her downfall.
I was not a CEO managing a hostile takeover anymore.
I was a husband dismantling the firing squad that tormented his wife.
Feeling absolutely no guilt, I shifted my weight, easing away from the edge of the table and tilting my chin toward the glass exit doors at the rear of the room.
“You’re a parasite,” I said. “And tomorrow morning, the Sterling Group is legally dissolving your joint venture. You have nothing left here, so get out of my sight.”
Vanessa turned and bolted for the exit. The doors swung shut behind her, severing the sound of her retreat from the room.
Octavia pushed her chair back and stood, her suit rustling in the quiet air. Gripping the straps of her designer purse with pale fingers, she smoothed her lapel.
“Let her run,” Octavia said. “She was always far too fragile for this family anyway.”
She stepped closer to the center of the room and kept her chin tipped upward, desperately trying to maintain her untouchable facade. She looked at the panicked board members, then leveled a cold gaze at me.
“Are you quite finished throwing this pedestrian tantrum, Cassian?” Octavia asked. “Let them have the firm. Your father and I have the estate, and we certainly don’t need this boardroom to maintain our lives.”
She truly believed living in the Kensington mansion could protect her from the reality of what I had just done, as if the financial fallout would magically stop at the doors of this building.
I turned away from the exit and faced my mother, looking down at her hands locked around her purse. She squeezed the straps until the skin stretched tight, her posture finally showing cracks.
“You keep the bricks, Mother,” I told her. “But the private jets, your limitless black cards, and the philanthropic foundation that buys your gala tables belong to this holding company. And tomorrow, Sterling is freezing every single one of those accounts.”
The color drained from Octavia’s face. Her composure faltered. She took a step backward, her high heel clicking against the floor.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Octavia whispered.
“You called my wife a gold digger because you think money and status are the only things that give a woman value,” I said, tracking her retreat. “Let’s see how long your high-society friends stick around tomorrow when your cards decline and your charity seats are stripped.”
She opened her mouth, but the venom was gone. She stared at me, finally understanding that her high-society life was over. I gave her nothing.
“Enjoy your empty house.”
Arthur braced his hands against the table.
A violent heat spread up his neck and across his jaw.
He dragged in ragged, uneven breaths, staring at the signed contract sitting just inches from his fists.
The remaining independent board members shrank back into their chairs.
Nobody dared to speak or intervene in the fallout.
Arthur opened his mouth. A fine spray of saliva caught the glare of the overhead lights as he jabbed a finger in my direction.
“You are an absolute disgrace! I will legally disown you! You are no longer a Kensington, and you will get nothing from me!”
His voice filled the boardroom, harsh and frantic. I stood firm on the carpet, refusing to flinch at his volume. The fear that used to dictate my reactions was gone. I stared at the patriarch who had ruled my entire life and found him pathetic.
“Save your breath, Arthur,” I said. “Your face is turning purple.”
Arthur recoiled. He stood speechless for a moment before another burst of spit flew from his lips.
He thought the money still mattered to me.
He had used the family trust to control my entire life, expecting me to drop to my knees the second he threatened to cut me off.
He genuinely believed that threatening to take away my name was still a punishment.
“Being a Kensington is the worst thing that ever happened to me,” I told him, keeping my tone level. “You can’t disown a man who just sold your legacy to your worst enemy.”
The reality of the statement finally registered with the remaining executives.
Silence stretched across the boardroom. My father grabbed his heavy crystal tumbler and hurled it across the room.
The glass hit the far wall and shattered into a dozen pieces, sending sharp fragments raining down onto the carpet.
“I will ruin you in the press for this!” Arthur screamed.
“Print whatever you want,” I replied.
I stepped away from the table, my coat brushing the back of an empty chair. I didn’t need to raise my voice to finish dismantling his company. I had the buyout cash, and Arthur had a worthless firm. I looked at the terrified faces of the men who used to demand my unquestioning obedience.
“Sterling is gutting this board tomorrow, Arthur, and the first thing they are doing is firing you,” I said. “I took the cash payout for my shares, and I am walking away. We are finished.”
I crossed the carpet, ignoring the frantic whispers breaking out among the analysts behind me. I reached the exit and pushed through the glass doors.
They swung shut behind me. The glass instantly cut off the echoing shouts from the inner sanctum.
I stood in the quiet hallway of the executive floor.
I had a mountain of liquid cash sitting in my private accounts, entirely separate from this ruined firm.
All I had left to do was head straight to my law firm and transfer every single penny into an irrevocable trust. I walked away from the boardroom, finally free to go home to my wife.