Chapter 3 - The Company You Almost Lost Before It Was Born
The ballroom seemed to inhale.
Garrett’s face went blank.
Not angry.
Not panicked.
Blank.
As if his mind had hit a wall too solid to insult.
Rebecca watched the information travel through the room.
Investor to investor.
Executive to executive.
Guest to guest.
The “nobody” had signed the first check.
The “loser” had kept the company alive.
The wife he struck in public had just become the most dangerous person in the building.
Garrett looked back at her.
“That’s impossible.”
Rebecca’s voice stayed calm.
“You signed the financing agreement.”
“I signed with Hunter Bridge.”
“Yes.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened.
“You tricked me.”
A bitter laugh rose in Rebecca’s throat, but she swallowed it.
“I saved you.”
The words cut through him.
Everyone heard them.
Garrett hated that most.
Not the money.
Not the recording.
The gratitude he now owed in front of people he wanted to impress.
He stepped closer.
Rebecca did not move.
Miles did.
“Garrett,” he warned.
Garrett ignored him.
“You think this makes you powerful?”
Rebecca looked at his raised hand, now lowered at his side.
“No,” she said. “You made me powerful when you forgot the company had rules stronger than your pride.”
A board member near the stage, Helen Ross, stepped forward in a silver gown, face hard.
“Mrs. Blackwood, is the board line active?”
Rebecca held up the phone.
“Yes.”
Garrett turned sharply.
“Helen, this is a marital issue.”
Helen looked at Rebecca’s cheek.
Then at Garrett.
“You struck the silent investor at the company’s public opening, in front of journalists, while being recorded on the board compliance line.”
Garrett’s face flushed.
“She provoked me.”
Rebecca did not answer.
She did not need to.
The bruise answered.
The room answered.
The recording answered.
Miles finally walked to the cocktail table and picked up the black leather contract folder.
His hand shook.
“Garrett, the emergency clause…”
Garrett snapped, “Shut up.”
Miles stopped.
The crowd heard that too.
Rebecca looked at Miles with quiet sympathy.
For eighteen months, he had been keeping the company alive under Garrett’s storms.
Fixing investor calls.
Apologizing to engineers.
Rewriting presentations after Garrett changed them at midnight.
Explaining delays Garrett created.
Protecting employees from the man who called himself visionary while others carried the weight.
Miles had known Garrett was arrogant.
He had not known Garrett would do this.
Not here.
Not to her.
Not in front of everyone.
Helen Ross looked toward the hotel security manager standing near the ballroom entrance.
“Please secure the exits. No one deletes recordings. No one touches the contract folder.”
Garrett laughed once.
“You people are insane. This is my company.”
Rebecca finally stepped closer.
Only one step.
Enough that he had to look at the red mark on her face.
“No,” she said. “This is the company you almost lost before it was born.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You wouldn’t dare remove me.”
May you like
Rebecca’s expression did not change.
“I don’t have to.”
