The boardroom at Thorne Dynamics was filled with tension.
Twelve board members sat around the long mahogany table. At the head, the chair Marcus’s grandfather used to occupy before he died sat empty. A reminder. A challenge.
Marcus’s father sat three seats down. Penelope beside him. Both of them looking too comfortable. Too confident.
This meeting hadn’t been scheduled. Marcus would have known about it. Would have prepared. But his father and stepmother had called it anyway. Emergency session to discuss leadership.
The company needed direction, they’d said. The position at the top was still empty. Someone needed to fill it.
What the board didn’t know was the clause in the will. The one that said Marcus had to be married before his thirtieth
birthday to claim his sixty–five percent controlling interest. His inheritance. His legacy.
They just saw a company without clear leadership and two vultures circling.
Penelope was talking now. Suggesting candidates. Names Marcus didn’t recognize. People she’d probably handpicked. Puppets who’d do whatever she wanted.
“We need someone with experience,” she said smoothly. “Someone who understands the vision.”
Translation: someone she could control.
Marcus was ten minutes away. Stuck in traffic. His phone kept buzzing.
**Dante:** Where the hell are you?
**Dante:** Your father and stepmother are spinning the board members. They’re talking about interim leadership.
**Dante:** Get here NOW. This is not looking good.
Marcus typed back with one hand while navigating through cars.
Marcus: Two minutes out.
He tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.
This week had been hell. Pure chaos from start to finish. The new tech project was bleeding money. His office staff couldn’t get anything right. He’d fired two assistants in five days because apparently finding someone competent was
impossible.
The current one? Absolutely useless, Fifth time she’d messed up his schedule in two days. Fifth time.
And through all of it, he’d been avoiding Elara. Couldn’t be around her. Not when he was this angry. This close to snapping. He didn’t want to take it out on her. Didn’t want her to see him like that.
So he left sarly. Came home late. Made sure they were never in the same room.
1/3
