Chapter 150
Marcus’s POV
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The boardroom felt smaller than usual, the walls pressing in as Marcus took his seat at the head of the table Every chair was occupied. All fifteen board members had shown up for this emergency meeting, their faces ranging from sympathetic to openly hostile.
Penelope sat in the back corner wearing navy blue, her expression serene. She’d already won and they both knew it. This meeting was just theater, a formality before the execution.
Robert Morrison cleared his throat and stood. As the longest-serving board member, he’d taken it upon himself to chair the proceedings.
“Marcus, thank you for coming. I know the last twenty-four hours have been difficult for you and your family.”
“Let’s skip the pleasantries, Robert. We all know why we’re here.”
Morrison’s jaw tightened but he nodded. “Very well. The board has called this emergency session to address the video that was leaked yesterday morning. The video that shows you and your wife, then your employee, engaged in sexual activity in a company fire exit.”
“I’m aware of what the video shows.”
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“Then you understand our concern. The optics alone are damaging to the company’s reputation. Add in the power dynamic between a CEO and his assistant, the timeline of your marriage, the questions about whether you satisfied the requirements of your grandfather’s will…”
“I understand all of it.” Marcus leaned forward, hands clasped on the table. “So let me address it directly. Yes, the video is real. Yes, Elara and I had sex in that fire exit. We were both single adults who’d been drinking at a company party. It was impulsive and probably stupid given our professional relationship, but it was consensual.”
Lisa Chen spoke up from across the table. “Consensual is a complicated word when there’s a power imbalance. You were her boss, Marcus. She worked for you.”
Marcus felt his temper rising but kept his voice level. “Elara wasn’t coerced. She wasn’t pressured. If you don’t believe me, ask her yourself. She’ll tell you the same thing.”
“We’re not questioning Mrs. Thorne’s version of events,” Morrison said. “We’re questioning your judgment A CEO should know better than to engage in that kind of behavior with an employee, regardless of consent.”
“Then question my judgment. Vote me out if you think I’m unfit to lead. But don’t pretend this is about protecting Elara or corporate ethics. This is about Penelope manipulating you into removing me so she can seize control.”
Several board members shifted uncomfortably. Eduardo Rodriguez, who’d been silent until now, leaned forward.
“Whether or not Penelope’s motives are pure doesn’t change the facts, Marcus. You married your assistant
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three weeks after having sex with her in a fire exit. She was pregnant at your wedding. The timeline raises legitimate questions about whether your marriage satisfies the terms of the will.”
“My grandfather’s will required me to be married with genuine intent to build a life partnership. Not to have a perfect courtship or meet some arbitrary standard of propriety.”
“But was your intent genuine?” Rodriguez pressed. “Or did you marry Elara because she got pregnant and you needed a wife before your thirtieth birthday?”
“Both can be true. I married her because of the pregnancy and because I cared about her. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
“But they do suggest the marriage was entered into as a matter of convenience rather than genuine partnership.”
Marcus stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. “You want to know the truth? Fine. Here’s the truth. I hired Elara as my assistant because I was attracted to her and wanted her close. I pursued her knowing it was probably inappropriate. I slept with her in that fire exit because I wanted her and she wanted me and we were too drunk to care about the consequences.”
He could see shock on several faces but he didn’t stop.
“When she got pregnant, yes, I saw an opportunity. A way to satisfy my grandfather’s will while taking responsibility for my child. So I offered her a contract. Two million dollars to marry me and play the role of devoted wife.”
Penelope was smiling now, leaning forward in her seat like she was watching her favorite movie.
“But here’s what you don’t know,” Marcus continued.
“That contract stopped mattering about two weeks after we signed it. Because somewhere between the marriage and now, I fell in love with my wife. Actually in love. Not contract love or convenient love or marriage-of-necessity love. Real love.”
“That’s very touching,” Lisa Chen said dryly. “But it doesn’t change the fact that the marriage was founded on a transaction.”
“So is every arranged marriage in history. So is every prenup, every joint business venture between families, every strategic alliance. Marriage has been transactional since the beginning of time. The only difference is I’m honest about it.”
“Your grandfather wanted you to have what he had with your grandmother,” Morrison said quietly. “A genuine partnership built on love and mutual respect.”
“And I do have that. Just because it started unconventionally doesn’t make it less real.”
Thomas Bradford, who’d been silent the entire meeting, spoke up. “What about the corporate sabotage? The altered financial reports from the investor meeting? Do you have proof Penelope was behind that?”
“Gerald has already testified that Penelope paid him to tamper with those files. We have bank records, offshore transactions, everything needed to prove she orchestrated the sabotage.”
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“Alleged orchestration,” Penelope called out from the back. “Gerald is a disgruntled employee who’s facing criminal charges. His testimony is worthless.”
“His testimony is sworn and documented,” Dante said from where he stood against the wall. “And we have additional evidence linking the payments directly to you.”
“Then present it to authorities and let them investigate. But that’s a separate matter from whether Marcus is fit to lead this company.”
Morrison held up both hands. “Let’s stay focused. We’re here to discuss the video and its implications for Marcus’s position. The sabotage investigation is ongoing but not the subject of today’s meeting.”
“Convenient,” Marcus said. “You’ll use Penelope’s leaked video against me but you won’t consider her corporate crimes in the same discussion?”
“The video is public knowledge. It’s already damaged the company’s reputation. We have to address it.”
“Then address it. Take your vote. Remove me if that’s what you want. But do it knowing that you’re handing control to a woman who’s been systematically destroying this company from the inside for years.”
Morrison looked around the table. “Does anyone else wish to speak before we vote?”
Several board members asked questions about the timeline, about when Marcus had started his relationship with Elara, about whether he’d disclosed the pregnancy to anyone before the wedding. Marcus answered everything honestly, watching their faces harden with each revelation.
Finally Morrison called for the vote.
“All those in favor of removing Marcus Thorne as CEO effective immediately, say aye.”
Seven voices rang out. Lisa Chen, Eduardo Rodriguez, Thomas Bradford, and four others.
“All those opposed?”
Seven more voices. Robert Morrison himself voted to keep Marcus, along with six board members who’d worked with him for years.
Morrison’s face was grim. “The vote is tied. Seven to seven.”
Marcus felt his heart pounding. A tie meant one person hadn’t voted yet. One abstention that could break either way.
He scanned the table and realized who was missing. Sarah Okonkwo, who’d joined the board two years ago. She sat at the far end looking conflicted, her hands clasped in front of her.
“Sarah,” Morrison said gently. “Your vote will decide this. Take your time.”
Sarah looked at Marcus, then at Penelope, then back at Marcus. “Can I ask a question first?”
“Of course.”
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“Marcus, if we vote to keep you as CEO, what happens to Penelope? To the evidence about the sabotage?”
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“We pursue criminal charges. We have her removed from the board and stripped of her shares. We make sure she never has the opportunity to damage this company again.”
Sarah nodded slowly. “And if we remove you?”
“Then Penelope gets exactly what she wants. Control of Thorne Dynamics and immunity from prosecution because she’ll be in a position of power.”
“That’s speculation,” Penelope said sharply.
“Is it? Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you’ve spent years positioning yourself for exactly this
moment.”
Sarah was quiet for a long time. The entire room held its breath.
“I need to abstain,” she said finally. “I can’t in good conscience vote either way. The situation is too complex, too many variables I don’t fully understand.”
Morrison’s face fell. “Sarah, an abstention means this vote fails. We can’t move forward with a tied vote.”
“Then schedule another meeting. Give me time to review all the evidence, both about the video and about the alleged sabotage. Let me make an informed decision instead of a rushed one.”
Several board members started talking at once. Penelope stood up, her face flushed with anger. Morrison banged his gavel, calling for order.
Marcus just sat there, staring at Sarah Okonkwo, the woman who held his entire future in her hands.
The vote was tied. One abstention could decide Marcus’s fate.
And Sarah wasn’t ready to choose.
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