The Humiliation
Victoria stood backstage at the Grand Meridian Hotel, checking her reflection one final time.She looked perfect.
The navy Armani suit hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hair was styled in an elegant updo, diamond studs glinting at her ears. Her makeup was flawless but still looked effortlessly natural.
She needed to look perfect. After the IPO suspension, this press conference was her chance to take back control of this whole mess.
“Ms. Cole?” Her assistant Jenny appeared nervously. “They re ready for you.”
Victoria nodded, smoothing down her jacket. “How many showed up?”
“Um… seventeen outlets were confirmed.”
Victoria’s smile tightened. She’d sent invitations to over sixty media organizations. Seventeen was insulting.
But she kept her voice calm. “That’s fine. Let’s begin.”
She walked onto the stage, her heels clicking confidently against the floor. Camera flashes exploded in her face. The small crowd of reporters looked… bored. Several were on their phones.
This was already going wrong.
“Good afternoon,” Victoria began, forcing brightness into her voice. “Thank you all for coming today. I know there have been questions about Cole Enterprises, and I’m here to set the record straight.”
A few reporters glanced up.
“The suspension of our IPO was just a minor procedural issue that will be resolved shortly. Cole Enterprises remains strong, innovative, and positioned for tremendous growth in…”
“Ms. Cole?” A voice interrupted from the third row.
Victoria paused, irritation flashing across her face. “I’ll take questions after my statement…”
“This will just take a second.” The reporter…a young woman with sharp eyes…didn’t wait for permission. “Can you comment on the Henderson Group pulling their investment? That’s not exactly a ‘minor‘ issue, is it?”
Victoria’s jaw clenched. “Individual investment decisions are confidential…”
“What about the Chen family’s venture capital firm?” Another reporter jumped in, suddenly interested. “They’ve completely severed ties with Cole Enterprises. And the Liu Corporation cancelled their contract last week. Three major partners gone in two weeks doesn’t sound ‘minor.“”
The other reporters perked up, sensing blood in the water.
“Those are business decisions that don’t reflect Cole Enterprises‘ fundamental strength…” Victoria started.
“Doesn’t it though?” A man in the back stood up. “You’ve lost half your investors, your stock value has crashed, and fifteen percent of your engineering team quit in the last month. That sounds like a company in free fall.”
Victoria’s hands gripped the podium. “That’s a gross exaggeration…”
“Is it?” The sharp–eyed woman again. “Because the numbers don’t lie. Your company valuation has dropped by sixty percent since the IPO suspension. Sixty percent, Ms. Cole. How is that ‘minor‘?”
Camera flashes intensified, capturing Victoria’s face as it flashed with anger and humiliation.
“The market fluctuates…”
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“Not by sixty percent in three weeks!” The man laughed. “Unless the company is imploding.”
Other reporters joined in.
“Is it true your board is discussing your removal as CEO?”
“What about the rumors of financial mismanagement?”
“How many more investors are planning to pull out?”
Victoria tried to answer, but her voice kept getting drowned out. The moderator she’d paid to keep things organized had disappeared. Jenny stood helplessly in the wings, her face pale.
This wasn’t a press conference. It was an execution.
Then an older reporter stood up…he was obviously more distinguished than the rest.
“Ms. Cole,” he said, his voice cutting through the chaos like a knife. “Let me ask you a something simple.”
The room went quiet, everyone sensing something big was coming.
Victoria forced herself to meet his eyes. “Yes?”
“Do you honestly believe that any respectable company would want to associate with you right now?” He paused, letting the question sink in. “Take SunCore Publishing, for example. They just announced a major partnership opportunity. Do you really think a prestigious brand like that wants to be anywhere near the disaster you’ve created?”
The room went completely silent.
Victoria’s mouth opened. Nothing came out. Her brain screamed at her to say something, anything, but she just stood there, frozen, her carefully composed mask cracking right in front of thirty camera lenses.
“I… that’s not…” Her voice sounded weak, pathetic even to her own ears.
“Because from where I’m sitting,” the reporter continued, mercilessly, “you look like exactly the kind of liability serious companies avoid. Failed IPO. Fleeing investors. Collapsing employee morale. Why would anyone want their brand associated with that kind of failure?”
Failure. The word echoed through the conference hall like a death sentence.
“Cole Enterprises has a proven track record…” Victoria tried desperately.
“Had,” the reporter interrupted. “Past tense. What you have now is a sinking ship, and everyone with sense is jumping overboard before you drag them down with you.‘
Someone in the audience snickered.
Victoria felt her face burn. She could see some reporters exchanging amused glances, others typing rapidly on their phones…probably already posting about this disaster on social media.
“Ms. Cole, will you be stepping down as CEO?”
“Is bankruptcy imminent?”
“What’s your response to former employees calling you incompetent?”
“Did your ex–husband leave because he saw this coming?”
That last question hit like a slap. Victoria flinched, and the cameras caught every second of it.
“That’s…that has nothing to do with…” Victoria’s voice cracked.
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“Doesn’t it?” Another reporter, smelling weakness. “Words your ex–husband wanted nothing to do with you after seeing how you run a business. He is a smart man, apparently.”
Laughter rippled through the room.
Victoria’s vision blurred. She gripped the podium so hard her knuckles went white, her whole body trembling with humiliation and rage.
“This press conference is over,” Jenny announced desperat ly, rushing onto the stage.
“Ms. Cole, one more question…”
“Are you crying?”
“Can we get a close–up of that?”
Victoria turned and fled. There was no other word for it. She practically ran off the stage, her heels catching on the steps, her carefully styled hair coming loose.
Behind her, the reporters‘ voices followed like a pack of hynas.
“There she goes!”
“Did anyone get that shot?”
“This is going to be viral by tonight!”
Victoria burst through the backstage door, down the hallway, past shocked hotel staff who quickly looked away. She could hear Jenny calling after her but she didn’t stop until she reached the parking garage and threw herself into the back of her car.
“Drive,” she choked out to her startled driver. “Just drive.”
The car pulled away. Victoria stared out the window, her hands shaking, her breath coming in short gasps.
Do you really think prestigious brands like SunCore Publishing want to be associated with you right now?
The question replayed in her mind like torture.
This was supposed to be her comeback. Her chance to prove she was still powerful, still relevant, still worth respecting.
Instead, she’d been destroyed. Publicly. This disaster would spread across every business publication and social media platform.
By tomorrow, she’d be a laughingstock.
Victoria pulled out her phone with trembling hands and searched: SunCore Publishing.
The results loaded. News articles about SunCore’s expansion, their innovations, their prestige as one of Meridian Industries‘ crown jewels.
Then she saw the Announcement: **SunCore Publishing Announces Major Partnership Opportunity,**
Victoria’s eyes scanned the article, partnership. Digital infrastructure. Two–hundred–million–yuan contract, with backing from Meridian Industries.
This was everything she needed. Everything that would era today’s humiliation and prove to everyone that Cole Enterprises…that she…was still worth something.
Do you really think prestigious brands like SunCore Publishing want to be associated with you right now?
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Victoria’s hands clenched around her phone.
They would be associated with her. She would win this partnership. She would show every single one of those smug reporters that they’d underestimated her.
She dialed Vincent’s number, her jaw set with determination.
He answered on the third ring. “Victoria? I just saw…the press conference is already trending. Are you okay?”
“I need SunCore,” Victoria said, her voice hard and cold.
“What?”
“SunCore Publishing. They’re accepting partnership proposals. I need to win it.”
Silence.
“Vincent, are you listening? I need this. I need your connections, your contacts in Meridian Industries. This partnership would change everything.”
“Victoria…” Vincent’s voice was careful, cautious. “Every major company in the city is going to be competing for that. Companies without… without your current situation.”
“Are you saying I can’t win?” Victoria’s voice turned dangerous.
“No of course not, come home then we will talk about it,” Vincent said finally, ending the conversation.
Victoria hung up on him.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
