She thought she was about to win.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” I said, taking my seat at the head of the table. “I know this is irregular, but the matter we need to discuss couldn’t wait.”
“Indeed, it couldn’t.” Ethan’s voice came from the big screen in the room. He had a smug expression on his face. “I’m glad you called this meeting, Dimitri. Saves me the trouble.”
“Does it?”
“It does.” He leaned back in his chair, the picture of confidence. “Because I think we both know how this is going to end. The question is whether you’re going to resign peacefully or force us to humiliate you.”
Several board members shifted uncomfortably. A few looked at me expectantly, probably wondering if I was actually going to step down.
“If you resign now,” Ethan continued, “we’ll make it worth your while. Lifetime salary. Generous severance package. You can walk away with your dignity intact.”
“How generous,” I said dryly.
Selene stood, drawing all eyes to her. “However, if you insist on making this difficult, we’re prepared to proceedwith a vote.” She looked around the table, making eye contact with each board member. “I move that Dimitri Ravencrest be removed as CEO of Ravencrest Global, effective immediately. And I further move that I be appointed as interim CEO until a permanent replacement can be found.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
She actually thought she could do this. Thought she could take my position, my company, everything my family had built.
I almost admired her audacity. I let the silence simmer, let the tension stretch on before I spoke, before I put the final nail in the coffin.
“Before we vote,” I said calmly, “there’s something everyone should hear.”
I nodded at Edmund, who was standing by the door.
He pressed a button on the remote in his hand.
The screen that had been showing Ethan’s face switched to audio playback, and the conference room’s speakers crackled to life.
“I can’t keep pretending much longer.” Selene’s voice, crystal clear. “Playing the devoted wife makes me sick.”
Selene’s face went white.
“You’ve been patient for five years, love. You can be patient a little longer.” Ethan’s voice, warm with affection I’d never heard directed at anyone else. “Once we have control of Ravencrest Global, once the pack accepts the transition, we can finally be together openly.”
“Five years, Ethan. Five years of pretending our bond doesn’t exist.”
“I know. But it’ll be worth it. Ravencrest Global, combined with Thorpe Industries and your father’s resources—we’ll be unstoppable. I’m more worried about Dimitri. He won’t just stand by and let us take his company. What are we going to do about him?”
There was a long silence before Selene spoke.
“That’s why we need to not just go for his company but his Mate, too. He’ll be too broken to fight back. Losing his company, his position, his Mate—it’ll destroy him. It might even kill him.”
The recording continued, laying out their entire conspiracy indamning detail. How Selene had been Ethan’s Fated Mate all along. How they’d hidden their bond for years, waiting for the right moment to strike. How her marriage to me had been a strategic move, orchestrated with her father’s help to position her inside the Ravencrest family.
How they’d been planning this takeover for five years.
The room had gone deadly silent. Every board member sat frozen, staring at the speakers like they couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing
“That’s—that’s not—” Selene stammered, but her face had gone from white to red. Guilt and fury warring in her expression
The recording played on.
“What about the child?” Ethan’s voice asked.
“What about her? She’s a complication we’ll have to eliminate. I don’t care if she’s a child. We’ll kill her if we have to.”