Chapter 4 - The Pressure MountsThe glass-walled penthouse office of Vance Global Logistics was littered with crumpled paper, shattered porcelain, and the wreckage of Dominic’s composure. He stared at the wall-mounted television screen, watching a live news anchor tear apart his character while scrolling through social media feeds filled with thousands of comments calling him a monster.
The office door burst open without a knock.
It wasn't his trembling secretary or a worried board member. It was his mother, Eleanor Vance, her posture rigid, her eyes blazing with furious indignation.
"Have you completely lost your mind, Dominic?" Eleanor shrieked, slamming her designer handbag onto his desk. "How could you let that ungrateful little brat get the upper hand like this? Our family name is being dragged through the mud! The stock has dropped twenty-eight percent in a single trading session!"
"Mother, shut up!" Dominic roared, turning around with bloodshot eyes and a face twisted in rage. For the first time in his life, he didn't defer to her authority. "This is your fault! You told me to keep Natalie around! You told me Audrey would never have the courage to fight back!"
Eleanor recoiled as if she had been slapped, her face hardening into a mask of pure venom. "Do not dare raise your voice at me. You chose to prioritize that sickly leech over your own legal wife in a public hospital. What did you expect? Did you think the world would applaud your chivalry?"
Before Dominic could retort, the internal office phone rang shrilly. With a trembling hand, Dominic snatched the receiver.
"Mr. Vance," Arthur’s voice sounded like it was coming from underwater. "The Board... they’ve just called an emergency vote. They are stripping you of your CEO title effective immediately. They’ve appointed an interim chair to manage the crisis."
The phone slipped from Dominic’s fingers, clattering against the desk before hitting the floor. He sank slowly into his leather executive chair, the fight completely draining out of his posture.
"It's over," Dominic whispered, staring blankly at the wall. "She took everything."
"It is only over if you let it be," a soft, trembling voice echoed from the doorway.
Natalie stood there, her eyes filled with fabricated tears, holding a tissue delicately to her face. "Dominic, we still have each other. We can fight them. We can go away—"
Dominic slowly raised his head, looking at Natalie not with affection, but with a sudden, overwhelming wave of pure, unadulterated hatred. For three years, she had been his escape. Now, looking at her, he realized she was the anchor that had dragged him straight to the bottom of the ocean.
"Get out," Dominic said, his voice deadly quiet.
Natalie froze. "What?"
"I said, get out of my sight!" Dominic exploded, sweeping his arm across the desk and sending a heavy crystal paperweight crashing against the wall inches from her feet. "You drained my accounts, you ruined my marriage, and now you’re standing there crying crocodile tears! Get out of my office, out of my mansion, and out of my life!"
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Natalie screamed, turning on her heel and fleeing the room in blind panic. Eleanor glared at her son with absolute disgust, turned around, and walked out without saying another word.
Dominic was left entirely alone in the wreckage of his empire.
