Chapter 5 - THE SUNRISE SANCTIONS
The fallout was immediate and ruthless.
Julian’s cell phone began ringing frantically in his pocket. Then the phones of every Apex Group board member in the room began vibrating simultaneously.
Marcus Vance-Reid pulled out his phone, looked at the screen, and turned deathly pale. "Julian... the stock! Our shares just lost 70% of their value in after-hours trading! The board of directors is calling an emergency meeting! They're voting to remove you as CEO right now!"
"No! No! Stop them!" Julian pleaded, grabbing Marcus’s jacket. "Tell them it's a mistake!"
"Get your hands off me, you idiot!" Marcus shoved Julian back hard, sending him sprawling onto the marble floor. "You brought down the whole company because you wanted to play around with a bimbo! You lied to us about your wife!"
Chloe was pale, backing away from Julian as he lay on the floor. "Julian... what is happening?! What about my father’s company? My father’s firm relies on Apex for supply chain distribution!"
Richard Sterling turned his sharp gaze toward Chloe. "Ah, Miss Chloe Miller. Daughter of Robert Miller, owner of Miller Logistics?"
Chloe gulped, her hands shaking. "Y-yes! My father is a powerful man!"
"Your father was a vendor for Vance Shipping," Richard corrected mercilessly. "Ten minutes ago, his operating licenses were suspended pending an audit into fraudulent invoices he submitted to our port authorities. Federal agents are currently at his residence."
Chloe gasped, clutching her throat, her champagne glass slipping from her fingers and shattering on the floor, splashing bubbly liquid across her expensive champagne-colored gown.
Julian scrambled back up to his knees, crawling toward me across the glass-strewn floor. The man who had looked down at me from the second floor of our mansion, the man who had told me I would humiliate him, was now crying, tears and sweat ruining his expensive hair gel.
"Clarissa! Please!" Julian sobbed, reaching out toward the hem of my emerald dress. The bodyguards blocked him instantly, putting a heavy boot on his shoulder to keep him at a distance. "I was wrong! I was seduced by Chloe! She tricked me! I never loved her! I only love you! Remember our vows! For better or worse!"
"You didn't want me at my worse, Julian," I said, looking down at him with pure indifference. "So you don't get to survive my best."
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"Clarissa, please! I’ll fire Chloe! I’ll sell everything! Just give me a second chance! Don't ruin me!"
"I'm not ruining you, Julian," I replied softly, stepping back into the shadow of my father. "You ruined yourself the moment you believed that cruelty was a sign of strength."
