The boardroom smelled of betrayal.
Elina Hart sat at the long mahogany table, her back straight, her heels crossed neatly beneath her. Her sleek navy blazer hugged her frame perfectly, tailored for someone born into corporate legacy. The sunlight filtering in through the glass walls caught the glint of the Hart family crest on her necklace.
It was a Monday. Mondays weren't supposed to feel like funerals.
Her father's portrait hung on the far wall—stern, dignified, proud. The man who built Hart Group from the ground up. The man who once told her, "One day, this empire will be yours, Elina."
She clenched her jaw.
Across the table sat strangers—board members she once trusted. But none of them could meet her eyes. Their attention was fixed on the man standing at the head of the room. The man with the black suit, black heart, and colder eyes than a winter storm.
Aidan Blackstone.
Hart Group's new CEO.
Her father's final mistake.
He didn't look at her as he spoke. Just flipped a page in the file—her file—and said, in a voice smooth and cutting,
> "Effective immediately, Elina Hart is relieved of her duties as Deputy CEO of Hart Group."
A hush fell like a dropped glass.
Elina blinked once, her stomach tightening. Her gaze flicked across the room. Mr. Chen adjusted his tie. Mrs. Devlin lowered her head. Not a soul looked surprised.
She rose slowly from her seat. Controlled. Composed.
> "Would you care to repeat that?" she said, her tone icy with disbelief.
Aidan finally lifted his eyes to her. Hazel. Flat. Void of any emotion.
> "You're being let go, Miss Hart."
He said it like it was nothing. Like she was just another name on a report. Not the daughter of the founder. Not the woman who'd devoted her life to this company.
Not the woman he'd once kissed.
A murmur ran through the room. Elina didn't move.
> "Let go," she repeated softly. "After ten years of service. After bringing in three of the company's largest mergers. After I helped stabilize the international division you nearly tanked last quarter?"
> "Your department has had significant losses since the takeover," he replied calmly. "And your performance reviews show a pattern of recklessness."
That word — recklessness — hit her like a slap.
She narrowed her eyes.
> "You're calling me reckless, when you're the one who manipulated your way into this company and bought out the board behind my back?"
Aidan didn't blink. Didn't react.
> "It's not personal, Miss Hart. It's business."
The line was so cliché she almost laughed.
> "Of course it's personal," she said, stepping around the table until she stood directly across from him. "You don't fire someone like me unless you have something to prove. Is that it, Aidan? Still bitter I rejected you all those years ago?"
Gasps erupted around the room like fireworks.
A muscle twitched in his jaw.
For the first time, his emotionless façade cracked—but only for a second.
> "This isn't about the past," he said coldly. "This is about the future. Hart Group needs a new direction. And frankly, your name has been holding us back."
That did it.
The last thread of restraint inside her snapped. Her voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper.
> "You think this company will survive without me? You think you can rip my legacy from my hands and bury it in a boardroom memo?"
> "It already has."
Silence.
Everyone watched them like it was a scene from a live drama. The tension in the room was electric, pulsing, unbearable.
Elina leaned in close, so only he could hear.
> "I'll build something better. Bigger. Stronger. And I'll make sure Hart Group becomes nothing more than a sad footnote in my story."
> "You're welcome to try."
He turned away.
Dismissed.
But she wasn't done. Not yet.
She took one last look around the room—the board members, the assistants, the people who had watched her rise and now watched her fall.
None of them would forget this.
She reached down, unclasped the Hart family crest from around her neck, and placed it carefully on the polished table.
> "Enjoy your throne, Blackstone. I hope it keeps you warm when the kingdom crumbles."
With that, she walked out. Head held high. Heels sharp against marble like a war drum echoing her fury.
---
DING.
The elevator doors closed behind her.
Only then did Elina allow herself to breathe. The tremble in her hands was real. Her heart pounded like a thousand horses. She swallowed the scream burning in her throat.
She didn't cry.
She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
Instead, she pulled out her phone, opened her notes app, and typed:
> Start company. Crush Aidan Blackstone. Rule the world.
She hit save.
And smiled.