Chapter 4 - The Corporate Threat
By 8:00 AM the next morning, Jonathan’s life had descended into chaos.
His CFO, Michael Reynolds—a slick, ambitious man who had been gunning for Jonathan’s CEO title for two years—was standing in the center of the penthouse living room, his face purple with rage.
"Have you lost your mind, Jon?!" Michael shouted, pacing across the rug. "The Singapore merger is in 48 hours! The board is already jittery because of the tech sector slump. And now I'm hearing rumors from a restaurant manager at Lielle that TechVision's CEO is claiming a homeless street beggar as his secret daughter?!"
"Keep your voice down," Jonathan warned, his eyes flashing dangerously. "She is sleeping."
"She is a liability!" Michael hissed. "If the press gets ahold of this, they’ll spin it. They’ll say you have a secret love child. They’ll say you're mentally unstable. The stock will plummet. You need to call Child Protective Services right now and have her removed. Send a check to an orphanage if you want to feel good about yourself, but get her out of this penthouse!"
Jonathan stood up. He was six-foot-two and possessed a quiet, terrifying presence that had crushed billionaire rivals. He walked slowly toward Michael until he was inches from the CFO’s face.
"TechVision is my company. I built it. If the board has a problem with what I do in my private residence, they can try to fire me. But if you ever raise your voice in my home again, Michael, I will ruin you. Do you understand?"
Michael swallowed hard, backing away. "You're making a mistake, Jonathan. A massive, fatal mistake." He turned and stormed toward the private elevator.
As the elevator doors closed, Jonathan heard a small gasp.
He turned. Emma was standing in the hallway, clutching the oversized t-shirt. Her eyes were filled with tears. She had heard everything.
"I make your money go down?" she asked, her voice trembling. "I'm a... liability?"
"Emma, no—" Jonathan started toward her.
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"My real dad said I was a problem too," she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I won't ruin your company. I'll go."
Before Jonathan could stop her, she turned and ran back into the guest bedroom, slamming the door. Jonathan stood frozen. He had spent his whole life fixing complex software bugs and market crashes. But as he stared at the closed wooden door, he realized he had absolutely no idea how to fix a broken heart.
