Chapter 7 - THE FALLOUT AND THE FURY
We returned to New York a week later, no longer a fake couple, no longer a revenge plot, but a united front. The final showdown happened sooner than expected. Valentina had called an emergency board meeting at Rossi Enterprises, demanding Liam be reinstated and attempting to question Nico's fitness to lead due to his "scandalous" relationship with me.
Nico asked me to be there. "I want you in the room," he told me that morning, adjusting his tie in the mirror. "I want them to see exactly who stands beside me."
When we walked into the glass-walled boardroom on the fiftieth floor, the tension was thick enough to slice with a knife. Liam sat beside his mother, looking pale and exhausted. He had lost weight, and the arrogant swagger he used to carry was entirely gone. Amber was nowhere to be seen—she had abandoned him the moment the credit cards started declining.
Nico walked to the head of the table, pulling out the chair directly to his right for me to sit. Valentina glared daggers at me.
"This is a closed board meeting, Nico," Valentina hissed. "She does not belong here."
"Luna is my partner," Nico stated firmly, his voice echoing off the glass walls. "And she stays. Now, Valentina, you called this meeting to challenge my leadership. Make your case."
Valentina stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "You have lost your mind! You are freezing out your own heir for a—a petty grievance. Liam made a mistake, yes, but you are destroying his future over a girl!"
"I am destroying his future because he is incompetent, lazy, and lacks basic moral integrity," Nico fired back, his voice rising in volume until it commanded the entire room. He threw a thick file onto the center of the table. "While Liam was busy playing house with his ex-girlfriend's sister on the company dime, my auditors found three instances of gross negligence in his department that cost this company fifteen million dollars. He is not fit to be the heir. He is a liability."
Liam buried his face in his hands. He didn't even try to defend himself.
"As for my relationship," Nico continued, turning to look directly at me, his eyes softening instantly. "It is the most sound, rational, and joyous decision I have made in my adult life. Luna Vance is brilliant, resilient, and possesses more character in her little finger than the two of you combined. The board will vote. But know this: if I step down, I take my sixty percent equity with me, and this company crumbles by Friday."
The vote was unanimous. Valentina's coup was crushed in less than ten minutes.
As the board members filed out of the room, Liam slowly stood up. He looked at me, his eyes filled with a pathetic, hollow regret. "Luna... I'm sorry. I lost everything."
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I looked at the man I had once thought I would marry, and felt absolutely nothing. No anger, no sadness, no lingering revenge. "You didn't lose everything, Liam," I said quietly. "You threw it away. Have a good life."
Nico took my hand, and together, we walked out of the boardroom, leaving the ruins of Liam's life behind us.
