Chapter 7
662words
I changed into a razor-sharp business suit, applied power makeup, and stared at my reflection with steely determination.
Game on, Eve Sullivan.
At the door, I glanced back instinctively.
Luke stood by the window, morning light haloing his silhouette. He was absorbed in a financial magazine I'd left on the coffee table.
The scene gave me a strange pang of domestic normalcy.
I shook off the feeling and left.
Sullivan Group headquarters.
When I clicked across the lobby in my heels, every head turned.
News of last night's engagement party drama had clearly spread like wildfire.
I ignored the stares and headed straight for the elevator.
“Miss Sullivan.” My father's secretary intercepted me with a plastic smile. “The Chairman is in a meeting. He's asked that you wait in the reception room.”
“That won't be necessary,” I replied coolly. “I'm not here to see him. I'm here to call a board meeting.”
The secretary's smile faltered. “Miss Sullivan, surely you're joking. You don't have the authority to—”
“As of today, I do.” I slapped a document against his chest. “Here's my marriage certificate and my mother's notarized will. Notify all directors—board meeting in thirty minutes. Conference room A. Don't test me on this.”
Without waiting for his response, I strode past him into my father's private elevator.
Thirty minutes later, the boardroom was packed with directors, all whispering among themselves, eyeing me with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism.
My father and Melissa sat at the head of the table, faces like thunder. Sophie sat beside her mother, wearing a smug expression as if waiting for entertainment to begin.
“Eve, what the hell do you think you're doing?” My father slammed his fist on the table. “Do you realize forging a marriage certificate is a criminal offense? Have you no shame left?”
I laughed coldly and tossed my documents onto the table one by one.
“Feel free to verify my marriage with the county clerk, Dad. Or are you afraid of what you'll find?”
I let my gaze sweep across the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the board, I've called this emergency meeting to announce three things.”
“First, I am now legally married. According to my mother's will, I am taking immediate control of her 10% stake in Sullivan Group and joining this board as a full voting member.”
“Second, I have reason to believe our financial statements for the past three years contain serious irregularities, including fraud and embezzlement. I demand an immediate independent audit.”
“Third…” I paused, fixing my gaze on Melissa's rapidly paling face, “I move to suspend CFO Melissa Lewis from all duties pending the audit results.”
The room exploded into chaos.
“This is outrageous!”
“What does this girl know about running a company?”
My father trembled with rage, jabbing his finger at me. “You ungrateful child! You'll destroy this company and this family!”
“I'm not the one destroying anything,” I shot back, standing my ground. “It's the parasites treating this company like their personal piggy bank! Dad, if you have any respect left for Mom's legacy, you should be standing with me!”
As our confrontation reached its peak and the room descended into pandemonium—
“Ahem.”
An elderly man who had been sitting quietly in the corner cleared his throat.
It was Director Zhang—a company veteran and my mother's former right-hand man. He'd been sidelined by my father years ago.
“I believe Eve has a point,” he said quietly, his voice somehow cutting through the noise. “We've all seen the company's decline these past years. It's time for a proper accounting. I support the audit.”
With Director Zhang's support, several other board members—those still loyal to my mother's memory—began to voice their agreement.
My father and Melissa exchanged panicked glances. They hadn't anticipated I could rally this much support.
When the votes were tallied, my motion passed by a razor-thin margin.
I'd won.
First blood was mine.
