chapter 20
798 Words
Almost two hours later, Damon sat at the head of the executive boardroom table, his expression as cold as granite.
The spacious room, usually filled with confident voices and ambitious ideas, had fallen into complete silence.
Around the polished mahogany table sat the company's vice presidents and department heads.
Not a single person dared speak unless spoken to.
The atmosphere felt less like a business meeting and more like an interrogation.
Damon flipped through another report, his ocean-blue eyes scanning every page with ruthless precision.
The silence stretched and one executive shifted nervously in his seat, while another loosened his tie.
Someone else discreetly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
No one could predict where Damon Carson's attention would land next.
He slowly closed the file, the sound echoing through the room before his gaze settled on one man seated near the far end of the table.
The Vice President of Operations.
For the past forty-five minutes, the man had avoided making eye contact with Damon just like everyone else. No one wanted to put under interrogation from Damon.
"Mr. Harrison."
The executive jerked upright.
"Y-Yes, sir?"
Damon folded his hands on the table.
"Explain page thirty-seven."
The man's face drained of color and he hurriedly flipped through his report until he found the page.
"I... uh..."
Damon waited, his eyes boring into Mr Harrison's soul
"So?" he asked calmly.
The executive swallowed.
"There was a slight delay in the warehouse expansion project, but we're working..."
"A slight delay?"
Damon's voice sliced through the room and the executive immediately fell silent.
Damon leaned back in his chair.
"Three months behind schedule."
He tapped the report once.
"Seven percent over budget."
Another tap.
"And you've somehow managed to reduce productivity while increasing expenses."
The executive opened his mouth.
"Sir, if you'll allow me to explain..."
"I just did."
The words landed like a hammer.
"You had your chance."
The executive lowered his head but Damon's eyes remained fixed on him.
"You have two weeks."
The man blinked.
"Sir?"
"Two weeks to fix your department."
Damon's voice was icy.
"If I don't see measurable improvement..."
He didn't bother finishing the sentence, he didn't have to because everyone in the room knew exactly what he meant.
The executive nodded rapidly.
"Yes, Mr. Carson."
Damon had already moved on, his attention shifting to the Vice President of Finance.
"Your quarterly projections."
The woman stiffened.
"They're overly optimistic."
She hurriedly adjusted her glasses.
"We based those figures on..."
"Hope?"
She stopped speaking.
"They're unrealistic."
He slid the report across the table.
"Revise them."
"Yes, sir."
One after another, every executive found themselves under his relentless scrutiny.
Marketing, legal, finance, operations and human Resources, no department escaped untouched.
Every overlooked detai, every delayed project, unnecessary expense...Nothing escaped Damon's attention.
By the end of the meeting, the room looked as though a storm had swept through it.
Several executives looked ready to collapse, while others stared blankly at their notes, wondering where everything had gone wrong.
Finally, Damon closed the last file.
"The meeting is over."
Relief swept through the room.
Chairs scraped against the floor as everyone hurried to gather their documents.
No one lingered and Within moments, the boardroom began to empty.
Outside the room the executives finally allowed themselves to breathe.
"What happened to him today?" one whispered.
"I've never seen him this bad."
"I thought he was going to fire Harrison."
"So did I."
Another executive shook his head.
"I've worked here for eight years."
He lowered his voice.
"And today was the worst board meeting I've ever attended."
Nearby, Damon's secretary stood quietly with her tablet pressed against her chest.
Even she had spent the entire morning walking on eggshells.
She had seen Damon angry before, but today... his temper wasn't just sharp, it was personal.Whatever was bothering him had followed him from home.
Back inside the now-empty boardroom, Damon remained seated staring blankly at the reports scattered across the table.
Normally, a meeting like this would have satisfied him.
Efficiency was restore, problems were identified and solutions demanded, instead he felt even more irritated.
His fingers tapped slowly against the tabletop then, without warning, the memory resurfaced.
Lana's furious eyes and her trembling voice.
"You're a monster."
His jaw tightened. How dare she?
How dare a woman who knew nothing about him judge him so easily?
She had no idea what he had lost.
No idea what her father had taken from him, why he had become the man he was toda and yet despite everything the word lingered in his mind.
Monster.
He scoffed bitterly and rose from his chair.
"Ridiculous," he muttered under his breath.
But no matter how much he tried to dismiss it...for the rest of the day, those two words refused to leave him.
- Writer
