She Strikes Back
1642 Words
CHAPTER 5
Author's POV
As the sharp morning sun tore through the window of the hotel, Darya adjusted the diamond stud jewelry sitting prettily on her neck, her gaze fixated on her reflection in the mirror.
The tailored beige sheath dress she wore hung her body, accentuating her curves in all perfect places. The dress had a balance of power, elegance and authority and Darya looked just great in it.
Her hair was tied up in a neat bun and there's a hermès handbag she's holding.
As Darya stared at herself in the mirror, she smiled, a wave of nostalgia hitting her. This was her, exactly who she was supposed to be, not the very one who almost lost everything to a certain man.
She stared at an email from her secretary, lips curving. She had actually asked him to dig about everything that Andrei did while he was the CEO and it turned out he wasn't so clean after all.
There was dirt and that dirt? It'll be the ladder to his stepdown.
The pale, broken face which glared back at her a few days ago was gone and staring back at her right now was someone different —one who was going to unleash hell and anger on everyone who wronged her.
She turned around on her heels and like that, she began walking out of the room, her shoes clicking on the tile floor steadily, calculating.
At each step Darya took, the tension hung in the air, waiting for whatever shît that was going to unfold.
Getting outside, Darya met a car waiting already for her and without being told, she knew it was Mr Hudson who sent the car.
Her secretary, Hakka bowed, then mouthed a 'Good morning, boss' to her before opening the car door for her and she slipped into the backseat effortlessly, then the door closed shut.
Hakka got in too and within seconds, the car was gliding softly on the road.
“Boss, I got a call from the company that your husband is already waiting and it seems he's really pissed. You also asked me to dig about him and I did that all night. What's really going on? Hakka suddenly asked and Darya turned to him with a smile.
Apart from the fact that Hakka is her secretary, he was also one of her trusted staff and his loyalty needs to be studied.
“You'll find out soon.” Darya replied to him, an eerie smile dancing rigidly on her lips.
Hakka gave a gentle nod, then pulled out a document before turning to Darya once more, “Mr Hudson....”
“The divorce papers, isn't it?” Darya cut him off, taking the document from him and his eyes widened, so hard that Darya couldn't stop herself from smiling.
Shocked? She was more than excited to see that look on Andrei's face and not Hakka's.
“But you just got married a few days ago.” Hakka's voice was simply inaudible, but something akin to shock and maybe disbelief coated his words.
This time, Darya didn't reply. She only leaned back against the headrest, shutting her eyes before inhaling a deep breath.
The rest of the drive was silent and not long enough, the car pulled to a halt in front of the skyscraper company. True to Hakka's words, Andrei was standing outside, a group of board members and some members of his team standing beside him.
His shoulder was stiffened against the fabric of his shirt as he patiently waited for her to come down from the car and as soon as she did, he rushed to her at once, face scrunched up in pure disdain and rage.
Darya scoffed. How was he able to mask this facade of his for four years?
“Have you lost your mind? What do you think of yourself? The once almighty CEO of this place? Quit the drama, Darya. You and I know exactly where you belong, at the dumb.” he snapped, his eyes burning with embers of fire.
Darya tilted her head, a smirk on her lips. “You're surprised, aren't you?” She asked calmly and her calmness seemed to strike Andrei's nerves.
“You.....” he cussed, teeth clenched. “You think you have any right to call for any meeting?” he sneered.
“Why don't you try and stop me?” Darya narrowed her gaze at him, her voice dripping with challenge and Andrei's eyes popped out in shock.
He didn't expect this. He never expected this. He thought Darya would be on her knees, pleading for a cent at the roadside but here she was, acting like a heiress who came back with obvious power?
Well, that was true. She was back.
“We have ten more minutes before the meeting officially starts. All the directors and stakeholders should be seated before the boss.” Hakka announced after he glanced at his time.
“Including you, Andrei.” he added and before they could say another word, Darya brushed her shoulder against Andrei's then walked in, her presence still hanging in the air like a deadly aura.
One after the other, all of them began going in and unable to control his rage, Andrei stormed in too.
*****
The meeting room is currently as silent as a graveyard, even the fall of a pin on the floor would be heard and as the silence stretched, the tension grew higher, the heart of everyone racing wildly in their chest.
Darya never held urgent meetings like this even when she was on seat as the CEO and anytime she did, they always knew that something was off and judging by the energy from the two earlier —Darya and Andrei, they couldn't help but expect something worse.
Slowly, Darya brought the voice aid closer to her lips, her eyes hooking insanely with Andrei's as she pronounced the words.
“On this day, Andrei Oleg has officially been removed as the CEO.”
“What??” Gasps and murmurs broke in the air, the directors and stakeholders all leaning close to whisper incoherently.
However, the murmur was cut short when Andrei broke into a hysterical laughter, shocking everyone.
“Stepped down? What right do you have to do that?” he slammed, hitting his palms on the desk.
Ignoring him, she turned to others. “You all know that I made him the CEO of this company and I have every right to step him down also.” she muttered, staring at them.
“At least, there should be a reason why he's being stepped down. Don't you think so?” One of the directors asked and the rest nodded and hummed in agreement.
“Do you not really know? Or you want to cover him up?” Darya questioned with a slight high pitch, then waved at Hakka who nodded before distributing some documents to them. Within a second, everyone present in the room was holding a copy, their eyes widening as they read everything, well except one person. He sat in the dark like a shadow, a smirk on his face as he enjoyed the show playing out like a high end movie.
This was it, the woman he fell in love sitting unshaken as she displayed her vengeful side.
Andrei has a copy too and he looked extremely shocked and dumbstruck as he stared at everything too.
“You embezzled the company's funds. You lost a contract worth millions of dollars and you slashed the pay of the junior staff. Tell me, who wants this kind of tramp as a CEO? You turned my company into a wreck within a few months as a CEO, what more would happen, huh?”
'He really should be stepped down.'
'This is unbelievable.'
'And we've been following him blindly for a while.'
Murmurs broke out once and Andrei stood, flinging his own copy away.
“Nonsense! So what if I did all that you said? Have you forgotten? The company is now mine, mine, Darya. Did you forget how you signed every damn thing to me? I do as I please, wench.” he spat and the murmurs in the room increased, voices flowing in the air unrelentlessly.
“So far you signed everything to me, this company, every company of yours, your hotel, your house, your car, everything is mine, Darya.” he continued, his chest heaving.
Darya huffed, “Fake documents you mean?” She raised her brows slowly and everything paused, Andrei's throat caught in his stomach and he staggered back, but he quickly got a hold of himself.
“s**t! You told me yourself they were real.” he retorted back, eyes so bloodshot.
“And what made you think I'll sign my real documents over to you? You're not worth it.” She snapped her fingers and within seconds, everyone in the room was staring at the fake documents, some pointing fingers at Andrei.
'You're so despicable, Andrei.'
"We're totally in support, remove him as the CEO.’
Hakka actually shared the documents once more with them.
Andrei couldn't move on his spot and as he stared at Darya, he couldn't believe she used him and this only fueled his hatred for her, the disdain burning the deepest core of his soul.
If only he could murder her right now.
“Andrei Oleg, you're not only stepped down as the CEO of this company, but also every position you're holding in all my companies... You're stepped down too.” She declared, her voice sharp and detached.
Before Andrei could say another word, Hakka rushed to his side then placed a document before him.
“And one more important thing.” Darya paused, then cast him a long, disgusted glance.
“Sign the divorce papers.”
- Writer
