Chapterten
1022 Words
Mila’s POV
I was not expected to be in the boardroom that morning, yet Ruben insisted that I be around. He spoke in that, but I felt tension in his jaw and his keenness in his eyes. He was preparing for a battle.
On the forty-seventh floor we were standing by the long glass doors. The strongest individuals of Titan Corp were already seated inside. Men and women in dark suits. Faces that I had just read in company reports and news articles. Individuals who could destroy lives with a single vote.
Ruben turned to me. "You stay here," he said gently. Whatever you hear, come not in without my bidding you.
I nodded, although my chest was tight. They are gossiping about me, aren't they?
It is about chaos, they were talking, he answered. And they are searching for someone soft to point the finger at.
I swallowed. "That's me."
Ruben's eyes hardened. "Not today."
He entered the room, and the doors were closed behind him. I defended my position by having my back to the wall, with my hands clasped to keep them from trembling.
The glass enabled me to see him standing at the table head. He did not sit. He never sat when he was angry.
I will be clear, Ruben said, and his voice carried across the room to where I stood. This company will not last long if we continue to mutilate our own people to save face.
One of the board members stooped forward. “As far as I am concerned, Ruben, your assistant, is involved in the scandal. The public believes"
People think what they are told, said Ruben. "And they are being lied to."
A sharp and cold voice came in. Your video was an interior shot of your penthouse. You cannot deny that."
The hands of Ruben are pressed against the table. "I can deny manipulation. I can deny blackmail. And I can not refute this conception that Mila Daan had no intention of any of this.”
The name of my name made my heart beat higher.
She was an assistant, somebody told me. "Now she is a headline."
Ruben replied: She is a human being. and nothing wrong she has done.
I observed some of the board members looking at each other. Doubt. Fear. Anger. None of them looked calm.
One of the men said, "This company lost seven per cent in the course of the night. Investors are demanding blood.
Ruben straightened. "Then give them the truth instead."
"And if the truth is not enough?" a woman asked.
The voice of Ruben sank down and was slow and menacing. Then I will torch all the lies before I let you ruin an innocent man.
The room went silent.
I clamped my lips, and my eyes were stinging with tears. I had never been addressed in that manner. Not in my whole life.
Now that the tension increased I saw Bram Vermeer, as I had never seen him before. He was seated at the opposite end of the table with his hands clasped, and his face serene. He did not argue. He did not interrupt. He simply watched.
I was frightened more than screaming could make me.
He was eventually addressed by one of the board members. "Bram, you've been quiet. As COO, what is your view?"
Bram lifted his eyes slowly. His eyes looked at Ruben, with a slight sideways glance at the glass wall.
Toward me.
My breath caught.
I believe, Bram said with a smoothness, that passions are high. It is not the time to be loyal or blame. It is the time for facts."
Ruben's jaw tightened. "Careful," he warned.
Bram smiled faintly. "I am always careful."
Another board member nodded. Then maybe the only solution is transparency.
"What are you suggesting?" Ruben asked.
A geriatric man cough cleared his throat. "An emergency audit. Full access. Every department. Every file. Incorporating executive offices.
Chills ran down my spine at the words.
Ruben's eyes flashed. That will paralyse the company.
It will safeguard it, the man said. Or blot out what must be blot out.
I felt dizzy. An audit meant scrutiny. Scrutiny meant digging. Digging referred to searching for things that people wanted to be buried with.
Including me.
Bram sat up again in his chair, placid as usual. "I agree," he said. An audit will clear the innocent ones and tell the truth.
I knew then. This was not about the truth.
This was a trap.
Ruben glanced about the room, which he knew. And as this audit occurs, he questioned, what becomes of my assistant?
One of the ladies answered promptly. "She is suspended. Effective immediately."
My heart dropped.
"No," Ruben said sharply. "She stays."
The next man, the woman shook his head. That would appear to be interference.
Ruben's voice lowered. Touch her once more, and you will have to reckon with me.
At last, Bram talked again, almost pleasurably. Ruben, it is not the size of one man.
Ruben stared at him. "That's where you're wrong."
The members on the board started murmuring, and their voices were overlapping, and the tension was rising in the room. I was a little up there, like a c***k in the wall that nobody wanted to have open.
Then the chairman put up his hand. "Enough. We will vote."
I held my breath.
Motion all obtained to have an emergency audit of Titan Corp commenced immediately.
Hands rose. One by one. Too many.
The chairman nodded. "The motion passes."
Ruben did not move. His face was hard, controlled, and I could make out the storm beneath.
"This is not over," he said.
When the meeting broke up and board members came to their feet, Bram sat still, glaring at me through the glass. Something chilly in his glare. Something satisfied.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
There was a flash message on the screen of an unknown number.
The audit will ruin you to start with.
I happened to glance up when Ruben faced the door.
And I realised that the actual war had just started.
- Writer
