Boardroom rules

Chapter eight

Damien

10:47 AM.

City Hall. Downtown Manhattan.

Maya was in yesterday's dress.

I was in yesterday's suit.

We didn't have rings. We had a clerk, a judge, and a security guard who kept looking at his watch.

"Mr. Hale? Ms. Chen? You're sure?" The clerk asked.

"Yes," Maya said.

Her hand was in mine. Cold. Shaking.

Mine wasn't.

For the first time in my life, I wasn't negotiating. I wasn't calculating.

I was saying yes.

"Do you have rings?" the judge asked.

"No," I said. "We have ten minutes."

The judge looked at Maya. "Ms. Chen?"

She looked at me. Hair messy. No makeup. Eyes red from crying or not sleeping. Probably both.

She nodded.

"Then let's make this fast," the judge said.

I didn't hear most of it.

I heard her name.

Maya.

I heard mine.

Damien.

I heard "I do" twice.

And then the judge said, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

10:51 AM.

I kissed her.

Not boardroom. Not desk. Not heat.

Husband and wife.

Her mouth was soft. Tasting like tears and coffee and something that was finally ours.

"Mrs. Hale," I said against her lips.

She pulled back. "Don't."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not ready to be anyone's Mrs."

I smiled. "Good. Be mine instead."

The clerk handed us the license. Signed. Stamped. Legal.

10:53 AM.

My phone buzzed.

CFO. Again.

"Board's in session," I said, holding it up. "We're late."

Maya's eyes went wide. "We can't—"

"We can." I laced my fingers with hers. "Watch me."

We ran.

11:00 AM. Hale Dynamics. 50th floor.

The boardroom doors opened.

Silence.

Twelve board members. Legal. CFO. Press in the back because someone leaked the emergency session.

And us.

Maya. In a wrinkled silk dress. No blazer. No armor.

Me. In a suit I hadn't changed out of since last night.

Hand in hand.

"Mr. Hale," Mr. Vance stood. "You're two minutes late. The vote to remove you has begun."

"Stop it," I said.

"You don't have that authority—"

"I do now." I held up the license. "Because I'm no longer compromised."

Confusion.

"What is that?" Elise asked.

"Our marriage certificate." Maya said it. Loud. Clear. "I'm Maya Hale. CEO of Chen Analytics. And as of 10:51 AM, majority stakeholder in Hale Dynamics through spousal equity transfer."

The room exploded.

"What?"

"Illegal."

"You can't—"

"I can." I walked to the head of the table. Pulled out Maya's chair first. Then mine. "Because my wife just bought 51% of this company this morning."

Silence.

"With what money?" Legal sputtered.

"With mine," Maya said. "Chen Analytics' patent portfolio. Liquidated at 9:30 AM. To me. His wife."

Lie.

We hadn't.

But no one could prove it yet.

And by the time they did, it wouldn't matter.

Vance sat down. Hard. "You planned this."

"No," I said. "I fell in love. Then I planned this."

I looked at Maya.

She looked back.

And for the first time, the boardroom wasn't a warzone.

It was ours.

"The vote," I said. "Is over. I'm not being removed. Because I'm not the CEO anymore."

Gasps.

"I'm the Chairman," I said. "And my wife is the CEO."

Maya stood.

All five-foot-six of her. In a wrinkled dress. With no sleep and a marriage license in her bag.

She owned the room.

"Meeting adjourned," she said.

No one moved.

"Now," she said.

Chairs scraped.

They left.

Until it was just us.

And the press.

Who were recording everything.

Maya turned to the cameras.

"You wanted a scandal," she said. "You got a merger."

Click. Click. Click.

The headlines would be insane by noon.

I didn't care.

I walked to her.

"Mrs. Hale," I said.

"Don't," she said again. But she was smiling.

"Too late." I pulled her to me. "You're stuck with me."

She put her hands on my chest. "Damien, what did we just do?"

"We won," I said. "Differently."

The boardroom was empty.

The city was watching.

And for the first time, I didn't want to be alone in this glass cage.

I wanted her in it with me.

Always.

Rule #8 of the boardroom: Never let love cost you the company.

We rewrote the rules.