Tainted Vows

Chapter 3

~Natalie~

I had no idea what I was about to face. It hasn't been up to 24 hours yet, my life has turned into a chaotic mess. Silently holding onto the hope that I might be able to convince the board– I have done so much for the company, there shouldn't be any doubt what I could pull off as the CEO.

All I want to do is fix this. I had to become the woman my father, Leon Michael Banks, raised me to be– and not the girl I was last night.

‘Just hold on, Dad! '' I will make it right!’ I said inwardly.

My heels echoed against the marble tile as I strode into the boardroom, every step heavier than the last. The glass walls, once a symbol of transparency and power, now felt like a café and seated on the long round mahogany desk were old men, young men and women in suits; their cold, calculative eyes on me.

Sebastian sat at the head of the table, a sly smug appearing on his lips as he leaned his back on the chair that rightfully belonged to my father. He was supposed to be my father's best friend, only to turn out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

For how long has he been a deceiver?

I took the empty seat beside him, adjusting my blazers with trembling fingers.

“Now shall we begin! " Miss Banks, you may update the board,” Sebastian said smoothly, which aggravated me.

I wanted to smack him and drag him out of that seat, but Freya had pleaded with me to keep things cool until I figured everything out.

“We want to make things right, Natalie. " Causing a scene would only worsen it,” she had warned me.

I clenched my fist at the side before standing up. “Despite the headlines,” I began to speak.

Eyes on the board members as they listened attentively to me. “Sterling group remains stable. We've launched internal damage control, cut unnecessary overhead, and retained key clients. We are not in a crisis–”

“We will be the judge of that,” Crane, one of the board members, interrupted. “Your reputation is a liability,” he added, and I held back the snort that threatened to fall out.

“Excuse me? A liability? " It's something that can be taken care of within minutes and that's not an issue,” I counter.

“And what about the debt? " How are you going to take care of it?” Donovan chimed in.

I exhaled sharply, “Give me a month and I will take care of it,” I proposed.

“A month and the whole company is nothing but dust. " That's a huge risk to take, Natalie, and how are we sure you would be able to pull that off? " Through a loan?” he snorted.

I clenched my teeth together, “that would buy us time?” I retorted.

A ripple of laughter traveled down the table. “You're barely holding your name together, you think the bank is going to grant you a loan,” Sebastian mocked.

“We have no idea if they will truly grant me a loan or not, unless I try,” I stated.

“The only option is for you to marry my son, which you rejected, and to do that you have to appease me, Natalie,” That brute of a man insisted, which got me boiling.

“Me, beg you? For a company that is rightfully mine! My father built it from scratch. You all sat here year after year while I studied balance sheets in his office. I have fought for every deal, every partnership and every late-night phone call while you vacationed. " Don't you dare reduce me to nothing!”

The board remained silent. Dismissed, I stormed out of the room with my jaw clenched and vision blurry.

~~~

I barely made it to the hallway when the pressure burst in my chest.

The betrayal! The shame!

My father had lied! Sebastian tried to trap me in a marriage and now the only hope I had left was with the bank.

“Miss Banks!” a voice interrupted my spiral. One of the junior secretaries, a girl I didn't know well, stood there holding a cream envelope.

“No sender… just said to give it to you!” she said, handing the envelope to me.

I collected it, the paper was thick, and the stationery was real. My name was scrawled in ink on the front.

Opening the envelope, I took out a letter and read the content written on it.

‘Natalie Banks, if you truly want to save your father’s legacy, meet me at the Del Mar rooftop, 8 P. M– come alone’

No signatures. No further details, just the message.

I had to read it again and again.

I was curious and scared… What did this person want, and why would he send me this letter?

Who exactly is this person?

So many questions are rummaging in my head and there is only one way to find out and that is to show up.

But is showing up the right thing to do?

Maybe yes– in a situation where I have little options, I have to move based on instinct. It's too hard for me to trust someone, especially when my father's so -called bestie is making sure he does everything in his power to take over my father's company.