Chapter 4

The ringing phone was a bomb in the silent room.

All eyes darted from the shattered device to me, then to Ethan.

"What is this, Ava?" Ethan hissed, his composure cracking, "Some kind of trick? You hired an actor?"

He kicked the phone again, but it kept ringing.

"It' s Marcus Thorne," I whispered, a tiny ember of hope igniting in the darkness.

"Don' t be ridiculous," Ethan scoffed, "Thorne wouldn' t call you."

Then, a voice, amplified by the phone' s speaker, cut through the tension, calm and authoritative.

"Ethan Harrison, this is Marcus Thorne, CEO of Thorne Dynamics, perhaps you remember me?"

The room went dead quiet.

"I have a rather unique vocal pattern due to a childhood injury, easily verifiable if you doubt it' s me, I can even send you the medical records."

Ethan paled, his arrogance deflating like a punctured lung.

"Mr. Thorne," he stammered, "this is... unexpected."

"Is it?" Marcus' s voice was like ice, "I' ve been trying to reach Ava all evening, my deal for Harrison Innovations is contingent on her leadership, a fact I made abundantly clear to you and your father."

Mr. Harrison Senior looked like he was about to faint.

"But... you seemed so enthusiastic about Brittany' s new direction," Ethan mumbled, gesturing vaguely at his pregnant partner.

"Enthusiastic about due diligence, Mr. Harrison, which seems to be a concept foreign to your organization," Marcus retorted. "My team has been looking into Harrison Innovations' financials for weeks, you' re leveraged to the hilt, on the brink of insolvency."

A collective gasp went through the remaining board members.

"That' s a lie!" Ethan shouted, but his voice lacked conviction.

"Is it?" Marcus continued, "Then perhaps you can explain the emergency loan you took out three months ago, the one Ava Chen personally secured by using her own pending patents as collateral, patents that are now worth more than your entire crumbling company."

The revelation hit the room like a physical blow.

My patents, my safety net, I' d risked them to save them.

And they had just tried to destroy me.

Suddenly, the main ballroom doors burst open.

Marcus Thorne stood there, tall and imposing, his eyes fixed on Ethan with cold fury.

"I believe," Marcus said, his voice dangerously soft, "we have a lot to discuss."