Chapter 7 - Jessica’s True Colors
The heavy glass doors of the boardroom swung open suddenly, interrupting the tense silence.
Jessica strode into the room, her designer trench coat swishing around her knees, her expression a mix of indignation and oily charm. She had somehow bypassed building security by attaching herself to a visiting foreign delegate.
"Alright, what is the meaning of this ridiculous charade?" Jessica demanded, marching right up to the edge of the conference table before she noticed the high-ranking executives staring at her in stunned silence.
She stopped, blinking rapidly as she looked at Cassidy sitting in the master seat, and then at Brendan kneeling pathetically on the floor.
"Brendan? What are you doing down there? Get up, you look ridiculous," Jessica snapped, her tone dripping with annoyance. Then she turned her sharp eyes toward Cassidy. "And you—whatever kind of scam you’re running here with these rented guards and fake boardroom props, it’s over. The police are going to be—"
"Jessica, shut up," Brendan hissed from the floor, his face burning with humiliation.
"Shut up? I will not shut up! I lost my job, my apartment lease is tied to Brendan's corporate guarantee, and now my credit cards are declined at Saks!" Jessica yelled, her composure finally snapping. She pointed a manicured finger directly at Cassidy’s face. "Whoever you are, you’re playing a very dangerous game with people who have real power! Brendan told me you were a penniless nobody!"
Cassidy didn't flinch. She leaned back in her leather chair, resting her hands calmly on the armrests.
"He was right about one thing, Jessica," Cassidy said smoothly. "I am the one who decides who has power in this building."
Jessica scoffed. "Oh, please. You think you own Apex? Prove it! Show me the papers! Otherwise, you’re just a bitter, dumped ex-wife playing dress-up in stolen clothes!"
Arthur Vance stepped forward from the side of the table, holding a sleek tablet. He tapped the screen twice and projected a high-resolution, legally binding holographic deed onto the central glass partition of the room.
Apex Global Holdings - Master Beneficiary Registry.
Sole Principal: Cassidy Vance.
Equity Stake: 98.4%.
Veto Authority: Absolute.
Below the registry were the official employment termination files for Jessica Miller, listing her immediate blacklisting across every Fortune 500 company in the nation due to corporate ethics violations and insider trading investigations currently being compiled by federal regulators.
Jessica’s face went entirely white. The phone slipped from her fingers, hitting the marble floor with a sharp crack.
"No..." Jessica whispered, stepping backward until her back hit the heavy oak doors. "No, that’s... that’s impossible. You’re... you’re just an assistant! You’re just a—"
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"I hired you, Jessica," Cassidy said quietly, her voice cutting through the silence like a scalpel. "Or rather, my HR department did, under a routine recruitment drive. And now, I am firing you. Furthermore, every gift, every bonus, every luxury item Brendan bought you using corporate expense accounts has been flagged as corporate embezzlement. You have twenty-four hours to return every designer bag, every piece of jewelry, and every cent of misappropriated funds, or you will spend the next ten years sharing a cell with white-collar criminals."
Jessica stared at Cassidy in absolute horror. Then, without a single word of defense, she spun around, wrenched the heavy doors open, and fled down the hallway, her heels clicking frantically against the marble until the sound faded into nothingness.
