Chapter 5

Liam strode through the chaotic lobby of Veritas Global, his jaw tight and his coffee untouched. The entire building felt off this morning.

Assistants buzzed around, managers whispered in corners, and half the executive floor looked like they'd aged five years overnight.

He glanced around, frowning. "What the hell is going on?"

No one answered him directly, they just avoided his gaze like he'd grown fangs overnight.

He rode the elevator to the top floor, expecting to find answers. Instead, he was greeted by a group of board members huddled in the conference room, some pacing, others red-faced.

"Liam," Gerald barked. He was the CFO. "We've got a situation."

"I can see that," he said dryly, removing his coat. "Start talking."

Gerald threw a thick file onto the table. "As of this morning, eighty percent of the company has been bought out. One single buyer. We've all been summoned for an emergency board meeting in twenty minutes."

Liam's brows knitted. "Who the hell has that kind of capital?"

"Your guess is as good as ours. We just got a name."

A long pause.

Gerald looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Rielle Vaughn."

The room spun for a second too long.

Liam scoffed. "That's impossible."

"No," said another board member, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What's impossible is the fact that she used five holding companies, all under shell corporations, and bought everyone out. Including you."

Liam's blood chilled. "What?"

Gerald sighed. "You don't own the company anymore, Liam. You work for her now."

Before Liam could storm out, or react to losing his company right under his nose, the double doors of the conference room swung open.

Rielle walked in.

She was in black heels and a cream pantsuit sharp enough to cut bone. Her hair was pulled back, her face remained calm, and unreadable. However, her eyes… her eyes blew hot and cold at the same time.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she said coolly, placing her folder on the table. "Let's begin."

Every man in the room stood, unsure to sit, either out of instinct or fear.

All except Liam.

He remained seated, arms crossed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She didn't even look at him. "Chairing the company. Obviously."

"This isn't a game, Rielle." He squinted his gaze. "Or should I say Lina?"

He was too numb to act unaffected when he said her name out loud. Lina was dead. Should be dead but the woman standing before him right now could pass off to be Lina with more confidence and beauty.

Now she met his gaze, slow and deliberate. "No, Liam. It's not a game. Which is why you should stop playing."

She flatly ignored him calling her Lina. He must be speaking to someone else, and not her.

Six months ago, he didn't even know her name correctly. That can't be happening overnight.

The other board members shifted awkwardly.

She walked to the head of the table. Holding Liam's gaze, she took his previous seat, and opened the file. "Let's go over today's agenda. First, departmental audits. Second, financial transparency. Third…"

She glanced at Liam again. "...department heads will now report directly to me. Including you."

He stood up abruptly. "You can't just waltz in here and take over—"

"I didn't waltz, Liam. I bought it." Her smile was brief and brutal. "Your tantrum won't reverse the bank transfer."

A hush silence fell over the place.

She tapped her pen once, calm, lethal.

"Any other objections?" she asked the room.

Silence. No one dared breathe.

The board members sank back into their seats, sweat beading on their foreheads despite the perfectly chilled room. They loved Liam as their head. They don't have a good feeling about this strange woman seated before them.

Also, why haven't they ever heard her name from anywhere until today?

Liam was the only one still standing.

The heat in his eyes burned across the room, and remained fixed on her.

Rielle didn't flinch.

She leaned back slightly in his chair and tilted her head. "Sit down, Liam. You're making the others nervous."

He didn't move.

She let out a soft breath and turned her attention to the CFO. "Gerald, please proceed with the financial rundown."

Gerald glanced at Liam, then back at her. "Yes, Ms. Vaughn."

It was the first time someone addressed her with her new name aloud.

Rielle Vaughn. Not Lina.

Liam glared at his CFO, who acted okay with a new strange leader like he had known her all his life. He sat down at last, jaw tight, with hands fisted in his lap. But the damage was already done. He had watched her walk into his empire and rip it out from under him while looking like a fantasy designed to destroy men.

As Gerald went through numbers and updates, Liam didn't hear a thing. His eyes were locked on her face.

He was drawn to her and had a gut feeling that this isn't the first time he had ever known her.

Every man in the room watched her like she was the only woman on earth.

As the meeting drew to a close, murmurs and movement filled the room again. The board shifted in their seats, some eager to leave, others glued to their spots, still digesting the power shift.

Rielle didn't stand. She remained seated, flipping through the final pages of the folder with a slow, deliberate rhythm.

"Before we wrap," she said, her voice mockingly soft, "there's one final point of order."

Everyone stilled.

She turned a page, not looking up. "Effective immediately, six board members will be stepping down from their positions. Permanently."

Liam's brows shot up.

Gerald straightened. "Ms. Vaughn—"

She raised a hand, cutting him off—not harshly, but firmly. "Not you, Gerald."

Her gaze drifted to the end of the table, where six men, former powerhouses of the company sat in stunned silence.

She called them out by name. "Peter, Roland, Donovan, Marcus, Reed, and Henry."

A low gasp swept through the room. Peter tried to rise. "This is outrageous," he said.

"No," Rielle replied coolly, standing at last. "What's outrageous is using a young woman's trust, labor, and ideas to boost your own careers, then discarding her like an intern with no name."

They stiffened.

Roland opened his mouth to speak, but she gave him no room.

"I saw the reports, and the brain behind the innovations in his company," she lied through her teeth, like she wasn't the girl she spoke of. "So thank you, you can leave now."

Her eyes turned razor-sharp when they refused to stand up, and stared at her mindlessly. "Security has already been notified. Your passes will be deactivated by the time you reach the elevators. I'd recommend not making a scene."