Married to a Billionaire Stranger

Chapter 28: The Vote

The King Tower boardroom was silent when Ella and Xavier stepped inside.

Twelve high-backed chairs circled the obsidian table, occupied by the old guard—the men and women who had ruled the company since Anthony King wore the crown.

Xavier walked with purpose, his presence demanding attention, but Ella noticed the glances—the looks of distrust and accusation. To them, she was still the outsider. The scandal. The disruption to a long-standing order.

But not for long.

The head of the board, Reginald Marks, cleared his throat. "Xavier, you know the rules. You resigned. You have no right to initiate a vote."

Xavier laid a thick folder on the table. "I didn't resign my rights as a shareholder. And as the son of Anthony King, I still hold the majority of the King estate's private stock. That gives me every right to call a vote."

Murmurs spread across the room.

"And what exactly do you want us to vote on?" a woman asked, adjusting her pearl necklace with an annoyed flick of her wrist.

Ella stepped forward. "We want the sealed records of King Global opened. Every vault. Every asset. Every file classified under 'Legacy Projects.'"

The room went quiet again.

Reginald leaned back in his chair. "You want to open the very boxes your father locked for a reason. Boxes that contain sensitive data, private deals, legal settlements..."

"Cover-ups," Xavier corrected. "Those boxes contain crimes."

The man with the pearl-wearing wife scoffed. "And what do you hope to find, Miss Carter? A smoking gun that says you're owed something?"

"No," Ella said, her voice steady. "I hope to find the truth. And the only people afraid of the truth are the ones with something to lose."

Reginald tapped his pen. "And if we vote no?"

Xavier smiled, grim. "Then the full audio files go to the press. Unedited. Along with the list of shadow accounts, internal memos, and executive logs we've collected over the past month."

Gasps. One man stood. "That's blackmail."

"That's leverage," Ella said. "Learn the difference."

Reginald looked around the room.

"All in favor of opening the Legacy Files?"

Hands went up.

Slowly, one by one.

Seven.

Then eight.

Reginald sighed.

"Motion passes. The vaults will be opened."

---

After the vote, Ella and Xavier returned to the estate's deepest level, escorted by a forensic investigator and a corporate archivist.

"How many boxes are we looking at?" Ella asked.

The archivist adjusted his glasses. "Over 300. Some dating back fifty years. But the one you're interested in was moved recently. Special holding room."

They entered a small chamber with a biometric scanner. Xavier placed his thumb. The door clicked.

Inside: a single black box, sealed in glass.

"Open it," Xavier said.

The glass hissed and lifted.

The contents were chilling:

A second cassette labeled "Final Entry: Anthony King"

A stack of letters addressed to an unknown recipient

And one photograph: Katherine Carter, holding a newborn baby.

Ella touched the photo with trembling fingers.

"It's me."

Xavier picked up the cassette. "Let's hear what he had to say."

---

Later, at home, they played the tape. Anthony King's voice was slower, wearier.

> "The project is a failure. She escaped me. The child—my child, or not—will never become what I intended. I made a mistake trying to control legacy. You cannot mold a person without breaking them. And I've broken too many. If you're hearing this, it means Charles went too far. Or Xavier did. Either way, it ends here. Let it die with me."

Xavier shut off the player.

"He knew."

Ella nodded. "And so do we. Now it's about what we do with it."

Suddenly, Xavier's phone buzzed.

An unknown number.

He answered, cautious. "Hello?"

A deep voice replied. "You made your move. Now it's ours."

Then the line went dead.

Outside their window, a car exploded in a ball of fire.