Mirabelle’s POV.
The moment I stepped into the boardroom, a deafening silence descended like a shroud, all eyes turned towards me, wide with surprise and just a tinge of fear. I could feel the tension crackling in the air as I stood at the head of the table, hands on my hips, my smile never faltering.
“Good morning.” I said sweetly, my voice cutting through the silence like razor.
“I trust everybody slept well, considering you’re all here conspiring against me first thing in the morning.”
No one responded immediately. Typical.
“Well,” I pressed, my gaze sweeping across the room, “Am I to assume that cat got everyone’s tongue, or is this just your pathetic attempt at playing dumb?”
“Mrs Sylvester.” A portly man near the middle of the table began hesitantly. It was Mr Armstrong, the supposed head of the board and someone I had barely tolerated since the company began to grow.
“This isn’t what it looks like….”
“Save it.” I interrupted sharply. Raising a hand to silence him. “I’m not in the mood for half-baked excuses and apologies, what I want are answers. And I want them, right the fuck now.”
I turned to Susie, who stood nervously at the door. “Close the door, I’d hate for anyone outside to hear how incompetent my board members are.”
Susie obeyed immediately, her hands trembling slightly as the heavy door shut with a resounding click.
“Now,” I said leaning forward on the table letting my cold glare sweep across their guilty faces.
“Would someone care to explain why a meeting was convened in my company without my explicit approval?”
“It wasn…. it wasn’t meant to exclude you Mrs Sylvester.” another board member stammered. It was Mrs Carson, a woman I had once considered an ally. “We were merely….”
“Merely what?” I snapped, cutting her off. “Merely plotting to fire my employees? Merely trying to dismantle the very foundation of the company I built from the ground up? Please enlighten me, Mrs Carson, because I fail to know how this little coup d’etat was not meant to exclude me.”
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, but no words came out. Typical.
“Mrs Sylvester.” Armstrong tried again, “This meeting was called because we have serious concerns about the scandals that has been going round. We had a meeting about it the last time with you here but it led into nothing a …”
“That wasn’t a meeting, you old hags ambushed me with something I knew nothing about.”
“Well we don’t believe that, the evidence are there and they aren’t lying. We are here to root out the evil with you, there have been negative press and financial losses since the scandal has be….”
“And your brilliant fucking solution.” I interrupted, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Is to fire the very people who keep this place running? Tell me Mr Armstrong, how exactly does that solve anything?”
He hesitated, glancing around the room for support, but no one dared meet his eyes.
In as much as they could say anything they wanted behind my back, they knew they were wrong in a situation like this.
“And who’s brilliant plan was it to have this meeting without my presence? Because you thought I won’t be at work, you had the liberty to do anything you wanted?”
“You were supposed to be held down by the paparazzi downstairs, we alre….”
“So, you wanted to do what exactly?”
“We believe that removing certain employees, those closer to you specifically. We can distance the company from the rumours and regain public trust.” Armstrong, his voice growing confident with each word.
I laughed, a cold sharp sound that echoed through the boardroom.
“Regain public trust?” I repeated, straightening up and folding my arms across my chest.
“You think throwing my employees under the bus will fix this mess? Let me ask you something Mr Armstrong, do you think the public will be fooled by such a pathetic attempt at damage control? Or do you think they’ll see it for what it truly is a desperate, cowardly move by a bunch of old men and women trying to cover up their asses?”
“Mrs Sylvester, with all due respect…. ”
“No,” I snapped, my voice rising.
“With all due respect Mr Armstrong, you and this board have overstepped your bounds. I am the CE fucking O of this company. I am the one who makes the decisions here, and as long as my name is on that door, no one, and I mean no one, gets fired without my say so.”
The room fell silent again, the tension so thick it was almost suffocating.
“Mrs Sylvester.” another board member finally spoke up. It was Mr Jenkins, one of the quieter ones. “We’re only trying to protect the company. The rumours….”
“The rumours.” I interrupted were started by Natasha Banks, and if any of you had bothered to even know anything about it, or found out about the whole issue yourselves instead of jumping into conclusions, you would have known that.”
I knew the PI said I shouldn’t say anything yet, but I just couldn’t help it.
“Mrs Sylvester.” Armstrong began again, his voice going slightly. “If what you’re saying is true, then perhaps…..”
“Perhaps.” I cut him off sharply. “You should all take a long hard look at yourself and ask why you’re even on this board, because from where I’m standing, none of you seem to have the faintest clue on how to actually run a company.”
The colour drained from his face and I knew that I had hit a nerve.
“Now.” I said, my voice calm and cold as ice. “Here’s what’s going to happen, the meeting is over effective immediately, any decisions regarding employee layoffs are off the table, if I hear so much as a whisper of another unauthorised meeting, I will personally see to it that everyone of you is removed from this board. Do I make myself clear?”
No one dared to argue.
“Good.” I said, turning on my heel. “Susie, let’s go.”
As I walked out of the boardroom, I could feel their eyes on my back, but I didn’t care. Let them stare, let them wonder. Let them plot, I wasn’t going down without a fight, and they were about to find out just how far I was willing to go to protect what was mine.
For the first time in days, I felt like I was back in control. And I wasn’t about to let anyone take that away from me.