by B. B. Hamel
Some people didn’t need that stuff, and that was okay. Personally, I knew that a family was what I wanted and needed, and Emily showed that to me.
The doors slid open and I stepped out. Ahead, the boardroom door was open a crack, and I could hear voices filtering out into the hall.
“...we here, anyway?”
“He had something important to say.”
“You know why. He’s finally stepping down and letting us run this company the way it should be run.”
I stepped into the room and all eyes were on me. I recognized these men, knew them and worked with them and fought against them. Bruce, with a smug grin on his face, sat on the far side of the room with his allies. I almost turned around and left at the sight of that smile, but I knew I had to eat shit and get it over with.
“That’s right.” I said to the room. “I’m stepping down, effective immediately.”
There was a general murmur. Nelson Pitts gave me a sad look, shaking his head, and a few of the men wanted to know why. I slowly walked to the front of the room and waited for silence to fall over the group.
For his part, Bruce didn’t say a word. He didn’t celebrate or do anything other than smile at me, that smug and empty smile. In some ways, that was almost worse.
“This has been a long time coming,” I said. “Valor has grown a lot, and I haven’t been as central to the company as I once was. I created it, established it, and grew it all on my own. I did more for this company than any one of you ever will. But there comes a time when life changes, and I knew that we’ve reached that point. I’m no longer needed at Valor, and it’s time to let someone else take over guiding this ship.”
“What about your shares?” Bruce called out suddenly. I still had a controlling share in Valor, and even if I stepped down from my position, I still was a board member.
“I’m going to sell them off,” I said. “I will retain a twenty percent stake, but I will no longer have a voice on this board.”
More murmuring, I could tell that everyone was surprised at this turn of events. They likely figured I’d step down, but not that I’d sell off my stock and give up my controlling stake.
“Please,” I said. “There’s more.” Silence fell again and I pointed at Bruce Walker. “As you all know, this man hates me. He has campaigned against me tirelessly for years to have me removed. Now, he has finally succeeded.” More murmuring, this time angry from his camp, but I spoke louder.
“He employed a scorched earth policy and obtained some materials which he has been using to blackmail me. I’m stepping down in large part because of that blackmail.”
“Lies!” one of his allies called out.
“Slander, it’s all slander,” someone else said.
“Gentleman, please,” Bruce called out. “He’s just upset that he finally lost.”
Some laughter from his camp.
“I can’t prove it to any of you,” I said. “However, you all know Bruce. You’ve all worked with him closely over these years. Ask yourself, really ask yourself: how far will he go to get what he wants?”
I let that sink in for a moment, looking over every member one after the other. Finally, I landed on Bruce and that smug smile.
“What comes next is your fault, Walker,” I said. “And it’s going to hurt.”
The members began to talk loudly at that point, but I wasn’t listening anymore. I dropped my letter of resignation on the table and left the room as the roar of the board followed me out.
“Carter!” I turned back and saw Nelson following me to the elevators. “Carter, wait. What are you doing?”
“Exactly what I said I’m doing.”
“Is it true? Is he really blackmailing you?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“We can get through that. Let me help you.”
“Thanks, Nelson,” I said, smiling. He had always been a staunch ally and a good man. “But I can’t do it. If I were you, I’d start selling off your stock as soon as possible.”
“Why?”
I checked my watch then smiled at him. “Because I have an interview with a reporter at the New York Times in twenty minutes, and it’s not going to go well for Valor Tech.”
The elevator doors dinged and opened. He said nothing as I stepped inside. I smiled at him as the doors closed, and felt vindicated.
“How much of this is true?”
Paul Bush wore wire-rimmed glasses, a clean white oxford shirt, and pressed khakis. He shook his head at the documents, his eyebrows raised in astonishment.
“All of it,” I said. “As you can see.”
“Why would you give this to me? It’s decades worth of financial documents and more . . . the sort of stuff I shouldn’t ever see.”
“I want the world to know what Valor has been doing all these years.”
“There’s nothing illegal in here, from what I can tell.”
“No,” I agreed. “There’s not.” I looked at Evelyn.
“You’ll find some interesting things happening in some interesting gray areas,” she said. “Things regarding people’s privacy.”
Paul shook his head, clearly blown away. “I don’t understand why you’d want to destroy your own company, Carter.”
“It’s not my company. This morning, I sold my majority share and as of an hour ago, I stepped down from my position. For all intents and purposes, I’m a private citizen now.”
Paul rubbed his eyes. “This is going to take a while.”
“I understand.”
“And it’s going to reflect poorly on you.” He paused. “Personally.”
“I know that, too,” I said, smiling.
“So why do you seem so happy about it?”
“Because I’m going to torch this fucking place and take what I really want.”
Evelyn couldn’t help but smile on that, but it only made Paul that much more confused.
“Okay, okay. So you want to bring this company down for whatever reason. I’m sure you’re breaking some kind of law, but we’ll see about that. Either way, you’ll be sued like crazy and are probably going to spend years in court and spend millions on defense. Okay, fine. You said there was one more thing I should know?”
“Oh, right,” I said, grinning. “Evie, do you want to tell him or should I?”
“Our marriage is a sham!” she blurted out.
Paul stared at her then looked back at me. “What?”
I cracked up and Evelyn leaned back in her chair, releasing a deep breath. “Oh god, I’ve been wanting to yell that for so long,” she said. “It’s been, what, a couple months? Feels like forever.”
“Oh thanks,” I said. “Being married to me isn’t so bad.”
“Yes, it was,” she said.
“You two aren’t really married?” Paul asked.
“We are,” I said. “But we only married because I needed to start looking more responsible in the press. It was a publicity thing.”
“Jesus,” he said. “You’re really shooting yourself in the foot here. I feel like I should turn off my tape recorder.”
“Wait, there’s more,” I said, grinning huge.
“Seriously, Carter. Think about what you’re doing.”
“I’m in love with Evie’s daughter, Emily.”
He gaped at me. “Your stepdaughter?”
“I guess so,” I said. “Since the marriage was a sham, we never saw each other that way.”
“So you’re fake married to her mother, but really in love with this Emily girl?”
“That’s right. That’s for real.”
“This is some twisted stuff,” he said, shaking his head. “You know I’m not a gossip columnist, right? I can leave the relationship stuff out.”
“Don’t,” I said. “Give the story to someone that does that sort of thing if you have to.”
“Are you sure you want this out?”
“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”
“Okay then.” He shook his hea
d and closed up the files, putting them into a neat pile. He stood up. “I’m going to head out and go through all this. Someone will be in touch with follow-up questions about the, uh, personal stuff. And I’ll be in touch about this stuff.”
“Sounds good, Paul. Thanks for coming out on short notice.”
“No problem.” We shook hands and he left. I watched him go and knew that my old life was dead, very dead and gone, and nothing would bring it back. Not anymore.
I went full nuclear. Not only did I resign, but I also went public with my relationship stuff.
“How do you feel?” Evelyn asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Fine, I think.”
“There’s a lot of fallout coming your way.”
“I know that.”
“Let me go get her so you two can talk.”
“Thanks.”
Evelyn stood up and left my office. Emily was out in the lobby, waiting to be let in. I called her right after I resigned from the board and she came straight over, wanting to talk to me about it, but I had to meet with Paul first.
Now it was finished. Everything was out in the open and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. From the beginning, I thought all that I wanted was my company back under my control and to defeat Bruce.
Instead, I found something so much more important, something I didn’t even know that I needed.
She came into the office, looking nervous.
Emily was what I needed. As soon as I saw her, I knew the truth. I needed more out of my life than just an office and money and power. I needed a person, a partner, a woman, someone that drove me crazy and made me want to be better. She made me want to do the right thing, both for her and for the world.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Instead of answering, I walked around my desk, took her hips, and kissed her.
She kissed me back, her hands lingering on my face. Slowly we broke apart and I smiled at her. “I’m perfect.”
“Mom told me.”
“The world is going to know now.”
“I don’t care about that. What about your company?”
“Not mine anymore.”
“But you built it. You founded it.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Carter. It matters.”
“No,” I said to her. “It doesn’t. All that matters to me is the future, and Emily, you’re my future. Do you understand? You’re my future. I couldn’t have everything, not in this situation. It was my fault that I let it get to this point, and I couldn’t let you and your mother suffer for my past mistakes. I did what I had to do to make it right.”
“Carter,” she said softly. “Are you sure?”
“I’m very sure. There’s going to be a huge media frenzy soon, but I promise I’ll keep you safe. We’ll hole up in my mansion, ride it out together.”
She laughed. “Who says I want to be locked in that stupid house with you?”
I grinned at her, kissing her again softly. “Too bad. You’re mine now, and you always will be.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, laughing.
I couldn’t have what I really wanted without making sacrifices. Maybe that was difficult for me to see before, but it was plain as day to me now. I had to sacrifice my company if I was going to have Emily.
Releasing financial information about Valor was more for my own revenge, though. There wasn’t enough in there to prosecute anyone, but there sure as hell was enough to embarrass the whole company. Stocks were going to take a huge dive and the company might never recover after all of this comes to light. If Bruce hadn’t taken all those papers and notebooks from my room, I probably would have had enough to get them all thrown in prison.
As it stood, I was going to have to be okay with embarrassing the fuck out of them and watching them all squirm.
It didn’t matter now, though. I was done with Valor, done with it all. I had Emily and whatever future we had together was completely up to us.
I was starting a new life with her. I was starting the only life I needed.
“Come on,” I said, taking off my tie and tossing it aside. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Wait,” she said. “Think you’ll ever come back?”
“Nope. I’m done with this place.”
“What about my mom?”
“I’ll get her a better job. Don’t worry about that.”
She sighed. “You’re an ass, you know that, Carter?”
“Sure am.” I grinned at her. “Come on.”
We walked out together, leaving my office. We walked past Evelyn, waving, and headed down the hall, the same hall I’d walked through thousands of times over the years. We passed break rooms, meeting rooms, cubicles, places that I had a million experiences, some of the best days of my life.
I kept my eyes on Emily and I never once looked back.
27
Emily
Two Years Later
I could hear the ocean lapping at the shore outside of the window. I rolled over and felt Carter’s spot, still warm from his body, but empty. The sun had just risen, and I slowly got out of bed, my back aching.
I got up and went into the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. I was so damn pregnant, practically ready to burst, and I couldn’t wait. I wanted to give birth so badly, but I still had a few more weeks before I was really due.
The stones were cold under my feet as I padded down toward the kitchen. The old house was gorgeous and had been modernized, but eighteen century French countryside houses didn’t typically retrain warmth very well, even when they get gutted and rebuilt.
I found Carter cooking breakfast like he always did.
“Morning, gorgeous,” he said.
I kissed him on the cheeks. “What’s on the menu?”
“Eggs,” he said. “Fresh from the coop.”
“Delicious.”
“Told you raising chickens wouldn’t be hard.”
I made a face. “It’s easy for me because I won’t go near them.”
He laughed. “Exactly. I do all the work.”
“They’re still gross.”
He put a plate of eggs, some fried tomatoes, and orange juice in front of me. “But so delicious.”
I sighed. “So, so delicious.”
He laughed and sat down across from me, sipping from a steaming mug of coffee. I ate my breakfast, sneaking glances at him as he opened a local paper and started it read. I was still amazed that he could speak and read French fluently, but Carter was full of surprises.
We’d lived in the south of France for the last year, hiding away from the media. After everything dropped, especially the bits about our relationship, the mansion was inundated with reporters and drones at all times. We stayed there for a year only because there were still interviews to do, plus there were some pending legal things to deal with. But as soon as we were cleared to leave the country, we got the heck out of there.
Things were better in France. Mom was still back in the States running Carter’s charitable foundation, but she called and Skyped all the time.
I didn’t miss home, not at all. Not when I had Carter. We got pregnant a few months after coming to France, and although he wanted me to go back to the US to have the baby, I refused. I wanted a baby with dual citizenship, and maybe we could have him or her learn some French, too.
I didn’t need more from life. We weren’t married, but neither of us wanted that yet. We had money and comfort and each other, and I didn’t need much else.
Carter was incredible. He was working as a contractor for local French schools helping with their internet and technology departments, mostly doing it for pennies. He just liked getting out of the house and helping people. I was helping at a local daycare for ex-pats like us, but I had to cut back as the pregnancy got further and further along.
“You look extra gorgeous today,” Carter said to me.
“You always say that.”
“It’s always true.”
I smiled. “You always say that, too.”
He grinned. “Don’t pretend like you don’t love being doted on by a gorgeous hunk like me.”
“I do love it. But I’d love it if I had this kid as soon as possible.”
“It’ll come when it comes,” he said, nodding.
I sighed and stood, putting my plate away. “I’m going for a little walk.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, it’s okay.”
He frowned. “You know you shouldn’t walk alone.”
“Carter. We’ve been here for how long? They didn’t follow us. We’re safe here.”
“I know, I know. I just worry. And you’re so fucking pregnant.”
I laughed and walked over to him, kissing him softly. “I won’t be far, promise.”
“Fine. Take a sweatshirt, it’s cold.”
I nodded and grabbed a shawl, wrapping it around myself, and then left.
The media had been brutal, truly horrendous. We were stalked and threatened mercilessly. Carter was accused of some really horrible things, and I was called a whore with daddy issues. For a while, Carter was genuinely afraid for me, and the mansion had a small private army working security for us.
That all changed when we came to France. The media in France didn’t care about us at all and let us live in peace. Back home, the media got bored and moved on to newer and better stories.
Like the slowly unfolding saga of Valor Tech. Valor’s stock was plummeting as the public learned how they’d been selling tracking data to advertisers, including personal information. People were aghast at some of the more awful practices Valor was doing. Carter told me that he didn’t have anything to do with any of it, and part of the reason he wanted control of the company again was to stop that shit. Unfortunately for Valor, it looked like they were going to be forced to stop anyway.
He didn’t talk about Bruce Walker, but I knew what happened to him. He resigned from the board, disgraced, when details of another blackmail campaign he ran against some minor secretary that turned him down sexually came to light. He was apparently barred from many of his old companies, and retired in shame. I didn’t know how much of the story Carter knew, but I got the feeling that he felt pretty damn satisfied about all that.