I tilt my head, it’s not aggressive, but curious, like he’s a bug I’m deciding whether or not to squash. Joke’s on him because I’ve already made the decision, and he’s already under my fucking boot.
“I wouldn’t throw shade at me, or anyone else in this room.” I force my voice to stay level, ready to deal the final nailin his coffin. “Given your arrhythmia diagnosis. Or the beta blockers you’ve been hiding from the board.”
That lands like a slap. Another, almost imperceptible flicker in his face… but it’s there. His smile tightens.
My siblings can’t hide their shock either. It’s something I found out by myself, without any of their help or anyone knowing, and I have fucking proof. Did I acquire the information through channels he assumed were untouchable? Yes.
Was it legal? Probably not. Was it necessary? Absolutely, because when it comes to Alonso de la Peña, you gotta go low, because he’s such a slimy snake, he’ll slither through the smallest of cracks.
Apollo leans forward. Athena finally looks up. Alonso sneers. “You don’t know a damn thing.”
“I know about the Zurich account,” I continue evenly. “The shell company in Lisbon. The consultant fees that don’t align with any deliverables. I also know which regulators would be very interested in the timing.”
Ares grins, slow and feral.
Alonso’s jaw clenches. “You’re bluffing.”
I slide a single, bulging folder across the table toward him. It stops right at his fingertips.
“I know about the morals clause you violated no fewer than three separate times,” I add. “And the NDAs you thought buried it.”
He doesn’t touch the folder.
“That information,” I say calmly, “either stays right here… or it becomes very loud and very public.”
“You wouldn’t.” He spits venom with every word. “You’d burn the company you’re killing yourself to win.”
Like he’s not burning the company to stop me from winning it. The fucking hypocrisy. I’ve already mourned the version of this company he built. I finally smile, and it’s not kind. “No. I’d save it.”
Silence presses in. Heavy. Suffocating.
Athena closes her tablet. “The board votes today.”
Thiago steps forward. “You’ll announce a medical leave. Effective immediately.”
“And sign over voting control.” Apollo speaks with a saccharine tone that makes Alonso’s eyes narrow.
“And if you don’t.” Ares leans forward. “This stops being civilized.” My youngest brother lives for chaos. Like his namesake, the God of War, he thrives on the swift, brutal, and chaotic aspects of battle. It’s a side of him we haven’t seen much since he met Eloise, the light to his darkness.
Alonso looks at all of them, then back at me. You can see it happen, the math clicking into place. Every exit sealed. Every weapon turned back on him by the fruit of his fucking loins. “What do you want?” His demand echoes off the walls.
I fold my hands on the table. “I already took it.” My words sit heavily in the room. Power isn’t the moment you threaten someone—it’s the moment they realize you didn’t need to raise your voice at all.
“You can acquiesce, or you can be removed. Either way the company is mine to do with as I please.” I look at the trio of new hires with a smirk. “I already am.”
Alonso’s going to lose his mind at the idea of a female CEO at the top of the pecking order, worse still because she’s a fucking titan, and she’s going to run the company like Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.
Another long silence settles over us, presumably while he weighs up his options. “Fine.” Finally—grudging. Furious. And fucking defeated.
I nod sharply. “Wise choice.”
With gritted teeth, he signs the paperwork I offer to him, and when the door closes behind him, no one speaks for a full ten seconds.
Ares lets out a low whistle. “That was hot.”
Apollo smirks. Athena exhales like she’s been holding it for months.
I don’t move. I wait for the rush. For vindication. Relief.Anything. But it doesn’t come. I thought this would feel like winning. Like closure of some kind. Instead, it feels like standing over a body I expected to hate and realizing I don’t feel anything at all. Beating him doesn’t fix what he broke, it just proves how long I’ve been living with the damage.
