I ought to have been relieved when the board decided to fire Leo Jaxon. Instead, a peculiar discomfort began to grow inside of me. The room was dead silent, broken only by Leo's angry, rage-filled eyes as he gathered his documents and got ready to go. With such force that the boardroom door slammed behind him, he simply rushed out without saying anything. It was the first fissure in the façade of a devoted, collected executive that he had so meticulously put on over several months.
Though my thoughts were elsewhere, I watched him go. Not everything sat just right. It was incomprehensible how he had given up without a struggle and accepted defeat with such ease. Leo was not a man who simply turned away. Every action he took had been excessively calculated and planned. There was more to this story, and I had a sneaking sensation that the next development would be much more dire than the one we had just encountered.
With her hand on the back of the chair, Amelia stood next to me. She had maintained her composure during the meeting, but now, in the quiet that followed, I could see that she was under stress. She was struggling to hold herself together, as the weight of everything was pressing down on her.
"We succeeded," she uttered softly, sounding almost hesitant as if she was having trouble believing it herself.
I nodded, but I still had the uneasy sensation that this wasn't finished. Yes. Indeed, we did.
We stood for a moment like this, the semblance of the combat still lingering in the air. Whispering to each other, the other board members were leaving the room, perhaps still processing the news that one of their own had betrayed them. Their whispers, though, escaped my attention. I was only able to speculate about Leo's potential next step.
"You believe this is finished, don't you?" I glanced at Amelia before asking.
Her brow knitted as she glanced at me. "We succeeded in capturing him." He is not in. Is there anything more?
I was hesitant and considered what I would say. "Leo is not a guy who gives up easily or without a strategy. Too easy, he left this place. Something is absent from our lives.
Amelia gave me a long look, the blaze in her eyes fading a little as she processed what I had said. I could tell by the way her jaw tensed that she didn't enjoy it. She wished to think that Leo's treachery had happened and that we had triumphed. But by now she knew me well enough to believe what my gut told her.
"What are you contemplating?" she inquired.
I attempted to put the puzzle together while crossing my arms and moving carefully. "Leo has been planning this for several months, if not longer. Trickery, scheming, putting you in a bad position. We had him figured out. He left with the impression that he was still in charge, nevertheless.
She scowled, picking up on my train of thought. You believe he is holding something special.
"I'm sure he does."
With a sigh, Amelia combed through her hair. What happens next? Now that he has been exposed, what could he possibly do?
That is the matter that I must resolve.
After the struggle we had just fought, I could sense her weariness and frustration mounting. She was ready to be through with this, to put Leo behind her and get back to rebuilding. I couldn't, however, yet allow her to unwind. Not until I could be certain he was done.
I said, "I'll investigate it." Examine his most recent correspondence to look for any unusual activity. We only need to identify where he received the assistance.
Amelia nodded, but her eyes betrayed a hint of fatigue. "Lucas, you have my faith. But I need to know that this will end soon. I can't battle shadows forever.
I reached out to gently touch her arm and murmured, softly, "I know." "I'll see to that."
She smiled at me, a tiny exhausted smile. "You always succeed."
I couldn't get rid of the impression that Leo wasn't finished as we were leaving the boardroom. Somewhere there was a loose thread that I had to remove before it came undone.
I was sitting in my flat later that night, with only the faint glow from my laptop to light the space. Trying to locate the missing piece, I had spent hours going through emails, transaction records, and company files. Something that would clarify why Leo had maintained his confidence despite his demise.
Just as I was going to shut off the laptop, a message appeared on the screen. A secure email is concealed within the organization's network. Although it wasn't from Leo's account directly, I could identify the alias because it was a fictitious one he had used in past transactions. I clicked on it and the message decrypted, my heart pounding.
My blood ran cold as I saw what I did.
The email was a blueprint, not just a message exchanged between Leo and his accomplice. An internal dismantling scheme for Prospera. Leo was collaborating with a mysterious private equity company that specialized in hostile acquisitions. Nor were they finished. Their bigger plan was slightly hampered by today's boardroom triumph. They were already beginning to suck off important assets, setting the stage for an eventual takeover that would completely deprive Amelia of anything.
With the betrayal finally settling in, I just gazed at the television. Bigger players were involved here, but Leo had only been a pawn. Furthermore, they were pursuing Amelia in addition to Prospera. It was intimate.
I picked up my phone and sent Amelia a message. On the second ring, she responded, her voice sluggish from fatigue.
"Lucas"
I continued, my voice taut with haste, "We've got a bigger problem." It wasn't only Leo working. A private equity firm or an external entity is involved. They intend to take over the business internally.
The other end of the line paused for a long time. "Are you positive?"
"The emails are with me. We have to move quickly, so I'll email them to you. They are in motion already.
Amelia fell silent for a moment before speaking again, this time with a steely, determined tone. "Come to work with me. We're not going to let them have this.
As I sent her the data, my heart was pounding when I hung up. Leo was no longer the exclusive focus of this. We were running out of time to thwart the plot as it became more complex.
Amelia had already been at the office when I got there, pacing the floor while she read over the emails I'd sent her. She had a pallid face and a serious attitude.
With a tense voice, she remarked, "They've been planning this for months." "Longer than we anticipated."
I nodded, my thoughts whirling. Leo was only one element of the whole. The person holding the strings needs to be identified.
With unwavering resolve, Amelia directed her gaze towards me. "Let's then reveal them. Every single one of them."
Though I was aware that the fight was far from done, I felt a fresh sense of purpose as I stood there with Amelia. We had experienced treachery, but now that we knew the truth, we planned to utilize it to expose everyone who had plotted against us.
It wasn't the end of the Prospera war. But we were not going to give up.