Chapter 12 - What He Tried to Burn
The client was worth nearly a third of the company’s revenue.
Losing it would hurt.
Losing it while the finances were already strained could finish us.
Anton knew that.
He had spent four years learning which walls held the building up.
Now he was trying to pull one out.
The new company had been registered three weeks earlier.
Before I came home.
Before Valerie called herself queen.
Before Anton told me he wanted the mansion.
That was the part I kept returning to.
He had planned a future in which he took the useful parts and left me the debts.
The interim operations director, Marcus Reed, called an emergency meeting.
“We need to speak to the client before he frames the story,” he said.
“Has the client agreed to move?”
“Not yet.”
I called their chief operating officer, a woman named Denise Carter.
She had known Anton longer than she had known me.
I expected resistance.
Instead, she said, “I’ve been waiting for someone to explain what’s going on.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That you froze the company’s money because he left you.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
“The company is under independent financial review. Payroll is funded. Your project team remains in place. I can provide confirmation through counsel.”
“And Anton?”
“His authority is suspended.”
Denise went quiet.
Then she said, “He told us he was taking the team with him.”
“Did he name anyone?”
Three names.
I recognized them.
All senior staff.
All still working for us.
Marcus contacted them individually.
None had agreed to leave.
One forwarded Anton’s recruitment message.
Another sent a screenshot.
He had promised bonuses the new business could not possibly afford.
The third had refused outright.
By late afternoon, Denise confirmed the contract would remain while her team reviewed the operational plan.
I sat back in my chair for the first time in hours.
Then Nina called from the office.
She had returned as payroll manager at Marcus’s request.
“Security just stopped Anton,” she said.
“Where?”
“Records room.”
My stomach tightened.
“He still had an old access card. He told the guard he was collecting personal files.”
“What did he take?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I was halfway to the elevator when she spoke again.
“Clara, the guard has him waiting downstairs.”
“Call Elise.”
“Already did.”
A pause.
“Anton says he’ll give back the files if you meet him alone.”
May you like
I stopped walking.
Even now, he thought there was still a version of me he could corner.
