Chapter 136
Chapter 136
Cecil slammed her hands on the desk, sending a stack of papers flying to the floor. Her chest rose and fell with sharp breaths as she grabbed the nearest glass vase and hurled it against the wall. It shattered on impact, glass fragments scattering across the floor. The sound wasn’t enough to drown out the words from the news broadcast still playing on the large screen mounted on the wall.
Her name was everywhere. Her foundation–her legacy–was being torn apart in front of the entire world.
She grabbed the remote and flung it at the screen. The device bounced off the glass harmlessly, but the headlines remained. More accusations. More so–called evidence. All those years of carefully crafting her image, of making sure every trace of her mistakes disappeared–it was all crumbling.
A maid hesitated near the door, hands clenched in front of her apron. She took a cautious step forward, eyes flicking to the broken glass on the floor.
“Madam, please—”
Cecil whirled around and grabbed the porcelain figurine from her desk. The maid barely had time to move before it smashed against the doorframe, missing her by inches. The woman flinched, backing away.
“Get out!” Cecil snapped. She didn’t need their pity. She didn’t need their nervous glances or their useless attempts to calm her down.
Another maid stepped in, trying to collect the shattered glass from the floor, but Cecil swept an arm across her desk. knocking everything off. Documents, pens, her phone–everything hit the ground in a chaotic mess.
“I said get out!”
The maids scrambled toward the door, hurrying to escape before she could throw something else. The heavy wooden doors slammed shut behind them, leaving Cecil standing in the middle of the wreckage. Her hands trembled.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. No one was supposed to find those records.
She dragged a hand through her hair, gripping the strands before letting go and pacing toward the window. San Francisco stretched out below her, but all she could see was her own reflection—the image of a woman who had just lost everything.
She spun back around, her gaze locking onto her secretary, who had been standing near the bookshelf, frozen in place.
“Did you find out anything?” she asked.
“N–nothing for now Madam we are waiting for- “
“Why the hell are you here, then? Find out who did this,” she demanded. “Now.”
The man barely swallowed before nodding. “I’ll make some calls.”
“Don’t call me until you have a name,” she snapped. “I don’t care what you have to do. Bribe someone. Threaten them. Dig until you find who leaked those files.”
The secretary nodded stiffly and hurried out.
Cecil braced herself against the desk, gripping the edge so tightly her knuckles turned white. No matter what it took, she was going to find the person responsible. And when she did, they would regret ever thinking they could bring her down.
“Where is Renard!?” she yelled.
“M–Madam-” a maid answered. “The Old Master is still in his office, and his–his secretary informed us that he will not be
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answering calls for now.”
“What?”
Cecil’s fingers curled into fists. Her entire body tensed with rage as she turned sharply toward the maid.
“I am his wife!” she snapped. “Why isn’t he here when I need him?”
The maid flinched but said nothing, her head bowed as if waiting for another object to be thrown.
Cecil grabbed her phone from the mess of papers on the floor and immediately dialed Renard’s number. She pressed the device to her ear, her other hand shaking as it hovered over the desk.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Then–nothing.
The call didn’t even go to voicemail. It was unreachable.
Her grip tightened around the phone as she redialed. The same result.
“Damn it!” she hissed, slamming her palm against the desk.
The screen lit up with an incoming call, and for a split second, she thought it was Renard. But the number flashing on the screen made her stomach turn.
A major news outlet.
Her thumb hovered over the answer button, but at the last second, she swiped to decline. Before another call could come through, she powered the phone off and tossed it onto the desk.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly. The silence in the room was suffocating. Her own reflection in the darkened TV screen looked nothing like the woman she was supposed to be–poised, powerful, untouchable.
Now, she was cornered.
Her pulse pounded in her ears. The betrayal. The humiliation. The fact that Renard, the one person who was supposed to be on her side, was ignoring her calls.
With a sharp breath, she grabbed the nearest object–a heavy glass paperweight–and hurled it at the wall.
The impact sent shards flying across the room.
The maid near the door took another cautious step back, barely breathing.
Cecil ran a hand through her hair, her nails scraping against her scalp. She had spent years perfecting her image, controlling every single narrative, ensuring that no one had leverage over her.
And yet, someone had just ripped it all away.
Her hands trembled before she clenched them into fists again.
She wasn’t going down like this.
She turned toward the door, her eyes cold.
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“Bring me my laptop,” she ordered. “Now.”
The maid rushed to obey, disappearing from the room.
Cecil exhaled, steadying herself. If no one was going to save her, she would have to save herself.
The maid hurried back into the room, carefully setting the laptop on Cecil’s desk before retreating toward the door.
Cecil barely acknowledged her. She flipped the screen open, fingers flying across the keyboard as she logged in. The moment her inbox loaded, she was bombarded with a flood of emails.
Her eyes skimmed through the subjects, her jaw tightening.
Urgent: Weiss Foundation Financial Scandal – Immediate Response Required
Stockholders Demanding Explanation – Board Meeting Called for Tomorrow
Major Investors Pulling Out – Losses Expected to Escalate
Regulatory Investigation Launched – Pending Audit of Weiss Foundation Funds
Cecil’s pulse quickened. She clicked on one of the emails from Weiss Inc.’s legal team.
Madam Weiss,
Due to the ongoing allegations against the Weiss Foundation, stock prices for Weiss Inc. have dropped 17% within the last three hours. Investors are panicking, and multiple board members are requesting an emergency meeting to discuss damage control. The SEC has also issued a preliminary notice of investigation.
We strongly advise that you refrain from making any public statements until a formal legal strategy has been determined.
Cecil’s hands trembled as she reached for the trackpad. She clicked over to the stock market reports, and the moment the graphs loaded, her stomach twisted.
A steep downward plunge.
Weiss Inc. stocks were tanking in real time. The red arrows, the flashing numbers, the sheer volume of shares being sold off -it was a massacre.
Her breath caught in her throat.
This wasn’t just about the foundation anymore. This was affecting everything.
She scrolled further, clicking on a breaking news report.
“Experts predict that if the allegations against the Weiss Foundation are proven true, Weiss Inc. could suffer long–term reputational damage. Some investors have already begun divesting from the company, citing ethical concerns.”
Cecil’s grip on the laptop tightened.
Divesting?
She wasn’t just losing money. She was losing power.
Her mind raced. There had to be a way out of this. She had handled scandals before. This was just another problem to fix.
She needed to regain control before things spiraled further.
Her eyes darted across the screen, scanning for something–anything–she could use to stop this disaster. Then she saw it.
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A document attachment from the legal team. She clicked on it.
The moment the file opened, her vision blurred slightly as she took in the contents.
A formal notice from Weiss Inc.
A motion to remove her from her position as head of the Weiss Foundation.
Her blood ran cold.
A sharp ringing filled her ears.
They were cutting her out.
Her own board was preparing to oust her. Is this the reason why Renard refused to answer her calls? Was he aware about this matter!?
A wave of nausea twisted in her gut.
No.
No.
She had built this empire. She was Weiss.
Her breathing grew shallow, her fingers twitching over the trackpad.
The last thing she saw before everything went dark was the damning words on the document- Pending board approval, Cecil Weiss will be removed from her position effective immediately. Then, her body swayed, her knees buckled-
And she collapsed.
