POV: Elise Carter (Present)
There was a unique kind of silence in the Blackwell boardroom. It wasn't empty—it was powerful. Heavy. A place where fortunes rose or crumbled with a single vote.
I had walked through its double doors not as the Elise Carter they remembered—but as someone entirely new.
Tailored white suit, sleek heels, crimson lipstick. My hair was swept up into a severe bun, the better to showcase my cold, unreadable eyes.
"Miss Carter," Adrian's assistant greeted, eyes flickering with curiosity. "You're early."
"I prefer to assess the battlefield before the first shot is fired," I said smoothly.
She blinked. "Of course. Right this way."
The long obsidian table gleamed under the lights. At the head sat Adrian Blackwell, in a black suit sharp enough to slice bone. He didn't stand as I approached—he merely arched a brow.
"You weren't invited to this meeting."
"No," I agreed, placing my briefcase on the table and flipping it open. "But after reviewing the merger documents, I realized the Blackwell board has a legal loophole in Article 6C. The one tied to legacy voting rights through the Carter investment portfolio."
Murmurs rippled through the room as board members glanced at each other.
"You're bluffing," Adrian said.
I slid a file across the table, slow and deliberate.
"Try me."
POV: Adrian Blackwell
I leaned back in my chair, assessing her.
She was different from the girl I'd seen five years ago. Back then, she had been shattering in silence. Tonight, she was shattering expectations.
And she had come armed.
I flipped open the file. The legal jargon was accurate. Too accurate.
Elise had found something—an old clause embedded in a defunct contract from the Carter Foundation's early investment into our tech division. My legal team had flagged it once. We buried it.
She'd dug it back up.
Calculated. Elegant. Vicious.
"You came here to pick a fight?" I asked, voice low.
"No," she said, moving to the other side of the table. "I came here to claim what my family was owed—and what was stolen from me."
Her gaze flicked briefly to Tiffany, seated two chairs away.
Of course she was here.
Tiffany was now a "strategic advisor," brought on board last year after cozying up to enough stakeholders. Dressed in designer green and oozing fake charm, she hadn't even noticed I'd clocked her checking her reflection in the glass.
Now her mouth twisted into a grin. "How dramatic. Elise, sweetheart, are we really doing this?"
I turned toward her. "Tiffany."
She flinched slightly at the cold in my voice.
"Elise has every right to be here if her claim holds," I said.
That made Tiffany snap. "You're going to take her side? After everything she—"
"After everything you did?" Elise interrupted sharply. "Darling sister, we don't need to pretend here. Not anymore."
The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
POV: Elise Carter
This was it.
The room was watching us—Adrian, the board, even Tiffany's little entourage. I held the attention like a string in my hand, each word I spoke wrapping tighter around their throats.
"I've filed the claim officially," I continued. "As of this morning, I hold proxy voting power for the Carter shares. That gives me a say in today's agenda. Including the agenda item on executive restructuring."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
He knew what I was doing.
I was going after the board seat Tiffany had charmed her way into.
Tiffany laughed. "You can't just waltz in here and take my seat."
"Can't I?" I pulled out the final card. "The shares weren't under your name, Tiffany. They were under my father's trust. And I was the named beneficiary. Legally, I've held the power all along."
A beat of silence.
Then Adrian did something unexpected.
He smiled.
Not a warm smile.
No—something far more dangerous.
"Gentlemen," he said, turning to the board. "Shall we vote?"
POV: Adrian Blackwell
She was playing the long game.
And damn if she wasn't good at it.
Elise had stormed into the lion's den not with fire—but with law, logic, and lethal calm. The board respected that. Most of them were tired of Tiffany's theatrics. Elise's performance today? It reeked of legitimacy.
And power.
"Motion to transfer the Carter-proxy board seat to Elise Carter," I said. "All in favor?"
Hands rose.
I watched Tiffany pale.
Then Elise turned to her, tone velvet-smooth. "I'll have security retrieve your personal items from the office. I'm sure you'll find the lobby just as charming."
Her voice never broke.
She didn't gloat. She didn't shout.
She just took.
And I realized, with more than a little amusement, that this woman wasn't here to play the old game.
She was here to rewrite the rules.
POV: Elise Carter (Present)
As the board filed out, Adrian stayed behind. We stood alone now in the same room where fortunes shifted.
"You could've played this quietly," he said.
I smiled faintly. "But where's the fun in that?"
He stepped closer, his presence like a pressure wave.
"What's your angle?"
"You'll find out," I said. "In time."
He smirked, but his eyes were sharp. "You just declared war."
"No," I said, grabbing my briefcase. "I just won the first battle."