Chapter 344
“Let him,” she said. “I just saved the company twenty thousand dollars a month.”
“She fired me!” Belle wailed. “She had security throw me out like a criminal!”
Grayson was on a call. He held up one hand, his face tight, and finished the conversation before hanging up. He looked at Belle. His expression, notably, was not anger.
It was something closer to consideration.
𝗗і𝘴со𝘃𝘦𝘳 h𝘪d𝖽eո 𝘨𝘦𝗆𝘴 o𝗇 𝗴𝘢𝗅𝗻o𝗏𝗲𝘭s.𝘤𝗈𝗆
“You were fired?” he asked calmly. “On what grounds?”
“She said I was incompetent!” Belle sobbed, collapsing onto the leather sofa. “Because I didn’t take notes! You have to fire her, Gray — or shut down Carson Dynamics entirely! Burn it to the ground!”
Grayson leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers slowly on the desk.
“Did you take the notes?” he asked.
Belle stopped crying abruptly. “What? No. I told you, I’m a strategist.”
Grayson let out a long, heavy sigh. “Belle, you can’t be a strategist if you don’t understand the product.”
Belle stared at him. “Are you taking her side?”
He rose from his chair and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Manhattan. For a long moment he said nothing.
“I’m not taking sides,” he said finally, turning to face her. “I’m looking at the bigger picture.”
Belle burst into Grayson’s office at Lancaster Corp like a hurricane of tears and mascara.
“Carson Dynamics is small,” Grayson said. “It’s Isolde’s sandbox. She plays with engineers. You were never meant for that.”
Belle blinked, wiping a smear of black from her cheek. “I wasn’t?”
“Of course not.” Grayson’s voice dropped. “I’m restructuring InnoTech. Creating a new luxury lifestyle division — a billion-dollar venture focused on brand partnerships and high-profile events. It needs a public face. A President.”
He walked over and sat on the edge of the sofa beside her.
“It needs a visionary,” he said. “Not a liaison.”
Belle’s tears evaporated instantly. “President? Me?”
Grayson smiled. It was a shark’s smile — all teeth and no warmth. “The title, the office, the budget — all yours. But you need to let Isolde have this little victory.”
He leaned in closer. “Let her think she won. While we build the empire that crushes her.”
Daron McKnight entered the office without knocking, a blue folder in hand. He looked at Belle with barely concealed distaste.
“Is she calm yet?”
Belle stood and smoothed her dress, lifting her chin. “I’m better than calm. I’m a President.”
Daron rolled his eyes and handed the folder to Grayson. “The penthouse deed transfer is ready.”
“Good,” Grayson said. “I’m buying it back today.”
Belle clasped her hands together. “We get the apartment back too?”
“Yes,” Grayson said. “But Isolde has to sign in person.” He looked down at the document, his expression settling into something deliberate and cold. “I have one last condition for her.”
Isolde stood at the kitchen island with her realtor.
“Who is the buyer again?” she asked.
The penthouse was empty. It echoed.
“An LLC,” the realtor said, checking her tablet. “Titan Real Estate Group.”
.