Chapter 56
Chapter 56:
“Don’t play dumb,” June said. She leaned over the desk, palms flat on the wood. “The poisoned batch came from your trucks. Your logistics network. You signed the vendor contract with Richard p>
Cole frowned. He picked up the report and scanned it. He genuinely had not known about the swap. He had approved funding for a protest, yes — but the logistics integration was not supposed to happen for weeks.
The accusation burned regardless.
“You think I did this?” Cole dropped the paper. “You think I would poison people to get back at you p>
“I think you would do anything to win,” June said. “You funded Richard. You unleashed him on me. And now Brogan has a concussion and a boy is in a wheelchair p>
𝘈𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯
“I did not order any poison!” Cole stepped forward, his hands clenched. The accusation itself enraged him, but the mention of Richard made a muscle in his jaw twitch. He could not deny that part, and it closed around his throat like a hand.
He walked around the desk and stood over her, using his height the way he always did when he wanted to push someone back. It was pure reflex.
“Use your head, June. If I wanted to destroy Apex, I would buy it and shut it down. I would not swap batch labels like a common criminal p>
“Criminal is exactly what you are,” June said, holding her ground. “You’re simply a wealthy one p>
“Mr. Compton p>
Sarah, the assistant, rushed into the room, breathless. “Security is on their way up — I tried to stop her, but p>
Cole did not look at her. His eyes stayed on June.
“You’re fired,” Cole said.
Sarah went still. “What p>
“You allowed an intruder access to this floor,” Cole said, his voice completely flat. “An hostile, irrelevant person. Pack your things p>
June flinched as though the word had made contact.
Irrelevant.
He was using the assistant to wound her. To demonstrate, in real time, exactly how little she mattered.
Sarah burst into tears and ran from the room.
“Are you proud of yourself?” June asked, her voice unsteady for the first time. “Bullying your own secretary p>
“I’m removing incompetence from my office,” Cole said. He stepped closer, erasing the space between them. “Just as I should remove you p>
“Try it,” June said. “I’ll sue you for everything you have p>
“Sue me?” Cole let out a short, hollow laugh. He reached out and took hold of her chin, forcing her face up toward his. “With what? This?” He flicked the report off the desk. “This proves nothing except that you’re paranoid.” His fingers were warm against her skin. Uncomfortably warm.
June knocked his hand away. “Don’t touch me. Your hands are dirty p>
Cole recoiled as though she had burned him. A flash of something raw moved across his face — genuine and unguarded — before he buried it instantly behind a sneer.
“Get out,” Cole said. He turned his back to her. “Before I have you removed p>
June straightened her coat. She felt hollowed out. She had come for justice and had gotten nothing but humiliation.