Chapter 4 - Behind the Executive Desk
I took a seat in the leather chair across from him, keeping my spine straight and my hands folded neatly in my lap.
"I asked you here this morning because an apology in a crowded ballroom isn't sufficient," Daniel began, leaning back. "Bianca has created a toxic environment within my properties for over a year. I was blind to the full extent of it because... well, because I convinced myself she was just stressed about the wedding."
"With all due respect, Mr. Sterling," I replied evenly, "stress doesn't make someone treat human beings like dirt. Character does."
A flicker of respect crossed Daniel's sharp features. "You're right. It was a failure of leadership on my part. I allowed personal convenience to blind me to workplace harassment. Last night, when you asked if I would have believed you without your self-defense... it hit me like a bucket of ice water."
"Why did you ask where I learned that move?" I asked, curiosity overcoming my caution.
Daniel smiled faintly. "My brother was a Marine. He used the exact same joint lock when he was running combatives training. You didn't just stumble into that maneuver. It was muscle memory."
"My father was a master sergeant in the Army," I explained. "He raised three daughters alone on military bases. He made sure none of us would ever be helpless when someone laid hands on us."
Daniel nodded slowly, visibly impressed. "Your father taught you well. But now we have an immediate crisis. Richard Vance called my private line at four o'clock this morning."
I felt the temperature in the room drop. "What did he say?"
"He demanded your immediate termination, along with a public apology from the Sterling Group stating that you were erratic and unprovoked. Furthermore, he demanded Bianca and I proceed with the wedding as planned."
"And if you refuse?"
Daniel picked up a folder and slid it across the glass desk toward me. "Vance Holdings owns thirty-five percent of our flagship property's mezzanine debt. He's threatening to call the loan due within thirty days. If he does, it triggers a liquidity crisis that could cost over six hundred employees their jobs."
I stared at the numbers on the paper. The figures were astronomical—tens of millions of dollars.
"Mr. Sterling," I whispered, the gravity of the situation crashing over me. "If firing me saves those jobs—"
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"Stop right there," Daniel interrupted, his voice dropping into a register of quiet steel. "I don't sacrifice my people to satisfy the ego of a bully. Not Bianca, and certainly not her father. We are going to fight them, Grace. But I need your help."
***
