Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 111

Chapter 111

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Marco’s phone buzzed at exadly 7:43 AM. The sound cut through his bedroom like a knife, dragging him from restless sleep. His head pounded from last night’s whiskey, his mouth dry as sandpaper. Margaret wasn’t beside him. She’d been sleeping in the guest room since their fight.

He squinted at the screen. James Rodriguez, hi chief financial officer. The man never called this early unless something was catastrophically wrong.

“What is it?” Marco’s voice came out as a croak.

“Marco, we need to talk. Now.” James sounded like he’d been awake all night. “The board called an emergency session for

nine AM

Marco sat up slowly, his head spinning. “Emergency session? About what?”

“You.” The single word hit like a sledgehammer. “They’re voting on your removal as CEO.”

The phone slipped from Marco’s fingers, clattering onto the hardwood floor. For a moment, he just stared at it, the words echoing in his brain like gunshots.

Removal. They wanted to remove him. From his planned to pass down to his children.

company. The empire he’d built with his bare hands, the legacy he’d

He picked up the phone with shaking hands. “James? James, are you still there?”

“I’m here.”

“This is insane. They can’t remove me. I’m the founder. I built this company from nothing.”

“Marco, listen to me.” James’s voice was strained, exhausted. “The fraud investigation has the shareholders spooked. Stock prices dropped another twelve percent yesterday. Three major clients canceled their contracts this week. The board has no

choice.

“No choice?” Marco’s voice cracked. “I’ve made them millionaires! Every single one of those board members owes their wealth to me!”

“That was before. This is now. And right now, you’re toxic.”

Marco stood up too fast, stumbling as the room tilted around him. His reflection caught in the mirror across the room. Wild hair, bloodshot eyes, stubble covering his jaw. He looked like a stranger. A broken stranger.

“How many votes do they have?”

James was quiet for too long. “Seven out of nine.”

“Seven?” Marco felt the blood drain from his face. “Who?”

“Everyone except Thompson and myself.”

“What about Lorenzo? I gave that man his first real job!”

“He’s leading the charge, Marco. Says you’ve become a liability the company can’t afford.”

Marco sank into the armchair by the window, his legs suddenly unable to support him. Lorenzo. The man he’d mentored for ten years. The man whose daughter he’d paid to send through college.

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Chapter 111-

There has to be something we can do,” Marco whispered. “Some way to fight this.”

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“I’ve been up all night going through the bylaws, the contracts, everything. Legally, they have the right to remove you if they can prove you’ve damaged the company’s reputation or financial standing.”

“And?”

“Marco, your face has been on every business news channel for a week. Our stock is in free fall. We’ve lost four major accounts. If I were them, I’d vote you out too.”

The words hit Marco like physical blows. He doubled over, his chest tight with panic. This couldn’t be happening. Not his company. Not everything he’d worked for.

“There has to be something.” he said again, desperation creeping into his voice. “What about my shares? I own thirty–five percent.”

“Which means you need at least sixteen percent more to block the vote. And right now, you have ‘Thompson and me. That’s maybe eight percent combined.”

Marco’s mind raced, calculating, searching for any way out of this nightmare. “What about external investors? People who owe me favors?”

“I already thought of that. But external investors don’t have voting rights on management decisions. Only board members and major shareholders.”

“Then we get new board members.”

“Marco, the meeting is in an hour.

here’s no time for…”

“There’s always time!” Marco shouted, causin

his head to throb harder. “I’m not giving up my company without a fight!”

He hung up and immediately started scrolling through his contacts. There had to be someone who could help. Someone with enough influence or money or power to tip the scales.

His finger stopped on a name. Senator Patricia Walsh. She owed him. He’d donated heavily to her last campaign, and Hart Industries had contracts with three government agencies thanks to her influence.

The phone rang twice before she answered.

“Marco? It’s quite early.”

“Patricia, I need your help. My board is trying to remove me, and I need you to make some calls.

Silence stretched across the line. Then: “Marco, I’m sorry, but I can’t get involved in your personal business troubles.”

“Personal? This is about my company, my life’s work!”

“Your personal scandals have become very public, Marco. I can’t afford to be associated with all of that.”

“All of what? I haven’t been convicted of anything!”

“The investigation alone is enough. I’m sorry, Marco. I really am. But I have to think about my own career.”

The line went dead. Marco stared at his phone in disbelief. Patricia Walsh, who’d begged him for donations just six months ago, was now too good to take his calls.

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He tried another number. David Chen, CEO of Chen Holdings. They’d done business together for years.

“David, thank God you answered, I need…”

“Marco, I can’t talk right now

“This will just take a minute. My board is trying to push me out, and I need someone with your influence to…”

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“Marco, stop.” David’s voice was firm but not unkind, “I heard about your troubles. I’m sorry, I really am. But I can’t help

you.”

“Why not? We’ve been partners for years!”

“Exactly. And I can’t risk my company’s reputation by getting involved in your mess. You understand, don’t you?”

Another dial tone. Another door slammed in his face.

Marco tried six more calls. Business associates, old friends, people he’d helped climb their own ladders of success. The responses were all the same. Polite sympathy followed by firm refusal.

By the time he finished, his hands were shaking and sweat was beading on his forehead despite the cool morning air. Everyone was abandoning him. Everyone who’d smiled and shaken his hand and called him friend was now running away as fast as they could.

He walked to his home office, a room that had once been his sanctuary. Awards and photographs lined the walls.

“Businessman of the Year,” “Entrepreneurence

Award,” pictures of him with mayors and governors and industry

leaders. All of it felt like ancient history now.

Marco pulled out a legal pad and started writing frantically. There had to be a way. Some legal loophole, some forgotten clause in the company charter. He’d built Hart Industries from a tiny startup in his garage. He knew every contract, every agreement, every piece of paper that had ever been signed.

The company bylaws. He pulled them from his file cabinet, his fingers flying through the pages. There, Section 12.4: “In the event of management disputes, a supermajority vote of sixty–seven percent is required for removal of founding members.”

Sixty–seven percent. That meant they needed six votes, not just five. Marco did the math in his head. Seven votes out of nine was seventy–eight percent. They had more than enough.

But wait. What if he could challenge the vote itself? What if he could prove bias or improper procedure?

Marco grabbed his phone and called his lawyer,

“Gerald. I need you at Hart Industries in thirty minutes. The board is trying to remove me and I need every legal weapon we

have”

“Marco, I have to advise you that fighting this might not be in your best interest. If the board has made up their minds…”

“I don’t care what they’ve decided! This is my company! I’ll burn it down before I let them steal it from me!”

The words hung in the air, raw and desperate. Marco heard himself and realized how he sounded. Like a man losing his grig on reality. But he didn’t care. He couldn’t care. His company was all he had left.

“Gerald, please. Just meet me there. Help me find a way to fight this.”

A long pause “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Marco hung up and looked around his office one more time. On his desk sat a photo from the company’s tenth anniversary 3/4

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Chapter 11

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party. Him cutting a ribbon, Lucia beside him with a proud smile. She’d been so beautiful that day, so happy about his

success

Success that was now crumbling beneath his feet

He picked up the photo, staring at Lucia’s face. This was all her fault. Her and Alexander Kane. They’d orchestrated this whole thing, destroyed his reputation, turned his own board against him.

But Marco Hart wasn’t finished yet. He’d built an empire once. He could do it again. And when he did, he’d make sure everyone who’d betrayed him paid the price.

Starting with the woman who’d promised to love him till death do them part.

Marco straightened his tie, grabbed his briefcase, and headed for the door. The board thought they could break him?

They were about to learn how wrong they were.

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