The Heartless Alpha’s Beloved Luna (Avery and Gideon) novel Chapter 588

Avery’s POV

The three shareholders were already waiting for me in the boardroom when I entered, sitting in a perfect line, backs perfectly straight, rigid like they’d been there all night waiting for me. I stopped in the doorway and looked at them in their matching expensive suits, the same haircuts, the same three watches that cost more than most people’s salaries.

I stood there and I noticed all of these things, and yet I couldn’t remember their names.

I had known these men for years, and I still could not have said with any honesty which was which. They were all so similar that looking at them felt like looking at three monkeys in finery. Maybe they were distinguishable to each other—jury was still out on that one, though—but not to me.

“Avery.” The middle one stood and extended his hand. “There she is. We were starting to think you had run off on us.”

“You look refreshed,” said the one on the left. His eyes went to my braid, flicking over my casual attire in the process. Jeans and a sweater and the same beat-up boots I always wore when out picking herbs in the forest. Nothing fancy. Nothing business-appropriate. “The hair is… interesting.”

“Thank you,” I said, and sat down across from them.

“So.” The one on the right laced his fingers together. “The fragrance. Marketing is ready to move the second the formula locks. We’ve penciled the reveal for the spring window, we’ve got two glossies holding cover space, and frankly, after the quarter we just had, the timing could not be better. Walk us through where we are.”

I looked at the little vial in my palm for a moment. Still empty. Still dusted with dirt.

“There’s no product,” I said, looking up at them.

The three of them blinked at me, one after another.

“The formula’s not finished?” the middle one asked. “Fine. The window was a little too tight anyway. Perhaps we could shift to a summer launch—”

“We’re not doing that.” I set the empty vial on the table, watching as their faces paled in unison at the sight of—gasp—dirt on the mahogany. “The perfume isn’t launching. Not in spring, not in summer. It doesn’t exist, and it isn’t going to. And as of this afternoon, I’m no longer your CEO.”

Silence fell.

After a moment, the one on the left laughed and looked at the other two for backup that didn’t come. “Okay,” he said. “Is this a renegotiation? Because if we’ve been too harsh on you, that’s a conversation we can absolutely—”

“It’s not a negotiation. I’m stepping down, and I’m selling the company.”

All three sat up at once.

“Selling,” the middle one repeated carefully.

I nodded.

“Do you have any idea what your position is worth right now?” the one on the right asked.

“To the dollar,” I said. “Which is convenient, because that’s the price.”

They stared at me. The one on the left looked like he was about to be sick.

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