The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 483

Christian took his seat at the head of the table, an extensive proposal placed perfectly in front of him. He flipped open the cover, scanned a single page, snapped it shut, and tossed it into the center of the table. The sound wasn't loud, but in the suffocating silence of the boardroom, it hit like a live grenade.

"Who authorized this garbage?"

Mr. Crawford stood up, beads of cold sweat already pooling on his forehead. He wiped his brow, his voice trembling. "Mr. Lancaster, my department—"

"Scrap it," Christian cut him off with lethal precision. "I want a completely new strategy on my desk by tomorrow morning."

Mr. Crawford froze. "Sir, my team has been building this for two months. We've revised it five times—"

"Five times?" Christian snapped his gaze upward, locking onto the man. His eyes were glacial, staring at Mr. Crawford as if he were already a corpse. "Five iterations and this is the absolute best you can produce? Is it your total lack of competence, or your pathetic work ethic?"

Mr. Crawford's face burned crimson. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but under the crushing weight of Christian's stare, the words evaporated.

Dismissing him entirely, Christian snatched the next file. "Where's Finance? The mid-year audit numbers do not align. Explain."

The CFO scrambled to his feet, his vocal cords tight and the folder in his hands visibly shaking. "Mr. Lancaster, we're currently adjusting several ledgers, and by next week we should—"

"Next week?" Christian's voice dropped dangerously low. "You're telling me next week? Are you the Chief Financial Officer of this company, or am I?"

The CFO ducked his head, terrified to breathe. The air was vacuumed straight out of the room; every single executive sat paralyzed, praying to God they weren't the next target.

Christian slammed the file shut and stood up. His leather chair scraped violently against the floor.

"You all have exactly three days to rectify every single failure in these reports. If you can't manage that, draft your resignations." He paused, turning his dead eyes to Mr. Crawford. "And you're fired. Report to HR tomorrow to clear out your desk."

Absolute silence reigned. Mr. Crawford turned white as a sheet. His lips trembled as he tried to speak, but the executive next to him discreetly yanked him back down. Grabbing the top folder, Christian turned and stalked out of the boardroom. The heavy door clicked shut behind him.

The boardroom instantly erupted.

"What the hell happened to him?" someone whispered, genuine terror lacing their voice.

"He used to give us extensions on revisions! Terminating a director on the spot? That's insane—"

"Keep your mouth shut and start working. Did you see his face? Anyone who gets in his way is dead meat."

"He didn't call us in for an emergency meeting. He called us in to be his punching bags."

"Keep your voice down! Do you want to join Crawford in the unemployment line?"