The Lies Behind Her Marriage novel Chapter 196

Inherited Rage.

“Let’s not pretend neutrality exists anymore.” Melvin warned the co-board members who met with him for dinner on a Thursday evening. “But I’m telling you, Sterling and his family are going down!”

“And you all helped me get this far, so there is no backing out now,” Melvin snapped.

Melvin and his companions were at an exclusive club, inside a private room, discussing their plans.

With him were his wife, Jean; three board members — Graham Whitlock, Jonathan Pierce, and Miriam Rhodes.

Of course, the plan to overthrow Sterling would not work without someone working from the inside. The company’s Director of Finance, Oliver Kent, was present, along with the Director of Clinical Affairs, Dr. Cassandra Vale, and the most tenured Sales Manager, Rahul Khanna. They were the ones helping Melvin stir up trouble for the company. Their only request was promotion and a fat paycheck.

“I’m not backing out,” Cassandra said. “I could never forget how Silas gave my position to Serena. I should have been the Director of Research and Development. Now, I’m only handling the trials.”

“I built half of the early models,” Cassandra claimed. “I wrote the first clinical protocols. And he handed innovation to someone who just walked back in.”

“Serena only got her position because she is Silas’s sister!” Cassandra added.

“You deserved R&D. Everyone knows that,” Melvin said to Cassandra, but deep down, he rolled his eyes.

Cassandra may have come up with several innovations, but it was really Serena’s AI Body Scanner that took off like a rocket, leaving Cassandra’s prototypes buried in the smoke.

Melvin would not say that, though. He still needed Cassandra.

“What about me? I’m the most tenured Sales Manager, but Silas promoted Ariana as Sales Director last year?” Rahul complained. “I trained Ariana. I opened half of those hospital contracts. And Silas hands her the director title? What does tenure even mean in that company anymore?”

“You have three children, don’t you? And Silas thinks loyalty doesn’t deserve reward,” Melvin rubbed it in.

Of course, Melvin knew why Rahul was never promoted. Rahul may have been good at closing deals, but he was unreliable when it came to after-sales delivery. It was Ariana who ensured hospitals received proper onboarding, compliance documentation, and post-installation support.

Rahul could secure a signature, but he rarely stayed long enough to protect the relationship.

“I could never forget how they kicked out Charles and Stella,” Miriam revealed. “First, Sterling forces them to liquidate. Then he absorbs the shares himself. That’s not leadership — that’s control.”

To Miriam, it had been humiliating to watch Charles and Stella lose everything over a mistake that wasn’t entirely theirs. She had repeatedly expressed that Serena was still lucky that Stefan was willing to marry her.

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