Chapter 5 - The Fall of the Crown Prince
The following morning, the executive wing on the thirty-fifth floor of the Sterling Grand was quieter than a tomb.
Derek Hale stood behind his glass-walled office desk, violently sweeping personal items into a cardboard box. Photos of corporate retreats, silver-plated pen sets, and laminated award plaques crashed into the bottom of the box.
His phone buzzed incessantly on the desk. He ignored it.
The door pushed open, and Evan Brooks walked in, uninvited.
Derek snapped his head up, his face twisted with venom. “Are you here to gloat, Evan? Did you enjoy watching a ten-year-old child humiliate me in front of the board?”
“I didn't watch a child humiliate you, Derek,” Evan said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. “I watched a child fix your catastrophic lie. You told Maxwell Sterling your team was fully bilingual. You let a four-hundred-million-dollar deal nearly collapse because your ego was too big to admit you couldn't understand an overseas amendment.”
“She’s a waitress’s daughter!” Derek shouted, slamming a stapler onto the desk. “She doesn’t belong in the corporate suite! This is my life! I spent fifteen years climbing this ladder!”
“And you fell off because you stepped on the people beneath you,” Evan replied coldly. “HR is processing your termination papers right now. Security is waiting downstairs to escort you out through the loading dock. Don't make a scene, Derek. It doesn't suit your brand.”
Derek stared at Evan with naked hatred, realizing that the game was entirely over. Without another word, he snatched his box, shoved past Evan, and walked down the hallway for the very last time.
Downstairs in the grand lobby, the marble floors shone as brightly as ever. Guests walked across them, completely unaware of the political earthquake that had just reshaped the leadership of the hotel.
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And near the concierge desk, Grace Bennett stood wiping down a brass railing, her head held higher than it had been in years.
She wasn't hiding anymore. She was part of the history of the Sterling Grand.
