The emergency shareholder meeting was scheduled for 8:30 a.m.
By 8:15, Blackwood Tower was surrounded.
Not by paparazzi this time.
By analysts.
Investors.
Predators.
Inside the private elevator, silence pressed heavily between them.
This wasn’t like the scandal in Chapter 4: Scandal Under the Spotlight.
It wasn’t like the calculated acquisition in Chapter 5: When Power Becomes Personal.
And it certainly wasn’t the controlled tension that began unraveling back in Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire.
This was war.
And it had started the moment Lena signed her name in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage—and unknowingly triggered the trap revealed in Chapter 6: The Clause He Never Meant to Use.
The Motion to Remove Him
The boardroom was packed.
Shareholders filled the back rows.
Screens displayed financial projections.
Performance metrics.
Growth curves.
All green.
All strong.
And yet—
A motion to remove Adrian Blackwood as CEO sat at the top of the agenda.
“For instability,” one director stated.
“For reputational volatility,” another added.
The real accusation went unspoken:
Emotional compromise.
Adrian stood at the head of the table.
Perfectly composed.
“If this is about market performance,” he said evenly, “you’ll find no weakness.”
“This isn’t about numbers,” a senior board member replied.
“It’s about predictability.”
A screen behind them flickered.
Images appeared.
Adrian and Lena at the investor dinner.
His hand at her waist.
The way he looked at her.
The pause before he denied emotional involvement in Chapter 6: The Clause He Never Meant to Use.
The board had slowed the footage.
Analyzed it.
Dissected it.
They weren’t attacking his strategy.
They were attacking his humanity.
Lena’s Decision
Lena stood slowly.
The movement alone shifted attention.
“This meeting is about control,” she said calmly.
“Mrs. Blackwood—” a director began.
“No,” she interrupted. “Let’s be clear. You amended a contract after it was signed.”
Silence.
Sharp.
“You inserted Clause 17 to ensure leverage,” she continued. “Not to protect the company. To control him.”
Murmurs spread through the shareholders.
Adrian’s gaze shifted toward her.
Careful.
Warning.
But she continued.
“If emotional attachment voids the agreement, then the only way to remove him is to prove he cares.”
The room stilled.
“And if he doesn’t?” a shareholder asked.
“Then you’ve built your entire motion on speculation.”
One director leaned forward.
“Are you suggesting he doesn’t care?”
The air tightened.
This was the moment.
The same kind of moment that changed everything in Chapter 2: The Price of a Signature—
When pride collided with truth.
Lena turned toward Adrian.
Their eyes met.
The history between them flashed silently:
The contract.
The balcony.
The jealousy.
The war.
The clause.
And something far more dangerous than strategy.
She faced the board again.
“I’m suggesting,” she said evenly, “that you underestimated both of us.”
Adrian’s Counterstrike
Adrian stepped forward.
Calm.
Unshaken.
“You’re correct,” he said.
Several board members straightened.
“You attempted to weaponize my marriage.”
He tapped a control on the table.
A new document appeared on screen.
Share transfer filings.
Signed.
Time-stamped.
Effective immediately.
“I exercised a contingency you overlooked.”
The room shifted uneasily.
“Over the past forty-eight hours,” Adrian continued, “I secured additional voting shares from independent investors.”
A director’s face paled.
“That’s not possible.”
“It is,” Adrian replied. “When your leadership creates instability.”
The numbers updated.
Ownership percentages changed.
The board’s controlling margin shrank.
Rapidly.
“You can proceed with the vote,” Adrian said calmly. “But understand this—”
His voice dropped slightly.
“—if I go, the company restructures. Immediately.”
Shock rippled across the room.
He wasn’t defending his position.
He was threatening theirs.
The Truth He Didn’t Plan to Reveal
A shareholder stood.
“Enough politics. The market wants clarity.”
He turned directly to Adrian.
“Are you emotionally involved with your wife?”
There it was.
Again.
The same question that nearly dismantled everything in Chapter 6: The Clause He Never Meant to Use.
Silence fell.
Adrian didn’t look at the board.
He didn’t look at the shareholders.
He looked at Lena.
And this time—
There was no hesitation.
“Yes.”
The word wasn’t loud.
But it shattered the room.
Gasps.
Whispers.
Shock.
“You just triggered the clause,” a director snapped.
“No,” Adrian replied calmly.
All eyes turned to the screen.
Clause 17.
Highlighted.
Then another page appeared.
An amendment filed at 2:07 a.m.
Signed by corporate counsel.
Signed by Adrian.
Signed by—
Lena.
She stared.
Her breath caught.
He had woken her last night.
Asked her to trust him.
Asked her to sign something “to neutralize the risk.”
She hadn’t read the details.
She had trusted him.
The amendment removed the emotional breach provision entirely.
The board’s leverage—
Gone.
“You removed it,” Lena whispered.
He didn’t look away from her.
“You were never meant to be a liability.”
The boardroom erupted into argument.
But it was already over.
The motion to remove him collapsed.
Votes shifted.
Power recalculated.
Adrian Blackwood remained CEO.
Not because he denied feeling.
But because he chose it.
After the War
The tower slowly emptied.
Silence returned.
Lena stood alone in the now-empty boardroom when Adrian approached.
“You trusted me,” he said quietly.
“You didn’t give me much choice.”
He stepped closer.
“Are you angry?”
She studied him.
“You risked everything.”
“Yes.”
“For the company?”
He shook his head once.
“No.”
The simplicity of the answer struck deeper than any confession.
This wasn’t like the fragile beginning in Chapter 1: The Contract Marriage.
It wasn’t the negotiation of Chapter 2: The Price of a Signature.
It wasn’t the tension of Chapter 3: A Performance of Desire.
It wasn’t the jealousy of Chapter 4: Scandal Under the Spotlight.
It wasn’t even the calculated dominance of Chapter 5: When Power Becomes Personal.
This was different.
This was choice.
His hand slid around her waist.
Steady.
Certain.
“No more clauses,” he said softly.
“No more leverage.”
Her heartbeat thundered.
“And no more pretending.”
The space between them disappeared.
Not for performance.
Not for power.
But because neither of them stepped back.
This time—
There was no interruption.
To Be Continued…
The board has fallen silent.
The clause is gone.
The war is over.
But power always demands a price.
In Chapter 8, someone from Adrian’s past will return—
And this time, it won’t be for business.