Page 125 of Code of Heart

“Now,” he said, his voice low and lethal, “we all know you’ve been choreographing this moment since the day you thought you could run this company better than me. So, if you’ll kindly proceed with this pitiful attempt at humiliation by firing me publicly…I have better things to do with my time.”

Levi relaxed in his seat, pulling his backpack onto his lap.

“Oh…and the other founders of Neuronix? Our COO, CTO, CSO, and CMO?” His eyes danced in amusement as he patted his bag dramatically. “They’re packed and ready to go.”

His smile faded, his final words carrying the weight of a storm on the horizon.

“Whatever consequences you think you’ve prepared for, Tyler…” His voice dropped into a promise. “…you’re not ready forme.”

After delivering that final promise, Levi sat in the wreckage of the empire they’d stolen, quietly waiting for Tyler to deliver the final blow.

A blow Levi didn’t think would even affect him…after what happened with Aurelia, he had already lost everything.

Everyone gathered at Isaac and Grace’s house after the Board meeting.

Levi had called it perfectly: every calculated move, every smug expression, every humiliating blow. Tyler executed his hostile takeover like a poorly written script he had been rehearsing for years. Despite knowing it was coming, nothing prepared them for the final, brutal reality of watching the company they built from nothing slip through their fingers.

One financial outlet called it “the most dramatic executive shake-up in recent history.”

Financially, they’d all be fine. That was never the worry.

Thanks to their annually renewed 10b5-1 trading plans, the moment their termination status hit the HR system, all their Neuronix stock automatically sold at top dollar. The market didn’t even have time to react before the transactions cleared.

Levi strode out of that boardroom richer than ever before. But what did it matter? They lost the only thing that meant something to them: their control in the company they bled for. No amount of wealth could buy that back.

Outside, the media frenzy exploded. Footage of the firings dominated every major network. But Levi had his own narrative to share.

He delivered the video of the Board meeting directly to the two reporters that followed him outside—and posted the now-infamous photo of him and Ivy to his public social media feed with a caption that was pure Levi:

Me and my Executive Assistant packed up and about to get fired in an “emergency board meeting.” #hostiletakeover #newsknewbeforeus #neuronix #freetime #tylerfaulknersucks #foundersfired

His friends followed suit with similar pointed posts:

Ivy, lounging with her feet up, smirking like a queen. Owen sprawled across his desk, chin resting on his fists like a bored model. Isaac dramatically tossing files into a recycling bin. Grace doodling across her reports with neon markers like she was back in kindergarten.

And when it was over, they all walked out together, finding strength in each other, smiling for the cameras as if it were another sunny day and not the collapse of their careers.

But the smiles faded the moment they stepped out of the spotlight. Now, behind closed doors, the finality of what happened was inescapable.

Levi didn’t think the day could possibly get any worse. But the universe, never one to be outdone, decided otherwise.

The sheriff’s cruiser pulled up behind him once he parked outside Isaac’s house. Before he could even open his mouth, the envelope was pressed into his hands. He was terrified to pull out the contents, but he forced himself to face it, stomach dropping as he read the cover page, the paper as heavy as a brick.

Divorce papers.

The warmth in the air evaporated, the temperature dropped, and everything turned to ice.

In an instant, the thin thread of hope he had been clinging to snapped, unraveling everything inside him. Losing the company was survivable.

But this? This…he wouldn’t recover from.

It felt like something had carved him out from the inside, scooping out every last piece until there was nothing left but an empty husk. That sudden coldness began to seep into that fresh gaping hole.

Somewhere along the way, he had fallen hopelessly in love with his wife.

The first inklings hit Levi in the early hours of the Harvest Charity Ball, but he wasn’t ready to admit it. Not until she went missing and his world stopped spinning.

And then, when she opened that hotel room door…when he saw her standing there and his heart was ripped straight from his chest, he reacted the only way his damaged soul knew how. He destroyed the one thing he couldn’t bear to lose.