Page 26 of Suddenly Desired (APEX Billionaires’ Club #2)
BLAKE
It was as if the floor had opened up beneath his feet. Blake felt so dizzy he had to sit down, and even then the sense of vertigo was overwhelming. He looked at David, at the way his friend’s face was masked with sadness.
“What?” he asked him in little more than a whisper.
“I’m afraid there is no evidence to show that Michelle tampered with Blake’s account,” said David. “As she says, the posts were made when they were still together. Blake’s accusations don’t make any sense. And from my own research, the posts were made when Blake did have access to his devices.”
“David, why are you saying this?” Blake asked, but it was as if he had lost his voice.
“As for the claim that he was at the hospital without his phone, that is a lie,” David went on.
“I remember that occasion well. Blake called me from a hospital phone after he arrived and asked me to bring his over so that he could work while they were waiting for news.” He turned to Blake and sighed dramatically.
“I can’t cover for you anymore. I’ve put up with it for too long.
Michelle is right, Blake has always been this type of man.
Even when we were at university. I’ve kept it to myself because we were friends and we were building Heartbook, but this is too much. Blake, it’s time for you to leave.”
Blake opened his mouth to reply, but what good would it do? Michelle and David were working together, and Blake understood that this wasn’t just a random hack, or a revenge plan. It was a coup. They were trying to take over his company.
And they had won.
“Is there anything you want to say?” Agnes asked, a look of disgust on her wrinkled face. They were all staring at him with the same expression, and it broke his heart to see it.
“These are lies,” Blake said. “I’m innocent. But I don’t have any way to prove it.”
“Then you leave us no choice,” said Maurice.
“I hereby call a vote to terminate Blake Fielding’s contract with Heartbook PLC, to strip him of his rights as a board member, to begin efforts to reclaim his shares in the company, and to permanently ban him from the network. Please raise your hand if you agree.”
Agnes hesitated, and Blake loved her for it, but eventually her shaking hand rose.
Even Mike didn’t seem too keen to swing the axe for the executioner’s blow.
This was a huge moment — they were about to assassinate the king.
There was no going back. All the same, after a few seconds, his hand shot up too.
“I’m going to abstain,” said David. “Out of respect for our friendship.”
The hypocrisy lit a fire of rage inside Blake, but he stamped down on it. One more vote and he was out, and it didn’t take a genius to know where it would come from.
“I agree,” said Michelle, and even though Blake couldn’t bear to look at her, he could hear the smile in her voice. “He needs to go.”
“Then we have it,” said Maurice. “The motion is passed. Blake, for the record, I am truly sorry that your behaviour has led to this. Your family will be heartbroken. You will address the press conference now, and then you will be escorted from the site. I hereby formally terminate your contract with Heartbook.”
Blake watched them stand and drift out of the room.
“Be outside the main doors in five minutes, please,” said Agnes. “We expect you to do this quickly, Blake. This is about Heartbook shares and Heartbook jobs. If you don’t go quickly and quietly then it’s lost. Do the right thing, Blake.”
She left, and only David and Michelle remained.
Blake stared at them, his anger a live wire sparking dangerously. “This isn’t over.”
Michelle laughed, a sound like shattered glass. “Oh, Blake. It’s over. You’re over.”
And then, as if to twist the knife, she leaned towards David, pressing her lips to his. It was a slow, deliberate kiss, a final declaration of their alliance.
Blake’s heart thundered in his chest, but he refused to give them the satisfaction of a reaction.
They walked out, the door swinging shut behind them and plunging Blake into a silence worthy of the grave.