Chapter 5 - The Glass Fortress
The morning of the board meeting, the air in Atlanta was thick with a storm—the kind that tore branches from trees and turned the sky a bruised purple. I didn’t dress for a funeral, nor for a war. I wore a sharp, charcoal-gray suit, my hair pulled back with a severity that matched the architecture of the Carter & Associates headquarters.
I walked into the lobby, not as the "simple" Olivia they had married off, but as the primary shareholder of every asset they relied upon. The receptionist, a woman who had once spilled coffee on me and hadn't bothered to apologize, nearly fell out of her chair.
"I have an appointment," I said, my voice cutting through the lobby’s hushed, expensive atmosphere.
"Mrs... Ms. Mercer," she stuttered, her eyes darting to her computer screen as if hoping to find a button to make me disappear. "They... they said you weren't allowed on the premises."
"They don't own the building anymore," I replied, stepping toward the elevator. "I do."
As the elevator doors opened on the top floor, the atmosphere shifted. The halls were buzzing with frantic energy. Lawyers in tailored suits were whispering in corners; the smell of stale coffee and desperation hung heavy. I pushed open the double oak doors to the boardroom.
The silence that hit was deafening. Richard sat at the head of the table, his face a mask of controlled rage. Meredith looked as if she hadn't slept in a week. Gregory, however, was staring at me with a look of terrifying, hollowed-out obsession.
May you like
"You're a long way from home, Olivia," Richard sneered, though his hands trembled as he gripped his pen. "Security has been notified to remove you."
I pulled a single chair out, sat down, and placed my leather portfolio on the mahogany surface. "Security works for the firm, Richard. And according to the updated bylaws, the firm is currently under the guardianship of the Mercer Trust. I suggest you tell them to stand down unless you want to be escorted out by the authorities instead."
