Melanie felt cold inside. Even as the board members continued to talk and chat, throwing words of welcome toward the brothers, she barely heard them. Their voices were just a distant hum, meaningless noise against the storm raging in her mind. Her entire focus remained on what she had seen just before stepping inside.
A hollow ache settled deep in her chest, and all she wanted to do was leave—slip away unnoticed and find some dark, quiet corner where she could curl into a ball and let the weight of it all crush her. She wanted to cry, to grieve the shattering of her first love, the betrayal that had left a deep, gaping wound, and the loss of the innocent self she could never reclaim. But she wouldn't. Not yet.
There would be time for that later—when she had the luxury of solitude. Right now, she had to keep herself together. She had to focus on what mattered: stopping Spencer from taking over as chairman.
The irony wasn't lost on her. She had set this in motion herself. She had prepared everything, made the necessary arrangements, even convinced the board members to support Spencer's appointment. And now, she was trying to undo it.
The problem was, the board was evenly divided. Some believed there was no need for change, that things were running smoothly under her leadership. Others, however, had never truly accepted her as the head of the company. They were simply waiting—biding their time—until she finally stepped down and handed everything over to Spencer.
If she cast her vote against him now, the results would be tied. And Spencer would know. He would realize that she was the one who had turned against him at the last moment.
Melanie exhaled quietly, lowering her gaze to her fingers.
There was only one man who could shift the balance.
She could feel his eyes on her, watching her with an intensity that made her skin prickle. She hesitated before looking up, her gaze locking onto his for a brief, electric moment before she quickly looked away.
Adam Collins.
There was something about the way he looked at her that always made her uneasy, like he could see straight through her, peeling back every layer, exposing things she wasn't ready to confront.
Inevitably, her eyes met his again.
Would he support her? Could she count on him?
As if sensing her unspoken question, Adam raised an eyebrow, then lifted the small bottle of water in his hand. Without breaking eye contact, he tipped it slightly in her direction before taking a slow sip.
Melanie shook her head at herself. She was being foolish. Adam Collins wasn't a mind reader. Why would he, of all people, be able to guess what she wanted?
A sudden nudge against her foot made her blink.
She turned, finding Laela watching her with a meaningful expression. It took her a moment to register what was happening, but then she noticed the voting slips being passed around.
It was time to cast a vote.
The casting of the vote was a routine affair—simple, almost mechanical. Twenty-one board members, each handed a slip of paper, tasked with writing a single word: Yes or No. A word that would decide the future of the company.
Melanie tightened her grip on her pen, her pulse drumming in her ears. She had to brace herself for the inevitable, steel her heart against whatever came next. It was her mistake and she would pay for it.
But then—before the first vote could be cast—Adam knocked on the table in front of him once. Just once.
Yet, the sound carried through the room like a command, sharp and deliberate. Conversations halted mid-sentence, pens froze above paper, and every head turned in his direction. A strange, almost unnatural stillness settled over the boardroom, as if the very air had thickened with anticipation.
Melanie frowned, her fingers tightening slightly around the pen in her hand. Once again, she found herself unable to understand why this man's presence was so commanding.
Adam Collins was an enigma. Even now, he stood out starkly against the sea of perfectly tailored suits and polished appearances, the only one in a worn leather jacket that should have made him seem out of place. Instead, he owned the space around him, his presence looming larger than anyone else in the room.
He was the black sheep of the Collins family—the man who had walked away from it all long before Melanie had even met Spencer. And yet, despite his absence over the years, there was something about him that seemed deeply rooted in the company's history.
She had seen it the moment he entered. The way the older board members had reacted—flashes of recognition, surprise, even a hint of unease—told her that Adam Collins was not just a familiar name. He was someone they had not expected to return.
But the most telling reaction had come from Spencer.
Her husband—No, she corrected herself, he wouldn't be her husband for much longer if she had anything to say about it—had stiffened at the sight of Adam in the company. Spencer had not been pleased to see him.
At this she remembered that she had not observed these two at home as well when Spencer had returned.
But one thing was clear. Just as Adam seemed to think little of Spencer, Spencer had no love lost for Adam either.
Something was going on here and she had no idea what. But as she sat there, she realized... she didn't even want to know.
And then Adam started to speak," Before we sit here and cast this vote, I have one simple question to ask- Director Spencer Collins, what have been your achievements and contribution to this company that makes you qualified to stand here and take this position?"