Chapter 6 - Rising From the Ashes
While Ava was stepping into a brand-new world, Damian Cross’s life was actively disintegrating into dust.
By Monday morning, the fallout from the winter gala had reached seismic proportions. Sterling North Capital’s board of directors held an emergency 7:00 a.m. meeting. Not only had Vance Holdings officially pulled their thirty-million-dollar account, but three other major institutional investors had followed suit, citing reputational risk associated with Damian’s toxic public behavior.
Damian sat in the glass-walled boardroom, sweating profusely through his expensive suit.
“Mr. Cross,” the senior managing partner said coldly, sliding a manila folder across the mahogany table. “Your contract is terminated effective immediately. Security will escort you out and collect your security badge.”
“Sir—please!” Damian stammered, standing up in desperation. “You can’t do this! I brought in the Henderson account! I worked my entire life to get here!”
“You got here because you rode the coattails of a woman you didn't appreciate, and you fell because you thought your arrogance made you bulletproof,” the partner snapped. “Get out.”
Humiliation, dark and bitter, burned in Damian’s chest. As security guards escorted him out of the building and dumped his cardboard box of personal belongings onto the rainy Manhattan sidewalk, reality finally set in.
He was jobless, blacklisted across Wall Street, and facing massive financial ruin.
To make matters worse, when he returned to his luxury high-rise apartment, Victoria Langford was already waiting by the door with her suitcases packed.
“Victoria, wait—let me explain—” Damian pleaded, holding his cardboard box.
Victoria looked at him with icy disgust. “My father read the dossier Vance Holdings compiled on you. Not only are you financially radioactive, but you’re a small, pathetic man who bullied a woman who paid your tuition. Don't ever call my phone again, Damian.”
May you like
She stepped past him into a waiting black SUV, leaving Damian standing alone in the rain outside his building, clutching a box of useless desk trinkets.
Karma, it seemed, had a very sharp memory.
