He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

"Yes, you probably should," Nicholas said, looking his father dead in the eye. "But I am not letting you blame me for Richard’s face being plastered all over the media. That little performance was entirely his doing."

"Nonsense," Richard spat, the word cutting through the tense, air-conditioned chill of the room.

Nicholas turned from Henry, fixing a sharp, venomous gaze on his brother. "Richard is up there because he completely disrespected this company, this board, and the very title of president by blowing up his personal life in public. He couldn’t even manage the basic decency to keep his fraternizing behind closed doors."

Roxanne’s jaw tightened, the cold bite of the words hitting her like a physical slap, but she forced herself to remain perfectly still, her hands folding tightly in her lap.

Richard’s gaze flicked to Roxanne for a fraction of a second, his expression softening with a flash of protective guilt before he turned back to his brother. He gave a slow nod. "You’re right about one thing, Nick. I made a mistake. But everyone in this room can see the actual truth here. You are nothing but a coward taking the coward’s way out."

Nicholas let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Hey, I’d rather be a coward than a disgraceful president."

Richard actually smiled, a cold, dangerous expression that didn’t reach his eyes. He shook his head. "If you wanted this chair so badly, you should have worked harder. You should have built a real case and challenged my position like a man, instead of throwing a tantrum from the shadows."

Nicholas scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "There is no winning with this family, and you know I only pick battles I can actually win. So right now? I am completely done with all of you. I’m going to the Riggs Group."

He let out a breath, a smug smirk spreading across his face. "God, it feels incredible to finally say that out loud."

"This isn’t happening," Pamela murmured, her voice barely audible as she stared at him, shaking her head in utter disbelief.

Nicholas flashed her a patronizing smile, but when his eyes snapped back to Richard, the warmth vanished, replaced by an icy glare. "You better watch your back, Richie. Because I am taking every single piece of inside knowledge, every strategy, and every secret about Vance Enterprises straight to Thomas Riggs. You know exactly what that means. This is just the absolute beginning of your downfall."

He marched directly up to Margaret and forcefully snatched his phone right out of her hand.

Margaret’s eyes swam with unshed tears, her fingers trembling against her dress as she looked up at her son. "I forbid you to leave this room, Nicholas."

"If you walk out that door, I am entirely done with you." Henry’s voice cut through the air, quiet but heavy enough to anchor the room. "You cease to be a Vance."

Nicholas went rigid, his jaw tightening as the absolute finality of his father’s words sank in. He let out a long sigh, the arrogance briefly slipping to reveal a hollow exhaustion. "Then I guess this is goodbye."

Margaret’s face twisted in pure agony, her eyes begging him to stay, even as her stiff upper lip refused to let her plead out loud. "You don’t mean that, Nick."

Nicholas stepped closer, leaning down to press a cold, brief kiss against her cheek. "Goodbye, Mother. This is the very last time I will ever stand this close to you. Because starting today, we are on completely opposite sides of the fence."

He turned to walk away, but Margaret lunged forward, her fingers clamping around his forearm with a surprising force. "You wouldn’t dare," she whispered, a single tear finally breaking free and tracing down her pale cheek.

Nicholas looked down at her hand, sighed, and gently but firmly peeled her fingers off his sleeve. "Goodbye, Mother."

Margaret swallowed hard, quickly wiping the wetness from her face, her chest heaving as she tried to regain her composure.

Richard watched the interaction, slowly shaking his head as if he could already see the tragic end of his brother’s arc. "You are a bigger fool than I thought if you can’t see that Thomas Riggs is just using you as a pawn. You are literally arming our enemy to destroy your own inheritance."

Nicholas looked back over his shoulder, his smirk returning, sharp and defensive. "Let’s see who ends up being right, brother. Don’t worry, I’ll keep a spare room in my basement for when you inevitably lose everything."

He turned fully toward the door, raising his voice so it echoed across the long table. "Gear up, Vance Enterprises. Your new rival CEO is coming for absolutely everything you own."

The entire family, the stunned board members, and the silent investors watched in a heavy, suffocating silence as he turned his back on them.

Margaret took a sharp, gasping breath and staggered back a step, her hand flying to her heart as she watched her son walk away. Richard instantly stepped in, catching her by the elbow and holding her steady, his eyes boring into Nicholas’s retreating back.

"He’ll be back, Mother," Richard murmured, his grip firm.

"Don’t count on it!" Nicholas called out, his tone mockingly cheerful as he neared the exit.

"He is no longer my son," Henry stated. The words were completely devoid of emotion, hard and final enough to freeze Nicholas right in his tracks, just a few feet from the door. Henry didn’t even look at him. "Make sure he never sets foot on my premises."

But just as the two guards stepped forward to grab Nicholas again, a sudden, chaotic chorus broke out.

One phone vibrated. Then another. Then another.

Within seconds, the entire room erupted in a chorus of buzzing phones. Every executive instinctively reached for their device.

The color drained from the first man’s face. "Oh, no."

What the hell is going on now? Roxanne thought, her pulse suddenly hammering against her ribs as an icy wave of dread washed over her.

"Has— has anyone looked at what was just dropped into the senior executives’ group chat?" one of the board members asked, his voice suddenly sounding reft of air, his eyes wide with absolute shock.

The room went completely still.

Every brow furrowed in unison as, one by one, the executives reached for their devices, their thumbs frantically typing in passcodes to open the shared screen.

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