He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

"You are the most practical person in this room, Father," Richard said, staring directly at his father’s rigid back.

Henry and Margaret froze near the door, but they didn’t turn around. The silence between them was suffocating, thick with a lifetime of unspoken family secrets.

"Seeing you choose silence right now," Richard pressed, his voice dropping an octave, "is making every single one of us a thousand times more terrified."

Margaret slowly unlooped her arm from Henry’s and turned around. Her eyes were sharp, glittering with a defensive anger. "Your father has absolutely nothing to say to this room. The media and the authorities are totally free to dig. If they can somehow manage to find any dirt on him, then they are welcome to come for him."

"Because Pamela was right," the chief of legal countered smoothly, his tone clinical. "You already covered his tracks years ago."

Margaret’s nostrils flared, her chest rising and falling beneath her tailored suit. "That is entirely left for you to deduce."

"Why are you choosing silence, Mother?" Richard begged, his composure cracking as he took a step forward. "You, more than anyone else at this table, know exactly what happens to the market value if they find even a single speck of dirt."

"They will not find a thing. That is all I am going to say," Margaret shot back, her jaw locked. "Your father will not comment on this matter."

Roxanne let out a heavy, weary sigh. She shifted her gaze down the left side of the long table, watching the collective body language of the investors and board members. They were leaning into each other, a low, frantic hum of murmurs vibrating through the air.

Roxanne looked back up at Margaret, keeping her voice completely calm, almost conversational. "You are only human, Margaret. Even you could have made the tiniest mistake back then. Just look at the other end of the table, you aren’t exactly inspiring much confidence over there. I’m certain a boardroom mutiny isn’t what you want."

Henry finally turned around. His dark eyes drifted straight to the whispering executives, tracking the subtle nods passing between them. Margaret followed his gaze. For a brief, tense second, husband and wife exchanged a loaded, panicked look, but their lips remained sealed.

Finally, the board chairman stood up, the sharp scrape of his chair breaking the spell. He deliberately adjusted the crisp lapels of his jacket and cleared his throat.

"We have come to a unanimous decision," the chairman announced, his voice echoing off the wood paneled walls. "Until these allegations are resolved, we can no longer support your leadership. This board will be completely distancing itself from the Vance family moving forward. We want a total separation between Vance Enterprises and every single person sharing your surname."

"What?" Richard snapped, his temper flaring as he slammed a hand on the table. "You can’t just do that!"

"Then give us a reason not to remove you," the chairman replied coldly. "At this point, simply being associated with your family is costing this company millions in real-time, and your names are actively toxic for business. We will be issuing a public announcement to let everyone, our partners, our investors, and all global staff know that the Vance family is no longer in control of operations."

Henry took two heavy steps back toward the table, planting his palms flat on the polished wood. "You do not have the authority to do that."

"He’s right, you don’t!" Richard chimed in, backing his father up. "We still hold the controlling shares of this business. Ultimately, we call the shots."

"Owning the majority of the shares does not mean you have a birthright to the presidency or the operations," the chairman shot back, leaning across the table to match Henry’s posture.

"I will not let you strip this company away from my family!" Henry growled.

"Then tell us what the hell you are hiding!" the chairman roared back, the veneer of corporate politeness completely shattering. "Otherwise, we are going to a formal vote. Because we’ve all realized that if we don’t take drastic measures right this second, we will all be sitting here with empty pockets by the end of the week."

"We will fix the press. I already gave you my word on that," Richard insisted, casting a sharp, demanding look down the table toward the head of public relations. "Right?"

Before the PR director could even open her mouth to answer, the chairman shook his head.

"This is all just too much, Richard. We would be channeling far too many of our core resources into fixing a disaster your family manufactured. We need the easy way out here." He locked eyes with Richard. "And that means you stepping down as president. Effective immediately."

Richard scoffed, a breathless laugh escaping his throat. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Margaret shook her head, her pearls rattling against her collarbone. "That is never happening! Do you have any idea how hard we have bled for this company? The very company you are so desperate to kick us out of?"

"We all acknowledge your past efforts, Lady Vance," the chairman said, his tone dripping with condescension. "But the damage is too widespread. This is the only viable path left to save the brand."

"That’s completely ridiculous," Richard muttered.

"Is it?" the chairman asked, tilting his head. "Let’s look at the facts. The current president is currently being dragged across the internet for being in love with a madman’s wife. Nicholas just completely sold us out to our rivals, and who knows what kind of warfare Thomas Riggs is planning next? Pamela is permanently intoxicated, and now she’s leaked family secrets that could easily bring the federal authorities down on us. And to make things worse, the patriarch and matriarch of the family are clearly wrapped up in something darker than we can even fathom."

"You cannot draw a definitive conclusion like that," Richard argued, his throat tight with a mixture of loyalty and growing panic. "My father has not admitted to a single crime."

"And that silence is the exact problem," the chairman fired back. "When a man like Henry Vance keeps his mouth shut in the middle of a burning building, it can only mean one thing. His hands are too dirty, and whatever words he speaks would ruin everything instantly."

Richard exhaled sharply, the breath rushing out of him as he slowly turned his head to look at his father. The tension in his shoulders was palpable. "Will you just tell us what happened, Father? Put an end to this madness right now."

Henry looked at his son, his expression stone-cold, and slowly shook his head. Beside him, Margaret tightly gripped his hand in a firm, defiant show of support.

"The decision is made then," the chairman declared, turning back to the rest of the board. "We need to put it to a formal vote. All those in favor of demanding the Vance family’s immediate resignation from all executive tiers, say aye."

Henry’s chest heaved, his breathing turning ragged as his eyes swept across the left side of the table, watching the hands begin to rise.

Roxanne stared at him, her own heart hammering violently against her ribs. Say something, Henry. Please, just say something.

"Wait!" Henry’s voice suddenly boomed through the room, cutting the vote dead in its tracks.

Every eye in the boardroom snapped back to him, holding its breath.

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