98

98
DOMINIC
I was livid. I did everything to cocktail the anger growing like weed in my body to no avail. They had to pay! Was was so appaling about a woman being CEO?! The paper crunched in my fists as I paced around the hallway. Raina was capable and if they were so insistent on a man being so closer to the peak, I was her fuckign COO, and I could even attest to her competence, sentiments aside. I mean the women left her hospital bed, just to make it to a stupid meeting with wolves on the hunt for blood, her blood.
I tried to wrap my head around it, but no matter how I spinned the narrative, it made no fucking sense. The pressure was unnecessary to put things lightly, absolutely useless and uncalled for. And her gender was never a problem until Jonah showed up. But it couldn't possibly be because of him, could it? It wouldn't even be right, professionally or family wise. Raina had poured her sweat into the company regardless of her gender, and she was the one who had to endure years of jumping from one orphanage to the other while I lived the lavish life she fell asleep to every night.
No. Jonah couldn't be the spark to this fire. Grandfather's will had been explicitly clear, even the uneducated could understand it with ease.
Alex barely paid any attention to me, his eyes fixed on the door that separated him from Raina who was being fuzzed over on the other side of the door.
Despite the ache blooming in my head and the urge for retribution coursing through my veins, "She'd be fine." I squeezed his shoulder for comfort. Poor guy looked like the life force had been sucked out him.
He didn't respond. I almost gave up on him responding when he finally sighed. "What the hell happened in that meeting? Why had Raina gotten so worked up?" The barrage of questions flowed easily, each one following soon after the first without giving me any time to actually respond.
"The boa-"
"I knew it was a bad idea from the start. She never should have done for that meeting. She should have been resting like the doctor advised." He groaned and shoved a hand through his hair, his frustration leaked off of him till I began to feel even more frustrated than I did before.
I shook my head. Whether or not she was there today or next week. It was inevitable. She still had to face the board, the only difference would be the later it got, the more they had to say, the more lies they cooked up against her.
"She needed to be there." I mumbled, ignoring how his eyes flared in anger the moment I said it. "They weren't supposed to be on the attack, they weren't supposed to apply that much pressure, especia-" I slammed my lips shut. The last thing he needed to hear was how they knew she was in the hospital. "The pressure wasn't supposed to be so much on her." I said instead.
"What do you mean?!" Alex snapped, his eyes wild with rage. I had been friends with him long enough to see his different phases of rage, but never like this. I shrunk back instinctively. "What rally happened in there, Dom?" He gritted, his hands tightly fisted by his side.
"They want her to step down!" I blurted, more tensed than annoyed. "And they don't want me taking over either." I added, my voice back to normal, but the emotions that raked my entire body, were anything but.
"I don- I don't understand." He faltered, the shock I felt reflected back at me.
"Me neither. It makes absolutely no sense. The company has been with the Grahams for years, not once had a Graham mismanaged or toyed with their earnings, including Raina. So if you ask me, I have no freaking idea." Something was off and even worse, I still had no freaking idea who the silent member was that started all of this to begin with. He hadn't been at the meeting. I knew every single board member down to their families. Unless one of them was secretly working under an alias, he wasn't there. No one seemed to have an actual name either. It was all so mind numbing. How was it better to hand over control to a man who would rather stay in the shadows than take what he was after himself?! How could they choose that over Raina?!
One answer. Greed. But how deeply could greed really run?
It had to be Nathan. I'd exhausted every other possible reason for a hostile take over. It wasn't the money, he or she seemed to already have a lot of it if they were willing to buy shares of board members at outrageously high rates. It wasn't power either because everyone I had asked said the same thing, he prefers to remain anonymous.
The only other reason strong enough was hatred and there was only one person with enough hatred for our family and would love nothing more than to snatch the power our name held. Nathan.
Or could it be? I shook the thought, but it still was a possibility. Nathan worked for someone once, when my car was being tailed. Could it be that person? Maybe Nathan went rogue and refused to do his bidding anymore so in narcissistic fashion, they stepped in to handle things themselves. It was a possibility. A strong one that had the knots in my stomach winding up tighter.
Alex's raw groan of frustration pulled me back to the hallway. Oh yes, frustrated Alex.
"I honestly don't even care about whatever is going on at the company, I just want Raina to be okay." He ran a hand over his face and into his hair. "Maybe it's time to take her away. Somewhere quiet and safe." He met my gaze, nothing but a cocktail of worry and fear clouded his eyes.
It wasn't the worst idea. Whoever this person was, they had a personal vendetta against the Grahams, particularly Raina. It was no longer safe for her here.
Footsteps echoed from the farthest corner of the hall and everything I had to say never left my lips.
A man in his mid thirties clad in checkered skyblue and navy blue shirt, a plain black trouser and a labcoat that covered everything underneath.
Alex was in his face in second, "how's she?" His voice was frantic, his eyes like lasers glued to the doctor.
The doctor held his shoulders and gently pushed him a decent distance away. "She's stable." He said without any gleamed of joy on his face which sent an unwanted chill through me, but he said nothing else.
A pit formed in my stomach, but I had to know, "and the baby?" I cut into their conversation.
The doctor shook his head, "Tha baby is currently in a fragile state." He sighed, but not in a defeated manner, which was hope, something could be done. "She need to actually rest this time. The more the mother stresses herself, the more she puts the child at risk." He continued, his unimpressed gaze pinned on us.
Alex was through the door in seconds. He ran into the room, not even bothering with what else the doctor had to say. I couldn't blame him. The thought of anything similar happening to Faith had fear so paralyzing coursing through me. I don't think I would even be able to function.
"So what can we do?"
"Nothing out for the ordinary really." He shrugged. "Just make sure she says calm, avoids things that are out of her control or things that stress her in general. No matter how time pressing it may seem, it wouldn't be worth it." He advised. Again.
"Okay. That's doable." I nodded slowly, processing the information. "So when can she be taken home?" I didn't feel particularly at ease with her being outside, in the public eye.
"She could be discharged today. But remember, for the sake of herself and the baby, avoid her triggers and stressors." He gave me a stern look, like I was the one deliberately tossing a bucket of stress over her head.
I thanked the doctor and joined the rest in the room. Raina laid still, her eyes shut, but she was breathing at least. Alex hovered over her, his eyes red from unshed tears, his gaze far off like he'd lost himself already. He was nothing like the Alex I had gotten so used to. Yet, somehow, he still was Alex.

"How are we supposed to keep trusting her with our investments when she can barely even keep a home together." A balding man well over sixty hissed.
"Or a man." Another snickered. His overgrown hair a mop on his head. Chaos broke out after that, every board member feasted on her lack of a partner like vultures would a carcass.
"Perhaps if she was married, she could retain her position, but as it stands, that won't be happening." Another man, Andrew Black, one of the top three investors scoffed as if the mere thought of it was nothing but a fallacy.
The meeting had been pointless, but maybe not totally useless. The only issue was how to convince Raina to accept Alex's proposal regardless of her valid fears. It was glaring she loved him, so who better to help her out of this mess. And that way, the two lovebirds could finally be together. Saving the company could be the bonus.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, snapping me back to the present. I pulled the device from my back pocket.
Nothing yet.
I groan rose in my throat, but never made it out. Even the PI wasn't forth coming with the silent investor's identity. Whoever they were, they really didn't want to be discovered.
The sooner they got married, the better for us all.
I tugged on Alex's arm but he wouldn't budge. "Alex!" I hissed. That snapped him out of whatever trance caught in.
He eyed me, confusion ruled his features, but eventually he gave in and pulled his chair closer to me.
A decent distance away from Raina, "I would talk to Raina about the marriage thing."
I expected elation, joy, appreciation. I got none of that. Instead he stared at me with confusion. "Why the sudden support? What's the rush?"
I knew he would ask eventually, I just didn't think he would in his current state.
"If I can get Raina to agree, the board wouldn't have anything to hold against her plus you both love each other. So, two birds. One stone. All you have to do is get things ready, doesn't have to be anything too dramatic."
All traces of worry were gone from his face, in their place was a stupid grin I couldn't help but roll my eyes at. Why they hadn't gotten married sooner still baffled me. It was clear to anyone with eyes that they were insane for each other.
"Who's getting married?" Raina's voice was husky from sleep, but I was too happy she was alive to tease her about it.
"You are." I shrugged. "Any pain anywhere?" Alex was by her side in seconds, but in typical stubborn Raina behavior, she pushed him off the bed and focused on me.
"Not really, thankfully." She muttered.
"You need to calm down, the baby is still not entirely stable." I hissed at the sudden movement. Her had flew to her belly.
"Speaking of stability, the board is still insistent. They're not budging on the marriage clause. So until we find out what coward hides behind the mask of chaos, you need to get married." She was shaking her head already, but she was too reasonable to deny it. "Who better to be your husband than Alex?" I finished.
"No." She said with so much certainty even I faltered for a moment.
"I got a house." Alex cut in. Desperation clung onto him like a second skin. It was weird, but good to witness Alex care about something or someone other than work and himself. "We won't stay in the old house, you won't have to deal with mother or Vanessa." He continued, barely breathing, "I know how much the past hurt you but the baby would have a family this way and no one would be able to contest your position at the company anymore. All I want is for you to take me back and I would do everything in my power to make sure you never shed a tear again." He let out a long breath.
Raina caught my surprised gaze.
"Just think about it." Alex chipped in, but I knew a hurt man when I saw one. Her constant rejection had begun to eat at him."I would wait if you need me to." It was cute, but cute wouldn't get the company back.
"No time to wait. You both need to get married as soon as possible k
"No." Raina repeated and I swear I almost slammed a duck tape over her mouth. "The kids and grandma need to be present at my wedding, no matter how small or simple it's going to be. I don't want them to continue feeling like we leave them out of the important moments.
"Fine. But three days is as long as we can stretch it." I caved.