Chapter 40 CRISIS AT HOME
Ava's POV
The phone call with the distorted voice kept playing in my head all night and I couldn't sleep, every time I closed my eyes I heard it saying "you're going to lose everything."
By morning I was exhausted but there was no time to rest, Dominic's emergency board meeting was in two hours and we all needed to be ready.
"You don't have to come," Dominic said as I got dressed in a black suit, he was sitting on the bed watching me.
"Yes I do, they're going to talk about me anyway so I might as well be there."
"They're going to be brutal."
"I know but I'm not hiding."
Isabella knocked and came in already dressed, she looked perfect as always even though I knew she'd slept as badly as I had.
"Ready for war?" she asked with a small smile.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied.
At the office the tension was thick, everyone stared as we walked through the lobby together and whispers followed us to the elevator.
"Ignore them," Dominic said quietly, his hand on my lower back.
The boardroom was already full when we arrived, eight board members sat around the table and they all looked angry.
Robert Davidson stood up as soon as he saw us.
"This is unacceptable," he started without even greeting us, "the company's reputation is in shambles because of your personal choices."
"Good morning to you too Robert," Dominic said calmly as he sat at the head of the table, Isabella and I sat on either side of him.
"Don't patronize me, we've had three major clients pull their contracts this morning alone, the stock dropped five percent yesterday and the media is camped outside our building."
"The media will move on to the next story in a week."
"A week? Dominic, there are videos of your girlfriend having sex with another employee on a company retreat, there are rumors of some kind of inappropriate relationship between the three of you, this isn't going away in a week."
"My personal life is none of this board's business," Dominic said and his voice was steel.
"It is when it affects the company, we're calling for a vote, either Miss Scott and Miss Martinez resign immediately or we force them out."
"You can't do that," Isabella spoke up for the first time.
"We absolutely can, both of you have violated the company's code of conduct."
"What code of conduct?" I asked, "show me where it says employees can't have relationships."
"It's implied in the professionalism clause."
"That's not legally binding and you know it," Dominic said.
Another board member, Margaret Chen, spoke up softly but firmly.
"Dominic please, we're trying to help you here, if you distance yourself from this situation now you can save your career."
"I'm not distancing myself from anything, Ava and Isabella are both talented employees who deserve their positions."
"This isn't about their talent," Robert said, "it's about optics and right now the optics are terrible."
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to silence it but then I saw the caller ID, it was the hospital where my mom was.
"I need to take this," I said standing up, my heart was already racing.
"Ava we're in the middle of..." Robert started but I was already walking out.
In the hallway I answered.
"Miss Scott?" a woman's voice said, professional but urgent.
"Yes, this is she."
"This is Mount Sinai Hospital, your mother has had a cardiac episode, you need to come immediately."
The phone almost slipped from my hand.
"What happened?"
"She became very agitated this morning watching the news, her blood pressure spiked and she collapsed, we've stabilized her but you should come now."
"I'm on my way."
I ran back into the boardroom.
"I have to go, it's my mom, she's in the hospital," I said looking at Dominic.
He stood up immediately, "I'll come with you."
"No, finish the meeting, I'll call you from the hospital."
"Ava..."
"Please, just handle this, I need to go."
Isabella stood too, "I'll go with her."
We rushed to the elevator and down to the lobby where Adrian was waiting with the car.
"Mount Sinai Hospital, as fast as you can," Isabella told him as we got in.
The drive through midday traffic was torture, I kept checking my phone waiting for another call saying she'd gotten worse.
"She's going to be okay," Isabella said, taking my hand.
"This is my fault, she saw the videos and it was too much for her."
"No, this is the fault of whoever leaked them, not you."
At the hospital we ran to the cardiac unit and found my mom's nurse.
"Where is she?" I asked breathlessly.
"Room 412, but Miss Scott, she's stable now but she's very upset, maybe you should..."
I didn't wait to hear the rest, I walked fast to her room with Isabella behind me.
My mom was in the bed with monitors all around her, she looked so small and fragile, when she saw me her face hardened.
"Mom," I said walking to her bedside, "I'm so sorry, I came as soon as I heard."
"Don't," she said and her voice was weak but cold, "don't come here acting concerned."
"I am concerned, you're in the hospital."
"Because of you, because of what you've done, everyone at church has seen those videos Ava, everyone knows what kind of daughter I raised."
The words hit like a slap.
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"But it did happen, you chose to live that lifestyle, you chose to embarrass yourself and your family," she looked past me at Isabella, "and who is this, another one of your... people?"
"Mom, don't."
"Get out, both of you, I don't want you here."
"Mrs. Scott, please," Isabella tried but my mom held up her hand.
"I said get out."
A nurse came in, "I'm sorry but you're upsetting the patient, you need to leave."
I stood there frozen, staring at my mom who wouldn't even look at me anymore.
"Come on," Isabella said gently, pulling me toward the door.
In the hallway I couldn't breathe, it felt like my chest was caving in.
"I can't believe she won't even talk to me," I said and tears were streaming down my face now.
"She's scared and hurt, she'll come around."
"You don't know her, she's stubborn, she meant every word."
We sat in the waiting area and I cried while Isabella held me, people walked by staring but I didn't care anymore.
My phone rang, it was Dominic.
"How is she?" he asked immediately.
"Stable but she won't talk to me, she basically disowned me."
"I'm coming there."
"No, what happened with the board?"
"They're demanding your resignation by end of day, both yours and Isabella's."
"So we're fired."
"Not if I have anything to say about it, I told them if you go I go."
"Dominic you can't do that."
"Already done, I'm leaving the office now."
He hung up before I could argue and I put my face in my hands, everything was falling apart all at once.
"We should go," Isabella said after a while, "there's nothing we can do here right now."
We walked out of the hospital and I felt numb, my mom hated me, my job was gone, someone was blackmailing us and I had no idea how to fix any of it.
Outside Adrian was waiting by the car, he opened the door but before I could get in someone called my name.
I turned and saw a man walking toward us, he looked familiar but I couldn't place him at first.
Then I remembered, it was Ryan, my ex from college who I'd tried to set up with Maya months ago.
"Ava?" he said again as he got closer, "I thought that was you."
"Ryan, what are you doing here?"
"My mom's in the hospital, heart surgery," he looked at me closely, "are you okay, you look upset."
"I'm fine, just visiting someone."
"I heard about everything, the videos and all that, I wanted to reach out but I wasn't sure if you'd want to hear from me."
"It's complicated."
"I bet," he glanced at Isabella then back at me, "look I know this is terrible timing but can we talk, just for a few minutes, there's something I need to tell you."
"I really can't right now."
"It's about Dominic, about something he's hiding from you."
My heart stopped, "what are you talking about?"
"Not here, can we get coffee or something, please, it's important."
I looked at Isabella who shrugged, then at Adrian who was watching Ryan suspiciously.
"Fine, there's a café across the street, give me ten minutes," I said to Isabella.
"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'll be quick."
Ryan and I walked to the café and sat in a corner booth, he ordered coffee but I couldn't stomach anything.
"So what's this about?" I asked.
"I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy but I think Dominic Hayes might be involved in something illegal."
"What? That's ridiculous."
"Just hear me out, I work for a financial consulting firm and we were hired to audit some offshore accounts, one of them belongs to a shell company that's linked to Hayes International."
"Lots of companies have offshore accounts, that doesn't mean anything."
"This one is different, there's millions of dollars moving through it and none of it is reported to the IRS, if this gets out Dominic could face serious charges."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're going to get caught in the crossfire, if the feds investigate him they'll investigate everyone close to him including you."
I sat back trying to process this, "I don't believe you, Dominic wouldn't do something like that."
"I have documents, I can show you."
"No, I think you should leave, I don't know why you're doing this but..."
"Ava I'm trying to help you, you need to distance yourself from him before this all blows up."
"I'm not distancing myself from anyone based on accusations from my ex who shows up out of nowhere."
I stood up to leave but Ryan grabbed my wrist.
"Wait, there's more, the shell company isn't just for tax evasion, it's being used to pay someone off, someone who has information that could destroy Hayes International."
"Who?"
"I don't know but the payments started three months ago, right around the time you started working there."
My blood went cold, three months ago was when Victoria started causing problems, when everything started falling apart.
"I have to go," I said pulling my arm away.
"Be careful Ava, I mean it."
I walked out of the café and back to the car where Isabella was waiting.
"What did he want?" she asked as soon as I got in.
"Nothing, just old friend stuff," I lied because I needed to talk to Dominic first before telling anyone else.
But as Adrian drove us back to the penthouse my mind was racing, could Ryan be telling the truth, was Dominic involved in something illegal, and if so did it have anything to do with the blackmail.
My phone buzzed with a text from the unknown number.
"Times running out Ava, 24 hours to pay or everyone learns the truth about Dominic, including the police.”