Chapter 29 COMPANY RETREAT ANNOUNCEMENT
Ava's POV
The emergency board meeting was exactly as horrible as I expected.
I sat next to Dominic in the conference room while eight board members stared at us like some criminals. The photos were projected on the screen behind them because apparently they needed visual aids for their disappointment.
"This is unacceptable behavior," Robert Davidson, the head of board said, looking at me with disgust. "Having sexual relations in the office, in full view of anyone who could see..."
"The blinds were down," Dominic cut him off.
"And my office is private property. Whoever took these photos was committing a crime."
"That may be, but the damage is done. These photos have been sent to our biggest clients. Some are already questioning whether they want to continue doing business with us." Robert argued.
"Then we'll find new clients." Dominic said matter-of-factly
"Dominic, you need to take this seriously," another board member said.
"Your personal life is affecting the company's reputation."
"My personal life is none of your concern. What is your concern is that someone hacked into our system and invaded our privacy. That's the real issue here."
They went back and forth for another hour. The board wanted me fired. They wanted Dominic to issue a public apology and they wanted us to never see each other again professionally but Dominic refused everything.
Finally Marcus, who was also on the board, spoke up.
"I think we're forgetting something important here. Victoria Ashford's office is where those photos were taken from. Security confirmed it. She had means, motive, and opportunity."
"Victoria has denied any involvement," Robert said.
"Of course she has. But we all know she's been hostile toward Ava since she started here. This has her fingerprints all over it."
"Do we have actual proof?" someone asked.
"Tom is checking her computer now," Marcus said. "He should have something soon." Marcus added.
As if on cue, the conference room door opened and Tom, Victoria's assistant walked in carrying a laptop.
"Found it. Victoria's personal laptop. She tried to wipe it but I recovered the files." He plugged it into the projector.
"These are the original photos. Time stamps match. And here's the email she drafted sending them out."
The room went silent as everyone read Victoria's email.
"Where is Victoria now?" Dominic asked.
"Security is holding her downstairs," Tom said.
"Bring her up."
Five minutes later Victoria was escorted into the conference room by two security guards. She looked around at all of us and her face went pale.
"What's going on?" She asked as if unaware of what she had caused
"We know you took the photos," Dominic said. "We have proof."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She says
Tom turned the laptop to face her.
"This is your computer and these are the files I pulled from it. Stop lying, respectfully ma'am"
Victoria's face went from pale to red.
"You had no right to search my personal laptop!"
"You used company WiFi to send those emails. That gives us every right." Dominic stood up. "You're fired. Security will escort you out and uou have ten minutes to clear your desk."
"You can't fire me! I'm COO!" She shouted struggling with the security personnel
"Not anymore. You're done. And we're pressing charges for harassment and corporate espionage."
"This is bullshit!" Victoria looked around the room desperately.
"She's the problem, not me! She came here and ruined everything! Dominic and I were fine before she showed up!"
"Dominic and you were never together," I said quietly.
"You need to let it go."
"Shut up! You don't know anything about us! About what we had!" She said and I could only count that as being shameless.
"We had nothing," Dominic said coldly.
"We dated, it ended and you couldn't accept it. Now you're facing criminal charges because of it."
Security grabbed her arms and started pulling her toward the door. She fought against them, still screaming.
"You'll regret this! Both of you! This isn't over!"
The door closed behind her and the room was silent and finally one of the board members cleared his throat.
"Well. That was unfortunate. But it doesn't change the fact that the photos are out there. We need to do damage control."
"I'll issue a statement," Dominic said.
"But I'm not apologizing for having a relationship. And I'm not firing Ava."
"Then perhaps Miss Scott should consider resigning for the good of the company." Robert argued.
"No," I said before Dominic could respond.
"I'm not resigning. I didn't do anything wrong. And I'm not going to let Victoria win by running away."
"Bold words for someone who's caused this much trouble." Robert replies staring at me disgustingky.
The meeting eventually ended with the board grudgingly accepting that I wasn't going anywhere and Dominic and I walked back to his office in silence.
"Thank you," I said once we were alone. "For not firing me."
"I would never fire you. I love you." He said to me
"I love you too. But Dominic, this is bad. Those photos are everywhere. My mom probably saw them. Maya definitely did. Everyone we know..."I muttered with my voice barely above a whisper
"I know. But we'll get through it." He pulled me into a hug. "We always do."
We spent the rest of the day dealing with the fallout. Dominic issued a statement saying our relationship was private and the photos were obtained illegally. Some clients were understanding and while thers weren't. But by
the end of the day I was exhausted.
We were about to leave when Marcus knocked on the door.
"Hey, got a minute?" He asked.
"What's up?" Dominic asked.
"I wanted to give you both a heads up. The board is planning something. A mandatory company retreat in two weeks. Bahamas. They think it'll help rebuild team morale after this mess."
"A retreat?" I asked.
"Four days. All executives required to attend. They're announcing it tomorrow." Marcus looked at me. "Just thought you should know. Victoria's gone but there are still people on that board who want you out. They might use the retreat to make your life difficult." He said but Dominic just smirked.
After Marcus left, Dominic and I went home. We ordered dinner and tried to pretend like everything was normal.
My phone rang around eight and it was Maya.
"Have you seen the news?" She asked.
"What news?" I threw back a question, confused.
"Pull up Channel Seven. Now."
I turned on the TV and found the local news. There was a story about the scandal at Hayes International. They'd somehow gotten copies of the photos and blurred out the explicit parts but it was clear what was happening.
"Billionaire CEO Dominic Hayes caught in compromising position with employee," the anchor said. "Sources say the relationship violates company policy." The news says.
"Oh my God," I whispered.
Dominic grabbed the remote and turned it off. "Don't watch that."
I was so scared that I wanted to argue about why and that I was scared of my mum seeing all of those but he kissed me to shut me up.
"Listen to me. We did nothing wrong. We're two adults in a relationship. Yes, the photos getting out is horrible. But we're not going to let it destroy us." He said confidently
"What if the board fires you?"
"They won't. I own too much of the company. They'd have to buy me out and they can't afford it." He pulled me onto his lap.
That night we went to bed early, both exhausted from the day. I was almost asleep when Dominic's phone buzzed. Hw checked it and sat up.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Email from HR. They've already found Victoria's replacement." He replied.
"That was fast."
"Too fast." He showed me the email. "This person starts Monday. The board approved it without consulting me."
I looked at the name and it was Isabella Martinez. There was a photo attached and she was stunning, with long dark hair and curves that were very obvious even in a professional photo.
"She's pretty," I said carefully.
"She's got an impressive resume too. MBA from Harvard. Worked at three Fortune 500 companies." He put the phone down.
"The board is playing games. They hired someone they think will distract me from you."
"Will she?"
"No." He pulled me close. "Nothing could distract me from you."
I wanted to believe him. But looking at that photo again, at Isabella's perfect face and perfect body, I felt a twist of insecurity.
"Go to sleep," Dominic said, kissing my forehead. "We'll deal with the new COO when she gets here."
I tried to sleep but couldn't stop thinking about the whole thing but especially about whether Dominic was really as immune to beautiful women as he claimed.
Around midnight I finally dozed off and I had woken up to my phone ringing at three AM. It was an unknown number and I had answered without thinking.
"Hello?" I said but there was no reply just heavy breathing on the other end.
"Hello?" I said again.
"You ruined my life," the person said and I recognized it to be Victoria
"Now I'm going to ruin yours." She added and the line went dead.