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Come on, come on! A crack splits down my bondage.
He grabs her by the nape, forcing her to look at him.
FUCK, MOVE! Another splinter.
"Care to know how to get what you want? You can start by unbuttoning your blouse, then I'll think about adding your name."
Like the snap of a band, I break free. Blinded by rage and fury and promises of familial murder, I reach for the door handle, meaning to tear it back on its—
I gasp when he whips around. "But that can wait," he says, bounding for the door. "I have a board meeting in ten minutes. Conference Room A. You'll come and make your little confession, then we'll find a quiet place, and you can show me how much you want it."
Before I can gauge her reaction, I sprint down the hallway with the intention of coming back and turn a corner, right as the door creaks open. Warren's humiliation can wait, even just for ten minutes, because right now, there's a more pressing matter...
Juliana needs me.
FORTY-FOUR
JULIANA
I can't look Hayden in the eye.
I couldn't when he came into the breakroom after Warren left, offering sympathy I probably didn't deserve. And I definitely can't now as I enter the crowded conference room.
Donning an air of authority, each and every board member sitting around the long oak table drags their attention onto me. Their eyes are calm like water, yet sharper than a scalpel, capable of deciphering my every emotion, while theirs stow away in their briefcases. As one of only three women in the room, and perhaps the sole blot of color among a sea of charcoal suits, I'm a minnow in shark territory.
And they know it.
At the head of the table, Warren rises to his feet upon my entrance, prompting his corporate foot soldiers to do the same. Hayden is amongst their ranks, seated next to Elias with pen and paper, ready to take his notes, reminiscent of when I presented my game in this exact room.
My stomach twists into a knot when Warren gestures to me. "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Miss Juliana Brooks."
Almost in unison, the entire room nods in my direction, offering reserved smiles, and I wonder if they were programmed that way. With the exception of Hayden, who looks moments from fainting. I make the mistake of catching his eye, only for a split second, but enough to see the anguish in them. In the breakroom, I told him not to interfere, to let me do what I have to do.
Warren notices our connection, his smirk growing even more crooked. "Miss Brooks has an announcement for us. It won't take long." Taking his seat, he nods toward the podium, prompting the entire room to follow suit.
The walk to the front feels like an eternity, every step like trudging through wet sand that threatens to snap my heels in half, sending me crashing to the floor with everyone watching. However embarrassing, I'd choose such a fate over enduring my current circumstances.
Stepping behind the podium, I sweep a hand along the polished oak, finding familiar comfort, until fear grips me once more when I turn back around. I clench my fists, steadying their shakiness, while I peer down the long table, under the weighted stares of at least twenty corporate bigwigs.
Their silence is crippling, maybe worse than Warren's smug expression that burns brighter as I stutter, "I-I... I have a-an announcement for..."
I pick the sides of my nail, feeling fire rage on my cheeks and my heart thump a thousand beats per minute, stealing my words by lodging them down my throat. Taking a few breaths, allowing more agonizing silence to spread across the room, I try again.
"I'm... h-here t-to..."
Hayden covers his mouth, pity and absolute horror shining in his eyes, a stark contrast to the pure delight dancing in his father's. Warren bites down on a laugh and says, "You'll have to excuse her nerves. She's a bit on the shy side."
Amusement scatters down the table. Subdued chuckles. Whispered comments.
Even from here, I catch Warren eyeing my breasts, unabashed by the gravel in his tone as he asks, "Aren't you, Juliana?"
I swallow. He's unchecked with power.
"...Yes," I breathe.
"Go on." He wets his lips, voice booming down the table, filling every corner of the room, unlike mine, which is a soft whisper in comparison.
"Th-this is... rather difficult for me... so, yes, please... excuse my nerves." I stare down at the podium, unable to shake Warren from my peripheral, who rests his chin atop folded fingers, his satisfied sneer widening with my every word. "I've come t-to... tell the truth about something that's rather embarrassing."
