"You lost your balance."
Victoria slowly picked up her folder.
"No, Alexander. I know exactly what happened."
She opened the door.
Several employees were standing in the corridor.
They had heard the argument.
One of them looked at the blood on her face.
Another immediately reached for his phone.
Alexander stepped into the hallway behind her.
"Everyone, return to work. This is a private management discussion."
Nobody moved.
Victoria turned toward him.
"Don't tell them what to do."
Her voice was quiet, but it carried through the corridor.
Alexander's face darkened.
"You should go home and calm down."
Victoria took one step toward him.
"I have spent twenty-nine years building this company. I will not leave because someone who arrived yesterday thinks he owns it."
CHAPTER 4: THE MOMENT SHE STOPPED BEING PATIENT
Victoria returned to her office.
Emily immediately stood up.
"Oh my God. What happened?"
"Get me a first-aid kit."
Emily hurried to the cabinet.
When she returned, she noticed the blood running down Victoria's cheek.
"Was it Alexander?"
Victoria sat down.
"Yes."
Emily's hands began shaking.
"We need to call security."
"Already."
Victoria pressed a clean cloth against the cut.
"Also contact the chairman's office. Tell them I need an emergency board meeting."
Emily nodded.
"Should I call the police?"
Victoria looked at her.
"Not yet. First, preserve the evidence. Ask security to save the hallway footage and the conference room recordings. Make sure nobody deletes anything."
Emily hesitated.
"Victoria, he might try to destroy the records."
"Then we move faster."
She opened her desk drawer and removed a small encrypted storage device.
"Send the original financial documents to our external legal counsel. Make two copies. One for the board, one for the independent auditors."
Emily looked surprised.
"You already knew something was wrong?"
"I suspected it."
Victoria stood and walked toward the mirror.
The cut on her cheek was not deep, but it was visible.
She carefully cleaned the blood.
For a moment, she looked at her reflection.
She remembered the first time she had entered Sterling Global.
She had been twenty-seven years old, carrying a secondhand handbag and wearing shoes that were already beginning to fall apart.
The company founder, Thomas Sterling, had interviewed her personally.
He had asked why she wanted to work for a small struggling financial firm.
She had answered honestly.
"Because I believe people deserve the opportunity to build something meaningful."
Thomas had smiled.
"Then you'll fit in here."
He had been right.
Victoria had spent almost three decades protecting that opportunity.
She had watched employees marry, raise children, buy homes, and build careers because Sterling Global had given them stable employment.
She had seen the company survive economic crises, lawsuits, market collapses, and the deaths of important leaders.
She had never considered herself its owner in the emotional sense.
She considered herself its guardian.
And she refused to let Alexander Reed destroy it.
"Emily," she said.
"Yes?"
"Bring me the original ownership documents."
Emily blinked.
"All of them?"
"Every page."
Emily understood.
She hurried away.
CHAPTER 5: THE SECRET ALEXANDER NEVER KNEW
At 11:45 a.m., Alexander returned to his office.
He closed the door and threw his phone onto the desk.
His assistant, Daniel, entered moments later.
"Mr. Reed?"
"What?"
"The chairman's office called. They're requesting an explanation for the incident."
Alexander froze.
"Who told them?"
"I don't know."
"Find out."
Daniel shifted uncomfortably.
"There's another issue."
Alexander looked up.
"What now?"