Dark Revenge Of A Jilted Bride: Till Life Do Us Part!-Chapter 134: Board Meeting

"Do I look official enough for a board meeting?"

Gianna asked Ethan and the people surrounding the dining table, all of them treating themselves to a hearty breakfast, when she finally came down from her room.

She had changed one outfit after the other, skirts abandoned, blouses rejected, jackets discarded, until she was tired of the anxiety that kept spurring her to be perfect, to present the image of a capable woman to people who had once worked with her father.

Very conscious of the time slipping by, she had finally settled on a navy blue suit. One could never go wrong with that color in a business meeting.

"You look panache, Aunt Gianna," Nathaniel said, giving her a dramatic thumbs-up that made her lips twitch.

Kathleen supported her brother with two of her own thumbs, nodding vigorously. "Are you going for a board meeting?" the little girl went ahead to ask.

Gianna shrugged lightly as she took one of the empty seats at the dining table, taking Ethan’s nod as silent approval.

"Yes, I am, Kathy. But Mr. Ethan here would be doing much of the bulk work."

She sighed as she picked up a piece of toasted bread, only to realize her appetite was next to none.

The smell was comforting, but her stomach felt tight, wound too close.

When she looked up, Athena was watching her with knowing eyes, a softness there that made Gianna feel suddenly seen.

"Don’t worry, Gia," Athena said gently. "You will smash it. You just have to trust Ethan will handle it."

Ethan rolled his eyes, splashing butter generously across his bread. "Better not to give her too much hope. The board members are very determined to take the company out of her family."

He took a casual bite. "Seems they’ve long pined for this. They’ve even chosen a replacement."

"Who is he?" Gianna asked, dropping the toasted bread back onto her plate, her fingers suddenly numb.

"Your uncle’s second-in-command," Ethan replied evenly. "He’s rallied enough support, made the necessary promises... even met some top clients. Safe to say he has all the chips on his board, ready to say checkmate."

Gianna swallowed, the situation crystallizing in her mind, cold and dire.

"But..."

She lifted her head when Ethan continued speaking, something shifting subtly in his tone.

"I think my reputation will speak for me."

Gianna exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She was surprised by the proud smile that broke out on Ethan’s lips. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

He was never one to smile. Cold, distant, controlled, like traumatized billionaires usually went.

With the smile, he looked more handsome, almost dangerously so, the kind of man one might be tempted to disturb for fun.

Only her head wasn’t in that game.

Considering the time they had spent together in the past, he felt more like a brother to her than anything else.

"Thank you for doing this, Ethan," she said softly.

Ethan shrugged, taking another bite of his bread. "Anything for my boss."

Of course, Gianna mused, feeling just relieved enough to finally pick up Ewan’s legendary toasted bread.

When she sank her teeth into it, she was reminded again why her friend could never win against her husband in this one small thing, despite the fact that the latter had taught him how to toast bread in the first place.

How he made the flavors blend so perfectly, she would never know, but she could never say no to Ewan’s bread.

Looking across the table, she saw him talking animatedly to Cairo about a school assignment.

Gianna caught the word history and instantly tuned out, her thoughts drifting back to the meeting she was about to crash into.

Ethan had suggested that surprise was the best antidote at the moment.

It would unsettle the board members, leave them unprepared for the strange piece that was her, unlike the way they had armed themselves against Clement’s possible antagonism.

Moments later, her friends and family bid her good luck as she walked out of the dining room with Ethan, out of the house, and into a waiting car.

The driver already had the door opened. Old Mr. Thorne had rejected outright the idea of Ethan driving them himself.

"Just take deep breaths... it will be over before you know it," Gianna heard Ethan say when the car started, and she scoffed quietly.

Easy for him to say. Half of his life had been spent in boardrooms, negotiating takeovers and buyouts. While she... she just loved to design.

Her show at the Becketts weeks ago had been a burst of adrenaline-fueled courage, a spur-of-the-moment triumph.

Yet... that was her field. What she loved. What she understood.

But crashing into the shareholders’ meeting of a construction company? That was a different ballgame altogether.

"Believe me, Gia," Ethan continued calmly. "And you don’t have to say much. Just the early part we’ve rehearsed over and over again. You do remember it, right?"

Gianna glared at him, making a barely-there smile tug at his lips.

Of course she remembered. She had rehearsed it so much she could recite it in her sleep. Anything to save her father’s company.

"I think I can handle myself, Ethan," she said dryly. "Thanks for your show of concern."

Ethan smirked, relaxed into the seat, and closed his eyes.

End of discussion, Gianna thought, clasping and unclasping her hands.

Best to imitate her partner’s posture then. If she could pull that off...

When the car finally slowed in front of her father’s construction company, she was overly energized, nerves buzzing beneath her skin, desperate to be done with this.

She turned to speak to Ethan, but his eyes were already open.

Together, they stepped out of the car.

Gianna lifted her gaze to the company she hadn’t visited since her father’s death. The building rose solid and imposing, all steel and glass, its wide frontage marked by the familiar logo that had once felt like home.

The windows reflected the morning sun sharply, the structure both proud and intimidating, a monument to years of her father’s labor, ambition, and sacrifice.

The forecourt was immaculate, employees moving in and out with purpose, unaware that the foundation beneath them was being quietly contested.

Her chest tightened.

"Let’s go in then," she said.