Chapter 30
“Are you re
you ready for Adam to come in?” questioned Alana. “If you need a minute, we can wait. I know this must be difficult for you.” The concern in her voice was touching. Her ability to gauge a person’s emotions was one of the many things that made her so good at her job.
“I’m fine, Alana, I really didn’t expect anything different from Fiona and Alan. We all know they have never been my biggest fans. They may be related to me by blood, but other than that there is no other connection. Even before my parents divorced, he never paid any attention to me. You and Jonathan have been here long enough that Mom
you know the BS he p
through. After today, I hope to have no further contact with them.”
Bradley reached out to touch my shoulder in an offer of comfort. I turned my head and met his eyes now filled with compassion and understanding. “You can choose the family you want. Blood isn’t a deciding factor.” He swept his glance around the room encompassing the other five people present. ‘This is your true family. People that love and care for you.”
I agreed. Jonathan and Alana had been known to me for years, as we became close when I moved back to Halifax and in with Mom when I started university. When I took over as owner after Mom died, they gave me the support and mentorship I needed to become the professional I am today. Spencer and Tony, as well as their wives, had been stanch supporters, not only as lawyers, but as friends.
Now, with Bradley and I tying the knot, and Victor as a new friend, and Jenna, I have all the family I really need. I certainly don’t need people in my life who have shown me nothing but hate. I am so much better off without them.
I sent a smile to Alana. “Time to bring in Adam. I do want to forewarn you, I will be handing him back his engagement ring in front of you all. I don’t want to embarrass anyone, but he has to get the message that not only is the engagement off, but the proposed partnership is also gone. I want witnessess in case he goes ballistic. If either you, Alana, or Jonathan is uncomfortable with this, I will wait until you leave the room.”
I almost burst out laughing when Alana responded with a, “hell no! I want to witness that. Hel has been lording it over everyone that he is now ‘part owner‘ and everyone has to do what he says or they’re fired. He is such an arsehole. I can’t wait to watch him crash and burn.”
Jonathan’s, “that goes double for me!” tipped me over the edge.
I started laughing and soon I was gasping for air. “Tell me how you really feel.” I said as I tried. to control myself. I took several deep breaths, exhaling the built up stress.
Chapter 30
“You’re doing great, love. Just one more to go and then we are out of her for the weekend.” Bradley’s soothing voice calmed me further. “We’ve got your back. You can do this.”
“Okay, I’ve
got this. Have security bring Adam in,” I directed, putting a neutral expression back on my face. He didn’t deserve to see an ounce of my emotions.
A knock on the conference room door preceeded its opening and Adam’s entrance into the room, followed by two security guards. His eyes immediately went to Alana and Jonathan before catching site of the group of five at the end of the conference table. His eyes widened when he saw me sitting there in the position of power.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word Alana took control of the
meeting. “Adam, please have a seat. We have a lot to discuss today.”
I watched as he hesitantly sat in the chair opposite Alana and Jonathan. His eyes kept shifting back and forth between them and me. I chose not to say anything at this point, waiting for HR to lower the boom.
“Adam, I am officially terminating your employment with Fredericks Design Co. effective
immediately.” His eyes darted to Alana.
“You can’t terminate my employment. I’m part owner of this company. You have no authority over me!” His belief that he was untouchable was proof of his arrogance.
Alana looked at me, anticipating this next part. I didn’t disappoint. I stood up from my seat,
picking up the ring he had given me, and made my way to stand beside him.
“Adam, as I said in the text I sent you last evening, we are done, our engagement, and relationship is over. I am returning the engagement ring you gave me. No marriage, no partnership. You are done here.”
I stepped away and started to walk back to my seat when he reached out and grabbed my
arm in a bruising grip. I stopped, and turned to stare at him. “Get your hands off of me, NOW!”
I seethed through gritted teeth.
“You can’t break up with me. Everything they said is a lie. You can’t believe them over me, I’m
your fiance.” He didn’t plead. He just said his piece as if were a statement of fact.
He was already pissing me off. “Remove your hand from my arm, or I will remove it for you.” I
hissed at him.
you are goi
“Yeah, just how do you think to do that?” He sneered as he dug his finger deeper
into the flesh of my upper arm.
“Like this,” I stated coldly, as I raised my other arm and delivered a hard and fast throat punch,
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dropping him where he stood. “Grabbing me like that was assault. I simply defended myself after asking you twice to let go of me. It’s all on camera.”
I walked back to my chair and sat down. My upper arm hurt like hell. I slipped off my jacket to examine my arm, only to see bruises already forming in the outline of his hand, with deep purple bruises showing where his fingers had dug in.
Spencer, ever the lawyer, whipped out his cell phone and started taking photos of the damage to my arm. “Proof of the harm he caused to you” he commented as he snapped pic after pic.
Bradley was furious. The only thing holding him in his chair was Victor. “Not here,” I could hear Victor whisper. “Too many cameras. He’ll get his, don’t worry.”
Meanwhile, Adam was helped back into his chair by the two security guards who now each had a hand on his shoulders, keeping him in place. When things settled down, I nodded to Alana to proceed with the termination.
She slid the now familiar legal size envelope over to Adam. “You are being terminated effective immediately. Grounds for dismissal range from fraud, attempted theft, misuse of company property, creating a hostile work environment, s****I harrassment of female staff members, and today’s assault on the company owner.”
“What the hell are you talking about, woman. You can’t prove a damn thing. I’ll sue you for wrongful dismissal. I’ll go to the Board of Directors. Alan Fredericks won’t stand for this!” Adam was going full on with the threats. Fat lot of good that would do him.
Alana gave her impassive smile, and told him to open the envelope. “Every bit of evidence is backed up by the security camera audio/visual recordings. That includes your verbal and s**** harrassment of female staff members. Threats to fire them and blacklist them in the city. Those three women are within their rights to press criminal charges against you, should they so wish. And we will provide them with copies of the security footage should they ask for
it.”
Adam’s hands stilled when he came to the photos. Photos that are time and date stamped, clearly showing he was cheating during the timeframe of our engagement. Effectively voiding the partnership agreement part of the prenup.
Realization that he had provided his own nails for his coffin, so to speak, seemed to penetrate his brain. He looked over to me and attempted to plead. “Anna, they meant nothing. It was just
sex.
When I refused to respond he started to get mad. “What did you expect? It’s not like you were putting out. You and your ice queen act. Your no s*x until marriage rule. What did you expect? Do you really think any man would want to be with you if it wasn’t for the company? If it wasn’t
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for the money? Because you sure as hell don’t bring anything else to the table. You’re nothing but an ice–cold frigid b*tch.”
I laughed in his face, which served to fuel the fire of his scorn. He started spewing every vile thing a scorned man could think to say in an attempt to beat me down and hurt me. I let him keep going. When he came to his senses and realized that he had incriminated himself with
his own words, he shut up.
Alana now took over, and gave him the monies owed to him and had him sign for it. That done, security hauled him to his feet to take him back to the room to gather his belongings. Just before he exited the conference room I finally spoke.
“Adam,” the man
an turned to look at me. “I may have been a frigid b*tch, but I will always have something you will never have, and that’s Fredericks Design Co.”
