The conference room turned thick with tension as people were afraid Ainsley would make a comeback. If so, they would suffer.
Ainsley sat still, the usual fire in his gaze dulled. No color touched his cheeks; he looked neither angry nor defeated.
“Ainsley,” one of the shareholders snapped, almost too quickly. “It’s done. Step down from your position. You’re no longer CEO of the Williams Group.”
Another chimed in, his voice tremulous but thrilled, “Yes. You heard the board, get the hell out of the building.”
Chairs scraped, papers rustled. Tension rolled like a wave about to crash.
But then, a voice rang out, cutting clean through the noise. It was steady, almost too steady.
“Who said the final vote had been cast, or have I suddenly been removed from the shareholders? Because the last
