Rhys Kallen made the call to Human Resources the moment Melanie Donaldson left the bunker, his voice flat with cold command. By the time Melanie was back in her office, Chloe Vance had been escorted from the building, her termination executed with the same swift, surgical ruthlessness that Kallen Capital applied to market failures. There was no severance package, just a complete erasure.
Rhys sent Melanie a simple text: "The flaw is sealed. The debt is mine. Don't come back tonight. Go be you."
Melanie took the permission, and the subtle command to step away, as the reconciliation she needed. The immediate threat was gone, Chloe was terminated, and the professional integrity was restored. She needed to breathe.
Melanie called her two closest friends, Sam and Jenna, who existed entirely outside the Kallen ecosystem. They knew Melanie was under immense pressure at a high-profile job, but they knew nothing of possessive CEOs, secret contracts, or boardroom executions.
They met at their favorite low-key bar near the university. For three hours, Melanie didn't talk about risk ratios or hostile acquisitions. She talked about Sam's disastrous dating life and Jenna's upcoming defense of her dissertation. She laughed, a genuine, unrestrained sound that felt foreign after months of calculated control.
It was a necessary, fleeting reminder of the life she almost lost and the grounded stability of her true self.
As the night grew late, Melanie found herself driving back toward her old university dorm, where her personal belongings were still housed (a remnant of her financial independence she hadn't fully conceded to Rhys). She needed to check on her roommate, Tia, and officially begin moving her things out now that her future with Rhys was cemented.
She quietly opened the door to the familiar building . The air smelled like cheap takeout and old textbooks. Tia, who had been studying at her desk, instantly looked up.
"Melanie!" Tia shot up, wrapping her in a fierce hug. "I missed you so much! It's been forever. I swear I've been living on ramen and sheer panic without you here."
Tia held her at arm's length, her expression softening with genuine concern. "Seriously though, how are you? You left so fast. I know your work is insane, but that was intense."
Melanie allowed herself a weary smile. "It was intense, Tia. But it's fine now. All fixed."
"Good," Tia said, sitting back down but not taking her eyes off Melanie. "But more importantly, how is your mom? You said she was admitted, right? Is she okay?"
Melanie sat on the edge of the couch, letting the familiar comfort wash over her. "She's good. Stable. Getting the best care in the world, actually. My father is with her, and she's recovering quickly. It was a scare, but we're past the worst of it."
Tia nodded, visibly relieved. "Thank God. Give her my love when you see her next."
Melanie spent the next hour simply existing with Tia, feeling the grounding simplicity of friendship before finally driving back to the complicated, powerful reality of the penthouse.
Across town, Chloe Vance sat in a sterile, overpriced hotel room, staring at the termination notice. The shock had worn off, replaced by an incandescent, purifying rage. She was ruined. Terminated for cause; her reputation in the financial world was dust. She hadn't just lost her job; she had lost her career, her status, and her future, all because Melanie Donaldson had fought for a $300 million ethical principle.
Chloe didn't feel shame; she felt righteous fury. Rhys Kallen was a monster, and Melanie was a pretentious moralist who used her purity as a weapon to destroy others.
They chose a number over my life, she thought, closing her laptop. They broke the rules of the game to ensure I was eliminated.
Chloe pulled out her phone and made a call to an anonymous, encrypted contact, a high-level associate in the financial crime division of a rival holding company.
"I have proprietary information on the Kallen Capital's Kratos Acquisition," Chloe whispered into the phone, her voice cold with commitment. "It involves insider trading and market manipulation. I want immunity, and I want a massive, public revenge on Rhys Kallen and Melanie Donaldson. Are you interested in bringing down the Lion?"
Chloe Vance was no longer an ambitious analyst. She was a vengeful, strategically brilliant enemy with nothing left to lose.