I swiped and unlocked the screen, bringing up the messaging app. I braced my elbows on my knees and bent over the phone, frowning as I read the first few messages. Some were from board members, some from shareholders, and others from acquaintances I had made from random social circles. But there was one thing in common; everyone was wishing me a speedy recovery.
From what?
Before I could scroll through the rest, the phone vibrated and began to ring. Alice’s number flashed on my screen, and I quickly answered.
“Where the fuck are you?” she almost yelled. “I’ve been calling you for two days!”
“I had my phone off,” I replied, standing up and beginning to pace across the porch.
“No, shit!” Alice countered. “I could tell. I called your mother, and she said you hadn’t arrived yet.”
“You called my mother?”
“I needed to reach you,” Alice explained.
“The point of me leaving was that I couldn’t be reached,” I said. “That’s why I turned off the phone.” I stopped. “Wait, what’s so urgent that you had to call my mother? And why is everybody wishing me a speedy recovery?”
“We’ve got a big problem, Chance,” Alice said. “I have no idea where you are right now, but you need to haul ass back here.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s Dennis!” Alice hissed.
“Yes?”
“He’s got everyone thinking that you’re on drugs, and the reason you left was because you had checked yourself into some kind of rehab.”
“He did what?”
The messages suddenly made a lot of sense. Why Dennis had don
e it, though, I had no idea. I remembered stressing on the fact that I didn’t want anyone to bother me while I was away or even know I was sick, but this was a little bit of a stretch. He could have just told everyone I was away on business.
“It’s all over the news, too,” Alice said. “Someone leaked this nonsense to the press, and they’re really running with it. You’ve been a television sensation since last night.”
I frowned. What the hell?
“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why would Dennis do that?”
“Why? Really?” Alice scoffed. “Seriously, for a man who runs a multi-billion dollar company, you can be thick as a brick sometimes.”
“For a woman who is still on my payroll and hopefully wants to remain that way, you really need to learn boundaries,” I shot back, angry at the tone, and even angrier at how confused I was by all this.
“Okay, well here’s the shit you’re in,” she said. “Your so-called best friend has called an urgent board meeting to discuss the implications of your ‘drug problem’ on Ridder Technology. On the agenda? A vote as to whether or not you’re suitable to run this company anymore.”
“What?” I shouted, feeling every muscle in body tense. A sudden burst of rage exploded inside me. “That’s my company!”
“Yeah, but the board decides who runs it, remember?” Alice said. “Get back to Austin, Chance. Dennis is screwing you. He’s trying to take over as CEO.”
“I’m on my way,” I said. My chest started to ache, but I ignored it.
I hung up and fought the urge to throw the phone against the wall. Christ, did I need a cigarette and a drink. I couldn’t believe Dennis would do this to me. After everything we’d been through together, after all that I had done for him, and he was taking the first chance that I was away to try and steal the company from right under my feet.
Can he even do that?
Of course he could, if he had the support of the fucking board, who was not that happy with me at the moment. I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it to happen. If that fucker thought he could mess with what I built, he had another thing coming. I was already thinking up different ways to rip him apart once I laid my hands on him. Not only that, but he was slandering my name, too.
I clenched the phone in my hand and went back inside, making my way to the kitchen while trying to think of what to tell Ashlyn. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw my face on the small television sitting on the kitchen table.