Five Years Wasted Now They Beg Her Back novel Chapter 296

"Just issue a statement saying you have nothing to do with her, and the stock will bounce right back."

Damien's hand, hidden beneath the table, clenched into a fist.

These people, these self-righteous elites, were pressuring him to abandon the woman he had nearly given his life to get back.

The woman whose life they had ruined, who was still silently enduring it all.

"And if I don't choose?"

Damien's voice was so cold it could have come from the depths of hell.

Julian shrugged. "Then don't blame us for calling a vote of no confidence. According to the company's bylaws, if more than half the board agrees, the chairman can be removed."

He had already bribed most of the board members.

He was sure to win this round.

Just as the standoff reached its peak, the air nearly solid with tension, a sound cut through the silence.

A sharp ping.

A text notification from Damien's personal phone, which was sitting on the table.

Only a handful of people had this number.

Besides Felix, it was Grace.

Damien's heart skipped a beat.

A wave of panic he had never felt before washed over him.

Ignoring the stares of everyone in the room, he picked up the phone with a trembling hand.

The screen lit up.

There was only a short line of text.

Sender: Grace.

[Damien, it's time to let go. You go on being Mr. Clarke, and I'm going to try living a life where no one is cursing my name. I had Elliot deliver the divorce papers to the front desk. Goodbye.]

In that instant, all the sounds around Damien faded away.

Julian's shouting, the board members' whispers—it all became meaningless background noise.

In his world, only one word remained, cold and final.

Goodbye.

She said goodbye.

She was leaving.

While he was on the front lines, fighting for her, she had thrown down her armor and fled alone.

No, not fled.

She had lost all hope.

She had completely given up on this world.

All the stock charts, all the abusive headlines, vanished in an instant.

The room erupted in gasps and cries of alarm.

"Damien, are you insane?!" Julian yelled.

"I am insane."

Damien leaned on the table, his body swaying.

"I've been insane for a long time! I should have gone insane five years ago when I became president and had to deal with you vultures!"

He pointed a trembling finger at every person in the room.

"All of you, living off money that others earned with their lives, enjoying the dividends the Clarke family provides, and now you turn around and call her a jinx?"

"Without Bastian Dynamics' technology, the Clarke family would have been obsolete years ago!"

"If Grace hadn't handed over that research back then, where would your dividends be coming from now?!"

"Every bite of food you eat, every dollar you spend, you owe to her!"

Damien's voice was raw with anguish, and the sharp pain in his chest made it almost impossible to stand. Felix tried to support him, but he was pushed away.

"You want to vote me out?"

Damien ripped the tie from his neck and threw it to the floor.

"Don't bother. To hell with it, I quit."