With the 3D design finally in place, our booth transformed into something breathtaking. The LED screens lit up with vibrant images of Bermudez Group’s latest projects, and the 3D model projected an immersive view of our most ambitious real estate developments.
Lucia and I stood back for a moment, admiring the setup. It had come together better than I had hoped, given the rocky start.
“Wow,” Lucia whispered, her eyes wide. “It’s amazing, Madame CEO. I knew we could pull it off, but this? It’s stunning.”
I nodded, feeling the same sense of pride. “Yeah, definitely, we
Days after the expo…The mood in my office was light, even buoyant, as Marcus popped the cork off the bottle of champagne. Lucia cheered, and I couldn’t help but laugh as bubbles fizzed up and spilled over the edge of the bottle.“To our fearless Madame CEO!” Marcus said with a grin, handing me the first glass. “You really pulled off a miracle at the expo.”I raised my glass, trying to suppress the modest smile tugging at my lips. “I couldn’t have done it without the two of you. If anyone deserves a toast, it’s you both. You kept everything together when things almost went off the rails.”Lucia shook her head, pouring herself a glass. “Come on, Madame CEO. You’re the one who kept us calm. If it weren’t for you, I’d have probably been a nervous wreck the moment that panel judge showed up early.”I laughed, recalling how pale Lucia had gone when we’d been told about the judge’s sudden appearance. “Well, I might’ve been panicking on the inside, but outwardly, I had to keep it cool.”“And
I stormed out of the boardroom, my head spinning with everything Charles had just thrown at me. This couldn’t be real—he couldn’t just walk in here and claim the chairman position without any warning, without Thiago saying a word. As I made my way through the halls of the Bermudez Group building, I pulled out my phone, my hands trembling with a mix of anger and disbelief. Thiago. I needed to hear from him. I didn’t bother sending a text; I called him directly, pacing in the corridor as the phone rang, each unanswered buzz only fueling my frustration. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Thiago answered."Hello, wifey," he greeted in that calm, almost teasing tone he often used, but this time, it only grated on my nerves.“We need to talk,” I snapped, not bothering with pleasantries. “Right now.”There was a brief pause before he answered, his voice softening. “What happened? Are you okay?”Completelyh ignoring his question, I immediately replied, “I’m coming over to your plac
The next morning, I arrived at the office earlier than usual, still feeling the lingering weight of my conversation with Thiago the night before. His reassurance had settled some of my nerves a bit, but not all. Charles Bermudez was still a problem, and I wasn’t about to let him keep disrupting my work.When I stepped into my office, however, I instantly felt something was off. My desk that was usually spotless and way too well put together was now messed up. My personal files were usually in a controlled state of chaos, but everything now looked disorganised and unsightly. That’s when I noticed him—Charles—sitting casually in the chair behind my desk, rifling through my paperwork as if he had every right to be there.That was when my blood boiled.“Excuse me,” I said, my voice sharp as I stormed into the room. “What the hell do you think you’re doing in my office?”Charles glanced up from the files with that same smug, arrogant smile he’d worn at the board meeting yesterday. “Ah, goo
Lucia walked further inside my office, closing the door behind her and pulling up a chair beside my desk. She began helping by arranging those files and documents that Charles had messed around earlier.Following that, she then looked at me with her usual supportive, yet curious, expression."Let me guess," she said, folding her arms. "Charles isn’t going away quietly, is he?"I let out a long sigh, rubbing my temples as I tried to calm the frustration bubbling inside. "No, he’s not. He was in here this morning, Lucia—like inisde my office, going through my files like he had every right to be here."
And as soon as Marcus left, I grabbed my phone and dialed Thiago’s viber. I needed to inform him about the things that his cousin was doing behind our back.The weight of everything—Charles’ meddling, the betrayal within the company, and the looming threat to Bermudez Group—hung over me like a dark cloud. I needed to seek help, and of course, the only person I think that could help me now was no one else but Thiago. I needed him now.It rang a few times before Thiago picked up, his voice calm and collected as usual. "Wifey, what’s going on?"I didn’t bother with pleasantries. "We need to talk. Please, Charles is snooping around in our financial files in secret, and he’s not doing it alone. Someone in the company is helping him, and I need to know if you’re involved."There was a pause on the other end of the line, and for a moment, my heart pounded in the silence. When Thiago finally spoke, his voice was firm but a little colder than usual. "Wifey, I’ve already told you—I have noth
I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to Charles’ sudden appearance than just some power play within the family. The way he slithered into meetings and casually acted as if he belonged at the head of the table made my skin crawl. Something was off, and I wasn’t going to wait around for him to make his next move.After my confrontation with Charles earlier that morning, I decided it was time to take action beyond just words. I needed to know what his true intentions were with Bermudez Group, and I wasn’t going to rely on Thiago to find out. This was my fight now.I had quietly reached out to a private investigator the day before—someone who specialized in corporate espionage and discreet investigations. I didn’t want anyone in the company to know about this yet, especially not Charles. The less he knew, the better.As I sat at my desk that afternoon, waiting for the investigator’s report, Lucia came into my office, looking anxious but determined. "Madame CEO, you need to s
As the days passed, the investigation into Charles’ activities only deepened. My private investigator had uncovered more connections between Charles and several of our competitors, particularly one shady conglomerate that had been sniffing around the edges of Bermudez Group for months.It became clear that Charles was playing a much bigger game than we originally thought.I sat in my office, pouring over the investigator’s latest findings, my mind racing. Every new revelation only made things murkier. Charles wasn’t just after my position—he was after the whole damn company.Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Lucia poked her head in, looking more concerned than usual."Madame CEO," she said softly, stepping into the room. "You’re going to want to see this.""What now?" I asked, barely hiding my frustration. I had enough on my plate as it was.Lucia handed me her tablet, her fingers shaking slightly. "I pulled another set of CCTV footage from last week. I know we’ve already s
The pressure weighed heavily on my shoulders, but if there’s one thing I knew, it’s that I couldn’t let Charles or anyone else see me crack. Not now, when the stakes were so high. Over the next few days, Lucia worked tirelessly to secure the files and move everything to an encrypted server. I’d also instructed her to set up a digital trap—something that would alert us the second Charles or anyone else tried to access any critical information without authorization. My private investigator, Mira, had stayed on the case as well, digging deeper into Charles’ background, tracking his financial movements, and confirming his ties with the Zorich Group. She was nothing if not thorough, and the deeper she went, the more unsettling details she uncovered.It was late in the evening when Mira called me. I was at home, unwinding with a glass of wine, trying to piece together my next move when the phone rang.“Ms. Bridgette,” Mira’s voice came through, urgent. “I found something. I have this stro