Chapter 3

Back at their sterile, modern house, Mike was a wreck.

He followed Sarah from room to room, begging, pleading.

"It was a misunderstanding, Sarah! I swear! Chloe, she... she just gets a little handsy when she' s had a few drinks. It meant nothing!"

Sarah ignored him, packing a small overnight bag.

"I was stressed, okay? The pressure of being CEO... it' s a lot!"

Sarah paused. "The pressure I put you under by making you CEO, you mean?"

His face crumpled. "No, that' s not what I meant! I love you, Sarah. We can fix this."

Meanwhile, Chloe Sanders was not idle.

The next morning, Sarah woke up in a hotel to a flurry of texts and a voicemail from Olivia Chen, her college friend and a minority investor in NextGen.

"Sarah! What the hell is going on? Did you see your email?"

Sarah' s heart sank. She opened her company email.

There it was, an official communication from "Michael Miller, CEO."

Subject: Temporary Suspension of Lead Developer.

The email announced Sarah Miller' s "suspension pending investigation" for "unprofessional conduct and public affray" at The Bull & Bear.

Chloe Sanders was cc'd, her new title listed as "Chief of Staff."

"Chief of Staff?" Sarah muttered. Mike had promoted her. After last night.

Olivia called again, her voice tight with anger. "She' s telling everyone you attacked her! That you' re unstable! Sarah, this is bad. Chloe is spreading poison."

"I know, Liv," Sarah said, her voice tired. "Mike is weak. Chloe is manipulative."

"Weak is an understatement," Olivia snorted. "What are you going to do?"

"I' m handling it," Sarah said, a new resolve hardening within her. "First, a family meeting."

Olivia paused. "My brother, Ethan, just graduated from MIT. Top of his class in software engineering. He' s looking for a challenging role. And he' s always admired you, you know."

Sarah filed that information away. Ethan Chen. Interesting.

"Thanks, Liv. I' ll keep that in mind."

She needed to clean house first. Starting with her own.