Chapter 7 THE MEETING ROOM TRAP

The boardroom was glass-walled and sterile. Damian hadn't stood inside it in almost two months. Now, as he stepped through the sliding doors with Maya and Ivy beside him, he felt every pair of eyes shift like heat-seeking missiles.

The emergency meeting has already begun, and they weren't invited.

"Mr. Cole," the acting CEO-Nathan Reese, said coolly. "What a surprise."

"Not half as surprised as I was to learn you planned to cancel the tech literacy center under the guise of budget efficiency," Damian said. He didn't raise his voice, He didn't need to, the silence was enough.

Reese smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We're simply reallocating resources more responsibly. The board agreed-"

"Without the full vote of all shareholders present," Ivy cut in, holding up a legal document. "Mr. Cole retains silent equity and his voting rights until the final legal transition is certified. Which means... this meeting is illegal, And any vote passed today is invalid."

Gasps, Whispered curses.

Maya stood slightly behind them, watching it all unfold. The polished walls, the designer suits, the low thrum of power games. It was another world, and yet here she was, shoulder to shoulder with a man who used to own it, and who had given it up for something real.

Reese wasn't fazed. "Even if the vote doesn't stand, the funding is still in jeopardy. Our PR department believes continued support of this vanity project will reflect poorly in light of recent press."

Maya stepped forward then, heart racing. "That 'vanity project' is already hiring local staff, from Teachers to Volunteers, Equipment. Kids from my town have been signing up for months, hoping for a chance to learn skills no one ever bothered to bring to them."

The room quieted. She hadn't expected them to listen, but somehow, they were.

"I run a small café," she said. "We serve people who don't have much. Some of them are smart, but they've been forgotten by the cities and companies and tech giants like yours. Damian didn't build this center to look good. He built it because no one else would, and if you kill it, you're not just cutting costs. You're killing futures."

Reese opened his mouth to reply, but Ivy raised her phone, already recording.

"Think carefully before you speak," she said calmly. "We're streaming this to our legal team, And your response will be public by morning."

The board began to squirm.

Someone coughed.

Then, one of the older members-Ms. Esther, spoke. "Perhaps... we should postpone the decision, Review the full documentation, Reassess the community impact before finalizing."

Reese looked around, realized he was outnumbered.

He forced a smile. "Of course, a delay, a wise course of action."

Maya exhaled.

They'd won, for now.

---

After the meeting, Ivy peeled off to speak with lawyers. Maya and Damian stood close to the elevator.

"You didn't have to talk like that," he said calmly.

She looked at him. "Yes, I did. Because if I didn't, I'd be proving them right-'that small people should just stay quiet when big money talks'."

He looked at her like that was the first time he was seeing her. "You know, I've sat through hundreds of meetings in that room, Heard pitches worth millions, But nothing ever landed the way your words did today."

She gave him a small smile. "You're just saying that because I scared your enemies."

He laughed. "A little."

They stepped into the elevator together. The doors closed.

He turned to her. "After all this is over, after the board backs off, after the press calms down, what happens to us?"

She didn't reply immediately, Just looked at the descending floor numbers like they held the answer.

Then, softly: "I don't know yet. I'm yet to figure it out, just trying to trust the man in my front. "

He nodded. "That's fair, I'll wait."

---

That night, Maya sat on her back porch, covered in a blanket. The town was quiet, The storm had passed. For the first time in weeks, she felt the air shift back to calm.

A soft knock came at the porch gate.

She stood, half-expecting Damian again.

But it wasn't him.

It was her aunt, Grace. She was fierce, sharp-tongued, stubborn and adamant.

"Auntie?"

"You didn't tell me you had an involvement with him," she said, marching in without waiting for an invitation.

Maya sighed. "It wasn't like that. It started before I knew who he really was."

Grace held up a folded newspaper. Damian's face, Maya's quote, Their story.

"Do you know what people are saying about you in town?"

"I don't care."

"Well, I do," Grace snapped. "Because your grandmother built that café with her bare hands, and if she were alive-"

"She would've fed him," Maya cut in. "And she would've seen through him, yes, But she also would've known what it meant to love someone complicated."

Grace's mouth tightened. "You're playing with fire."

Maya nodded. "Maybe, But I'd rather play with fire than settle for cold."

Her aunt didn't respond right away.

Then, grudgingly, she said,: "Just don't lose yourself in the process."

---

Meanwhile, on the edge of town, Damian parked his rented car outside the new tech center construction site.

He stepped out, walked up to the fence, and stared at the steel framework rising against the night sky. There were lights on inside.

He frowned.

He wasn't expecting anyone by that time of the night.

He walked around the fence, found a side gate slightly open.

Inside, tools were scattered, Cables pulled loose, Blueprints torn.

And spray-painted across one unfinished wall, in thick black paint:

STAY OUT, RICH SCUM NOT WELCOME.

His breath caught.

Someone didn't want this center to open.

And maybe... it wasn't just the board.