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“His severance pay is good, too,” Scott said. “We’re being kind. He should leave without any issue if he’s professional about it.”

Ellen made a face as she tapped her pen on her notepad. “That’s a bigif. I’ve got security on standby.”

I reached under the table, giving her hand a squeeze. She squeezed it back, offering me the sort of comfort only we could give to each other.

“Thank you for being here,” I whispered to her.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she said.

I spotted Jeff through the doorway and steeled myself.

It’s going to be okay. This is for the best.

Here we go.

Jeff’s eyes widened slightly as he stepped through the doorway. “Is thisemergencymeeting about what I think it is?” he asked as he shut the door behind him. “I flew home early for this.”

“Take a seat, Jeff,” I said.

He ranked his fingers through his hair and then pulled out a chair across from us, sitting down. He looked at Tommy immediately. “Did she finally fess up to her little attachment to the new client?”

“We are here to talk about you,” Tommy said.

“Me?”

“Yes,” I said. “You. Not only was your behavior over the weekend a complete violation of my privacy and a direct sign that you have zero respect for me, it has been brought to my attention that you have not been completing your assigned duties for a very long time. Longer than acceptable. Your severance?—”

“Severance?” Jeff scoffed. “You’re kidding? Right?”

“No,” I said. “No one is joking here.”

Jeff’s expression contorted from anger to laughter. His head tipped back. “This isn’t happening. You can’t fire me.”

“Rosethorn can fire you,” I said. “It was voted on.”

“Everyone would have had to vote for me to be fired then,” he said in disbelief.

The silence in the room told him the truth. And it was taking every ounce of professionalism not to grin like a damn idiot.

His head snapped to the side as he looked at Tommy and Scott. “Youvoted against me? After everything I’ve done for you? For all of you?”

Scott cleared his throat and silently slid a stack of papers across the table. “This is your severance package.”

Jeff’s expression went blank. He stared at it for a moment and then shook his head, shoving back from his seat. “This is insane. She’s just doing this because she’s been caught fucking a client?—”

“That language is unacceptable,” Tommy interjected. “You do not speak about her that way.”

“She’s my wife, she’s?—”

“I am not your wife,” I said, raising my voice just enough to interrupt him. “I haven’t been your wife for a long time, and I’ll never be your wife again. You do not know me, Jeff.”

“I know that this is crazy,” he growled. “Is that bastard making you do this? Is he?—”

“Jeff,” Scott interrupted. “The entire board of directors voted against you. Because you have been behaving poorly for years. You’ve taken advantage of your position repeatedly, you have been a poor leader. You’ve disrupted relationships with other clients by being an asshole. You haven’t been doing your job.”

“I founded this fucking place?—”

“I founded this place,” I corrected.

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