He Bet My Life and Lost Me Instead novel · Chapter 26 of 32

Chapter 26: Not a Gift

Nina's POV

I took the envelope to the chairman's office on the fortieth floor.

I didn't take it to Dylan.

The chairman sat behind his desk with his cane hooked on the edge, and Dylan stood by the window with his bandaged hands held in front of him.

He looked as if he hadn't slept since the tower.

I put the cream envelope on the desk.

"I'm not signing it," I said.

Dylan turned.

"It isn't a trade. It isn't a price. There's nothing in it for you."

"I know. That's the point."

"The point is you're doing it again."

He frowned.

"You decided what I needed, and you built it, and you handed it to me," I said. "A penthouse with no fire in it. An inhaler in your jacket. Now nineteen percent of a company, with a bow on it."

"Nina, I only want to give you something."

"Then ask me what I want."

The room was very quiet.

The chairman looked at his hands.

Dylan swallowed.

"What do you want?" he said.

"Thank you."

I sat down in the chair across from the desk, and I found I could do it without my knees shaking.

"I want the chief executive's chair today, not in ninety days. I want you to resign it in front of the board this afternoon. I want your shares to stay yours."

"Yours is the title," the chairman said slowly. "His are the votes."

"I'll earn mine."

I turned to Dylan.

"Two years ago you folded the fire-safety unit into facilities to save money. Four people. Nobody in a warehouse has run a smoke drill since."

He went white.

"I remember."

"I want it back. I want it bigger. Smoke detectors in every building, sprinklers in the three old warehouses, an evacuation drill every quarter, and a person whose only job is making sure nobody burns."

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