Chapter 10 - Whispers in the Boardroom|
By the following Monday morning, the corporate headquarters of Whitmore Confections was buzzing with quiet, venomous rumors.
Corporate office gossip travelled faster than email. By noon, half the executive assistants on the fourth floor were whispering about how the night cleaning woman had been seen riding in the CEO’s private vehicle on Christmas Day.
In the employee breakroom on the basement level, Marlene pulled Hannah into a quiet corner behind the vending machines.
"Hannah, what in heaven's name happened on Christmas?" Marlene whispered frantically, looking over her shoulder. "Marcus Vance from Operations was asking HR this morning why Mr. Whitmore pulled your personal file over the holiday."
Hannah paused from wiping down the counter, her stomach knotting. "Marcus Vance?"
"He's the Vice President of Operations," Marlene warned, her voice dropping even lower. "He’s been trying to push Ethan off the executive board for two years, claiming Ethan’s grief makes him unfit to run the company. Marcus searches for blood in the water, Hannah. If he thinks you’re involved in some kind of corporate scandal with Ethan, he’ll use it to destroy both of you."
"There is no scandal!" Hannah insisted quietly, her face flushing with embarrassment. "My daughter broke a music box in his office. He took me to an antique shop to get an estimate for the repairs!"
"It doesn't matter what the truth is to men like Marcus," Marlene said grimly. "To them, a night cleaner having the CEO's personal ear is a threat."
Before Hannah could respond, the breakroom door swung open.
A tall, elegant woman in her late sixties stepped into the room. She wore an immaculate camel-hair coat, pearl earrings, and carried herself with an icy, aristocratic posture that instantly silenced the room.
It was Eleanor Whitmore—Ethan’s mother and the majority shareholder of the company board.
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Eleanor’s cold blue eyes swept past the vending machines, locking directly onto Hannah’s name badge.
"You must be Hannah Mercer," Eleanor said, her voice dropping into the room like a frost. "My son's new... special project."
