"You may want to talk, but I don't have to talk to any of you." Eliza responded with a nonchalant expression and went back to reviewing the document in her hand.

She knew saying that wouldn't stop them from speaking since they had nothing to lose, but she needed an extra minute or two to finish the review for the file she held. It was needed for a managerial meeting in about ten minutes and had to leave her office before then.

"We just want to talk, please. Maybe we can find a way to resolve everything peacefully." Janet said and Eliza scoffed but didn't look up.

"As you can see, I'm busy. Unlike the rest of you, I actually have a job to do."

"And whose fault is it that we have no jobs, Eliza? You took my place as CEO and now we're being kicked out of the board." Francis snapped, but was held back from saying more by their father.

"We're not here to throw accusations, just to find a way to resolve our issues amicably. I apologise on your brother's behalf, Eliza, you know he's always been hot tempered." Gregory chuckled nervously, while he still held on to Francis.

Eliza remained silent. Only after she jotted down her signature did she look up, but not to speak to them. She tapped the intercom button on her desk.

"I'm done. You can pick the file up and have it delivered for the meeting."

A secretary walked into her office a minute later, and took the file from her.

"Ma'am, the client for your ten am meeting is here."

"Direct him to the meeting room, since my office is occupied, and serve him whatever he wants. I'll be there in exactly ten minutes."

"Okay, Ma'am."

As the secretary left, she finally faced the Pratt family. "You have ten minutes before I leave for my next meeting, so I suggest you choose your words wisely, because after today, you won't be allowed back on the premises."

She leaned back on her seat, and crossed her arms.

"Ten minutes? That's all you can spare for your family? I carried you for nine…"

"Nine minutes and thirty two seconds left. Tic Toc." Eliza interrupted Janet.

"Look, we understand that the past few weeks have been a bit hostile, and we have some bad blood between us. We would like to clear the slate and just have a new beginning. We're all still family at the end of the day, we share blood, and they say blood is thicker than water, right?"

"First of all, I haven't seen you so calm and humble in a while, Dad. And now you're acting as the mediator? That's hilarious." Eliza chuckled.

"Secondly, that's not the full quote. It has been bastardised and changed over the years, but the full quote really says 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb' Can anyone guess what that means?" She paused but they all remained silent.

"It basically means, the family you choose is better than the family you were born into. I'll stick with the old version. You can keep the new one."

"You're having fun seeing us like this, right? It makes you happy to be cruel to your family. You planned all this just to humiliate us. You want us to kneel and beg? Is that it?" Francis said, and Eliza sighed.

"You know what's funny? That even after all this, after all the bad things you all said and did to me and my husband, I still haven't heard a proper apology. One is talking about new beginnings, and the other is more focused on accusations, while the others either stare with barely concealed hatred, or boredom. You're not here to seek my forgiveness, you're only here because you literally have no other option."

"And whose fault is that?" Natalia huffed. "If you had just done the right thing and helped your family properly after getting Alrik's wealth, none of this would have happened. We all know the only reason you insisted on being with him is money, so don't try to act all righteous. It's disgusting."

Eliza smirked at her cousin. "The others, I couldn't care less about, but I have to admit, you amuse me. I think it's funny how you're accusing me of being a gold digger because you would never have stayed with a penniless man. You're just projecting your character flaw on me, and also your jealousy. You hate the fact that you tried to seduce my husband and failed. You wish you were me. Too bad, my husband only has eyes for me."

"We're digressing." Henry Pratt stepped in before Natalia could retaliate. "We're here to discuss what needs to be done. The decision to be removed from the board was a wise financial decision. If the public thinks we're not part of the company, there would be no negative news to affect stock prices. We can return after a few weeks, when this whole mess has died down. In the meantime, we'll keep receiving our salaries, and we'll need a bonus to help us lay low for a while."

Eliza stared at her grandfather as he spoke, and shook her head. "I don't know why I ever thought you all would change. I must have been foolish or delusional."

"Stop this stubborn act, Eliza. It doesn't suit you. Let bygones be bygones. This whole bad news will blow over in a short while when a new scandal pops up to take its place." Marco said, and the others agreed.

"It was just the trauma of losing my baby that made me go mad, okay? But that doesn't give you a right to be cruel to me. I'm a grieving mother, and you know I don't work, so Marco's income is important. Don't forget that bonus as well. I need to take a trip to get over my grief, and..."

"Enough of this nonsense. I'm done hearing it. Time for you all to listen.Being removed from your positions on the board is not temporary, it's permanent. Nothing you say or do will change it, and that's not even the best part. You won't be receiving a penny from this company. Your shares will be sold and used to compensate me for damages due to the lawsuit you filed. You'll be lucky if you're not still indebted to me even after that. Pay you salaries? What a joke. She scoffed.

"All other assets under any of your names are being seized as we speak. The only thing you get to keep is the house." She stood as the ten minute alarm she had silently set went off.

"Your ten minutes are up. Security is on the way to escort you out of my building. You're all lucky to not be in jail for your false accusations and fraud, but I'm guessing being penniless will be punishment enough, soon. I also have a restraining order being signed at the moment, which means if any of you come within two hundred feet of home, workplace, or basically anywhere I'm at, you'll be jailed immediately.

"How dare you!" "You can't do this!" "That's preposterous!"

Eliza leaned on her desk as they all began to yell at the same time, because they were blocking the door. And she didn't want to get too close and give any of them a chance to grab her. She had already used the hidden button for security, and she knew they would be there soon.

In less than a minute, they were all being removed from her office, still yelling and cursing, while she ignored them all and went for her meeting.

Alrik called Eliza later that evening while he was leaving his office, to find out if she was done with work. She was still busy, but he figured she would be almost done by the time he got there to pick her up. He was just two blocks away from her office building, when a blinding headache made him cry out. The partition between him and the driver was up, so the driver couldn't hear him, and in that state of pain, he couldn't see the button for the intercom.

He leaned back and grabbed his head as he started seeing flashes like last time. He saw street signs, a lit up restaurant, and a parking lot. He gasped as he realised he recognised the places. The restaurant was just opposite Eliza's building, and that was her office parking area, just behind the building.

"Zee, help." Alrik had no idea if his plea would get to Zee, since he wasn't close to his home where Zee was.

But he felt it. A sense of relief that made the headache slowly vanish.

"Drive faster." He instructed the driver as he tapped on the intercom button, and dialled Eliza's number.

"Hey, I'm done. Just heading to the parking lot to wait for you. Are you close?"

His heart skipped several beats as he heard that.

"Eliza is in danger. A new portal is opening."

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