Jimmy glanced at Fee, watching her reaction, then back at us. He slowly shook his head in disbelief.
‘I don’t know why, but Fee is behind all of this,’ I added, feeling every inch of his pain. It was his sister who I was accusing, and I knew how much he loved her.
There were gasps, then mumbles of confusion.
‘You don’t believe this shit, do you?’ Fee laughed, shaking her head. ‘It’s not true! Why are y’all trying to ruin my life? First, Travis and now this?’ She covered her face and pretended to sob. ‘I can’t take any more of this!’
Ethan pulled back his chair. ‘It is true. I ran every poor investment and it always came back to the same employee. The evidence is there in black and white.’
Gasps and groans came over the board as they dissected this development among themselves.
Britney was staying extremely quiet in her chair, and so I turned to her. ‘And the lovely Britney was in on it too.’
‘What?’ Jimmy pushed back his chair; his hands squeezed into fists. I wasn’t sure if he was angry at them or us.
‘I .?.?. I .?.?.’ Britney’s face had turned purple with nerves and indignation. ‘I only did it because she promised me VP!’ She whimpered guiltily. ‘Fee said I’d get a bigger office and a rise, I just had to sway the votes to get her brother out! It wasn’t my idea, Jimmy, it was—’
‘Enough!’ Jimmy shouted, and I could see from his face that he was finding it hard to accept all of this. ‘Why would you do this, Fee?’ he asked, turning to his sister. She was stone-faced.
‘Jimmy, what are you talking about?’ she said. ‘I had nothing to do with those investments.’
‘They have the fucking evidence, Fee!’ There was a pause. ‘Look, I can call the investors in here and go through the business plans and the accounts if you .?.?.’
The entire room was weighed down by the heaviest silence imaginable.
‘No,’ she muttered.
Jimmy’s shoulders dropped at the realisation of what she’d done. His breathing was far too rapid, like he couldn’t find the words or the oxygen in his lungs to quiz her. ‘Did you do this deliberately?’ he finally gasped. ‘Did you try to turn my company against me?’
Her face was stern, impassive; she showed no emotion whatsoever.
‘But why, Fee? I’d have given you any money you needed. Any job.’ His face contorted in utter devastation.
‘Job?’ She seemed enraged. ‘I didn’t want any other job, I wanted yours. Hell, I’ve earned it.’ She slammed her hands on the desk, making me step back. ‘I work harder than anybody else at this company, and who gets the legacy? Who do the press remember? YOU!’ she almost snarled, looking down on her brother. ‘Even after all the shit you put Ma through as a kid, in and out of juvie, while I looked after her. But still, she obsesses over you, the golden boy!’ She put on a high-pitched voice, imitating her mother: ‘When is Jimmy coming over? Why can’t you make my dinner the way Jimmy does? Why can’t you be more like your brother?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I am done living in your shadow, Jimmy Link. I deserve this fucking company!’
My jaw was hanging open, and not just at the spite in her voice. I couldn’t believe she was spilling the tea so easily.
‘Then perfect little Ella snapped you up and I must admit, it was great for me – you were so off your game, brother. But then my PI mentions that my deadbeat husband,’ she rolled her eyes, glaring in Travis’s direction, ‘was cheating on me again – only this time it was with Katy, our newest employee.’
Katy pulled back her shoulders, furious. ‘So, you stalked me!’
Fee laughed. ‘I sent a few messages, that’s all. Get over yourself, girl. I didn’t want the app to launch, I wanted more heat on you, Jimmy, for the board, but someone tipped the media off and ruined the app better than I ever could!’ She laughed, and I flinched at how evil the sound was. To think I was sucked in by this woman’s blueberry muffins!
Zola rolled up her sleeves in disbelief. ‘You’re one sick, twisted bitch!’
Fee shrugged. ‘I shot my shot, girl. You shot yours with the app, and we both lost. No investor will touch you now.’
I couldn’t believe how crazy this psycho woman was. I had no idea it was her all this time. Fuck, I’d even felt sorry for her.
‘And no company will touch you with a ten-foot barge pole, hen!’ I replied sharply.
Fee sniggered. ‘That’s where you’re wrong, though,hen. The board won’t fire me, will you? Because you’d have to announce publicly what I’d done and, God knows, that would be bad press! Come on, you know I’m right. Give me a slap on the wrists and be done with it already.’
Jimmy had had enough. He walked past me and opened the conference room door. ‘Get security up here now!’ Then he looked at his sister. ‘That’s where you’re wrong, Fee. Actions have consequences, and I’m not afraid of publicly shaming my sister when she’s behaved this appallingly.’
Four security guards marched into the room.
‘Remove my sister, Travis and Britney from the building, please, seize their laptops and revoke access to all areas of Flirtify. From immediate effect.’
