Gutiérrez & Co.
The company was in chaos.
Again.
The shareholders had, for the second time in less than two weeks officially requested an emergency Special General Meeting.
By dawn, the request had circulated through executive suites.
By nine o'clock, the atmosphere inside Gutiérrez & Co. felt less like the headquarters of one of the most powerful corporations in the country and more like a battlefield moments before the first shot.
Phones rang endlessly.
Executives swept through hallways, grimacing.
Assistants rushed from office to office with reports and tablets scribbled over, high on the latest developments.
All televisions screens almost appeared to be showing one and the same.
The same face.
The same name.
Suzzanne Gutiérrez.
Again.
And this time, the news cycle was even more vicious than before.
Far uglier.
There were no more articles about financial controversies and company disputes.
Now they were digging deeper into the past.
Into old family records.
Into decades-old conflicts.
In to the dismissal of her parents.
Into allegations that had never been shown.
Into things that should have never seen the light of day.
Speculation spread like wildfire.
Each news station had its own spin on it.
All the journalists was both claiming to have new information.
Certain reports implied that somehow Suzzanne orchestrated the murder of her own parents.
At times, some suggested she had profited from it.
A few went even further.
Criminal involvement.
Corporate sabotage.
Conspiracies.
Theories.
Accusations.
No evidence.
Only noise.
Of course, noise was always the enemy.
Especially once so many began to believe it.
Maximiliano stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the city from inside the executive control room.
For maybe the first time in years—
He looked worried.
Not frustrated.
Not irritated.
Worried.
Dangerously worried.
An anxiety that dug deep in the bones of a man.
The kind that came when years of careful planning suddenly began slipping through his fingers.
The company share is a little on the stabilizer side right now.
Investors had not fled.
But they had reached to pull away.
Major partners had not withdrawn.
Yet.
But Maximiliano knew business more than most.
He understood perception tended to be reality.
And right now—
Perception was turning against them.
His jaw tightened.
The bags under his eyes were a more pronounced shade of purple these days.
He hadn't slept much.
Each time one rumor was quelled three more emerged.
As one article was debunked, another appeared.
The pressure was becoming relentless.
He noticed movement by the entrance next.
The lobby doors opened.
Immediately, several employees straightened.
The atmosphere shifted.
Suzzanne had arrived.
She walked in as if she did not just become the hottest news of a nationwide scandal.
Like her name wasn't just echoing across every TV screen throughout this country.
As if it wasn't on the edge of another shareholder revolt.
Her expression remained calm.
Cold.
Controlled.
A charcoal-gray suit itself tailored, sharp and elegant in a highly respectable way without being gaudy.
No hair was out of place.
She has not a hint of fatigue on her face.
It was almost unsettling.
Behind her, walked Felix.
Tablet in hand.
Suit immaculate.
Expression unreadable.
The young aide strode in, already scanning the morning reports on his screen.
As soon as Maximiliano saw them, he crossed through the lobby.
So fast that some of his employees locked eyes nervously.
"Miss Gutiérrez."
Suzzanne barely slowed.
"Good morning."
"There is an emergency meeting."
"I know."
Maximiliano blinked.
Of course she knew.
She always knew.
The Shareholders requested for a Special General Meeting.
No reaction.
The whole board is already on board.
Nothing.
"The media situation has worsened."
Still nothing.
They reached the elevators.
The doors slid open.
Suzzanne stepped inside.
Felix followed.
Maximiliano entered after them.
The doors closed.
Silence.
The only sounds audible for a few seconds were the slight hum of the elevator.
Then Maximiliano finally lost patience.
"Now, they're talking after your past."
No response.
"The allegations are now accelerated than they were before."
Silence.
"Suzzanne."
Nothing.
His frustration grew.
"Why don't you understand, Suzzanne."
Still.
Nothing.
Felix lowered his eyes from the tablet, standing next to Suzzanne.
His gaze settled on Maximiliano.
A warning.
A subtle one.
But unmistakable.
That look of someone silently saying:
Stop.
Felix knew her routine.
He knew her habits.
He knew she hated pointless noise so soon after the morning bells.
Especially when all the noise were people repeating problems that she already knew.
Maximiliano caught the look.
And immediately understood it.
A quick look passed between father and son.
Felix's expression remained polite.
Respectful.
Yet firm.
Maximiliano swooped down heavily on the sighing. Finally found his silence.
The elevator continued upward.
Suzzanne kept her eyes on the doors.
Never reacted.
Never recognized the frenzy around her.
As if none of it existed.
The elevator led out to the executive floor.
The three stepped out.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
People moved aside.
Conversations stopped.
Eyes followed her.
The route to the boardroom became a no-brainer.
When the doors opened—
Every conversation inside immediately died.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
More than thirty shareholders, directors, and executives sat around the massive conference table.
Every single one turned toward the entrance.
Every single one straightened.
But Suzzanne did not acknowledge one of them.
All she did was walked on over to the head of the table.
Calm.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Felix followed directly behind her.
Like a shadow.
Like a bodyguard in an assistant attire.
Maximiliano made his way to an open seat.
The room remained frozen.
Waiting.
Watching.
Suzzanne finally sat down.
Putting one leg across the other.
Felix positioned himself behind her chair.
Tablet still in hand.
It was only then that she raised her eyes.
Slowly.
One face at a time.
The silence became unbearable.
She looked around the room.
Every shareholder.
Every executive.
Every director.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
She made a small gesture with two fingers.
Continue.
That was all.
One of the senior shareholders cleared his throat right away.
"Miss Gutiérrez, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult to manage."
Another quickly joined.
"The reports concerning your family history are spreading internationally."
"The allegations regarding your parents—"
"The accusations regarding your involvement—"
"The media is making involvement of criminal activity—"
"Several investors are expressing concerns—"
"The public perception—"
"The company image—"
The voices began overlapping.
One after another.
Faster.
Louder.
An avalanche of complaints.
Concerns.
Fears.
Warnings.
Nobody seemed capable of stopping.
Until suddenly—
The room fell silent.
Not because Suzzanne had spoken.
Because she hadn't.
She simply looked at them.
Nothing more.
One glance.
One cold, unreadable glance.
And the room died.
The final speaker gradually pulled himself back down into his chair.
Silence returned.
Suzzanne put her hands flat on the table.
Then spoke.
Her voice wasn't loud.
Yet everyone heard it clearly.
"If rumours are enough to make you doubt me, I won't waste my time persuading you otherwise. The door is open."
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Several shareholders exchanged confused looks.
Suzzanne continued.
The tension immediately doubled.
Several executives visibly stiffened.
Maximiliano's eyes widened slightly.
Even he hadn't expected that.
Then came the words that shifted the atmosphere entirely.
"You will not return. I trust I've made myself clear."
Silence.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Nobody knew how to respond. Nobody had prepared for this.
Suzzanne leaned back slightly.
Completely composed. Completely in control.
"Those who wish to keep filling their pockets every day."
Her gaze remained steady.
"May stay."
The meaning behind those words hit instantly.
Then she rose from her seat.
The movement startled several people.
She gathered nothing.
Not a file.
Not a document.
Nothing.
She just started walking toward the exit.
Confusion spread instantly.
One shareholder suddenly stood.
"Miss Gutiérrez, wait—"
He never finished.
Without stopping.
Without even looking back.
She cut him off.
"I believe I made myself clear the last time we spoke. Do not summon me again until this matter is resolved."
The room fell silent again.
The doors opened.
She walked out.
Felix followed immediately behind her.
The doors closed.
And the room—
Died.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.
And the silence left was almost palpable.
Heavy enough to touch.
Shareholders cast furtive looks around the table.
Not because she threatened them.
She hadn't.
That was what made it worse.
All she had done was remind them of where their loyalties really lay.
And not one of them had gotten up.
Including those who had requested the meeting in the first place.
Maximiliano sat motionless slumped forward.
Staring at the closed doors.
An inscrutable expression passed across her face.
Shock.
Relief.
Disbelief.
And something else.
Something he hated admitting.
Admiration.
He had been afraid all morning that he was losing control—
Suzzanne entered the room, said less than fifty words, and made sure everyone remembered who owned it.
The business was in a state of pandemonium as it entered the meeting.
Yet somehow—
Walked out the room, with every shareholder scared to lose her more than they believe the news
Later That Day
Maximiliano stood stiff in Suzzanne's office with his hands folded tightly behind his back, a bead of sweat running down the outline of his temple although the air-conditioning was running-nice and cold. He'd been called, and he had spent the whole walk there reassuring himself it had to be about progress - the desperate attempts of the PR team to drown out the wildfire of articles tearing through the city.
He started, his voice throaty and shaky yet trying to sound confident. "Sorry for the delay."
"But we're doing everything we can to have those articles taken down." His voice carried a strain he could no longer conceal. "The situation is deteriorating by the minute. The stories are spreading far faster than we anticipated, and every attempt to contain them seems to be met with another wave of publications."
Silence answered him.
Suzanne sat behind her enormous desk, her eyes slumped downin front of the screen, not acknowledging his words avoiding his words as usual. That calmness of her was a knife cutting his nerves.
Finally, she spoke—but not what he has expected.
"The contract documents have been forwarded to you. Go through them thoroughly and identify every loophole." She delivered the instruction with unruffled composure, her tone as detached as though she were assigning a routine review rather than preparing to dismantle a deal.
Maximiliano blinked, mouth partially agape. "What do you mean?" he asked, baffled. "Aren't you worri—"
"Do not tell me what to do."
The voice pierced the air like the crack of a whip. Calm, steady, but commanding. It froze him where he stood."
"I… I don't know what is going through your head," Maximiliano pressed, his frustration visible in every word he spoke. "but, one thing is clear, nothing's going your way, Suzzanne. Nothing. Everything you've built will crumble down if you just sit there being nonchalant!"
The moment of silence following his outburst was deafening. He stared down at her, his eyes flaming with anger level, his chest rising and falling fast with each breath, longing for the slightest change in her demeanor. But Suzzanne remained still, expressionless.
He swung around, anger and worry almost ripping him apart, as he stomped out of the office with heavy doors banging behind him.
That was when Suzzanne lifted her head.
Her gaze slithered from the documents in front of her on the desk and gently toward the window beyond, a skyline stretching far and wide beneath an afternoon sun. She leaned back in her chair, gentle before the storm, eyes somewhere limitless.
Outside these walls, the chaos meant nothing but noise to her.
The noise she already anticipated.
Noise she was prepared for.
Author's Note :
Thankyou for reading<3
Have a Good Day/night<3<3