Marked As A Family Liability

The annual family meeting was meant to discuss everyones contributions to the corporate empire. Dividends were merit-based, but the family trust had officially labeled me the sole negative asset. Not only was I denied any annual payout, they were also voting to remove my name from the family register.

It made no sense. The subsidiary I ran had just secured our largest overseas distribution channel ever. My division alone contributed eighty percent of the groups profits. How had I become a liability?

My aunt Vivian sneered contemptuously. "We only got those channels because Tiffany ran herself ragged networking."

"You, meanwhile, embezzled corporate funds to wine and dine your little boy toys. And you still talk about contribution?"

"Out of respect for our bloodline, were only asking you to compensate each household two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Refuse, and dont blame us for getting ugly."

Instantly, everyone joined in, cornering me and demanding payment.

Even my fianc Oliver looked at me coldly. "Quinn, if not for your cousin stepping in, your reckless spending would have sunk the company. None of us would get a dime. Just pay, and they might let you keep your dignity. If they kick you out, Ill be dragged down with you."

I looked down at the financial summary on the table. Beside my cousin Tiffanys name, her "contribution dividend" was listed as ten million dollars.

I gave a soft laugh and shook my head. "No. Im leaving the Montgomery Group entirely."

What these vultures didnt know was that the companys technical lifeline and every top-tier client answered to one person alone: me.

"You ungrateful little brat!"

Aunt Vivian slammed her wine glass down on the table so hard the crystal shattered. A sharp shard flew up, slicing the back of my hand.

"Look at your expenses for this quarter alone! Over half a million dollars! Are you entertaining clients, or are you just living it up on our dime?"

"The supply chain vendors are all old friends of the family. Tiffany handles all the outward-facing platform work. And you? For every dollar you make, the family has to cover ten dollars of your wasteful spending. A spoiled parasite like you is the biggest negative asset the Montgomery family has ever seen!"

"Agreeing to let you run Nova Corp was the biggest mistake of my life!"

Hearing this, a dry, humorless smile touched my lips.

When Tiffany screwed up the pricing algorithm on our e-commerce platform and got all our best-selling links suspended, I was the one who stayed awake for forty-eight hours straight, trembling from exhaustion, coding the fix.

When our suppliers boycotted us, I was the one who stood in the freezing rain outside the client's headquarters for a week just to win back a single contract.

When Nova Corp was on the verge of bankruptcy, a company of hundreds pulling in less than three thousand dollars a month while bleeding a half-million-dollar interest loan, I drained my personal savings to bridge the gap. I turned a dying husk into a highly profitable enterprise in just three months.

When they were begging me on their knees to save the business, they certainly were not singing this tune.

I quietly wiped the bead of blood from my hand. Before I could even open my mouth, Tiffany blinked her heavily lashed eyes and offered a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Honestly, it wasn't just my hard work. Every time we ran a platform beta test, all the aunts and uncles pitched in to help. It made us so much more efficient. In marketing, time is money. The glory of the Montgomery Group is built on our family working together as one!"

The moment those words left her mouth, every relative in the room beamed with pride.

"Oh, our Tiffany is so thoughtful! Not like some people, throwing Montgomery money around like water just to make herself look important, never acknowledging anyone else's hard work!"

"Exactly. Some people will never learn. No wonder she tries to steal credit when she has achieved nothing! I really don't know how her mother raised her."

"You can't entirely blame her mother. A child's lack of discipline falls on the father... and well, her dad did die early, didn't he?"

I shot to my feet, my chair screeching against the floor, glaring at them with absolute fury.

Vivian immediately pointed a manicured finger at me, her voice shrill. "What do you think you're doing?! Don't forget you are surrounded by your elders!"

Oliver quickly grabbed my arm, pulling me back. "Quinn, don't throw a tantrum. Your aunt isn't actually going to kick you out of the family. Everyone just thinks you need to feel the pinch. Otherwise, you will never learn to stop hemorrhaging money. No matter how much profit Tiffany brings in, it cannot sustain your lavish lifestyle."

"Just lower your head, apologize, and promise you will stop dragging us down. Pay the compensation, and I will personally beg your aunt for leniency. We are family, they won't back you into a corner."

I froze, staring at him in utter disbelief.

My fianc of five years was actually standing against me, telling me to swallow my pride and apologize to these parasites?

In the span of my silence, the insults and accusations rained down on me like hail. Someone even threw a silver fork at my face, screaming at me to get out of the Montgomery house.

I mocked myself internally.

For two years, I spent countless nights patching security loopholes. I stayed on international calls until dawn, securing overseas channels. I emptied my own bank accounts just so Vivian wouldn't end up on a federal debtor's list.

And my reward? Being branded a negative asset.

Looking at this pack of rabid wolves calling themselves my family, I finally understood that words were useless here.

I shook off Oliver's grip and gave a faint, icy smile. "Keep your leniency. I, Quinn, voluntarily withdraw from the Montgomery family."

The sound of another glass shattering against the wall mixed with Vivian's furious screech. "You arrogant bitch! If you walk out that door, you are never stepping foot in the Montgomery Group again!"

I did not say a word. I turned on my heel and walked out the heavy oak doors without looking back.

If the Montgomerys were too blind to see my sacrifices, too stupid to realize that every single client and resource was loyal to me alone... then so be it.

I would take my hundreds of millions in profit and build my own empire.

When I finally got home, the food on the dining table had long gone cold.

My mother was frantically tearing through drawers, her face pale with panic.

"Mom, what are you looking for?" I asked, exhaustion thick in my voice.

Tears welled in her eyes as she shoved a heavy metal lockbox into my arms. "Sweetheart, this is every penny I have saved. If I sell the two storefronts downtown, we can scrape together maybe two hundred thousand. You take this and pay them a fraction of what they want. We can slowly pay off the rest of the compensation!"

"I will go beg your aunt Vivian tomorrow! If the family kicks you out, we will have nothing left. And your wedding... Oliver will call off the wedding!"

A loud ringing filled my ears as a surge of pure, unadulterated rage boiled over in my veins.

Ever since my father passed away from illness, my mother had lost her anchor. She lived in constant fear. Vivian had used that against her, manipulating my mother with just a few honeyed words.

Vivian had convinced my mother that I was a sickly, useless girl with no real prospects, and that the Montgomery family was doing us an immense favor by taking me in.

I had walked away from an executive CEO position at a Fortune 500 tech firm just to take over the dying mess that was Nova Corp, solely to give my mother peace of mind.

And now, Vivian was using the exact same psychological warfare to torture her again.

I did not even need to ask what Vivian had said on the phone. She had inverted the truth, erased my achievements, and painted me as a promiscuous, reckless spender driving the company into the ground.

Thinking about the pitifully low salary I drew, and the absolute bare-minimum health insurance the family trust provided for my mother, my blood turned to liquid fire.

I grasped my mother's trembling hands, my voice deadly calm. "Mom. From this day forward, I am never going back to the Montgomerys. But I promise you, I will make sure you live a hundred times better than any of them."

The next morning, I returned to the Nova Corp skyscraper to clear out my office.

The moment I stepped into the lobby, a cloud of concrete dust choked my lungs, sending me into a coughing fit.

Smash. A brick, knocked loose by a renovation crew, plummeted from the scaffolding and narrowly missed my shoulder, shattering by my feet.

"Watch where you're walking! Are you blind?" a worker yelled.

"What is going on here?" I snapped instinctively. "Who authorized heavy construction in the main lobby?"

As the words left my mouth, Tiffany strutted out of the executive elevator, flanked by a massive entourage of employees.

The moment they saw me, the sycophantic smiles on their faces vanished. They shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at me.

Tiffany looked me up and down, a mocking lilt to her voice. "I was wondering who was causing a scene. Turns out it's just my former cousin."

"Now that the platform revenue has crossed twenty million under my leadership, the company is entering a new era. It is time for a complete facelift!"

I understood immediately. Tiffany was putting on a theatrical display. She wanted every employee to know that the crown had passed to her.

Those very same employees, people who had fought in the trenches beside me, caught her drift perfectly. They turned their gazes on me, eyes dripping with disdain.

Jessica, the Director of Marketing, stood with her hands on her hips right next to Tiffany. "Ms. Montgomery, you have incredible taste! This new aesthetic is going to boost our morale tenfold! Not like the old days, when certain people were too cheap to invest in the office, but threw tens of thousands at luxury restaurants, yacht rentals, and sketchy phone bills!"

"Exactly! Let's be honest, we all stayed because of Ms. Montgomery's vision. If we had to keep following a certain someone, we'd be 'negative assets' for the rest of our lives! Hahaha!"

The HR Director tossed a plastic visitor badge at my chest. "Honestly, Ms. Montgomery is just being merciful. She said you could stay on as a junior secretary out of pity. If it were up to anyone else, security would have tossed you into the street by now!"

Their laughter and jeers felt like jagged knives sliding between my ribs.

Jessica was a distant relative on my mother's side. When I took over Nova Corp, she was working at a real estate office, getting harassed by clients daily. Her deadbeat husband had racked up massive gambling debts and forced her to pay them off. When she couldn't, he broke her nose and put her in the hospital. She was so desperate for cash she got into a physical brawl with a rival agent, ending up with her face clawed bloody.

The rival's wealthy backer pulled strings and had Jessica thrown in jail. I was the one who bailed her out. I gave her a second chance at Nova.

I intentionally funneled massive corporate accounts under her name so she could clear her debts in one lump sum. I hired the lawyers that helped her win her divorce and get a restraining order.

Back then, she had cried until her eyes were swollen, swearing on her life that she would follow me to the gates of hell.

And now? Jessica was acting as Tiffany's loyal lapdog, leading the charge to push me off a cliff.

I gave her warmth when she was freezing, and she paid me back by throwing stones while I was down.

I forced myself to remain expressionless. Turning a deaf ear to their taunts, I walked into my office, only to find it completely stripped.

In the corner, a black trash bag sat with its mouth splayed open.

Inside were the personal items I kept in my office suite. My tailored blazers, my toothbrush, even my passport, all covered in construction dust.

Just as I bent down to retrieve them, a heavy leather boot stepped deliberately onto the bag.

I looked up and met Oliver's eyes. Compared to my exhausted state, he looked incredibly smug and vibrant.

"Quinn, stop throwing these little tantrums. Just lower your head, say you were wrong, and you can go back to your comfortable little life. If you just follow Tiffany's lead, I am sure you won't be a negative asset anymore."

"The company will keep spinning without you. But aside from the Montgomery family, who else is going to tolerate your uselessness?"

He crushed my dignity with the casual weight of his boot.

In the past, my heart would have shattered. But now, the waters of my mind were dead calm.

Because the moment they labeled me a negative asset, I finally saw clearly. Oliver, just like the Montgomerys, had never seen me as a human being.

I stood up straight, a razor-sharp smirk forming on my lips.

"If you want to stay and be a parasite for the Montgomerys, that is your choice. From this moment on, we are done. I don't need a pathetic excuse for a man like you."

Oliver's jaw tightened, his fists clenching. "Quinn! I am trying to save you! I looked the other way when you were out partying and flirting with male models on corporate trips. Now you are being swept out like trash, and I am begging them to show you mercy. How dare you speak to me like that?"

I did not want to waste another breath on him. I turned toward the door, but Tiffany stepped into my path, leaning her entire body into Oliver's chest. The sight of them pressing against each other made my stomach churn.

"If you want to throw away your only lifeline, fine! You won't even listen to Oliver! Who would want a piece of garbage like you anyway? If my aunt hadn't insisted on marrying your loser father, you wouldn't even exist! You deserve to be a negative asset! You will rot at the bottom forever!"

A volcanic heat surged through my veins. I stared dead into Tiffany and Oliver's eyes, my gaze freezing cold.

Tiffany threw her head back and laughed, calling me a stray dog that not even a homeless man would touch.

It was a pity they couldn't read the lethal intent in my eyes. And it was a pity they had no idea what kind of hell was about to rain down on them.

Leaving the Nova Corp skyscraper, I stepped out into a sudden, torrential downpour without a single ounce of regret.

Though the rain soaked me to the bone, it felt like it was washing away years of toxic grime. I felt incredibly light.

I was shedding the dead weight. It was time to start over.

By the afternoon, the rain cleared. I went to the registry and expedited the paperwork for a new corporate entity.

The news of my departure from Nova Corp sent shockwaves through our industry network within hours.

Headhunters and rival marketing firms immediately started digging. My phone buzzed relentlessly with over a hundred connection requests on social media.

Before accepting a single one, I logged into Nova Corp's encrypted financial database. I initiated a full backup of every revenue stream, expense report, and ledger I had managed since taking over.

Every single transaction was documented with crystal clarity. Anyone looking at the hard data would instantly see that the "extravagant spending" they accused me of was barely a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of millions I brought in.

After securely transferring the encrypted files to my legal team, I opened the master control panel of Nova's e-commerce platform. With a single click, I unbound my administrator credentials, severing my digital footprint completely.

Before I could even log out of the communication software, I noticed I had already been kicked from every single Nova Corp work chat.

I let out a dark chuckle. At least it saved me the trouble of leaving them one by one.

I accepted the dozens of friend requests. The messages were nearly identical. Every major firm wanted to poach me as their Chief Marketing Officer or General Manager.

The lowest base salary offered was a hundred times what the Montgomery family paid me.

But I declined them all. Instead, I called Arthur, a former university classmate who controlled a massive network of supply chain resources.

In the past, out of loyalty to the Montgomerys and to avoid Oliver's insecure jealousy, I had rejected Arthur's partnership offers time and time again.

When I told him I had severed ties with Nova Corp, the line went dead silent for two full minutes.

Then, his voice crackled through the speaker, thick with poorly concealed triumph. "Fucking finally."

Within hours, we had drafted the framework of our new empire.

We would fast-track the development of a proprietary platform. I would send formal notices to every client in my Rolodex, officially announcing my departure from Nova Corp.

Whether they chose to stay with Montgomery or follow me was entirely up to them.

Furthermore, exactly one week after our platform went live, we would host an exclusive, invite-only gala for our top distributors.

I also coordinated a strategy with Arthur. Any legacy client from Nova Corp who migrated to our new platform would retain their top-tier status, plus an additional, highly lucrative "welcome back" incentive package.

Arthur agreed without hesitation. We divided the workload and dove headfirst into the grind.

Meanwhile, by that evening, two trending hashtags had skyrocketed to the top of the financial and tech forums.

#NovaCorpLeadStepsDown

#MassExodusOnNovaPlatform

The internet was flooded with wild speculation about why I left. People were tagging my official accounts, demanding a statement.

I stayed silent. But soon enough, a highly upvoted comment surfaced and pinned itself to the top of the discussion.

@ran_truth: The former director, Quinn, embezzled Montgomery Group funds to live a lavish lifestyle and hire male escorts. When the board found out, she refused to admit it. They just asked her to pay back a fraction of what she stole, but she threw a massive tantrum at a family banquet and quit. Her cousin, who is actually competent, had to step in to save the sinking ship. The very next day, Quinn broke into the office and physically assaulted her cousin and her own fianc!

Attached below was a high-definition, closely cropped video of the lobby confrontation.

Within minutes, thousands of comments flooded in. "Corporate parasite," "shameless gold digger," "she's probably the one sabotaging the user database out of spite!" The vitriol was deafening.

I massaged my temples, letting out a heavy sigh.

I knew exactly who owned that burner account. It was Oliver.

What the idiot didn't know was that since college, I had used a dummy account to track his digital footprint. I had archived every single photo and post he had ever uploaded before he scrubbed them.

I took a fresh screenshot. But this time, it wasn't a picture of him posing at a bar. It was absolute, concrete proof that he had manufactured evidence to frame me for another woman.

Just as the internet mob reached a fever pitch, Tiffany struck while the iron was hot, releasing a formal public statement.

She lamented the "unfortunate family tragedy" and tearfully urged old platform users not to be "brainwashed" by my lies.

Riding the wave of viral traffic, she announced that Nova Corp would be hosting a massive press conference and contract renewal ceremony the following week.

"On the day of the press conference, we will be joined by our newest overseas channel titan, Mr. Harrison! We cordially invite all our esteemed clients and distributors to attend!"

She looked as proud as if she were accepting a Nobel Prize in Economics, her face practically glowing with unearned arrogance.

I closed out of her trending video and accepted a direct video call request from Mr. Harrison himself.

I wondered if Tiffany would still be smiling on the day of her little gala.

For an entire week, Nova Corp poured millions into promoting their press conference. They invited every distant branch of the Montgomery family, local politicians, major corporate clients, and over a hundred media outlets.

A week later, the doors opened at the Montgomery Group's grand banquet hall.

Dozens of servers in crisp uniforms lined the entrance. A plush red carpet stretched for hundreds of yards, leading straight to the main street. The entire hall was illuminated by dazzling laser lights.

The distant relatives Tiffany had invited were practically salivating, chatting loudly about how much their dividends would multiply this year.

Journalists set up a barricade of cameras and microphones.

The event was even being broadcast live on the massive digital billboard in the center of the financial district.

In the center of the hall, Tiffany stood wearing a custom velvet gown dripping in diamonds.

Oliver, my ex-fianc, was looking at her with sickening devotion, letting her lean heavily against his side.

They looked like the ultimate power couple, passionately detailing their utopian business roadmap from the podium.

The clock ticked. The ceremonial bell-ringing, originally scheduled for 10:58 AM, was delayed. The distributors hadn't shown up.

Twenty minutes passed. The only people walking around the floor were hired event staff.

Several elderly Montgomery board members were shifting uncomfortably in their seats, their backs aching from waiting. A couple of them had flat-out fallen asleep on the VIP sofas. A camera crane swept past, broadcasting a shot of an old uncle drooling directly onto the city's central billboard.

11:30 AM.

The media reporters were getting restless. The murmurs grew louder and more agitated.

A veteran journalist finally lost his patience. "Ms. Montgomery, it's 11:30. We are half an hour behind schedule! If you don't start now, we have other breaking news to cover!"

"We've been waiting all morning. Our time is valuable too!"

"I'm on a deadline. Pack it up, guys, we're leaving!"

Seeing the press corps threatening a walkout, Tiffany panicked. She furiously signaled her assistants and staff to call the distributors again, desperately promising that anyone who showed up would get a year of platform fees waived for free!

She then gave the MC a frantic nod to commence.

The MC's face paled, but he forced a bright smile and stepped up to the microphone, shouting into a room devoid of actual clients. "Distinguished guests! Nova Corp partners! Family! Our ceremony officially begins!"

"Please welcome our visionary leader, Ms. Tiffany Montgomery, to the stage!"

Tiffany forced a radiant smile, waving enthusiastically at a sea of empty chairs.

Just as she reached the microphone, her lead assistant sprinted onto the stage, completely panicked.

Because the mic was still live, her frantic, breathless voice echoed through the massive speakers for everyone to hear.

"Ms. Montgomery! The phones at the main office are exploding! The distributors... they said they are never renewing their contracts with Nova Corp!"

"What?!"

Feedback screeched from the sound system.

Tiffany practically leaped off the stage, grabbing the assistant by the collar.

"Didn't I tell you to call them and offer a whole year for free?! Why isn't anyone here?!"

The assistant stammered, terrified. "The distributors are saying the backend system is completely corrupted! They submitted bug reports days ago and no one fixed them. Customers are paying for orders, but the system isn't processing the shipments! They aren't just canceling their contracts... they are filing class-action lawsuits for lost revenue!"

"What?! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!"

The assistant shrank back. "I tried to tell you three days ago, but you were busy shopping for a new sports car with Mr. Oliver, so you told me to..."

Tiffany's face flushed a violent, ugly shade of red. "What are you standing here for?! Give me my damn phone!"

The assistant shakily handed over the device.

The journalists below, seeing Tiffany's complete meltdown, immediately sensed blood in the water. The whispers turned into loud demands.

"What's going on here? Are you playing us for fools?"

"Ms. Montgomery! We didn't come here to watch you play pretend CEO!"

Being publicly humiliated, Tiffany snapped. She pointed a shaking finger at a female reporter and shrieked, "Who the hell do you think you are?! You should be grateful I even invited you! How dare you bark at me in my own building?!"

The atmosphere instantly turned hostile. The press corps closed ranks, furiously condemning Tiffany's arrogance.

Cameras flashed rapidly, capturing every vein popping in her red, screaming face.

"Let's go! We have our headline! This company is a complete joke!"

The hall devolved into total chaos. The Montgomery relatives couldn't sit still anymore.

"Tiffany, why is everyone leaving? The event hasn't even started!"

"Yeah, we are relying on this for our year-end bonuses!"

Tiffany, who had just been chewed out by her mother Vivian earlier that morning, was entirely out of patience.

"Shut up! You greedy old fossils! Go ask your own useless kids for bonuses! Stop bothering me!"

The relatives froze, staring at her in shock, before slamming their hands on the tables in outrage. "Excuse me?! That is not what you promised us last week! You said you had massive international clients coming today and our dividends would triple!"

In a blind rage, Tiffany kicked over a towering champagne pyramid. Glass shattered everywhere. "Get out! All of you! You do absolutely nothing and expect to get paid?! Security, throw them all out!"

In her hysterical breakdown, Tiffany had completely forgotten one crucial detail.

At that very moment, the live feed was still broadcasting her psychotic meltdown to the massive digital screen in the center of the city.