Iron Lightning; Valuable [ II ] P. PARKER

.NO WAY HOME EPILOGUE

NO WAY HOME EPILOGUE

10 YEARS LATER

Jade walked as quickly as her feet would let her, holding onto a coffee in one hand and a few manila folders in the other. She was running slightly late and hated to disappoint her boss.

Once she made it to her starting point of the day, she opened the door a little faster than she meant to, making quite a dramatic entrance, and dropped her papers on the ground.

Everyone looked at her, the board of directors and Pepper Potts stopped what they were doing to jump up and help Jade.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Jade cried, trying her hardest to bend over and pick up the papers, but her belly being in the way.

Thirty-six weeks pregnant was not very fun and being a CEO's assistant was already a tough job, being pregnant made it ten times harder.

"Do not apologize, Mrs. Parker," one of the board members said, handing her the papers back. They were completely messed up and it would take her hours to fix it back.

"I know this was a big meeting and I even got Pepper's order perfectly correct this time!" Jade defended herself, holding up the coffee cup she was holding.

"This is the first time in months you've been late, Jade, it's only a few minutes," Pepper smiled, helping her off the floor. "We haven't even started yet."

Jade smiled nervously, ignoring eye contact. She hated being late, being the goddess of lightning and having speed as fast as sound, seemed wrong to be late for anything. But while being pregnant she was always hungry— more than usual— and without constantly eating she was low on energy and slower.

"Now that you're here, we can start," Pepper said motioning to begin as CEO and the Board's Chairman. "I will just skip to the main reason I have called this meeting: I am retiring."

Everyone in the room gasped. Pepper had been associated with Stark Industries for over thirty years, working for Tony and then for herself as CEO. Everyone hated to hear she was leaving but ultimately respected her wishes. She was over 60 years old for crying out loud.

"What will you do with your position? You have no successor— Morgan is only fifteen," a man from the members asked.

"Well... I have someone in mind. She's very loyal and hard-working. She has been with this company for almost ten years and I have had the pleasure of getting to know her," Pepper explained, looking towards Jade.

Jade's heart started beating out of her chest. Was she talking about her? She had been with Stark Industries for almost ten years and she did have a close relationship with Pepper. And Pepper was looking right at her, could she be meaning her?