Between two worlds | Chanlix

Burn the crown

The conference room felt colder than usual.

Felix sat at the head of the long glass table, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened. The directors' voices buzzed in his ears, each more tense than the last. Numbers, projections, potential backlash—every word another knife chipping at the little resolve he had left.

"You're destabilizing the brand," one of them barked.

"The rumors are piling up. The tabloids. Your... personal choices are becoming a liability," another said.

Felix kept his jaw clenched, watching the data scroll across the screen without seeing any of it. The only thing he heard clearly was his heartbeat, loud in his ears. Hollow. Rhythmic.

He tapped his pen twice. Then he stood.

"I'll call a separate session later in the week. This is over."

"But—"

"I said it's over." His voice dropped, low and final.

They all froze. Then one by one, the windows of the video call blinked out, leaving only the silence of his office and the reflection of himself in the glass wall. He looked older. Worn down. But for once, the exhaustion was laced with conviction.

He left the room, the hallway echoing with every determined footstep, passing assistants who dared not meet his eyes. The doors to the private wing of the estate were ajar. His father was already waiting for him, reading the market reports.

"I heard," the old man said without looking up. "Your tone on the call was weak."

Felix stood in front of the desk. "I want a divorce."

The papers rustled. His father looked up slowly. "Excuse me?"

"I'm done pretending. I want out. Of the marriage. Of this... arrangement."

His father stared. "You've gone mad."

"I've gone free," Felix whispered, barely trusting his voice.

The older man rose, his voice growing harsher. "You think because you've found someone—"

"This has nothing to do with him!" Felix snapped. "It's about me. I've played by your rules my whole life. But I'm done now."

The room was crackling with tension.

"You'll ruin everything we built," his father said, disgusted.

"No. You built a prison. I just decorated it."

"Then stay in it. Keep decorating. This world doesn't bend to emotion, Felix. You'll learn that when the vultures come."

Felix's eyes didn't move from his father's.

"I'm resigning as CEO."

It was like a bomb dropped.

"What?" his father hissed, stepping closer. "You wouldn't dare—"

"I already did." Felix turned. "Effective the moment I step out of this room."

"You are the brain of this company," the man growled behind him. "You walk out, and the board will scatter like wolves. Your enemies will take over. And that boy you keep crawling back to? He won't survive this storm with you."

Felix paused, hand on the doorframe. His voice was quiet.

"Then I guess I'll see who stays."

He walked out.

Behind him, the moment the door shut, his father's hand slammed the desk, rattling everything on it.

"Get me Lee," he barked into his phone. "I want a full report on Felix. Where he's been. Who he's with. Now."