Capitulo 20

Emma walked into the conference room, where everyone was waiting. Lily sat in a conference chair talking with Robin and his sister Kathryn. "Good afternoon," Emma said, looking around at all the intimidating people.

"Wonderful, Emma, come in," Regina said and turned to Lily. "Lily, if you will…"

Lily looked up. "What?" she asked.

"You're in Emma's seat," Regina stated. Robin gritted his teeth as his friend crestfallen stood.

"Oh, right… Got a lot of work to do anyway, excuse me," Lily said and reached for the bottle of water sitting at her seat.

"Oh, Lily, leave the water. Emma might get parched," Regina said. The entitled woman frowned and returned the bottle of water. The way Regina talked to her cemented her status in front of all these powerful people who once held her in high regard.

"Of course," she said and left the room. Emma sat in the chair next to Mr. Mills and distributed the balance sheet.

"I asked Emma to be here so she could better explain the financial situations in these reports that she created," Regina stated.

"Well, of course," Zelena intoned. "Since she is the one that actually runs the company."

Regina looked at her sister and laughed sarcastically, then turned to her assistant. "Emma, please begin."

Emma swallowed in a gulp and began to explain the financial status of the company with the new hidden figures. The board was impressed by her depth of knowledge.

Every objection raised, Emma had an answer.

"I don't know, the math is not mathing here…" Zelena said. She, being the only financial genius in the room other than Emma, stated. "How is it with such a high level of debt, are we able to afford our amortization?"

"Well," Emma started. "High Concepts has tripled the intake of work, and the agencies are being prompt with their payments. You can see it here in the annexes."

Robin's eyes narrowed. He knows the agencies have not been paying like they should and is now worried about the state of the company. But Emma and Regina look so sure. He looks at both women, unable to voice his concern.

With that, Zelena pulled out a calculator and began to run the numbers right there.

Once Emma was done with her presentation, Cora Mills sat back. "Thank you, Ms. Swan, for your clear and succinct report. Well done."

Emma smiled brightly at her and said, "Thank you." Then she rose from her seat and stated, "Excuse me, everyone. I still have much to do." and left the room.

"We should give her the presidency," Zelena teased, still feeling as though something was off about the report.

"She is the presidency. Her office is right there, inside mine," Regina stated.

"Oh, I don't know how you don't have nightmares with that eyesore of a woman in your line of sight all day," Maleficent murmured.

"I have to hand it to you, Regina," Cora stated. "Not only for the ambitious goals you have set but your secretary…"

"Not my secretary, Mother. I mean, you've seen her work. I think it's fair to say she does an executive-level job, and she should be my executive assistant," Regina stated, finally getting Emma where she wanted her. "I hope the board has no objections to her promotion?"

"None from here," Cora stated and turned to the rest of the board with a big satisfied smile on her face. "Meeting is adjourned."

Zelena sighed and stood. "Fine… when is the next meeting?"

"That's a great question," Cora stated and turned to Regina.

"No… I'm going home to London, and I don't plan on being back until September, for Regina's wedding," Henry stated. Regina smiled at her father; she wasn't quite sure she could handle a meeting too soon.

"That is a great time," Cora stated. "September it is."

"Wonderful," Regina said with a smile. Zelena frowned; that was way too much time to be able to fix their issues, and she would not be able to wrest this company from Regina's clutches.

As Emma walked out of the conference room, she spotted her friends harassing Lily. "What's going on here?" Emma said, coming in between them and the single antagonist.

"Emma, it's just that we really had to give you these papers, and that witch wouldn't let us into the conference room," Belle stated.

Emma took the papers and read them; they were the real numbers. "Where did you find these?"

"My boss had them printed," Ashley stated. Emma was alarmed. She picked up her phone, changed her cloud passwords, and erased the documents.

"It's okay," Emma said distractedly. "The meeting is over anyway."

Just as she said that, Cora and Henry Mills stepped out of the room and called out to her. "Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Mills?" she stated as she approached them.

"I just wanted to give you my congratulations," Cora Mills stated. "Regina has just promoted you to her executive assistant, and the board has approved it."

Emma beamed. "Congratulations," Mr. Mills intoned.

"Thank you," she stated, just as the rest of the board came out.

"It was well-deserved, but don't let all the power go to your head," Henry teased.

Emma chuckled. "Of course not!" she said, then turned to Robin. "Thank you for the promotion, Mr. Locksley."

Robin paused to look at the woman. She had talent, and she was keeping the company afloat. What could he say that wouldn't make him look like a whiny little... He was saved when his ditsy little sister asked, "You got a promotion? To what?"

"She's the president's executive assistant," Robin answered, and Kathryn answered for both of them with a delighted clap for Emma.

Emma smiled at the reaction, grateful for the dumber Locksley's intervention. Emma had only thanked Robin to seem gracious.

Regina walked out of the conference room, gloating. "Oh, Zee, I'm so sorry you won't be able to come and scrutinize my work on a full-time basis, but come when you want; we'll give you numbers. High Concepts is yours…" She paused and thought the better of it. "No, well, we'll welcome you with open arms."

Mr. and Mrs. Mills walked away from Emma then, toward their daughters. "Your father and I are going on a company tour; do you want to come with?" Cora tried to intervene.

"Sorry, Mother, I can't," Zelena said, looking at her watch.

"Oh, please? Henry said, taking his stepdaughter's hand. "You have already dedicated all day to the torture of having to see us; just indulge us in a few more moments."

Zelena smiled. "It's no torture at all, Daddy; of course, I'll walk with you."

As the group dispersed, Emma had been staring down at the papers. She looked at Ms. Mills and called her over. "What is it?"

"I have to talk to you urgently," Emma whispered.

"Now?" Regina asked, and Emma nodded briskly. "What's going on?"

"Someone hacked my hard drive files," Emma stated.

Regina pulled Emma by the arm back to their office. "Are you sure?" She asked.

"Belle said she found this in the IT printer when they went to snoop on what the guy was doing with my computer," she handed her the folder, and Regina looked at them and back at Emma for confirmation. Those are the original files. "They still have my hard drive and can get at this again."

"So the computer they brought up is a fake?" Regina asked.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, Mulan thought the IT guy was acting kinda shady, so they all snuck in to see what he was doing and found these in a drawer."

"No one can know that we know about this," Regina stated. "Follow me."

The two exited Regina's office at a casual pace, and they headed straight for the IT office. Regina solicited Graham to open the door to IT, and the two of them began searching the files on the main computer. It was networked to all the other computers in the room, and Emma began a pathing search, finding the contents of all of her files, which were encrypted. The first thing she did was change the passwords to all the encryptions, just in case.

"Can you tell if they have made any copies of it?"

"Not sure; let's check," Emma said and began her process.

"Economista y hacker Emma… increíble," Regina stated in amazement. Emma smirked. She took Spanish in college, and even if she couldn't talk; she understood Regina was impressed at her skills.

"There have been no copies," Emma stated, just as the IT guy got to the lab.

"Oh, just the man I want to talk to," Regina stated. "What happened to Ms. Swan's computer?"

"I don't know," he stated. "It's under investigation."

"Okay, great. Why do you have a copy of Ms. Swan's confidential files in your networks?" Regina asked, and Emma turned and began the process of sending the files back to her cloud and deleting them from local files.

"Those were just backups," he said.

"Are there any copies of these files anywhere else?" she berated him as Emma began erasing the entire hard drive of the main computer after removing it from the network out of spite.

"No, just in my computer; I kept getting interrupted before I could complete the transfer."

"Listen closely to me. I need to know who you were working with. And if you tell me now, then maybe I won't place you under arrest for corporate theft," Regina said angrily. "Or better yet, a proprietary lawsuit… do you like money, Sidney?" Regina asked, stepping closer to the cowering man.

"P-please don't… Listen, I wasn't…"

"How about we play a guessing game," Regina said, sitting the man down in a rolling chair in front of her. She trapped him there and leaned close to his face so they could look each other in the eye. "Was it Ursula?"

Sidney shook his head. Emma looked at Regina and smirked. Her mind found this scenario oh so hot.

"Okay, how about… Deville?" Regina asked, and Sidney's shoulders sunk into themselves. "You really should become a better liar, Sidney; your tell is magnificent. Drop your shoulders." Regina stands and pushes the chair away angrily. "Of course, Cruella is behind this. She and Zelena are quite chummy right now."

"Well, I have everything, Ms. Mills," Emma stated.

Regina looked at the computer that was running DOS binary code behind her. Emma destroyed the PC. Regina smirked and turned to the little man. "Excellent. Thank you for playing; you may leave this company and never come back.

"What?" Sidney said. "You can't fire me."

"I can," Regina said, then looked over to Graham, who was still with them. "You know what to do." Then she began to walk toward the door, pulling Emma along with her by the hand. Emma, who was having her very own moment of bliss at the contact.

Finally, Regina was able to make it to the post-production meeting. But first, she needed to talk to Deville.

She spotted her slinking around with Zelena, and Regina followed them to the set for Maleficent's current project.

They were hiding behind the wall and looked rather chummy. Regina had to put a stop to this. "Deville, I need a word with you. We can do it right here if you want, or would you rather do it in private?"

Cruella walked out from behind the scenery cautiously. Before she could answer, Cora approached Regina. "Dear, Maleficent was telling us about the fantastic project she has awaiting us, but Jefferson says that we are short funds?"

"Mother… He is very well versed in this; talk with Jefferson; he will put you at ease," Regina said a bit dismissively. Her family was really being tourists right now. Maleficent's projects were always so visibly appealing and distracting. So she turned back to her target and tilted her head. "Well, since I got no response, we can have it out right here right now, what do you think?"

"No," Cruella stated. "No, I'd rather talk in private."

Regina nodded. "Very well, I'll wait for you in my office." Then Regina walked away and straight to her office. Once inside, she settled into her chair, waiting for Cruella to join her. The tension in the room was palpable, and Regina was ready to get to the bottom of whatever game Cruella and Zelena were playing.

Regina sat regally at her desk, a place she had to convince herself daily that she belonged. With the recent troubles she was facing, the battle to hang on to this desk had grown desperate. And the woman she was awaiting was one of the biggest threats to it.

Cruella walked in resolutely. She knew what was up and was going to make no bones about it. "Look, Deville, there are two different ways to leave a company. You can either tender your resignation, which is the dignified way, or you can be fired and thrown out like the garbage that you are," Regina stated, looking directly into Cruella's eyes. "Which one do you prefer, Cruella?"

"I'd rather resign, ma'am," Cruella stated.

Regina nodded, "Okay, so explain to me, what was the motivation behind sabotaging Emma's computer, and why did you boycott the Board meeting?"

"Personal reasons," Cruella shrugged.

"That's a convenient non-answer, isn't it?" Regina stated, leaning forward in her seat. "Make it plain, Deville... why?"

"You took all of my duties and gave them to that ugly duckling in that room. I'm just a glorified signature. I made a whole career out of finances, and you took that from me. How am I supposed to feel? I wanted the board meeting to be a complete disaster for her… not you."

"What were you going to do with those files?" Regina asked.

"I was going to double-check her work," Cruella answered.

Regina narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh… sure…" She stood and walked over to the older woman. "Wouldn't it be more accurate that you were following orders?" She walked around the woman with salt-and-pepper hair and stood in front of her intimidatingly without touching her. "Weren't you trying to send those files to… someone? My sister perhaps?"

"No, Ms. Mills," Cruella answered. "Ms. Greene has nothing to do with this."

"Oh... sure…" Regina said as if astonished. "What was I thinking… So it was your initiative. Of course. So tell me, who did you recruit to block Emma's computer?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Tell me, damn it!" Regina shouted. "Or I won't accept your resignation, and I'll fire you like the trash person you are. And I will ruin you, and you will never work in financial circles again." Cruella said nothing. "Fine. You're fired, leave immediately."

"Of course, Ms. Mills," Cruella stated.

"Leave!" Regina screamed.

In her office, Emma listened intently. She couldn't believe that Regina had gone to bat for her like that. Her heart fluttered. This woman became the dream more and more every day.

Regina headed to the boardroom, calling Lily to send their guests to the conference room. She had to let them all know that Cruella de Vil was no longer working with them.

Taking a deep breath, Regina and Emma stood at the head of the table. Emma looked at Ms. Mills and asked, "Are you sure you want me to stay?"

"Yes, Emma, please," Regina answered. She took a deep breath as the posse walked in and said, "I won't take too much of your time, as your time is gold. Do you remember the issue with Emma's computer today? It was due to sabotage."

"Regina," Cora said in shock as surprised gasps filled the room. "Sabotage?"

"Yes," Regina said. "By the hands of an honorable member of this board."

"Oof, that just gave me the chills," Maleficent said, spooked.

"The saboteur wanted to ensure that Emma looked like a fool before the board," Regina continued. "And wanted to gain access to the confidential files that she manages on her computer."

"Regina," her father spoke up. "Those are serious allegations." And as she revealed this, Regina watched to see who Deville's co-conspirator was. She was pleased to see that Robin was clueless about this, oblivious to the entire thing. Though he would have the most motivation after Zelena. "Who did it?"

"Who?" Regina said. "I'll tell you gladly, Daddy. It was Cruella de Vil, Finance VP." The gasps filled the room again. Emma looked around, feeling odd to even be in their presence. She wasn't a board member. But she saw it. It was indeed Zelena who had conspired with Deville because the look that was sent toward her was accusatory and hostile.

Regina had been right.

"She conspired with IT, who was tasked with making copies of all of Emma's confidential files."

"For what reason?"

"I don't know, mother, corporate espionage?" Regina said angrily. "Are you sure?" Robin asked.

"Yes, Robin, I'm sure. I have a confession from both the IT engineer and Deville herself." Then she leaned forward and looked at everyone in the eye, especially Zelena. "I hope that it's okay with the board, but both employees are fired."

"I would have charged them with theft," Zelena said, not flinching.

"Gee, sis, thanks for your suggestions, but I prefer the humane route," Regina said.

"Whatever, it's over now," Zelena said, rolling her eyes. "I'll find you a new Vice President of Finance as soon as possible."

"No thanks, I got this," Regina said. "I don't trust your recommendations."

"Oh… so you think I was behind that little stunt, huh?" Zelena stated.

"Of course!" Regina shouted her down. "Deville was your ally in this company; we all know it."