Chapter 13: The Boardroom Proposal
On Saturday morning, Mia woke up before the sun even crested over the Chicago skyline. Her chest felt like it was filled with crushed glass. She had her small duffel bag packed and slung over her shoulder, planning to slip out the servant’s entrance before Alexander woke up to avoid a soul-crushing goodbye.
But when she tip-toed into the massive kitchen, she froze.
James, Alexander’s usually stoic personal assistant, was standing directly in front of the exit, sipping a cup of green tea.
“Going somewhere, Miss Gonzalez?” James asked, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow.
“James,” Mia stammered, gripping her bag tightly. “I… I quit. I’m going home.”
“I am afraid that is completely impossible today,” James stated, checking his watch. “We have a catastrophic emergency.”
Mia frowned, her protective instincts immediately flaring. “What kind of emergency? Is Alexander okay?”
“Mr. Montgomery is fine. But his crucial meeting with the Japanese investors was abruptly moved to Monday morning, and the corporate cleaning service canceled at the absolute last minute.” James stepped forward, his expression grave. “He specifically requested you to handle the main conference room, Mia. He said you are the only one he trusts to get it perfect.”
Mia closed her eyes, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh. She couldn’t leave him hanging on the most important business day of his life. “Fine. But after Monday, I am gone. Where is this room?”
“The twentieth floor of the Montgomery Tech building,” James smiled faintly. “I will have a driver take you.”
Monday morning arrived with a blanket of grey, stormy clouds over the city.
Mia had been inside the massive glass-walled conference room since 8:00 AM, making sure every inch of the mahogany table gleamed. The room was intimidatingly huge, offering a dizzying, panoramic view of downtown Chicago.
At exactly 9:40 AM, she was putting her microfiber cloths into her bucket when she heard the heavy clatter of footsteps and voices echoing down the hallway.
A lot of voices.
“That’s weird,” she muttered to herself, pushing her cart toward the service door. “I thought it was just five Japanese investors.”
The grand double doors swung open, but it wasn’t a team of foreign investors.
It was Eleanor Montgomery, flanked by Victoria Sterling, followed by twelve serious-looking men and women in expensive charcoal suits. The Montgomery Tech Board of Directors.
Mia froze like a deer in headlights, her hands gripping her plastic cleaning cart.
Eleanor stopped dead in her tracks, her icy gaze locking onto Mia’s uniform. “Mia?” she asked, her voice echoing with absolute disgust. “What on earth are you doing in here?”
“I… I was cleaning the room for the investor meeting,” Mia stammered, suddenly feeling incredibly small.
Victoria let out a sharp, mocking laugh, looking around at the confused board members. “Alexander actually invited the cleaning lady to a high-stakes board meeting? He really has lost his mind.”
Before Mia could defend herself, the heavy doors opened again.
Alexander Montgomery walked into the room. He was wearing his best, sharpest black suit, but there was something radically different in his eyes. The arrogant, detached billionaire was gone. In his place was a man vibrating with absolute determination.
When his eyes found Mia pressed against the wall, a wave of profound relief washed over his face.
“Perfect,” Alexander announced loudly, his voice commanding the absolute attention of the room. “Everyone is here.”
“Alexander,” Eleanor snapped, pointing a manicured finger at Mia. “Why is the employee still standing here? This meeting is about to begin. Have security escort her out.”
Alexander walked to the head of the mahogany table, refusing to sit down. “Actually, Mother, she needs to stay. Because this meeting is entirely about her.”
Mia felt all the blood drain from her face. Her heart hammered against her ribs. “Alexander, what are you doing?” she whispered urgently.
“What I should have done weeks ago,” he replied, never taking his eyes off her.
Alexander turned to face the bewildered Board of Directors. “Thank you all for coming on such incredibly short notice. I know I called this meeting abruptly, but I needed to speak to you directly about the future of Montgomery Tech… and about my own future.”
Eleanor slammed her purse onto the table. “Alexander! If this is about the Sterling marriage proposal, we have already discussed this in private! Sign the papers and be done with it!”
“It is exactly about that, Mother. And about so much more.”
Alexander took a deep, steadying breath, pacing slowly at the head of the table. “For years, you have all told me what to do. How to act. Who to strategically marry. And I went along with it because I blindly thought it was the right thing to do. Because I thought corporate stability mattered more than personal happiness.”
Victoria shifted uncomfortably in her leather chair, her perfectly painted lips thinning into a hard line.
“But I was entirely wrong,” Alexander continued, his voice rising with raw power. “Not about the company being a priority, but about viciously sacrificing who I am for who you all think I should be.”
He turned away from the board and looked directly at Mia.
“A few weeks ago, an incredible woman crashed into my life and turned absolutely everything upside down. She made me laugh when I thought I had forgotten how. She made me question the rules I had always accepted.”
“Alexander, stop this right now,” Eleanor hissed, her face turning pale.
He ignored her completely, stepping slowly toward Mia.
“She is fiercely brave when I am afraid. She is completely real when everyone else in my life is pretending. She is loyal when I am selfish. And she loves me… not in spite of my flaws, but with them.”
Mia felt hot tears sting her eyes. She gripped the handle of her cleaning cart so hard her knuckles turned white.
“And I realized,” Alexander whispered, his voice cracking slightly, “that I love her too. More than I ever thought I was capable of loving anyone.”
Victoria shot out of her chair, her face contorted with rage. “Alexander, you have completely lost your mind! Over a maid?!”
“No, Victoria,” Alexander said coldly, not even glancing her way. “I have finally found it.”
He closed the final few feet between him and Mia. She stood absolutely frozen, tears spilling over her eyelashes, still wearing her baggy uniform.
“Mia Gonzalez,” Alexander said, his voice dropping to a gentle, intimate register that only she was meant to hear. “You taught me that love isn’t a convenient business merger. You taught me that family isn’t just blood—it’s who fiercely chooses to stay when things get hard.”
Eleanor tried to physically intervene, stepping forward. “Alexander, this is an absolute absurdity! You cannot possibly—”
“Yes, I can,” Alexander interrupted. “And I will.”
Right there, in the middle of the twentieth-floor glass conference room, in front of the entire stunned Board of Directors, Alexander Montgomery dropped to one knee.
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
“Before I go one step further with this company,” Alexander said, looking up into Mia’s tear-filled eyes, “Mia… will you marry me?”
The silence that followed was so absolute, Mia could hear the rain hitting the glass windows. She looked at him kneeling on the floor, then at the horrified billionaires staring at her, and then back down at the man she loved.
“You are completely out of your mind,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
Alexander smiled, a brilliant, boyish grin. “So, would you marry a crazy man?”
Mia let out a wet, genuine laugh, the tears flowing freely now. “Alexander, are you absolutely sure? Your family… your company… they will have to accept me exactly the way I am. No makeovers. No pretending.”
“Mia, I do not want a life without you,” he pleaded, reaching out and taking her soapy, calloused hands in his. “I don’t want to wake up in a cold, empty mansion. I want you. Only you.”
Mia looked deep into his dark eyes and saw nothing but absolute, unbreakable sincerity.
“Yes,” she sobbed, pulling him up by his lapels. “Yes, you crazy man. But you are still doing the dishes on Tuesdays.”
The room completely exploded into chaos.
Several of the younger board members actually clapped. Others yelled in shock. Eleanor stood completely speechless, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Victoria let out a scream of pure, unfiltered rage, grabbed her purse, and violently stormed out of the room, slamming the heavy doors behind her.
Alexander wrapped his arms around Mia’s waist and kissed her right there in front of everyone. He didn’t care about her cleaning uniform. He didn’t care about the board. He didn’t care about anything else in the world.
When they finally pulled apart, an older board member cleared his throat loudly.
“Well,” the man said, adjusting his glasses. “That was certainly unexpected. But what about the company, Alexander? What about the Sterling family’s fifty-million-dollar investment?”
Alexander turned around, lacing his fingers tightly through Mia’s.
“We will find other investors. We will grow at our own organic pace,” Alexander declared firmly. “And if that means starting smaller, or starting over completely, that is fine. At least I will be doing it with the person I chose, not the one a balance sheet chose for me.”
Eleanor finally found her voice. “Alexander, you are throwing away your entire legacy.”
“I have never been more serious in my entire life, Mother,” Alexander replied, his voice devoid of anger, only peace. “And I genuinely hope, with time, you will understand.”
He looked down at Mia, squeezing her hand. “Ready for an incredibly interesting life with me?”
“It will definitely be an adventure,” she smiled.
