Her eyes fixed on a single line:
“Right holder: Irina M. Belyaeva.”
She gasped. It was real. It was hers. The name “Monolit,” the very soul of the company, legally belonged to her. She remembered now—Gleb had shrugged off the paperwork, called her paranoid, and let her handle the trademark registration. After all, they were a team. Back then.
But now… that forgotten decision was her weapon. And she wasn’t going to let it rust in a safe.
That night, Irina didn’t sleep. She gathered documents, made calls, reached out to the quiet but sharp accountant who still respected her, contacted a friend from law school now turned fierce corporate attorney. She didn’t cry. She planned.
—
Three days later.
Monolit’s towering office bustled. Gleb sat in his corner suite, Diana perched smugly on the armrest, sipping imported wine like a co-CEO. They were going over expansion plans, smiling at each other, when the door burst open.
Irina stepped in—calm, composed, a stack of papers in her hand and a glint in her eyes that chilled the room.
“Ira, what the—this is a private meeting,” Gleb barked.
Irina didn’t blink. She placed the papers on the desk with surgical precision.
“This,” she said, “is a cease-and-desist order. Effective immediately, Monolit must halt all operations under this name. Trademark violation.”
Gleb went pale. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She slid the certificate forward. “You wanted to erase me? Fine. But you forgot—I am Monolit. Legally, at least. And you can’t operate under a name you don’t own.”
Diana lunged forward, “You’re bluffing.”
Irina met her gaze, razor-sharp. “Try me.”
Two security guards, previously loyal to Gleb but quietly summoned by Irina’s lawyer minutes earlier, stepped into the office.
“Mr. Belyaev,” one said, “we’ve been instructed by legal counsel to escort all parties out until this is resolved.”
—
The fallout was instant.
Projects frozen. Emails unanswered. Investors panicked. Gleb tried to rally, but the media caught wind of the scandal—a business titan ousted by his “housewife” wife in a legal masterstroke.
Irina didn’t gloat. She didn’t shout. She simply stepped into the CEO chair she’d never been allowed to sit in… until now.
She changed the locks. Hired new leadership. Revamped the company from the roots—transparent, strong, ethical. And she did it under a new name, one that still bore her fingerprint but without the poison of betrayal.
As for Gleb?
He moved into a rented, miserable little apartment on the edge of town, his “status” gone, his mistress long disappeared once the money dried up.
Because arrogance might build an empire—but it’s wisdom that keeps it standing.
And Irina?
She was never just a shadow.
She was the monolith.