The spotlight moves along with Inara stomping towards the stage. Is it just Zade or did he just see Victor smirk?

"This was his plan all along! His invitation was a part of this!" Abir rolls his fist.

"Should we do something?" Ivory asks worriedly, "I'll look for Brent."

"He is right there," Zade points at Brent, standing right below the stage. He was smiling an all too genuine smile.

"I bet he had a part in this!" Ivory never liked Brent that much but Inara always considered him to be a friend so she had to tolerate him.

"Or Victor somehow convinced him," Abir reminds her of another possibility, "We all know Victor is a big manipulator."

"Why are we dissing the director here?" Zade questions, totally confused.

"It's just..." Abir's eyes are still on Inara who was now standing on the stage, besides Victor, looking really uncomfortable, "You wouldn't understand."

He goes ahead and Ivory follows him too, leaving Zade standing there like a dog without food.

"How do you feel, Inara?" Victor leans into her ear and whispers.

"Why are you doing this?" Inara doesn't even hide her anger towards him. She knows why he was doing this. If she becomes the CEO, she has to directly answer this jerk for all their work formalities. Also, she would be distant from her friends due to the workload, leaving her alone and vulnerable.

"I told you," Victor whispers back, "Don't underestimate me," He holds her by her waist, tightly, "This could have happened in private but you...."

Inara frees herself from his hold and looks at Brent standing. He was smiling as if he didn't care that his position was just snatched away.

"Are you really not going to say anything?" She whispers at Brent.

"Why should I?" Brent stays incredibly calm, "I am happy that my friend and colleague is going ahead. I wouldn't mind stepping down and take orders if it is from you," He smiles at her.

But Inara feels icky. She snatches the mic from Victor and announces, "But I have a problem."

"Excuse me, everyone. Thank you! Thank you to our kind director for offering me such an honourable position and such an overwhelming surprise!" She looks back at Victor, "But sadly, I have to decline."

Everyone gasps and a round of murmurs fill the entire room.

"I feel," Inara continues, "That I still need to learn a lot from our current CEO," She points at Brent, "Plus, the staff in my department still need my guidance. Especially the new ones, right Zade?"

Everyone turned to where Inara was pointing. She was pointing straight at Zade.

The spotlight comes on Zade showing his shocked face. He looks at Abir and Ivory who look back at him with puppy eyes, begging him to save Inara and go along.

Zade nods hesitantly and Inara flashes a breath-taking smile, showing that she was thankful.

"You see?" Inara gives the mic to Victor but when he touches it, she drops the mic.

"Oops, must have slipped," She smirks and goes ahead without even looking back.

Wait, she was walking straight towards Zade!

Inara walks up to Zade, holds his arm, and whispers, "Let's get out of here!"

That was indeed a mic drop moment!

Victor was left on the stage, biting his cheek from the inside. Brent signals the crew to dim the spotlight and take it away from Victor.

"I thought it would work!" Brent comes up to Victor, "I thought she wouldn't say no in front of everyone!"

"That boy," Victor was slowly coming down, with an unreadable expression, "Isn't he Zade Carter, the youngest Alpha of The Blue Moon Pack?"

Victor looks at those figures walking away with a curious smile.

"Interesting turn of events," Victor whispers to himself.