"This is your home now, Connor," she whispers, walking up to me and hugging me from behind. "What are you going to do about the Order?"
"I’m going to leave the Order," I tell her. I hadn’t even thought about it, but now it just seems so clear. I’ve outgrown the Order of the Temple, and now it’s time for me to do my own thing. Maybe, if Jonathan wants me, I can remain as an adviser in his company. If not, it doesn’t matter, as long as Clarise is by my side, I know I’ll land on my two feet.
"You know… I think that my father would be proud of me," I say, looking out into the distance. Even though my father always supported me when I decided to follow in his footsteps, I think that, deep down, he didn’t want me to become like him. He wanted me to be my own man, to look for my place under the sun and carve something beautiful out of my life.
And now that I have Clarise, I think I’ve done just that.
"Of course he’d be proud of you… what father wouldn’t be proud of having a son like you?"
I remain in silence, just breathing in as I close my eyes. The sun is climbing up now, and its warmness is seeping through the window, bathing my face. Smiling to myself, I let all the events that brought me here replay inside my head.
The funeral, my first time with Clarise, the feeling of being on the verge of losing everything… It’s funny how life goes, isn’t it? It’s like a rollercoaster, full of ups and downs. You think you know what’s going to happen next, but there’s always a surprise waiting for you at the next bend.
"Shall we?" I finally ask Clarise, offering her my arm and pointing at the door.
"Of course," she smiles, taking my arm and pressing her body against mine. We walk out of the office arm-in-arm, a radiant smile on both of our faces. A few employees look toward us, a look of surprise and admiration on their faces, but I don’t even care.
The only thing I care about is the woman next to me.
And I swear to God, I’ll love and take care of her for the rest of my life, come hell or high water. I know I don’t have a good track record when it comes to keeping my vows, but don’t doubt me on this.
This is the one promise I won’t ever break.
37
Clarise
By the time Connor and I stroll inside the conference room, everyone’s already sitting at the large table. There’s a total of twelve people around the table (fourteen, now that Connor and I are here as well), and closed dossiers sit in front of each one of them.
The board is made up of some of the toughest business operators in the world (and they all have deep pockets to match their toughness), and I can’t help but feel slightly intimidated as I take my seat at the top of the table, next to my father. Connor sits on the other side, nodding at the whole table.
"Hello, gentlemen," he greets them all, his tone one of supreme confidence. If I didn’t know it, I could almost say that Connor was the CEO of the company.
"Connor, Clarise," my father starts in a solemn tone. "I’ve already informed the board that Earl is no longer part of the company, so that’s taken care of."
"An unfortunate matter of events," a grisly man at the end of the table says, his long white hair making him look like the business version of Hemingway. His name is John, but everyone just uses his surname, Sullivan. "But, if I’m allowed to say it, it’s for the better. He wasn’t cut out for this," he finishes, and a few more board members nod their agreement.
"But still," Richard, another of the members, says. He’s still in his early fifties, not a single grey hair peeking from his perfectly combed hair, "we have to worry about the implications of what Earl was doing. If he was really involved in some illegal scheme, we have no idea if he has already pulled the company into something shady. We’ll have to review every single project he has worked on, and that --"
"I’ve already taken care of that," Connor says, pushing his chair back and going up to his feet. Placing his closed fists on the table, he stands as tall as a God. "The moment I had my first suspicions about Earl, I started a thorough investigation. I personally reviewed every single transaction he was involved in. Despite his lack of success and profitability, there was nothing illegal about what he did. Now, if he had managed to make the company invest in Red Lion Aviation, there’d be trouble. But he was stopped before he could do any damage and, as such, everyone in this room is safe."
"Now that’s impressive," Sullivan says, nodding his approval. "It seems that this young man really lives up to Edward’s reputation."
"Thank you, sir," Connor smiles, sitting back down and looking at my father, waiting for him to address the board again.
"It’s true," my father continues, "Connor’s been doing a great job ever since he started to work with us. But now, I have some important news to share with all of you. Taking into account what happened today, I’ve made an important decision."
I notice a few of the board members shifting in their seats, anxious to see what kind of decision my father could've made in such a short amount of time, but they seem to relax as my father opens up into a smile.
"Six months from now, I’ll be vacating my position as head of the company," he says, and that anxiousness c
reeps upon the face of the board members once more. With my father stepping down, who the hell is going to take the helm of the company? Earl was the one pegged to be his successor, but with him out of the picture… Unless…
Oh.
Can it be?
"During these six months, my daughter will be acting as interim CEO. After that, she’ll take the reigns of this company," he gives everyone a moment to allow what he said to sink in, and then he places one hand on my shoulder. "Despite being the leader of my family, I never realized the kind of man Earl was. If Connor and Clarise hadn’t stopped him, this company would've ended up becoming a ruin. As such, it’s time I step down and give my daughter what she deserves. I propose we move to a vote."