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"Connor’s leaving?" he asks me, widening his eyes in genuine surprise. Jesus, what if he isn’t the one pushing Connor out? What if I made a mistake? But no… He might not know that Connor’s leaving, but there’s something he isn’t telling me. And I want to know what it is.
"Yes, he’s leaving. And I want to know why," I insist, staring him down.
"Oh, are you sad you’re going to lose your boyfriend, ‘sis?" he taunts me, refilling his glass once more. "You must be so heartbroken right now. Are you going to cry? You can cry if you want."
"You’re the who’s going to be crying if you don’t spill the beans." I lower my voice menacingly, making it clear that I might do good on my threats and give him a serious beating.
"It’s quite simple, ‘sis," he leans over the desk, placing his elbows on it and looking at me with that mocking smile of his. "I outsmarted the both of you. You thought you could plot against me behind my back, didn’t you? Well, that’s over now, Clarise, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me."
"What are you saying?" I ask, growing more impatient by the second.
"You still haven’t got it, huh? I have proof that the two of you were fucking. That’s right… I’ve got footage of the two of you going at it in the church. And, hm, you guys really seemed into it. Tell me, Clarise, is he a good lay? Because you sure as hell screamed your heart out."
"You fucking --" I start, gritting my teeth together and walking around the desk. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I ball my hands into fists and I prepare to punch the living shit out of him.
"Calm the fuck down, Clarise. I’m the one holding the cards right now. Keep on acting like such a bitch and I’ll expose you to the whole city. Don’t think that I won’t do it; I’ll ruin Connor, I’ll ruin you, and I’ll ruin whoever gets in my way."
"I’m your sister…" I tell him in disbelief, my grip on his shirt growing weak. I never really got along with Earl, but this is too much. To think that my own brother’s blackmailing me… how did this happen?
"What do I care if you’re my sister?" he spits back at me. "You’re nothing more than a common slut, Clarise, but your party ways have finally screwed you over. Now go back to whatever hole you crawled out of, and leave me the fuck alone."
Everyone has their limits, and I’ve just reached mine.
This time I don’t even bother with slapping him; no, I cock my arm back and let my closed fist fly straight into his face. It connects so hard that Earl falls out from his chair, clutching his nose as bright blood starts dripping out of his nose.
"You fucking bitch!" he cries out in pain, trying to get up. Staring down at the pathetic excuse of a man that’s my brother, I place my high-heel on his chest and keep him down on the floor; reaching for his glass of whisky, I grab it and throw its contents all over him.
"Here, have a celebratory drink, asshole," I tell him coldly, feeling ice running through my veins. Finally taking my foot off of his chest, I make for the door and unlock it. Before I leave, though, I turn around to look into his eyes one final time.
"If you think I’m giving up on everything I’ve ever wanted, you’re out of your mind. I won’t give up on the company, I won’t give up on our family, and I sure as hell won’t give up on Connor."
"Yeah?" he asks me, that mocking tone still in his voice. I guess he still hasn’t learned his lesson. I almost go back just so I can punch him again, but this time I manage to restrain myself. Nothing good will come out of that. This is a war that won’t be won with fists. This is a war that’ll be won with brains… And, unfortunately for my brother, my brains are much bigger than his.
"What are you going to do about it, Clarise?" he taunts me, and I can see his teeth painted in bright red blood as he grins. Not really an improvement on his ugly mug, but I did my best.
"I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, Earl. I’m going to make sure you’ll never run the family business. You’re done."
With that, I bolt out of his office, my brain working at full speed.
I might not have started this war, but I sure as hell am going to finish it.
Connor
I should be long gone by now, but I never got to deliver Jonathan my letter of resignation. Crap, I think to myself as the elevator climbs up to the top floor of the Donovan building.
This is going to be bad; today’s the day of the yearly board meeting, and I was supposed to attend it as the Donovan’s adviser. But now here I am, ready to resign right before one of the most important meetings of the year. Yeah, give me the Adviser of the Year award already.
But it’s not like I can do anything else. If I step inside the boardroom, I’ll have my back against the wall. I’ll either throw Clarise under the bus or I’ll back Earl in what’ll be an idiotic move for the company. So, while it might not be ideal, I’m just going to remove myself from the equation.
"Oh, you showed up," Earl tells me in a surprised tone, looking at me as he watches me walk inside Jonathan’s office. He’s sitting by his father’s side, and it looks like the two of them are going over some documents before the meeting.
"Oh, just in time, Connor!" Jonathan greets me happily, getting up from his seat and clapping me on the back. "You won’t believe the gem Earl found. An airline in Indonesia, can you believe it? And the numbers look great! I know it’s a bit premature to be thinking of a move like this, but perhaps Earl’s right. Risking a part of our fortune in a strong company like this might be the right move for us."
Red Lion Aviation, a strong company? I have to resist the urge to laugh. After Earl revealed his intentions of backing an Indonesian airline with over $2 billion dollars, I couldn’t resist the urge to dig deeper and I’ve reached out to a few of my contacts in Rome. It’s all pretty muddy, but it seems that Red Lion Aviation is nothing more than a front for something very, very shady…
My best guess is that Earl has been seduced by the quick mountains of money that can be made in the drug-trade, and he’s trying to position himself in that market. Of course, what he doesn’t know is that I’ve already alerted a few of my higher-ups to the fact. If he manages to convince Jonathan to make the investment, he’ll quickly realize that the American authorities will put a quick stop to his ambitions.
So, you were thinking that just because I was resigning that I had abandoned the Donovans? Not a chance in hell; I might have to quit because of Clarise, but I’m not going to let this family go down this easily because of a giant fucker like Earl.
