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He’s expecting me to argue. React. I don’t give him the satisfaction of either. I just nod. All I want to do is get out of here and back to my penthouse before Hannah has to leave.
“If you want this company to continue being run by a Kensington, he will be.”
My father and I both look at Crew, who abandons his spot in the corner to walk over to the desk, pulling a piece of paper out of the inside pocket of his jacket and dropping it down on the varnished wood.
“For you, Dad.”
His forehead wrinkles as he picks it up.
“My resignation letter,” Crew adds.
“What?”
The twin exclamation is one of a few instances when my father and I have been on the same page at the same second. We both sound…stunned.
“This is my official notice.”
“What thefuckdo you think you’re doing, Crew?” our father spits. “You’re turning your back on your family?”
Crew meets his gaze, calm and unaffected. “I’mchoosingmy family. The woman I love. Our kids. Lili is getting older. I’ll have a second child soon. You might have been fine letting nannies raise me and Oliver, but I’m not interested in replicating that childhood. I’m going toknowmy kids, Dad. So call a headhunter and tell them you need a future CEO picked out. Or give it to the son who was always meant to have it. I’m done. If you want to be my father, that’s fine. But I’m done with you being my boss.”
Crew turns and walks out without another word, and it’s the one and only time I’ve seen my father truly speechless.
For all his posturing and manipulation, I’m positive he believed neither of us would ever walk away.
Crew just called his bluff.
There’s nothing else for me to say, so I follow Crew out, leaving my father to stare at the repercussions of his choices.
The hallway is empty. I walk until I reach Crew’s office, knocking once on the door.
“Come in.”
I open it to find Crew standing with his hands in his pockets, staring out at the rising sun.
“That was a hell of an exit.”
Crew turns. He attempts a grin, but it falls flat. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first. I found out everything was finalized yesterday, and I hadn’t decided how to go about it.”
“Where are you going?”
“Royce Raymond made me an offer at my wedding. Said he wanted to hand his production company over to someone with decent business sense and some shred of integrity. I reached out to him after Scarlett told me about the pregnancy. It’s better hours, more flexibility. The chance to be part of something that wasn’t handed to me.”
“You’re partnering with him?”
Crew shakes his head. “Full ownership. Scarlett is already house hunting in Los Angeles. We’ll split time, but I want to be out there at first. She was already working on remote plans for once she’s farther along in her pregnancy.”
“I—wow.”
My father wasn’t the only one who thought Crew would never leave this company. None of the reasons I’ve ever considered doing so apply to him. I’m proud of him for putting his family first and stepping into something new. But despite the strife it’s caused, I’ll miss having him here.
Default isn’t how I wanted to inherit this company.
“You deserve to be CEO, Oliver. You know it. I know it. Dad knows it. But if you chose to walk away too, I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I don’t want to walk away.”
He nods. “I mean it, Oliver. You deserve it.”
