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.

With that said, it’s time for me to man up and face the music.

“Jonathan,” I start, “I can’t advise you on this.”

“Why not?” he asks me, slightly surprised. “The numbers look good and --”

“It has nothing to do with that,” I cut him short, my heart suddenly starting to race at a thousand miles per hour. “I have something I must confess.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Jonathan laughs, leaning back against his chair and folding his arms over his chest. “I always thought that holy men were the ones listening to confessions from the common folk, not the other way around.”

“I’ve fallen in love with Clarise,” I force myself to say, not wanting to beat around the bush endlessly. Certain things are like pulling out teeth when you’re younger; you just have to do it, and the less you wait, the better it goes. “Because of that, I’m leaving my position as the family adviser,” I continue, taking my resignation letter out of my front pocket and placing it in front of Jonathan.

I look him in the eyes, standing straight as I wait for the man to blow up like a thermonuclear bomb.

“What the…? Are you out of your mind, Connor?” he asks me, and I feel a knot growing in my throat. “Why the hell are you resigning! This is great news!” he cries out, clapping his hands together as he jumps up to his feet.

I blink my eyes once, and then twice, as I try to process what he just told me. Great news? Am I still in my bed, dreaming?

Walking around the desk, Jonathan claps me hard on the back and lets his bright clear laugh inundate the whole office. “To be honest with you, I always thought that your vow was somewhat silly… And it’s a good thing that my daughter finally got some sense into her head and chose a man worthy of her. She feels the same toward you, I take it?”

“I… Yes…” I stammer, not knowing what to say. I’m so stunned right now that I can’t even think straight. And do you know who else looks stunned? Earl. His face has grown as red as a ripe tomato, and there’s a vein on his forehead that seems about to pop.

“No!” he cries out, jumping up from his chair so fast that it almost looks like there's a spring under his ass. “No! No fucking way!” he starts, looking from his father to me with a look of utter disbelief. “Are you out of your fucking mind, Dad? This guy and Clarise have been plotting together… And that’s not the only thing they’ve been doing!” he continues, raising his voice as he fishes out a flash drive from the pocket in his pants.

Here we go; I guess that now there’s going to be no turning back. Even though his father has given me the greenlight, Earl is still going ahead with that footage.

“Yeah, Earl, wave that flash drive around. It’s really going to help you out right now,” I hear a woman’s voice say, and we all turn toward the doorway. Clarise is there, looking as beautiful as ever. Her lips are painted in a subtle red, and she’s wearing a tight black dress that, while modest, still looks sexy as hell. More than looking like a girl in her mid-twenties, she looks like a CEO ready to unleash hell upon her enemies.

“Dad, there’s something you need to know,” she tells Jonathan, and I feel as if the whole room is about to blow up.