Scandal

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Now that we’re alone, why don't you tell me what the hell you were thinking? Are you trying to embarrass our family?”

“No, Father. This has nothing to do with you, and for you to think I did it to embarrass you is ludicrous.”

“Then why? Why her? There are a million tarts in the world that you could go f**k—you didn't have to go after your stepsister. It's downright ridiculous, and now it's all over the news. So please tell me what the hell you were thinking?”

“Father, she's incredible. How can you not see it? The reason I did it was because she’s been all I can think about since I met her at the wedding. I didn't know she was my future stepsister when I met her, and by then I was already involved. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted was to shame you or have you be disappointed in me. But it's not the end of the world, Father. There are worse scandals than this every single day, and they eventually fade away. This one will, too. How can you not see that?”

“I don't want to see it. I don't care to see it. I want it over with immediately. You will not date the daughter of the woman I married. I just won't have that kind of tangled up mess in my family. Marry anyone else—anyone—and I will pay for the whole thing. But if you continue with Sasha, it will be over for you.”

“Why Father? Why can't you just be happy for me? For us? We can fix things with the media—we do it all the time. This isn't even the first scandal in our family. Why can't we just clean it up instead of pretending it doesn't exist?”

“I don't want it to exist, Sol. That’s the whole point. End it immediately, or find another job.”

“Another job? You act like I wouldn't be able to find another one in a second. I’ve been running Jacobs Empire for quite some time. I don't even know how you would replace me, but don't think for a moment that I wouldn't be snapped up by some headhunter. Or even better, maybe it's just time I start my own legacy.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“I think you’re the only one with the threats, Father. Your own wife seems to be perfectly okay with the whole thing. Why can't you be?”

“My wife is okay with it only because it benefits her life as well as her daughter’s.”

“Maybe it’s about time you thought of someone else's life other than your own. Maybe she just wants her daughter happy. My own father would rather be rid of me than see me happy.”

“She's not the only girl who can make you happy. Don’t be absurd.”

“Well, I guess you would know since this is, after all, the sixth time around for you.”

“I’d be careful if I were you, Sol.”

I was pacing my father's office like a lion in the wilderness. I was not only angry but indignant at what was happening around me. How could my father do this to me? Force me to leave the company or drop Sasha. If it had been any other girl in the world, I probably could have. I’d done it a dozen times, in fact—tossing girls aside had almost become a pastime for me. But Sasha was different, our chemistry was something to be reckoned with, and I knew if I let her go I may never again find what we had. The s*x, oh god, the s*x. It was proof positive our chemistry was through the roof. You didn't have s*x the way we did without having a serious connection. Was I willing to let that go? Could I let it go? I wasn't sure that I could.

I didn't want to leave the company. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but how could I carry on like this? How could I drop Sasha like she meant nothing and then carry on every day working for my father as if I hadn't given up the best thing that had ever happened to me? It was too much to think about. But I knew I had to make a decision and make it quick. Time was running out, and I had already left Sasha alone in bed. That was almost too unforgivable. She didn't deserve it. Not one bit. She was perfection in my arms, and I had just left her all alone. I was a d**k. I would have to make it up to her . . . somehow.

“I can't do this, Father. I'm sorry.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I quit.”

I had to do it. I didn't want to, but I had to. My father couldn't continue to think he could run my life. I was a grown man and more than self-sufficient. Plus I had all the money in the world that I would ever need. It was Sasha who needed the job, needed a steady income. The crazy girl refused to use a trust fund set up for her own well-being. So how could I possibly take her livelihood away from her and still expect a relationship with her?

“I'm leaving, Father. I can't have you making decisions in my life anymore. I'm all grown up, and whether you believe it or not, I actually happen to know what's best for me. All I ask is that you keep Sasha on as the assistant to whomever you get to replace me. She really does need this job, and I think if I'm gone, you should have no issue with keeping her. The scandal will have been removed after all.”

“You're a fool. How could you throw away your career over a girl?”

“I know you don't understand it because women are disposable to you, but I'm not letting you decide who stays in my life. Just keep her in the job if you have any respect for your own marriage.”

With that, I stormed out of the office.

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