Page 93 of My Brother's Billionaire Best Friends

“Excuse me,” I say, voice sharp in the speakers. “I wasn’t scheduled to speak. But since we’re all being transparent today, I’ve got something to add.”

I pause. One second. Two. I look directly at the front row. No one is ever ready to risk a friendship. But I can’t not do this. I look at Phil, and he raises an eyebrow, confused. I’m pretty sure they all are.

I stopped being confused the moment Gavin announced Edison as CHRO.

“I’m resigning from my role as COO of VT Global.”

The silence is instant, like someone cut the power to the room. Someone lets out a half-choked cough.

And then Edison—recovering—leans forward. “Jack?—”

“I’m not finished,” I say, eyes still forward. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done here. I’m proud of what this company was meant to be. But I can’t keep pretending we’re living up to that vision.”

More silence.

“We preach loyalty. Family. Integrity. But the second something doesn’t fit into the approved narrative, we erase it. We eraseher.”

Gasps ripple through the audience now. Heads turning. People whispering. Phil goes still. I look directly at him.

“The woman you all watched pull off the most successful gala in VT history—she’s not here anymore. And you can thank people like Edison for that.”

Edison shifts in his seat, but doesn’t interrupt.

I go on, “You can also thank the culture we’ve let fester. The one that says image is everything, even if it costs us the people who hold the place together. She didn’t leave because she was unprofessional. She left because she was protecting us. Because she thoughtwewere worth it. And we failed her.”

Phil’s face tightens.

I clear my throat, because I need this to ring out, my final words to this cursed company. “Parker Simon is the bravest, strongest woman I know. We would have been lucky to keep her. We would have been smart to keep her. Instead, she was used like ascapegoat. Every person involved in that should be ashamed of themselves.”

I don’t wait for permission. I walk off the dais, jacket still buttoned, hands steady. Something inside of me settles, and my heart rate doesn’t even rise. I spoke the truth. Let them deal with it.

And as I pass the front row, Phil stands up. Red in the face. Breathing hard.

I half expect him to punch me right now. He knows exactly what I meant by what I said. That we’ve been lying to him this whole time when it comes to Parker. He has every right to hate me for that, or at least hit me.

Instead, he storms out.

I don’t wait for the building doors to close behind him. I move fast, cutting through the whispering crowd, ignoring the looks and camera phones and Edison’s voice echoing behind me trying to pull the meeting back on track.

None of it matters. As of now, only one thing does. Phil.

He’s already halfway across the lot, stalking toward his car with the kind of energy that saysdon’t follow meby the time I catch up.

“Phil!” I shout.

He doesn’t stop.

“Phil, come on?—”

He reaches his car. Black Lexus. Driver’s side already unlocking as he yanks the handle.

I get there just before he ducks in. “Just—listen to me.”

He turns. And the look on his face could crack steel. “You wanna explain why you just dropped my sister’s name in front ofevery employee in the building?”

“I was defending her.”

“You were making it worse.”