Page 111 of Rival Hearts

“I understand.”

I ended the call and sighed heavily. I called Henry O’Connell, too. I had a feeling the conversation would go much the same way, and I wasn’t wrong. Henry was just as unhappy with the new direction, and he said if we were changing, then he would have to cut ties with us, too.

That was bad news. If they were going to do this, then others could, too. With two going, the others wouldn’t have anything stopping them—they’d already started the trend, so pulling out would be easier for the others, and they’d already voiced their complaints.

Shit.

If I kept going like this, there was a big chance the investors were going to up and leave my company, taking their money with them. Even if no one else left, losing two significant investors would already change our financial climate, and Icouldn’t bank on the fact that it would only be the two of them leaving in the end.

I had to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Or prevent the worst.

Which meant putting a stop to the change.

But that meant not going green, not going through with the plans I’d told Charlotte I would go through with.

I had no idea what to do.

I picked up the phone and dialed Chris’s number.

“Are you busy?”

“What’s up?”

I explained to him what happened with the two investors and their threats. Chris was quiet until I finished telling him what it was all about.

“I see,” he finally said. “It’s a tough one.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. What should I do?”

“Look, we can all have meetings about it, and the guys can tell you what they think, but I think you already know what that’s going to be like.”

He was right. My brothers hadn’t exactly been on board before. Supportive, sure. But not necessarily in agreement. And if it was about losing investors, it directly affected our future.

“So, what? I just kill the project?”

“Look, at the end of the day, you’re the CEO, so you get the final call.”

I hesitated. “Charlotte was the inspiration for the change.” My voice was softer. “In a way, I feel like going against this would be betraying her.”

“Did she ask you to do it?”

“No. But I still wanted to find a way to do the right thing.”

“Look, I get where you’re coming from, but this is our company and our future. She doesn’t work here, and whether you do it or not doesn’t affect her. But it does affect you and itdoes affect all of us. So keep that in mind when you decide what you want to do.”

He was right, of course. When he said it like that, it sounded so straightforward. But it wasn’t that simple.

I’d told her I wanted to do it that way, and I wanted to keep my word, my integrity. I wanted to do something I knew was important to her, even if it wasn’t something that would directly impact her life.

It was bigger than that.

But as Chris had said, whatever I chose to do would changeourlives because we were directly involved, and I had to keep that in mind, not just as one of the family members who was involved in the Blackwood empire but as the CEO of the company.

I just wished I didn’t have to choose.

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