bChapter /bb225 /b

    JOSE’S POV

    b40/b%3

    My eyes were still glued to the television screen, the muted colors of the live news rey casting a cold glow across the room. The broadcast had been streamed just an hour ago, but I’d already watched it at least three times. Each rey hit like a fresh wound, peeling open the anger boiling inside me.

    The tumbler in my hand was half–empty or maybe it was half–full, depending on whether you’re an optimist or a man who’s just been stabbed in the back. I wasn’t an optimist tonight. The whiskey burned its way down my throat with every sip, but instead of soothing me, the heat only seemed to fuel the fire in my chest. I was clinging to the ss like it was the only thing keeping me from punching a hole through the TV.

    So he actually did it. Donald. My younger brother. The man I had stood beside for decades. The man I had defended in boardroom wars against sharks,petitors, and even members of our own family. He had gone through with it, despite my warnings. Despite my years of telling him not to even think about it.

    I nced at my phone, the screen lighting up with a hollow blue glow. Still no reply. But the small, taunting “seen” mark under myst message told me he’d read it. Of course, he had. Why would he reply? What could he possibly say to justify betraying me like this?

    After all, what does a man say when he’s just handed off our family’spany, the ke legacy, to a woman he barely knew until five years ago? His so–called daughter, Olivia.

    A daughter he plucked from obscurity after a convenient DNA test said she was his blood. As if a piece of paper could erase decades of loyalty and sacrifice. As if he hadn’t heard that DNA results could be fudged, manipted… bought.

    And his wife? She’d been no help. Too emotional, too soft, too easy to sway. I’d seen the way she looked at Olivia, all teary–eyed and sentimental, like she’d just found a missing piece of a puzzle. Then she whispered into Donald’s ear, and like the obedient fool he’s always been with her, he followed her lead.

    I took another long swallow of whiskey, letting the bitter liquid scald my tongue. My mind was racing, memories shing like jagged ss. Ever since the entire ke family has been passing down the legacy of thepany from generation to generation, it has always been from father to son. Always. It wasn’t just tradition, it wasw, unwritten but iron–d. Every generation has honored it. Every son had been raised to know that one day he would inherit not just the business, but the weight of our name.

    But not Donald. No, my dear little brother decided he was too progressive for that. Too “forward–thinking.” He decided to shatter a century- old tradition by giving our hard–earned empire to a woman who knew nothing about it.

    Two days ago, I’d told him, clear as day, that if he went through with this trip to New York to finalize the handover, things between us would never be the same. I wasn’t bluffing. I thought maybe those words would knock some sense into him. But here I was, whiskey in hand, watching him smile for the cameras as he put the crown on Olivia’s head.

    I’ve worked my butt off for years, that position was never meant to be Donald’s, but I respected the decision of our parents and kept working despite my age hoping one day I’ll take over and continue the legacy from my family. He disregarded my feelings, and indirectly disgraced ollime. /li/ol

    Disgrace. That’s what this was. Not just to me, but to our entire bloodline.

    How did he disgrace me? First of all

    As the eldest son, that CEO seat should have been mine the moment Donald’s only son, Julian, refused to take it. Julian had no interest in the business, no stomach for the pressure. Everyone knew it. That put me next in line, and I had already been preparing for it. Decades of work, decades of sacrifice, all leading up to my moment.

    Until Olivia appeared.

    b10/bb:/b403

    When I first heard about her, I thought it was a joke. A cruel one, maybe, but still a joke. Then Donald brought her to one of our family gatherings, a polished young woman who looked like she hadn’t even set foot in Mexico before, with the faintest trace of an ent that didn’t belong to us. She smiled, she charmed, she yed the role well. But I could see the gaps. She had no knowledge of our markets, our suppliers, the blood and sweat it took to keep ke Enterprise alive through the recessions, the oil crises, the countless political storms.

    Still, I wasn’t worried at first. She was a woman. She had no experience. Surely Donald wouldn’t risk putting someone so untested in charge of an empire like ours.

    But then came the day he looked me in the eye, my own brother, and told me she would take over instead of me.

    That was the moment he crossed the line.

    He didn’t just strip me of my rightful position. He stripped my children of it. He erased my entire lineage from thepany’s future. The ke name would live on in thepany, yes, but not through me. Not through the branch of the family that had given the most and taken

    the least.

    I had tried to reason with him. I reminded him that he’d already tasted what it was like to be CEO, that he had worn the crown for years. Now it was my turn. My time. But he ignored me, just like he ignored our traditions, our history, and my decades of service.

    Now, as I sat there with the flickering images of Olivia’s smiling face filling my living room, I felt the humiliation wrapping around me like a noose. How was I supposed to walk into thepany tomorrow? How would the staff look at me? Would they pity me? Whisper behind my back? Would they see me as a relic, someone passed over in favor of fresh blood?

    Donald chose her over me. Over the man who had worked in thispany for more than forty years. Over the man who had pulled all- nighters to save his failing projects, who had flown across continents onst–minute deals, who had stood in front of investors and convinced them to stay when they were ready to walk away.

    All for this?

    No. No, I wasn’t going to let this go. I wasn’t going to sit here and watch her settle into that chair as if she’d earned it. She might think she’s won the battle, but the war… the war is just getting started.

    I set the tumbler down on the coffee table, the sound of ss meeting wood echoing in the otherwise silent room. My heart was pounding, but not from the alcohol. It was the rush of something darker. Determination.

    I leaned back in my chair, eyes narrowing as the news anchor droned on about “a historic change in leadership” and “a bold new chapter for

    ke Enterprise.” They didn’t know half of it.

    If Olivia thought the corporate battlefield was ruthless before, she hadn’t seen anything yet.

    This wasn’t just business anymore. This was personal.

    bChapter /bb225 /b

    JOSE’S POV

    ?

    b659705 /b

    4281

    My eyes were still glued to the television screen, the muted colors of the live news rey casting a cold glow across the room. The broadcast had been streamed just an hour ago, but I’d already watched it at least three times. Each rey hit like a fresh wound, peeling open the anger boiling inside me.

    The tumbler in my hand was half–empty or maybe it was half–full, depending on whether you’re an optimist or a man who’s just been stabbed in the back. I wasn’t an optimist tonight. The whiskey burned its way down my throat with every sip, but instead of soothing me, the heat only seemed to fuel the fire in my chest. I was clinging to the ss like it was the only thing keeping me from punching a hole through

    the TV.

    So he actually did it. Donald. My younger brother. The man I had stood beside for decades. The man I had defended in boardroom wars against sharks,petitors, and even members of our own family. He had gone through with it, despite my warnings. Despite my years of telling him not to even think about it.

    I nced at my phone, the screen lighting up with a hollow blue glow. Still no reply. But the small, taunting “seen” mark under myst message told me he’d read it. Of course, he had. Why would he reply? What could he possibly say to justify betraying me like this?

    After all, what does a man say when he’s just handed off our family’spany, the ke legacy, to a woman he barely knew until five years ago? His so–called daughter, Olivia.

    A daughter he plucked from obscurity after a convenient DNA test said she was his blood. As if a piece of paper could erase decades of loyalty and sacrifice. As if he hadn’t heard that DNA results could be fudged, manipted… bought.

    And his wife? She’d been no help. Too emotional, too soft, too easy to sway. I’d seen the way she looked at Olivia, all teary–eyed and sentimental, like she’d just found a missing piece of a puzzle. Then she whispered into Donald’s ear, and like the obedient fool he’s always

    been with her, he followed her lead.

    I took another long swallow of whiskey, letting the bitter liquid scald my tongue. My mind was racing, memories shing like jagged ss. Ever since the entire ke family has been passing down the legacy of thepany from generation to generation, it has always been from father to son. Always. It wasn’t just tradition, it wasw, unwritten but iron–d. Every generation has honored it. Every son had been raised

    to know that one day he would inherit not just the business, but the weight of our name.

    But not Donald. No, my dear little brother decided he was too progressive for that. Too “forward–thinking.” He decided to shatter a century- old tradition by giving our hard–earned empire to a woman who knew nothing about it.

    Two days ago, I’d told him, clear as day, that if he went through with this trip to New York to finalize the handover, things between us would

    never be the same. I wasn’t bluffing. I thought maybe those words would knock some sense into him. But here I was, whiskey in hand, watching him smile for the cameras as he put the crown on Olivia’s head.

    I’ve worked my butt off for years, that position was never meant to be Donald’s, but I respected the decision of our parents and kept working despite my age hoping one day I’ll take over and continue the legacy from my family. He disregarded my feelings, and indirectly disgraced ollime. /li/ol

    Disgracei. /iThat’s what this was. Not just to me, but to our entire bloodline.

    How did he disgrace me? First of all

    As the eldest son, that CEO seat should have been mine the moment Donald’s only son, Julian, refused to take it. Julian had no interest in the business, no stomach for the pressure. Everyone knew it. That put me next in line, and I had already been preparing for it. Decades of work, decades of sacrifice, all leading up to my moment.

    Until Olivia appeared.

    When I first heard about her, I thought it was a joke. A cruel one, maybe, but still a joke. Then Donald brought her to one of our family gatherings, a polished young woman who looked like she hadn’t even set foot in Mexico before, with the faintest trace of an ent that didn’t belong to us. She smiled, she charmed, she yed the role well. But I could see the gaps. She had no knowledge of our markets, our suppliers, the blood and sweat it took to keep ke Enterprise alive through the recessions, the oil crises, the countless political storms.

    Still, I wasn’t worried at first. She was a woman. She had no experience. Surely Donald wouldn’t risk putting someone so untested in charge

    of an empire like ours.

    But then came the day he looked me in the eye, my own brother, and told me she would take over instead of me.

    That was the moment he crossed the line.

    He didn’t just strip me of my rightful position. He stripped my children of it. He erased my entire lineage from thepany’s future. The ke name would live on in thepany, yes, but not through me. Not through the branch of the family that had given the most and taken

    the least.

    I had tried to reason with him. I reminded him that he’d already tasted what it was like to be CEO, that he had worn the crown for years. Now it was my turn. My time. But he ignored me, just like he ignored our traditions, our history, and my decades of service.

    Now, as I sat there with the flickering images of Olivia’s smiling face filling my living room, I felt the humiliation wrapping around me like a noose. How was I supposed to walk into thepany tomorrow? How would the staff look at me? Would they pity me? Whisper behind my back? Would they see me as a relic, someone passed over in favor of fresh blood?

    Donald chose her over me. Over the man who had worked in thispany for more than forty years. Over the man who had pulled all- nighters to save his failing projects, who had flown across continents onst–minute deals, who had stood in front of investors and convinced

    them to stay when they were ready to walk away.

    All for this?

    No. No, I wasn’t going to let this go. I wasn’t going to sit here and watch her settle into that chair as if she’d earned it. She might think she’s

    won the battle, but the war… the war is just getting started.

    1 set the tumbler down on the coffee table, the sound of ss meeting wood echoing in the otherwise silent room. My heart was pounding, but not from the alcohol. It was the rush of something darker. Determination.

    I leaned back in my chair, eyes narrowing as the news anchor droned on about “a historic change in leadership” and “a bold new chapter for

    ke Enterprise.” They didn’t know half of it.

    If Olivia thought the corporate battlefield was ruthless before, she hadn’t seen anything yet.

    This wasn’t just business anymore. This was personal.

    iAnd /iin my world, when things get personal, people get burned.