Chapter 2

The next morning, I was back in my father' s office at Fowler Oil, the throne I was born to inherit. The first call I made was not about oil futures or drilling rights.

"I want Andrew Todd's contracts reviewed," I told my legal team. "All of them. Any company that has a sponsorship deal with him and a business relationship with us gets a call. They can have him, or they can have Fowler Oil's business. Not both."

The message was clear. I was implementing a soft ban. I would systematically dismantle the career Jen had been funding for him.

It didn't take long for the fallout to reach me. Jen stormed into my office two days later, her face flushed with anger.

"Ryan, you have to stop this! You're ruining him!"

I didn't look up from the report on my desk. "I'm not doing anything to him. I'm making business decisions."

"This isn't business, it's a vendetta! He's lost two major campaigns already. They all cited conflicts of interest with Fowler Oil."

"Then it seems they made their choice," I said calmly.

"He's your brother!" she yelled, her voice cracking.

"He is the son of the woman who killed my mother," I corrected her, my voice dropping to an icy whisper. The scandal of my father's affair, the stress it put on my mother, her fatal heart attack-it was a wound that never closed. Andrew and his mother were the living reminders of it.

"Stop it, Ryan. Just stop. I'll do anything. I'll make him disappear from my life. Just... stop."

I finally looked at her. "It's too late for that, Jen. This isn't about you anymore. It's about him."

That night was the annual Chadwick Foundation Charity Gala. I went, knowing it was the perfect stage for the next act. Andrew, predictably, showed up. He was desperate, and desperate men do stupid things.

He found me by the bar, his face a mask of false humility.

"Ryan," he said, loud enough for those around us to hear. "I just want to say I'm sorry. For everything. I know I've been a disappointment."

He was playing the victim, trying to paint me as the cruel, powerful older brother.

I just stared at him, my expression one of utter disgust. "You're not a disappointment, Andrew. To be a disappointment, one must first have expectations attached to them. I have none for you."

His face twisted in anger. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you?"

"I don't think," I said, taking a step closer. "I know." I grabbed him by the collar of his cheap tuxedo, my knuckles digging into his throat. "You are nothing. A parasite. And I'm going to starve you out."

He choked, his eyes wide with fear. The room went silent.

Suddenly, a calm, clear voice cut through the tension. "Security."

It was Gaby Chadwick. She had appeared out of nowhere, her expression serene, as if she were asking a waiter for more water. She didn't even look at Andrew, her eyes fixed on me. Two large men in black suits materialized and grabbed a struggling Andrew.

"Please escort Mr. Todd out," she said. "He seems to have had too much to drink."

They dragged him away, protesting his innocence. Gaby didn't spare him a glance. She also didn't look at Jen, who was watching from a distance, horrified. Gaby's focus was entirely on me. She had publicly and decisively taken my side.

Jen ran from the ballroom, sobbing.

I found Gaby later on the terrace, overlooking the moonlit gardens. The scent of gardenias hung in the air.

"That was a bold move," I said, standing beside her.

She didn't look at me. "He was disrupting my event."

"You made an enemy of Jen Todd tonight."

"I'm not concerned with Ms. Todd," she replied, her voice as cool as the night air.

"You're an interesting woman, Gaby Chadwick."

She finally turned to me, her eyes dark and unreadable in the dim light. "Am I?"

It wasn't a question. It was a challenge. And I found myself wanting, more than anything, to meet it.