Chapter 6 - The Ultimate Choice
The world seemed to slow down to a crawl.
Around us, families were reuniting for the holidays—laughing, hugging, wiping away tears of joy under the sickly yellow glow of fluorescent airport lights. But inside my head, the silence was deafening.
For ten years, Prescott Technologies had been my entire identity. I had built it from the ashes of my father’s bankruptcy, working eighty-hour weeks, sacrificing friendships, romance, and my own health, convincing myself that if I accumulated enough capital, enough power, enough patents, I could somehow buy immunity against loss. I thought that by building the ultimate neonatal resuscitation machine, I was avenging my sister Clara’s death.
But looking at Luke, who was rubbing his sleepy green eyes, and Violet, clutching her gray stuffed elephant while staring up at me with my exact stubborn jawline, I realized the bitter truth.
I had spent my entire adult life trying to save everyone else's babies while abandoning my own.
I looked at Marcus, who was holding his breath, waiting for me to come to my senses and sign the digital dotted line. Then I looked at Cassandra, whose eyes were swimming with unshed tears, braced for my refusal.
"Damon," Marcus urged, his voice dropping into a frantic whisper. "Don't throw away ten years of blood, sweat, and equity for a sentimental fairy tale. Sign the release."
I slowly turned away from Marcus and looked down at the intern holding the laptop.
"Close the laptop, kid," I said quietly.
The intern blinked, hesitant. "Sir?"
"I said, close the damn laptop."
With a nervous gulp, the intern snapped the MacBook shut, plunging the screen into darkness.
Marcus let out a sound like a deflating balloon. "Have you lost your absolute mind? You're bankrupting yourself! You're giving up controlling interest in your own company!"
"No, Marcus," I said, a strange, profound peace washing over me for the first time in my thirty-four years of life. "I’m investing in my future."
I turned my back on my business partners, leaving them standing in stunned silence beside Carousel 4. I walked over to Cassandra, dropping down onto one knee so I was eye-level with Luke and Violet.
"I'm not signing, Cass," I whispered, looking up into her tear-streaked face. "And I'm not getting on any corporate jet back to New York. If you'll let me, I want to rent a car, drive to whatever hotel you're staying at, and start learning how to be a father. Even if it takes the rest of my life."
May you like
Cassandra didn't speak for a long, agonizing moment. The snow continued to beat against the massive glass windows of the terminal, sealing us inside our new reality.
Then, slowly, a fragile, watery smile broke through her tears.
