Page 77 of Frozen Hearts
For the most part, Dad and I get on well. It’s obviously been challenging since his arrest, but I know he loves and supports me. He’s always asking about how I’m getting on at Halston, enquiring about my friends and hobbies—not that there’s much to tell him on either front—and taking a general interest in my life and wellbeing.
Our only source of contention is Van Doren Holdings. Typically, the changes I’ve been making recently. It wasn’t so bad when I was a clueless eighteen-year-old, suddenly handed the keys to an entire empire I had no clue how to manage. I had to run to him for help with every little thing, but over the years, I’ve learned to stand on my own two feet.
More than that. I’ve learned how to thrive.
Over the last few months, I’ve been making active moves to take the company in a more green direction.
Moves Dad has been vehemently against.
I couldn’t understand it at first. Our objectives had always been aligned—mitigating as much damage as possible after the fallout of his arrest. But then I realized it’s got nothing to do with the business decisions I’m making and everything to do with the factI’mthe one making them. Not him.
“It was the best move business-wise,” I state blandly, shoulders bunched in preparation for an impending argument.
I could go into an entire spiel about how renewable energy is where the investments are being made now. Where the money is. But he won’t hear any of it. My father doesn’t give a shit about my reasoning. Hell, when he cools down, he’ll agree with me. His problem is thathewasn’t consulted. That I’m now capable of making such pivotal decisions without his input.
When he cools off, he’ll tell me that he’s proud, that I’ve done a commendable job with the company in his absence—I just have to weather this brief storm for now.
“It’s a foolish business move,” he counters, talking out his ass. “This environmental nonsense is a fad. In several months, everyone will have moved on to something new, and you’ll be signed into a ten-year contract with these people.”
Right. The fact the polar ice caps are melting is afad.
Iknowhe doesn’t believe that shit he’s peddling. It’s his anger talking.
Not rising to the bait, I state wearily, “It’s a done deal, Dad.”
“One the lawyers are going to have to get us out of whenever I’m in charge again.”
All so he can renegotiate a new contract with his signature? I don’t fucking think so!
My hands tighten around the steering wheel, my teeth grinding as I swallow my retort.
I know that’s the plan. I’m an interim figurehead. Someone to ensure the smooth running of everything while my dad cannot.
Except, while he’s been gone, I’ve put my blood, sweat, and tears into keeping the company afloat. Stocks crashed after he was arrested. Unsurprisingly, investors didn’t trust a CEO who had embezzled money, and for nearly an entire year, I was convinced we would go under.
It took everything I had—every spare second of my time, every contact I had, every favor I could cash and bargain I could strike to get us through.
By no means are we back to where we were, but we’re solvent, and with each passing year, our profits grow. Slowly but steadily, I’m getting us back on our feet. In the process, I’ve made this company mine. Not my father's. Not my family’s.Mine.
And the thought of handing over all my hard work to my father upon his release grates on me.
A heavy silence sits perched on the phone line in the absence of my response, and eventually, I hear him blow out a long breath. “I know you think you can do all of this alone, son, but you should still run deals like this past me. What if they tried to slip something past you? You’ve come a long way, though deals like this are my wheelhouse, and a second pair of eyes is just smart.”
My gut writhes with guilt, and I wipe a hand down my face, doubting myself as my car eats up the miles back to Halston. “Sorry, Dad. But I’m not an idiot, I got the lawyers to go through the contract with a fine toothcomb before I signed anything. The deal is solid.”
A heavy exhale comes down the line. “I’m sure it is, I just don’t appreciate being blindsided with these sorts of business moves that will impact us for years to come. I need to know what’s going on at the company.”
For when I take over again once I’m released.That’s what he doesn’t say, but it hangs in the air, leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
“How’s school going?” he asks instead, changing the subject.
“Good. Fine. Same old.”
“Not letting that GPA of yours drop, are you? Only one more year to go, it would be disappointing to let it slip now.”
My teeth grind, that familiar pressure to be a perfect Van Doren pushing down on me.
“Nope. Still passing all my classes.”
