The Path to Love

Chapter 75

I walked into Sam's office, "I'm here, are you ready for me to sign over the company to you?"

She looked up at me from her notes. "Your masquerade ball was a success. Did anyone call you with the final numbers?"

"No, the doctor must have forgotten to call me. How much was raised?"

"Well, with your father's donation and my company's donation, you raised two hundred ten thousand dollars. Congratulations."

"Thank you, did you get to meet most of the people that work for you?"

"I met a lot of them, some are nice and others I am going to keep my eye on. A lot of the other CEO's were very ignorant."

"You learn to get used to it after a while, not everyone is nice when it comes to their companies. A lot of them are assholes, especially when they realize how successful other companies are compared to them."

"How's Angelica?"

"She's good," I replied hesitantly.

"She doesn't like me much, does she?" Sam chuckled.

"Can you blame her for not liking you?" I sat down in the chair opposite of her. "You were an asshole to her when you first came."

"Yeah, I guess I can't really blame her."

"The lawyers are waiting outside, are you ready to officially own Dawson Enterprises?"

"When do you leave?" She asked me, quietly.

"I'm not sure," I furrowed my brows in confusion. "Why?"

"Some part of me, no matter how big or small, was hoping you'd stay. I was hoping, after all this drama, you'd choose us. I guess it was too much to hope."

"Sam..." I started off.

"No, Hunter, I shouldn't have counted my chickens before they hatched. I should just accept that this," she pointed between the two of us. "Is over."

I cleared my throat. "I'm going to get the lawyers."

I walked out of the room, inhaling quickly. "You can go in the room now; tell Ms. Dawson I'll be with you momentarily."

I quickly walked away and went down the elevator. I started to scratch at my throat. "I can't breathe," I spoke, grasping the collar of my dress suit. I ripped my tie off and unbuttoned my shirt. Continuing to inhale and exhale quickly, I walked outside. My shirt was muffled, my mind was whirling with thoughts and my eyes were looking all over the place. I forced myself not to let the tears come.

I sat on a curb, pulling my knees up near my body. I put my head in between my knees and could feel my breathing starting to even out. I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'm okay, this will be over soon, I'm fine." I spoke to myself. What the hell was that? Why couldn't I catch my breath?

Once I felt I was ready to go back, I walked back into the building and walked straight into the men's washroom. I fixed myself up, to look like the CEO I am and put on the poker face I have come to master so well.

I walked back up to Sam's office. "Sorry for the wait," I said to the two lawyers and her. "I had a phone call to take."

Sam looked at me and worry filled her eyes. She always knew when I was lying. I smirked at her, trying to play it off as to what kind of phone call I wanted her to think I had. She frowned and turned to face the lawyers.

"For this to work," the lawyer spoke. "Thomas Enterprises has to sign the ownership over to the Dawson's."

"No, we don't." I rebutted. "The Dawson's no longer own this company. This is a Thomas owned incorporation. The only thing we must sign is a paper stating that I am giving permission for Ms. Dawson to run this company for us."

"Um, sir. That wasn't the deal the Dawson's and I spoke about."

"The Dawson's signed the company over to us, you have the papers for that. I will not be returning the company to them. Ms. Dawson can run this company all she wants, and the name can remain the same. This building is now a Thomas Enterprises owned building. "Ms. Dawson agreed to be CEO of this company. We did not agree upon giving the Dawson's back said rights."

"Mr. Thomas," the lawyer started.

"No, he's right." Sam spoke up. "My parents signed the company rights over to the Thomas'. This is their company, they get to choose what to do. They own this company, I work for them."

"Thank you, Ms. Dawson," I replied,

"Don't thank me, Mr. Thomas, I still am the only person who will make the rules in this building. Your superior made sure that was given to me. So, even though this building is a Thomas owned corporation, this is a Dawson leadership company. I make the rules here, no one else."

"That works," I replied. "You still work for me," I replied.

"You're wrong, Mr. Thomas, we are now, equals. Or, in fact, I have more power than you because I will be CEO of this company, however, you don't have your own company." She smirked. "If anything, you work for me, isn't that how this works?"

"Incorrect, Ms. Dawson, I work for my superior, and that is not you. I do have my own company. I am a Thomas, I have the power here. You're a Dawson, while you may run this company, the Thomas' still own it." I placed my hands on her desk and leaned over it, "don't forget that," I whispered.

She glared at me as I stepped back. "Once you get the new papers drawn up, Ms. Dawson and I will sign them. Until then, have a good day."

I watched as the two lawyers got up and left. I turned back to look at Sam. "I believe your lawyers tried to pull a fast one on me."

She looked up from the old papers. "No, I think they believed they were doing what was asked of them."

"Well," I started. "It's a good thing I was able to fix that before we both signed something that I would have regretted."

"What, regretted giving me power over you?"

"No, I don't care if you have power, I care about following the rules that were originally set. If I would have left it as is, the company would be a Dawson owned company again, and that's not how we negotiated."

"It's only going to be my daughter that will take over this company when I retire," she replied. "So, technically, it will be in the Dawson name for a long time."

"That, or Thomas." I replied.

She scoffed. "I don't think so."

"Have my assistant call me when the new papers are drawn up and I will come. Until then, I have places to go and people to see." I started to walk towards the door.

"What happened to helping me learn everything you did while I was being trained? Shouldn't you be helping me?"

"I will help you, once the company is signed over. You're currently doing my work, you haven't had any questions yet. If you get more, call my assistant, she can ask me what needs to be done."

"Oh yeah, call your assistant. Can you not give me your damn number?"

"No, I can't." I replied. "If you need me that bad and you can't get a hold of my assistant, I'll either be home or at the hotel you're staying at."

She looked at me, clearly pissed off I was living near her. "What?" I questioned. "It's free for me to live there. Don't get mad at me, get mad at our parents, they made the deal."

"Getting mad at you is just fine. I'll call the hotel if I have any questions."

"Fine," I huffed, walking out of the room. "I'll see you later."