Sebastian barely concealed his satisfied grin. Alex stared down at his shoes.
"Speak to me boy and look me in the eye like a man. Is it true?"
Alex lifted his head and stared defiantly back.
"Yes." He whispered.
"What? I can't hear you, speak up boy."
"Yes, it's true. I was with her."
The old man grunted his disapproval and glared at his favorite son with anger and withering disappointment
"This is bad, Alex. Very bad. But it's finished with now. She will be given full severance pay and you will never see her again."
Sebastian's smirk froze and then crumbled.
"Father, a rule is a rule--"
"Shut up, boy. Did I address myself to you?"
Sebastian dropped his head again. His heart was beating faster. This wasn't part of his plan at all.
"Don't worry, Sebastian," Alex said, "I'm going with her. The money is yours."
"What?" The old man nearly choked on the question.
"I said I'm going with her."
"Don't talk nonsense, boy. Do you know what that means?"
"I don't care what it means. You've controlled my life since the day I was born, like a puppet with strings. It's over now. Take your money, take your job, take your empire and keep it. I'll be free of you at last. No more control. My life will be mine for the first time ever."
"Damn it boy, what kind of fool are you? Don't you know a chance when you see it? I'm giving you a way out. Just forget this girl, this… this nobody, and continue on with your life. She's nothing; a mistake to learn from, a girl you fucked in the heat of the moment while trapped on a desert island. Even I can't blame you for that. What were you supposed to do for a whole month? It's a damn long time for a young man to go without. I may be too old for it now, but do you think I don't remember?"
Alex stared at his father with a hatred that seared the air. He stood up and took an envelope out of his pocket, placed it down on the old man's desk.
"It's my resignation." He said. "I love Melanie and I'd rather be poor with her than become a pathetic, lonely old man like you."
He turned to go.
"Wait." His father said. "I still need you. If you're determined to throw your life away, I can't stop you. But you have a duty to this corporation and to your brothers even if you have in some misguided, irrational way contrived to vilify me in your own mind."