Page 8 of Tell Me the Truth

“I’ll end what I need to say with this: My stance remains the same. I have never intended, and I still do not intend to let Brent-Sigma buy into my company. There is not now, nor will there ever be, any cooperation between us. Their interests do not align with our mission.”

It dawns on me that I had never taken a seat, so I don’t have to rise from a chair. “That’s all there is for now. Thank you all for attending this meeting. Have a good day.” I turn on my heel and walk out the conference room door.

On my way to the elevator, my phone buzzes, and I tap the screen to see who it is. Instantly, I feel a fresh wave of rage to see Ellis’s name.

Although I decline his call, I do want to know if he was telling me the truth or lying.Who am I kidding?I reason. Of course, he was lying.

In the elevator, I stare at theMissed Callon my phone screen. I don’t want to hear his voice. All I’ll get is more lies.

Not. Any. More.

Chapter Three

Ellis

Tuesday

Istir from my slumber, one eye starting to open, and I see that the sun still hasn’t come up. Looking at my smartwatch, it’s 5:34 a.m. I feel a wave of calm satisfaction take over when I see her face in front of me and she’s still asleep in peaceful slumber.

Slowly, I try with everything I am not to move the bed. I don’t want to wake her. But, as soon as I have one foot out from under the covers and off the bed, her eyes flutter and I see I haven’t succeeded.

“Hey beautiful,” I tell her in a hushed whisper. “Good morning.” I pull my leg back in bed and roll over to give her a kiss on her temple as berries, flowers, and her soft, smooth skin threaten to hold me hostage in her bed.

“Good morning,” she replies as I force myself out of bed and reach for my clothes. As I’m dressing, she looks at her phone, likely checking the time and wondering why I’m leaving so soon.

Hoping that she won’t get the wrong idea, I make sure to tell her, “Last night was…”

“…amazing.” She has stolen the words right from out of my mouth.

She has taken hold of me and all I want is to stay here in her bed with her and never leave. I want this. I want her. I want to see her again.There are so many thoughts racing through my mind right now, but guilt invades my conscience, and I can’t run from the fact that I could be the reason that she loses everything she’s worked so hard for her whole professional life.

When I leave Alexandra’s house, I can’t shake the feeling that she knows who I am.How could she not know who I am?I remind myself that there’s no way she would give me the time of day if she knew. But I am sure that, all too soon, she will find out.

At some point, probably when she gets back to her office, she is inevitably going to encounter the truth. I need to get to my Board members right away in order to convince them to release the hold they are so desperately trying to get on Seth BioTech.

She can’t find out that I’m Ellis Brent of Brent-Sigma Pharmaceuticals before I can completely shut down the threat that my company has over buying part of her company. She will never forgive me for lying to her.

This needs to be fixed now.

First I drive home so that I can change before heading into the office and am overwhelmed with the flood of thoughts drowning my brain.

While I’m definitely thinking about Alexandra and the night we just shared, I can’t help but remember my parents and the family business that has been thrust into my responsibility.

Brent-Sigma Pharmaceuticals is the largest pharmaceutical company in the U.S. My great-grandfather, Louis Brent, founded Brent Pharmaceuticals in 1934. At the time, we were one of the leading innovators in our field, developing life-prolonging and life-saving drugs that people have depended on to this day.

My grandfather became the President in 1958 and Brent Pharmaceuticals became Brent-Sigma Pharmaceuticals when it went public in 1960. By the time my dad took over as CEO in 1987, Brent-Sigma had risen to international prominence in the pharmaceuticals field and to #1 in the U.S.

When my dad took over, we had just started changing our business model from focusing on drug development to swallowing up smaller companies and getting bigger. Even though most of our products nowadays are just Brent-Sigma packaging slapped onto one of our subsidiary’s drugs, Brent-Sigma is heavily built on the trust people have in my family name. To this day, we are still the largest pharmaceutical company in the U.S.

I begin thinking back to yesterday, Monday, when I left the coffee shop after meeting Alexandra.

It was puzzling to me why she didn’t seem to know who I was. Just four months ago in July, my parents died together in a car crash. It was all over the news and you have to have been hiding underneath a rock to not have heard about it. When the crash happened, I was abroad, in the Marines, about to re-enlist for another four years.

All my life, I have been groomed to take over the top spot, but none of us ever expected me to take over so soon. My dad had been CEO for 26 years when he died. He was in top shape, and it was easy to believe that his health would have let him lead for another 26 years or more.

So, when my mom and dad died, it was a surprise for everyone at Brent-Sigma. When given the choice to become CEO or re-enlist, it was an evident decision for me and when I finally completed my job in the Marines, I moved back home last month and became CEO of Brent-Sigma Pharmaceuticals.

Meeting Alexandra at the coffee shop yesterday was invigorating. There was a pep in my step, and I felt great. Except, I knew what I had to do. I had to figure out how to go back to my Board and direct them away from Seth BioTech.

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