Chapter 12: The Split
The traditionally calm and secure atmosphere in Hayes Enterprises had become so fraught with tension that it was about to snap. The relationship between the two Hayes brothers, Ethan and Alex, was already so damaged that it is beyond repair. Sitting in Ethan's office, an indifferent Sophie Clarke was reading a financial report yet quite aware that the storm had burst outside the office penthouse's walls.
For some weeks now, Alex had treated her coldly. His dislike for Sophie had ceased being subtle; it was now extremely obvious in every terse word or gesture. At first, Sophie thought it could just be an elder brother's protectiveness for his younger sibling. With each passing week, however, it became clearer that Alex's hostility was far beyond a sprinkling of skepticism.
The Confrontation
Ethan strode into their boardroom located in the Manhattan headquarters-his mask of calm betraying the tension that had been brewing between the Hayes brothers for weeks. Alex was already there, pacing near the long oak table, clad in a sharply tailored suit that could do little to conceal his barely suppressed rage.
"We need to talk," he said, voice high-strung and demanding.
Ethan glided to his empty chair at the head of the table and motioned for Alex to sit down. "I expected this," Ethan said, leaning back just a little.
"You know; I don't think you do appreciate how serious this is." Alex leaned forward and slammed his hands on the table. "You've let her destroy everything we've built."
Ethan clenched his jaw, and his frown darkened. "Her name is Sophie, Alex. And she is not destroying anything. In fact, she has contributed more in the last few months than our board combined."
"Sophie?" Alex shot back. "She destroyed? God, you must be the naive one. She's playing you. Can't you see that?"
"This is your last warning, Alex," Ethan said quietly but with strength. "You're talking about the woman I love."
"And that's the problem!" Alex shouted, his tones rising to an echo in the big room. "You're so blinded by your feelings for her you can't even see what's going on. You've given her influence, power, access to our business. Do you even have an inkling what her endgame is?"
Ethan stood up, chair groaning on the floor. "I trust her. Is that not good enough for you, Alex?"
"It's definitely not." Alex's voice had dropped to one of dangerous calmness. "Because this is not just about you. This is about the empire we built together. And I will not let you risk it for a woman you barely know."
Sophie Was Listening
The brothers had no idea that Sophie was standing outside the boardroom with her hand frozen on the doorknob. She did not mean to eavesdrop, but the high voices drew her in.
Her heart sank again hearing Alex's many accusations. Every single word pierced through like daggers, not for their harshness, but because they echoed every single doubt she had worked so hard to suppress.
Was she ruining Ethan's business? And was Alex right? He said she didn't belong here last time.
In spite of the hot tears threatening to pour out, she wouldn't let one fall. Too much of a battle had been fought for someone as Alex Hayes to reduce her to such a small state.
The Ultimatum
Inside the boardroom, Alex drove the final nail. 'I can't do this anymore, Ethan. If you are hell-bent on making her your equal, we need to separate the companies.' Ethan froze, and the words fell upon him like a sandbag and hung in the air like a thunderclap. ''You're not serious." "I've never been more serious," said Alex. "We divide the companies, the assets, the liabilities. You can run your half with Sophie as your partner, but mine will be run without interference.''
Ethan shook his head, incredulous: "You're willing to tear apart everything we've worked for, just for your disapproval of the woman I love?"
"This isn't just about her, Ethan. It's about you. You've changed. You're not the same man I started this with. You're reckless, impulsive, and it all because of her."
Ethan glared at his brother, as busy as ever. For so many years of life together, they had been a team; each balanced the other's strengths and weaknesses, but now this felt like opposite sides of a battlefield.
"I won't allow this," Ethan finally said.
"You don't have a choice," Alex replied.
Sophie is Resolved
That evening, Ethan found Sophie in the penthouse, staring outside towards the Manhattan skyline. She showed no sign of turning around as she heard him enter, but he knew perfectly well that her shoulders were tight.
"You heard, didn't you?" he asked gently.
Sophie nodded. "Well, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but... yes, I heard."
Ethan moved to stand beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."
She turned to face him, her eyes searching his. "Is he right, Ethan? Am I coming between you two?"
Ethan cupped her face in his hands. "You're not. Alex is just being stubborn and dramatic. He's always been like that. He'll come around."
But Sophie wasn't convinced. Deep down, she knew that Alex wouldn't "come around." His hatred for her was too deeply rooted, and she suspected that it had less to do with her and more to do with his fear of losing control. The following weeks were a whirl of lawyers, division meetings, and company assessment sessions. Lawyers were brought in to oversee the division of Hayes Industries, and the process was far from amicable.
Alex was rough in his demands; he declined to share his most lucrative subsidiaries. Ethan bucked him, refusing to let his brother push him into submission.
Sophie watched the dramatics unfold from the sidelines, feeling like an outsider in this war she inadvertently started. She hated having to see Ethan and Alex like this-two brothers who had once been inseparable now tearing each other apart.
A Ray of Hope
That night when Ethan and Sophie were sitting in the penthouse poring over financial documents, he suddenly reached across the table and took her hand.
"We will make it," he assured her. "We will get through this."
Sophie nodded but felt heavy in heavy in her heart. Above all, she wasn't sure just how much Ethan really understood the price of the fight-not just dollars and cents but trust and relationship, too.
Sophie silently vowed as she laid in bed that night, gazing up at the ceiling. She would disprove Alex. She would demonstrate to him that she was an asset rather than a danger to Ethan's business. She would also make sure that Ethan would never regret picking her.
She had no idea that this resolve would lead her down a path that would put her love for Ethan and her moral integrity to the ultimate test in ways she could never have predicted.
The uncomfortable hush that surrounded Hayes Industries in the weeks after Alex's ultimatum was palpable. Once intimate confidants and partners, the brothers were now enemies negotiating the hazy waters of separation.
For Ethan, it was a bitter personal betrayal; for Alex, a necessary evil; and Sophie being in the line of fire felt like a pawn in the great game that was spiraling out of control.
The Fallout of Alex's Ultimatum
The boardroom where once shared visions and ambitions breathed through walls, now felt like a battlefield. Lawyers shuffled stacks of paper, and the financial advisors produced spreadsheets, while board members exchanged shifty glances between Alex and Ethan, who were sparring across the long oak table.
"This is madness," muttered one board member under his breath, shaking his head as Alex made one demand after another.
"We are at an impasse," Alex asserted, his voice carrying an icy chill as he leaned forward, eyes locked on to Ethan's. "If you're so determined to keep Sophie, we will split the empire. Simple as that."
Ethan's jaw tightened. "Simple? It is nothing simple to tear apart what we've built together."
"You've already torn it apart," Alex shot back. "You let her in this world and compromised everything."
"Enough!" Ethan's voice boomed an instant silence in the room. He turned to the lawyers. "Start drafting the terms. If Alex wants this split, let's give him what he desires."
Dividing the Empire
Dividing Hayes Industries was going to be tougher by far than anyone could have expected. The conglomerate, with its sprawling network of subsidiaries, assets, and investments strung into an intricate web, had been created from the bottom up over decades. Surgery with a blunt knife wouldn't be less painful.
Ethan and Alex seemed to be attending endless meetings that seemed to grow angrier by the minute.
"I want the tech subsidiaries," Alex said in a particularly tense session.
"Those are the most profitable divisions," Ethan said. "You can't expect me to just give them up."
"You are the one compromising this company by bringing her into it," Alex sneered. "Let this be the price of your folly."
While Sophie sat beside him, her hands folded tightly in her lap, she was told not to say a word in this meeting. But every single word he uttered that caused Ethan pain really increased towards her suffering.
A Glimpse of Vulnerability
A few nights after a terrific day of negotiations, Ethan and Sophie returned to the penthouse. Ethan drowned his scotch in the glass, every line of his face testifying to the tension he was feeling.
"I don't like this," he said as he sank into the leather couch. "I don't like it for what this does for us."
Sophie sat next to him with a soothing hand on his arm. "We'll get through this," she said sweetly. "You're stronger than he thinks you are."
His eyes turned to her, choking with gratitude and sorrow. "I am not losing a business partner, Sophie. I'm losing my brother."
Sophie's Growing Resentment
As the weeks rolled by, Sophie's resentment for Alex escalated into something immeasurable. Sophie had hoped that giving Alex some benefit of the doubt would get him to the end of his hostility, but after a few days of constant aggression, Sophie got tired of him.
Sophie drank herself to stupor on the night she spent alone in the penthouse while Ethan worked late in the office while playing Alex's withering comments repeatedly on her mind.
"She is manipulating you. She has compromised everything we've built. She doesn't even belong in our world."
Those words hurt. Not because they weren't true, but because they kind of echoed the doubt Sophie struggled so hard to bury. She loved Ethan, but part of her still wanted to make him realize the damage he and his family had done to hers.
The Final Meeting
The climax of the split was a high-stakes board meeting. Lawyers went through the final division of assets: Alex taking all technological subsidiaries and the entire European as well as Asian branches of Hayes Industries, while Ethan would have the African, real estate and hospitality divisions, as well as 70 per cent stake in the main headquarters in Manhattan.
As lawyers sketched the terms, it was almost possible to cut the tension in the room with a knife.
"This is the best deal we can expect," said Alex, reclining smugly in his chair.
Ethan said nothing, a picture of peace on his face. But Sophie could see what all the hysterics were about in his clenched fists and the taut line of his jaw.
When the meeting ended at last, Ethan rose and extended his hand to Alex. "I hope you find what you are looking for," he said evenly.
Alex hesitated momentarily arranging himself before reciprocating the handshake. "I have already found it," he replied in icy tones.
Sophie's Private Resolve
That day when Ethan and Sophie left the headquarters at night, Sophie would feel all the more empowered by the groundswell. Alex would make a terrible mistake underestimating her, and she'd show him just how wrong he was. She was going to be a huge asset to Ethan's business and not a liability.
Below it lay a small conflicted part of her that still nursed resentment, for Ethan had ruined her father's business, and despite loving him, she could not absolve him entirely.
That night, as she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, Sophie made an oath in silence: she would teach Ethan about the consequences of his actions—not out of malice, but to show him that love and trust were worth more than all the money that made the world go round