Endgame

The following chapter is written in 3rd Person POV following Becca…

“She has to work with us.” Victoria adds, completely undermining Nathan’s attempt at a threat.

“That wasn’t the—” Nathan tries to react, but Victoria stops him again mid-sentence.

“I allowed you to speak, and you failed to earn my good graces. It’s time for you to be quiet again, child.” Victoria tells him dismissively.

“You don’t have to worry about me choosing mother’s option, little brother. I’d rather stay free of this nonsense entirely.” Becca tells them. “This family doesn’t deserve any more of my attention. Burn each other to the ground for all I care.” Becca adds angrily.

“I’d rather make an ally today than a sworn enemy in the future.” Victoria comments.

“I assure you, mother, as long as you and father leave me and my relationship _the fuck _alone… you won’t be hearing from me anymore. I am completely done with all of you.” Becca tells her.

“Your lack of self-preservation instincts are showing, darling.” Victoria tells her. “You fail to realize that your idle threat to your father not only placed you in his crosshairs, but also cost me my original timetable.” Victoria begins to explain.

“Your father will eventually realize that your threat was nothing but a bluff. He’ll push through with his plan to place his voting shares into a trust to see how you’ll respond. Without any bargaining chips from your end, you won’t be able to stop him. Which means I have to make a move to block it to protect my interests. What do you think his first assumption would be in that scenario? In your father’s ignorant mind, what new information would suddenly make me interested in keeping those shares within the scope of our prenup?” Victoria asks.

“That I made good on my threat.” Becca answers through gritted teeth.

“Precisely.” Victoria replies.

“You can try and absolve yourself of any wrongdoing, of course. Inform him that I’ve been planning to acquire his company from the start. But you can be Nathan and still see how well that’ll turn out for you.” Victoria points out smugly.

“But that’s also a less than optimal scenario for me. If that does occur, it means your father would learn I’m an active player. And with Nathan still unable to access his shares…” Victoria adds.

“You don’t have a guarantee of control.” Becca completes the thought for her mother.

“Resulting in a scenario of ‘mutually assured destruction’, where the winner only gets to rule what’s left of the ashes.” Victoria adds, before glancing at Nathan to see if he finally understood why Becca is now integral to their plans.

Becca ponders this for a moment. Her initial response is to tell her mother that ‘mutually assured destruction’ doesn’t sound as bad as she threatens it to be, as there is no company she wishes to rule anymore, burned to ash or not. More importantly, there’s no ‘family’ for her to protect in the hopes of salvaging what’s left anymore. However, as tempting as it sounds for Becca to leave her parents to war against one another, she knows she’ll be putting Jay and the rest of the girls at risk if she goes that route.

Even if Becca unifies the rest of the voting stockholders to her side, she still can’t form a majority. She’ll only paint a target on her back if she doesn’t pick a side.

‘I’d rather make an ally today than a sworn enemy in the future.’

“If I work with you, I assume you want me to block the transfer of shares myself?” Becca asks, disgusted that she’s been **** to contemplate the idea.

“Obviously.” Victoria answers insultingly. “The better question would have been, what bargaining chip will I provide you when you do.” Victoria adds smugly.

…

“I won’t give you the pleasure of repeating your own question, mother.” Becca tells her in annoyance, which only makes Victoria roll her eyes, before lazily directing her hand towards Nathan.

“Him?”, “Me?” the two siblings ask in unified confusion.

“Why do you both sound so surprised?” Victoria asks smugly. “Your father has only ever wanted his son to finally see the light and start learning the ropes as the heir apparent… and the three of us will play on that weakness.” Victoria prefaces.

“Rebecca, when you finally meet with your father, tell him you can convince Nathan of one of two things. The first being his dream. Nathan finally does what he’s been asking for. Becoming a management trainee in the company, before working his way up into a leadership role, all under his supervision and mentorship. All of that becomes real. Provided that he gives up his plan to place his shares into a trust. That is your play to preserve the status quo.” Victoria tells Becca, who makes it clear with her facial expression that she is unconvinced that that is enough to convince her father.

What makes it sting worse for Becca is that she did all of that for her father. She started as a management trainee straight out of high school. She worked her way up into a leadership role by the time she graduated college. She did all that with very little supervision or mentorship, but she did what he asked whenever he had anything to say. And it all meant nothing to him. Yet, her mother thinks Nathan doing the exact same is enough for their father to budge on his stubbornness.

“Why would father even believe I can convince Nathan to do so?” Becca asks, trying to take her mind off the implications of what her mother suggested.

“Because you’ve promised Nathan you’ll be out of the picture.” Victoria answers.

“Ooh~, just hearing it has me convinced already.” Nathan reacts smugly. “I already know how I can help you convince father too.” Nathan adds, before putting on the most obvious ‘sad’ face he could.

“I love my darling sister so much, father. I didn’t want to overtake her in the company after she worked so hard… ahuhuhu. I didn’t want to beat her so badly you’d forget she even existed… wah wah wah.” Nathan says sarcastically, playing it up by putting on a fake hurt voice and fake crying, just to annoy Becca further.

“You mentioned two things?” Becca asks, stopping herself from engaging in Nathan’s idiocy.

“The other thing you can convince Nathan of… is your father’s nightmare. You tell him you’ll convince Nathan to make good on being the disappointment to him. Nathan follows in your footsteps, and commits to not wanting anything to do with the company. More damagingly, you will fund his laziness, as long as Nathan does what you want.” Victoria adds.

“You want to make it sound like I’ve been the one grooming him all this time. So that you can remain in the shadows and only strike him once your timetable has been met.” Becca concludes, with Victoria giving her a proud nod.

“You’re gonna have to be convincing when you tell him that part, sis. Father’s gonna have a tough time believing I’ll follow your footsteps in anything.” Nathan comments, laughing at the thought.

“I believe that’s the part that’s actually easier for our father to believe.” Becca replies.

“HA! Yeah right.” Nathan says dismissively.

“He’ll easily believe it… because you are an imbecile, my dear little brother.” Becca outright insults Nathan. “Father knows you don’t think of the big picture. You want all the benefits of power but not the work ethic to attain it on your own. He knows you’ll happily accept being the pawn in a chess game as long as there’s a possibility you’ll get promoted to a queen before the end of it.” Becca adds, before glancing at her mother who smirks in amusement.

Becca knows it’s the same reason both of them want Nathan to become heir. They both groomed him to be a pawn in their game. A pawn that can be promoted to whatever piece necessary to win the game… but can easily be sacrificed and taken off the board when need be.

“You mean KING, dumbass.” Nathan incorrectly corrects Becca.

“Thank you for proving my point.” Becca fires back at him.

‘A pawn can never become king.’

It’s the reason why neither of Becca’s parents ever considered her to partner with them. She tried too hard to prove her competence to them, when what she should’ve done was prove the opposite. They could’ve probably allowed Becca to see herself as queen, despite all of the power that comes with it, because she’d still be under their control. They’d allow for another piece… but not another player.

They can’t allow for another King to be on the board.

“What do you say, darling?” Victoria asks Becca, having seen enough of her daughter getting the better of Nathan.

“I don’t see better alternatives than the one you offer, mother.” Becca seemingly concedes.

“What’s our first move?” Becca asks.

“Our first move is taking care of your father’s spy.” Victoria answers directly.

“Are you familiar with…?”