By his side

On her tip toes and with full focus Jenny wrapped one part of the tie over the other and brought it down to form a perfect knot. She patted away a bit of dust on his shoulders and said, "There, now you are ready to go." From a small distance she looked over Jason's look and felt that he was indeed best suited for formal wear. It made all his best features stand out even more. Before he had to leave, he grabbed Jenny and pulled her to himself. He leaned against the table nearby and Jenny was standing between his legs with curious eyes. He was holding her hands and looked her deep in the eyes as he had something important to tell her. "I need to tell you something before I go because I don't want you to be caught completely by surprise. As you already know, the Westwood family has certain traditions and one of those requires me to keep a secret from everyone around me till my eighteenth birthday. Everyone including you. So, I have been keeping something from you not because I wanted to, but because I had to. But all will be revealed later today. Until then I hope you can be patient and trust me."

As he spoke he saw Jenny's expression turn into one of worry and shock, but he continued telling her what he needed to tell. "It's nothing bad. It is something positive in fact. At least mostly. It has nothing to do with us as a couple and should affect us in no way aside from what you already know, but it was something necessary for my revenge to take part in. So, I hope you can forgive me for keeping it from you during all this time and I promise to answer all your questions later tonight. Okay?" He asked as he lifted Jenny's head gently by cupping the side of her face. A bit absentmindedly Jenny nodded, after which Jason used his other hand to cup the other side of her face and put a kiss on the tip of her nose before putting one on her lips as well. After that he let go, waved her goodbye and walked out the door. In a daze Jenny returned his wave as she stood frozen to the ground, wondering what it could have been that he had hidden from her when they were together from early morning till it was time to go to bed...

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When he left the bedroom, Jason hurried down the hall and walked down the stairs. Stephen was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs as they were supposed travel together today. It was an important moment for their family and though he shouldn't go into the meeting together with him as the CEO, as a father he couldn't let his son walk into that defining meeting without him by his side. He hadn't been by Jason's side during many important moments and he wouldn't make this one of them. Not when he had experienced the pressure that came with this meeting himself many years ago and it still felt like it was just yesterday that he had to calm his nerves before walking through those glass doors. Though Jason was even more impressive than he had been during his teens, Stephen imagined that Jason wouldn't be completely unaffected by all of this. So, he should by his side for some mental and moral support.

However, when he saw Jason walking down the stairs with a calm and cool expression on his face. One hand in his trouser pockets and giving off an air of confidence and an intimidating aura, his own worries seemed to wash away and he thought to himself 'How did we manage to put such an impressive kid on the world. Even if he is nervous, his air will be enough to convince everyone he isn't and he will blow them all away with that impressive aura of his. Blowing the competition out of the water without even breaking a sweat.' He felt sorry for his nephews and nieces as this kid, that has just turned into something resembling a man, will crush them completely. Insulting them on every level imaginable. Of course he said nothing of this to Jason as he needed him to keep that edge if he wanted to achieve the level of success at the meeting that he felt Jason could achieve. All he did say when Jason came down the last step was, "Let's go." before turning around briskly and walking in front of him to the car parked out front.

During the car ride Stephen explained to Jason that he would be joined at the meeting by the other eligible family members that were competing for the CEO position as well as the major share holders and the board of members, with his grandfather residing as the chairman. He explained that aside from him there were five other cousins of him that had performed well enough to be considered top contenders for the CEO position and were working at the main head quarters for a couple of years now. After Jason's presentation of his company, the race would become more fierce as he was probably the last to be able to compete for that position. So, depending on his performance another candidate would be added to the list or it would remain the way it is with the current five people partaking in the race, but either way a finish line could finally be drawn.

The rest of his cousins were too young or too incompetent, judging by the way they were performing at the moment. By the time the younger ones would be eighteen and could be considered for the position, it would already be time for Stephen to hand the company over. Meaning there would be no time for them to get properly familiar with the inner workings of the company. The only way they could still alter the race, would be if they were to be so good in school that they could jump ahead and enter University before they were eighteen. Plus, they would have to perform so well with regards to their own company that it could make them reconsider the current rules. Making the odds of that happening very unlikely.