Is this destiny?

Hearing that Jeff wants to know details of the agreement with Lambert, Oscar observed Jeff for some time while trying to read him. He was proud to see that Jeff's expression didn't reveal anything other than confidence. Oscar stood up and took a folder from his safe in the back room.

He handed folder to Jeff. "This is information on their current assets. In summary: they will merge with White corp. Isabella has no business or management knowledge. Lambert needs someone who will take over his company after he retires… and that will be you."

Jeff frowned while taking the folder from his father's hands. "Is there a written contract?"

"No. Verbal only." Oscar scrutinized Jeff while he flipped through papers in the folder. "Where are you going with this? What's with the sudden interest?"

Jeff raised his index finger, indicating to his father to give him a minute. After some time, he kept the folder on the table and looked at his father seriously. "Based on this, their assets are worth about $300M. Is that correct?"

Oscar contemplated for few seconds before agreeing with Jeff's estimate.

"So, with this deal, White corp. gets $300M worth of assets, and Lambert gets someone to manage his business after he retires. Correct?"

"You skipped the part where you marry Isabella, but other than that, it's correct… I don't understand where you are going with this."

"I want to void the agreement." Jeff admitted.

Oscar's eyes narrowed in disapproval.

"Wait, let me finish..." Jeff said before Oscar can object. "If I can make it so that each side gets something of the same or better value, there will be no objections. Can you agree with that?"

"I'm listening." Oscar leaned back into his chair.

Jeff thought for some time before speaking. "If I get someone else who he approves of, to lead their company, Lambert will agree to void the agreement. Is that something you can confirm?"

"I believe that is the case, but I would need to check with him."

Jeff gave a small nod and continued. "And if I can get $300M or more to White corp. instead of this merger, will you approve of voiding the contract?"

Oscar's eyes flashed at Jeff's words. "How much more?"

"Double." Jeff was confident.

Oscar was interested. "In what time?"

"Three months."

"In three months, profit increase of $600M?" Oscar was surprised by Jeff's confidence.

"We can compare profits with averages for the same period of last year. If I get White corp. to earn $600M more than those average values, will you voluntarily void the agreement?" Jeff stood up and extended his hand for a handshake.

Oscar looked at Jeff's extended arm for a second before taking it for a handshake. "Agreed."

...

Once Jeff got Oscar to agree, he didn't stay overnight. He returned to LA immediately, and called his assistant Steve to come to office, so they can start work on strategies to increase profits for the company. He also asked Steve to call in all directors for an early morning meeting on Monday.

Of course, Jeff knows that he can just refuse to agree to marry Isabella. However, he feels guilt for letting it come up to this point. He needs to face this head on, and not hide from it. He wants to use this as an opportunity to prove himself to his father and to JoAnna that he is sincere and capable. If he can get out of this situation and no one suffers a loss, then he will prove himself, and JoAnna will accept him. That is something he is confident in.

...

Weekend passed by fast, and Sunday evening Sarah and Aiden reached to their apartment in LA. Sarah was happy to hear that Aiden gave up on having bodyguards follow her. If Evalina didn't show up so far, she probably went back to Russia. Sarah checked her online file-shares, and since she got fired, she didn't make any changes to the files... Sarah tried to locate her: police, airports, etc. but nothing came back. Evalina just disappeared.

JoAnna arrived about two hours after Sarah and Aiden. Sarah showed her the apartment and helped her settle down in the guest bedroom. Two sisters chatted until late in the night.

Aiden was listening to their chat. He was happy to find out that JoAnna didn't talk about Jeff. That told him that she wants to keep her relationship with Jeff secret from Sarah. That is not fair to Sarah, but considering her explosive personality, it's necessary until Jeff removes Isabella from the equation. Aiden was counting days... Jeff's time was almost up, and Aiden would tell Sarah about Jeff and JoAnna. However, seeing that Jeff left JoAnna's side in order to focus on fixing the situation, Aiden decided not to tell Sarah. If all goes according to plan, Jeff will cancel the agreement and be free to date JoAnna openly. From that point onward, Aiden does not need to fear Sarah's wrath.

...

Monday morning Jeff spent in meetings with directors. After that he called Aiden to discuss current status on their projects, and if he and Sarah can take on more. When Aiden asked for a reason, Jeff told him the truth: Oscar agreed to cancel the agreement with Lambert with a condition to raise profits of the company.

Aiden got an idea. "We are planning to do an attack on few companies, I think you can join our team, help us out, and earn something in return."

Jeff was interested. Aiden explained what happened with Philip and Ed, how they targeted Sarah and in retaliation they want to take down their companies so that they can't use those resources to pay their way out of jail. Jeff agreed that he can contribute in taking down companies; at the same time, he can earn money toward appeasing his father.

Jeff scheduled an online meeting with Sophia to discuss in more details, since she is the one in charge of planning the whole thing. Sophia knows that Jeff is capable, and she was happy to hear that he will join their little team. She sent him relevant information to review and prepare his strategy.

With this, Jeff was increasingly confident that he can reach his goals in less than three months.. And that means removing obstacles between him and JoAnna.