I spent the afternoon wondering what we could possibly do to get the charity back. It was so important to Mark, it was so important to all of the employees and volunteers of the charity, and of course to the hundreds of kids that were helped directly because of what Mark did every single year. I didn't know what was coming. I didn't know what we were going to do.

What I did know was that we were going to do something. I knew deep down that I would fight as hard as I could, do everything I could to make sure that Mark's father didn't win, that he wouldn't manage to punish Mark for daring to stand up to abuse. I knew exactly what Mark had gone through in daring to cut ties with his family, to move away from that forever, and I knew how hard it was. Now I was going to help him through it.

Mark and I met in his office that evening. I still didn't have a clue what to do. I'd thought about it all afternoon, but was no further than when I started. Mark had been disinherited by his father, and more importantly than the money, had taken away the charity Mark worked so hard to build and poured his entire life force into. There was absolutely no way I was going to let Mark's father get away with this, and I knew Mark felt the same way, but the problem right now was that we had no idea what we were going to do. That was what this meeting was about.

When I got there he was with another woman, probably in her late 50s or early 60s, with her brown hair tied back into a bun and an obviously expensive suit.

"Hey, Caroline, this is Andrea Flanagan, she worked as a lawyer for Teach the Children. I asked her for her advice to see if there's anything we can do legally to get the control over the charity back."

Andrea sat down and opened her notes. She pa.s.sed them over to Mark, who glanced at them briefly before setting them back down on the table.

"Going from what Mark has told me, and from what I've seen looking at the company doc.u.ments, I'm afraid that legally there's nothing you can do."

That was the answer I was afraid of, but it still wasn't the answer I wanted.

"Are you sure? I mean, even though Mark was lied to when the trust was set up?"

"Unfortunately yes. The lawyers were all technically hired by Mark's father, and not Mark himself, and so they had no reason to treat Mark as their client, and had to abide by their client's wishes to lie to Mark. That was Mark's father. I'm sorry to say, but it would have been far more prudent to hire your own lawyers."

"That's so incredibly f.u.c.ked up, excuse my language," I replied. Mark simply stood silently on the other side of the room, looking out the window for a few minutes before speaking.

"It's funny, when I was growing up it was always 'the family's' lawyers, not dad's lawyers. Even when I went away to college, it was always the same two or three lawyers that always dealt with everything the family had trouble with. I didn't even think that obviously they just did whatever my father wanted, and not what I wanted. After all, I wasn't the one signing their checks. It's a terrible consequence to one of those life lessons everyone just seems to have to go through."

"And there's absolutely no loopholes, nothing you can see that we can use?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. I know you, Mark. I know this means a lot to you, and I know that I'm out of a job if there's no solution to this. Unfortunately, I can't find that solution. I've spent every minute since you called earlier looking for one, I've got junior staff on it, but no, there's nothing, I'm sorry. The only way this is going to work is if you sort it out with your father."

"That's not going to happen, I can tell you right now."

"Well, in that case, I have to say, I don't think there's a way out. You can hire someone who's an expert in this sort of law, I know someone who would be perfect for you and I can refer you if you want, but I doubt even he'll be able to find anything. Unfortunately."

"Alright, thanks Andrea. I appreciate the help."

"No problem. Good luck with everything, Mark. I wish you the best."

A minute later Andrea had left and Mark and I were alone in his office, only the sound of the HVAC keeping us company.

"This situation sucks," he finally said, and I agreed.

"It does. I've spent all afternoon trying to think of something we could do, but I don't have a clue."

"Yeah, me neither. I'm going to be honest, I was banking on Andrea finding a way around this. She's never failed me before. I know she isn't exactly a specialist in this sort of thing, so I'm going to hire someone else just in case, but if Andrea didn't find something I don't think anyone else will, either."

"You know what Sir? We're going to find a way to get your charity back. I don't care what it takes. We're going to do it."

Mark came over and took my hand. "Thanks, Caroline. If you don't mind, I'm going to pack up my things. After all, I don't have a job anymore."

I think it was watching Mark putting his things in some boxes to take down that really made everything hit home for me. He had really been disinherited, completely. The billions he would get when his parents died were gone. His job, gone. His charity, gone. I couldn't imagine what he was going through. When I had escaped my mother's abuse, I didn't have anything to leave behind except memories. Mark had it way harder than I did, and it wasn't fair.

I helped him pack his things, and while he put on a brave face in front of me, I knew things were hard for Mark.

As we fell asleep that night I hugged him close to me and told him I loved him. Even if we didn't have money, even if we couldn't stay in this luxury apartment, fly across the country on a private jet, no matter what I wasn't going to let him go, and I wanted him to know that.

Even though Mark had lost his job at the company, I was still working there. I didn't know if Mark's father simply hadn't thought that I would be working at the company, or if it was an oversight, or what. But it was only because of the fact that I still had access to all of the company doc.u.ments, all of the files, that made me realize exactly what I was going to do.

It was about three days after Mark had stopped working at the company. We had decided that I would keep working there for now, at least until Mark found something else. All of his accounts had been frozen or emptied by his father, the small amounts of money I'd saved up were all we had to live off until Mark found a new job.

Luckily, I knew that for people like Mark, high paying corporate jobs tend to come easily, especially when one has a good track record like Mark did.

It was definitely hard to focus on my work. I couldn't have cared less about the company's financial results, since I had nothing to care about in the company anymore. It wasn't like I owed Mark's father any loyalty, not after what he'd done to Mark. It was while I was seething in my chair, trying to force myself to do some work, that the idea came to me.

I immediately knew it was risky. It could backfire completely. h.e.l.l, it was probably illegal, I wasn't sure. But one thing I did know: I had to try it.

I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about my plan. I went through all of the positives, all of the negatives, and knew that I had to do it. It was risky, but worth it. If I pulled this off, Mark would get his charity back. Besides, I knew a part of me wanted to do it. I wanted to be able to help Mark, I wanted to help him get back what he had worked for.

When lunch time came around, I called him and asked him to meet me at one of our regular spots. I didn't dare mention anything about my plan over the phone. Not only was it far less safe, but this was the sort of thing I wanted to bring up to him in person.

"Hey Caroline," Mark greeted with a smile as I sat down in the booth across from him. I couldn't help but smile back, and my smile quickly turned into a grin.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked.

"I have a plan. It's not the best plan, but it might just work. I want to run it by you though, because I think you might want to have a starring role."

"A plan? To get back the charity?"

"Yes, exactly."

"So, what's it involve?"

"Blackmail."

"I should have guessed it wouldn't exactly be legal."

"Yeah, the lawyers have told us that's not an option. Still interested?"

"I am. What my father did wasn't in the spirit of the law."

"Alright. Well, I've still got access to all the company files. When I get back to work I'm going to copy them all onto a hard drive, which we'll take to your father and threaten to leak. Just the leak of the information will tank the company's value, combined with the recent management change in the hotel business, should be a pretty big disaster and your father will know that."

Just then our food arrived and I let Mark think about what I'd said while the waitress put our club sandwiches down in front of us.

When the waitress left, Mark had the last reaction I would have expected from him: he began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Well, it's just that if you'd asked me before this happened, I never would have even considered doing something like this. I'm not the type to go around threatening people, especially not my own family. But I've come to realize, when something is this important, you'll do anything. If you're ok with this, I'm ok with it."

"Good."

"Honestly, I'm just so, so happy that you thought of something. I know the risk you're taking by doing this, and the fact that you're thinking of doing it for me just... it makes me love you and appreciate you so, so much Caroline. I love you."

His hand reached across the table and took mine. He looked me in the eye, and I knew he was telling the truth.

"I love you too, Sir. I'm going to have to get going though. I still need to go buy a hard drive before lunch is up."

"Ok. Good luck, Caroline. I'll see you tonight, ok?"

"Definitely."

As I bought the hard drive and made my way back to the office, my heart began to pound in my chest. What was I doing? Was this really the right thing? It was a risky move, would it pay off, or would Mark and I end up in even worse a situation than before?

I couldn't help but run every single worst case scenario in my head. We could probably end up in jail for this! Still, I knew I had to do it. I wanted to do it. I felt partly responsible for Mark's outburst at his father, but I also knew exactly how Mark felt. Getting back control of the one thing in the world that meant the most to him right now was absolutely the most important thing to me.

I spent the whole afternoon on tenterhooks. I had never been so glad to have a private office, with only Danielle, my boss, stopping in once to ask a question about a report that was due later that week. When everyone had left, around 5:30 or so, I got to work. I took the hard drive I'd bought at lunch out of my purse and plugged it into my work computer.

I wasn't exactly sure what I'd need and what I wouldn't need, so I copied over the entire hard drive. It took over two hours to transfer the files, and every other second I looked out my office door, terrified that someone would have forgotten their phone or something, come back to get it, and catch me in the act.

Luckily, none of that happened, and as soon as the transfer finished I stuffed the hard drive and cord back into my purse, turned off my computer and left my office without looking back.

As soon as I stepped out into the brisk fresh air of the night it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had done it. I mean, I wasn't finished or anything. There was still a long time to go before all this was over, before I would be really sure my plan worked. But I'd gotten through the first step: I had a hard drive with all of the Hibiscus Resort financial information, and I was going to use it to get Mark's charity back for him.

I went straight back to his apartment, and as soon as I got in he had Chinese takeaway ready for me to eat.

"How did it go? I figured you'd probably be hungry, so I got some food."

"It went perfectly," I told him, breaking into a grin. I just couldn't help myself. This wasn't the sort of thing I usually did. I was the type of person that always followed the rules; to go out on a limb like this was so far outside of how I ordinarily acted.

"Awesome. If you want, you can bow out now. I understand that there's a huge risk involved in this, I can go to my father myself and he'll never find out how I got the information. He'll probably think I had friends left in the office who pa.s.sed it to me, but he'll never find out the truth from my lips."

"Do you want me to be there?"

"Honestly, I'd prefer it. You're my rock, Caroline. You give me a strength I never thought I had. But at the same time, I know it's not fair for me to ask for you to be there, so do what you're comfortable with."

"I'll come," I replied. If Mark hadn't wanted me there, I wouldn't have gone. But I wanted to be there, I wanted to help him take back control of his charity. But there was another thing I was thinking of as well.

"You know, you could ask for more than the charity."

"I know. I'd thought about it a few times. I'm not sure if I'm going to do that."

"Ok. Either way is fine with me, obviously, it's not my decision to make, I just wanted you to know it's an option."

"It would make things easier, that's for sure. But honestly, it's my father's right to disinherit me. I'll probably ask for a decent severance, and I'll make my own fortune."

"I like that plan," I told him, and I did. I knew Mark was incredibly astute as a businessman, and I knew he'd have absolutely no problem starting his own successful business. Sure, he wasn't going to be super rich anymore, but I could live with that. I was in love with the man, not his money.

"I'm glad. I've booked us some flights for tomorrow. Thankfully I still have my airline points so we're flying first cla.s.s, but it's still not going to be the jet."

I laughed. "Don't worry, when I flew to Hawaii and back I'd never even been on a plane before, I can live without the luxury of the company jet. Anyway, I'm starving, let's get into that food."

The next day we got up early and quickly found ourselves on the flight to New York. I was nervous, there was no denying that. He hid it well, but I knew Mark well enough to know he felt exactly the same way.

The flight felt like it took forever. I wasn't sure if I wanted this to drag out for as long as possible, not knowing what was going to happen, or if I wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. Eventually, we touched down on the east coast, and the driver Mark had hired from back in California met us to take us to his family's estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. As we pulled up I couldn't help but be impressed. It looked exactly like rich people estates in the movies, with a winding driveway that pulled up to the front of the mansion, surrounded by beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens on grounds that looked like they spread out forever. The wrought iron gate opened to let us onto the property, and we climbed out of the car towards the house, where a maid opened the front door before we even had the chance to knock.

Yup, this was definitely like in the movies.

"I haven't told my father I was coming, I figured the element of surprise can only be a good thing," Mark whispered into my ear as we were led out of the incredible marble foyer into a room obviously designed for receiving guests. We sat down on the plush leather seats and waited to be allowed into Mark's father's office.

"This place is incredible," I whispered to Mark as we waited. Somehow even using my indoor voice felt like too much in this place.

"Yeah, it is pretty nice. I don't have a lot of good memories here, but I will admit it's a gorgeous property."

Eventually the door to Mark's father's office opened and Mark and I got up. His father was sitting in a chair at the far end of the room, dozens of yards away. It felt like I was walking towards my executioner, I thought, as we made our way down the old fashioned mahogany carpet towards the stiff, leather bound chairs on the other side of the elder Mr. Selzer's desk. He wasted no time in getting right into things.

"I'm guessing you want back into the inheritance. Come to grovel? Well, I can tell you right now you're wasting your time, no amount of begging will get you back into the will."

I looked over at Mark and noticed his face had gone slightly paler.

"I'm not going to beg for anything, father."

"Good. For one thing, you should be here to apologize."

"I'm not going to apologize, either."

"No?" For the first time, the old man looked surprised.

"No. You had your lawyers lie to me in order to control my charity. Because of that, you've taken it away from me, and I'm here to make you give it back to me."

Mark's father laughed at that, a throaty, raw laugh that sent shivers through my spine.

"Really? Well, I'll give you points for coming here, at least. What exactly do you plan to do to make me give you back something that legally belongs to me?"

Mark pulled a small, portable hard drive from his pocket. He had bought a second one yesterday afternoon and we transferred all the information to it, to have a backup just in case.

"What's that?"

"It's a hard drive, containing all of the financial information pertaining to Hibiscus Resorts. You can either do the right thing and give me back my charity, or I'll do the wrong thing and accidentally leak this information to the media. We both know there's enough uncertainty surrounding the company since my sudden departure that a leak of this kind will be more damaging than at any other time.

Mark's father leaned back in his chair, suddenly looking thoughtful.

"I'll need to confirm the contents of the drive."

"Not a problem, this isn't my only copy."

"You do realize that if you leak this information it will hurt the family?"