Everyone has a vice and for Emilio Dos Ramos it is ambition.

An insatiable thirst for power that had proved to be hard to quench for a long time now.

As the years went by he had only hoped that at some point he'd reach a state of self actualisation, seeing that he had all he ever wanted and more. But it never came and he continued to slave away day and night, slowly decreasing his life span in the process.

Emilio sighed as he leaned back in his cream office chair, massaging his temples. The migraine he was currently feeling would give him no rest, much less now that he was about to make the biggest decision of his life.

Perhaps I'm in way over my head, he thought dejectedly. It trully was as a hard choice, considering the fact that not only his family would be shaken, but the entire world too. Slamming a fist onto his mahogany desk, his jaw tensed and his teeth grinded in frustration.

It's the only way I can keep the oath I made to my father.

And what a stupid promise it had been. Emilio's father was larger than life, having built an entire coperate kingdom from the ground up. It was utterly absurd that he had vowed to make his father proud by taking everything he'd started to a whole new level.

Well, this definitely is another level alright. Another level of greed!

He snorted at his incessant thoughts, a somehow triumphant smile wiping across his slightly aging face. Whenever he second guessed himself like this, it meant he was doing the right thing. To hell with all morality, this was it. This was how he would finally live up to the vow he had to his father on his death bed.

Not a second later, a knock came to the door. Emilio muttered a come in, and in strolled Humberto Dos Santos, his arch rival in the business world and his very obnoxious secretary in tow. He manuevered with an air of self importance and his posture exuded power. The very thought of him made something unpleasant stir in the pit of Emilio's stomach.

Humberto descended onto one of the chairs in front of Emilio's desk but the arrogant secretary remained standing, maintaining a stoic expression on his already stone like face. Placing a leg over the other, Mr Dos Santos spoke.

"So," he began, "Have you made your decision yet, Mr Dos Ramos?" he drawled haughtily in his rather heavy spanish accent. Emilio resisted the urge to roll his cyan eyes.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have," he replied confidently. "But I do have some conditions."

Humberto's brow corked up in apprehension. "Is that so? Please do tell me what they are."

"For starters, I find it highly inconsiderate that your son is the one to be the face of the entire joint company. I'm sure that you are aware that the Dos Ramos cooperation has a networth higher than yours-"

"It's an inconsiquential amount at that," Humberto's secretary butted in unceremoniously, earning a scowl from Emilio.

"Yes, but it still counts. I cannot have you or your family grabbing the spotlight when this is clearly my idea to begin with," Emilio snapped . He could slowly feel his patience wearing thin. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all...

The little secretary spoke once again. "Mr Dos Ramos, might I remind you that although this may be your plan but it is Mr Dos Santos who has the final say. Without his approval, you might as well kiss this deal goodbye," he deadpanned, causing Humberto to smirk.

A vein popped on Emilio's forehead as he replied. "Did you really have to bring your little lap dog, Humberto? This is a very confidential affair and I find it quite displeasing that this boy keeps on interfering," he spewed angrily but didn't elicit the reaction he was hoping for from both parties. They both grinned malevolently at him.

"My son will be the face of the new joint company whether you like it or not. Your little daughter may have as much shares as he does, but she simply lacks the ability to incite fear in business rivals. I mean, isn't that why we're here in the first place? You are clearly no match for the Dos Santos's so you found it wise to bring forth this clandestine proposal." Humberto fired back, not stuttering once and rendering Emilio speechless.

"I will not-" Emilio began but the little secretary cut him off before he could go any further.

"Take it or leave it, sir. Adriano will be the face and both him and your daughter are to wed within three months so as to completely seal the deal. Should you go back on your word, you are to surrender forty percent of Dos Ramos Holdings and the merger will be dissolved."

Emilio blinked. "Hold on, did you just say I'm to surrender such a large amount of shares to you? That is complete madness!" he fumed, suddenly rising from his seat. "I will do no such thing!"

Humberto also stood, brushing some invisible dust off his grey trousers. "Then I guess we're done here. Let's take our leave, Carlton." He said and then turned to leave but stopped when Emilio spoke.

"Fine," he muttered, defeatedly. "I agree to your conditions but I do have one request. They will be co-CEO's and neither one of us will interfere in their marriage."

Humberto stood still for seconds as though he was contemplating what he had said. "That's two requests, but I guess that's fair. Carlton, hand him the contract," he commanded, snapping his fingers.

Carlton opened the briefcase he was holding and produced a single sheet of paper, then handed it to Emilio. He scanned over it, reading the words recklessly as he already knew what was written. A bunch of words that probably would bring some very nasty repercussions, but for some reason he had an inkling it would be worth it in the long run.

He reached over his desk and got a hold off his favourite felt-tip pen. With it, he scribbled his signature onto the damned paper and slid it far from him as though it burned to have it near him. Humberto picked up the contract and smiled broadly at it.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Dos Ramos. I'll make sure to send you a copy of this within the week," he remarked with an underlying tone of malice. Wasting no more time, he and his secretary both sauntered out.

Emilio crashed back onto his chair and he could feel the bile rising up his throat.

What have I done?

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Okay guys, how was that? I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my second book. I've been working on it for a while now. The updates will be sporadic so please don't get disappointed much.

Excuse any typos please.

Love y'all

~Dee