Chapter 12!

It was Pam who couldn't help herself. Everyone except Carter and Hope starts to giggle. Hope struggles hard not to cry out loud. She can't understand why she was under attack and confronted with all this hatred. Why all of them saw in her and Carter the evil guys. They all witnessed the way she was treated by Steffy all these years and when Steffy fired her they were all on her side. And suddenly now they were all lashing out on her. Hope turns to the one person she can be sure who would be on her side.

"RJ you haven't said anything yet. But you know that I'm not a bad person. You got to help me. Please tell all the other ones that they are wrong."

RJ embraces Hope for a brief moment but then he takes a few steps back.

"Sorry Hope I can't do that. You are my sister and I love you. But as your brother I have to tell you what Carter and you are doing here is wrong. And you have no right or justification to go through with it. And even though it breaks my heart I can't go along with it. I'm on the side with everyone else here. I will leave the company as well."

"No RJ you can't go. We are your family. You can't abandon us. Don't you remember anymore how it was when we were little kids? So many times it was the two of us against the rest of the world. We always stuck together. Please don't make any rash decisions. Take your time and reconsider your opinion."

"You know what Hope I could ask you the same thing. I mean have you ever thought about how your actions would affect me? In what position you bring me into? You're right. Mom and you, you are my family. But so are Steffy, Dad and Grandpa. So no matter what I decide, I'm always going to hurt someone. Do you have any idea how much I hate that?"

"Well RJ that's the point. You don't have to hurt or abandon any of us. You only need to support Carter and me and our idea. Help us to convince Steffy, Eric and Ridge that they all got it the wrong way. Carter put himself in charge of the company for only one reason. He wants to turn this company into a better place for everyone and he wants to bring our both families together."

"If that was his intention, he couldn't mess up more. Because now our both families are further apart as ever. And I made my decision, and there's no way you can change my mind. I'm on the side with Dad and Steffy, and especially with Grandpa. I mean, he was the one in the first place who gave me a chance here at Forrester Creations. He believed in me, so now I can't turn my back on him. And to you, Carter I also want to say something. I don't know under which spell you put my sister, but I can only say you one thing. I don't buy your nonsense that you only wanted what's best for the company. You were hungry for more. Being COO wasn't good enough for you anymore. You wanted a bigger slice of the cake and I hope you will suffocate on it. And you Hope, I pray that you will wake up very soon and that you will see what Carter is doing to you. What he's doing to all of us. And I want you to know it's never too late to find your way back to us, your family. I will always be your brother and my doors are always open for you. Please remember that!"

RJ and Hope stare at each other, both with wet eyes. The tension in the room becomes unbearable. Zende intervenes.

"Well, I think we all said what we had to say. So we will leave now!"

And right on his cue, everybody makes to leave the office. Zende is the last one. He turns around once more.

"Oh yeah and just for your information, before you get any ideas of keeping silent about what just happened. Every one of us already prepared a statement. And we will all publish it right now on our social media. So I assume in about five minutes, the entire world will know that the company not only lost both CEOs, but also six other employees, including everyone carrying the name Forrester."

His face turns into an ironical big grin.

"Actually, with all of us gone, you should think about renaming the company. I also have a suggestion for you. Since all this mess started with these LLC papers, you could use the letters LLC for 'Logan Looney Tunes Company'."