Adler chuckled, "What kind of woman would be crazy enough to fall for Odie? I just can't believe it."

Sophie glanced at her watch and replied, "Odie's a bit limited in his expertise, so I sent him off to learn from a pro. He should be wrapping up his class soon." "Class?" Adler and Jenna exchanged puzzled looks.

What kind of class?

Meanwhile, over at Burke International-

Odie glanced at his watch, clearly impatient. "Can we call it a day already? The dinner party's kicked off."

"Just ten more minutes."noveldrama

"Seriously? Counting down ten minutes? I'm out."

Odie started to rise, but James, sitting across the desk, hit a buzzer. A few hefty guys at the door blocked Odie's way.

"Every minute you waste, you leave a minute later, and I clock out a minute later," James said, unruffled. "I'm not hitting up the dinner party, so I've got all night to hang with you."

Odie gritted his teeth at James's

cool demeanor. If it wasn't for Sophie sticking her nose in, forcing him into this "reform and learn" deal, he'd have bailed ages ago. The old Odie wouldn't have put up with this nonsense.

"All this stuff, back when I was learning..."

"Forget the past," James interrupted, eyes on his documents. "You learned the Mintons' shady financial tricks, which are lightyears away from legit business."

Odie couldn't argue. Those loophole-hopping financial crimes were the Mintons' bread and butter. As their heir, that's what he was taught.

James went on, "Sophie sent you

here to get schooled in real financial management. The Mintons are

vel

going legit from now on. Are you really gonna stick to those old criminal tactics and let your

accountant take the fall when things go south? You said you wanted to go straight. Whether you learn is up to you."

Odie felt a headache coming on from James's speech. Not long ago, he had two choices: learn the ropes of business from James or get turned in by Sophie and face jail time. That woman was ice-cold.

They'd all been through the wringer together, yet she didn't hesitate to threaten him. Left with no choice, he agreed to her terms. Griffin nailed it-somehow, Sophie had him wrapped around her finger.

He could've shrugged off Sophie's threat because deep down, they both knew she wouldn't really report him. But he agreed anyway.

Why? Odie thought back to when Sophie stood up for him to Sandy. That's when he decided to turn over a new leaf.

If he was going to be a better person

and make up for his past, he had to pay the price initially, he thought about redeeming himself with his life, but Sophie pointed out that dying is easy. People like them, who'v@danced with death, aren't scared of it, but dying changes nothing. Why not use their life to make a difference? The moment you choose to be a good person, the old villain in you is gone. The world loses a bad guy and gains a good one.