So backstory, after years of relationships that petered out or went nowhere, I met the woman that I adore more than anything else in the world. We started seeing one another in secret while I was still in a relationship with someone else and once that relationship ended, I introduced her to my parents. It didn't go over well. Afterwards, they refused to let her come over anymore or even acknowledge her presence because she was a divorcee. To say that my parents are old fashioned would be an understatement.
Flash forward to today. My dad died a few months back and so it has fallen upon me to pick up the mantle and take charge of the family business. I was all well and ready to do so, however my family has said that if I am to be in charge of the family firm, I would need to jettison any plans of marriage with this woman as well as my relationship with her or else it will cause rifts that cannot be repaired. I am devastated.
I'm very torn. I've dreamed of the day I would be placed in charge of my family's business since I was a small child, but I also love this woman dearly and cannot imagine a life without her. So I ask, WIBTA if called it quits, married the love of my life, and let my brother take over the firm instead?
NTA! There are other good things to do with your life besides chairing the firm . . . which, after all, is a lot of work. I’m sure you’d be great at it if you wanted to be, but your brother’s into that kind of thing anyway, you can trust him with it. Why don’t you and her just go off and live a life of globetrotting glamor? It’ll be great. Really, somebody in this family needs to represent the firm’s interests by going to cool parties.
(Try not to go to too many charity functions and so on with the execs from that new competitor with the snazzy red-white-and-black logo, though. Collegiality is a good thing, but there are limits.)
NTA. Just be careful with the German company your firm spun off from. That business deal they're doing in Poland reeks to high heaven, and you might not want to be seen as approving of them right now...
NTA Marry the woman you love and open your own firm/business.
Co-own the business with your brother and marry her anyways.
If the firm goes to you anyways with or without their approval. So what, it’s yours, marry her.
It’s your life. Control it. If you can’t make these important decisions, it’s better to let your brother take it because you have no backbone to make better decisions for your father’s firm.