As the elevator doors slid open to the garage, she understood. Sean stood just outside the doors, looking at the watch on his wrist. He glanced up and gave her a long, steady look.

"Where's Geoffrey?" she asked.

​​

"I sent her home," he said. "I thought I'd meet you instead."

"Oh," she said, getting into the passenger seat of his car.

She watched as he crossed in front of the car. He wore black trousers with a plain white shirt. He'd pushed the shirt sleeves up to his elbows, revealing his toned forearms, and he'd unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. She stared at his exposed collarbone and felt the sudden urge to unbutton the rest of his shirt. The mere thought made her blush, and she looked away.

"Were you waiting long?" she asked.

"Since 5:00," he answered.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I lost track of time."

He smirked, "I'm sure you did. Firing over 30 people can be quite time-consuming."

"I didn't fire them," she said, suddenly defensive. "I laid them off. And if you ask me, it should have been done a long time ago."

"Why do you say that?" he asked, sounding amused.

"Because they're parasites," she said. "Lawson gave them jobs because they're his friends or family members or to bribe them to do him favors, but they don't contribute anything to the company. They just collect their huge salaries and slowly bleed the corporation to death."

"I see," he said. "But you shouldn't do that by yourself. Let Andy do it."

"I'm not going to wait for Andy," she said. "Besides, it's my father's company. I'm the heir, and I'm a shareholder, and I'm not going to let them think I'm weak or naïve. I may be young, but I can make difficult decisions."

Sean sighed, "You're not weak, but you are inexperienced."

"Well, how can I get experience if you don't want me to do anything?" she snapped. "Besides, I certainly won't have the chance to get experience if you liquidate the company at the end of the year."

"Honey," he said, his voice low and serious. "I didn't want you to find out this way. Business is war, and there's only so much I can do. I have my investors I have to worry about."

"I understand," she said coolly.

A long, tense silence filled the car, and she wondered if she'd meant what she said. In a way, she did understand—in order to succeed in business, you had to be ruthless. But she couldn't help the feeling of betrayal that twisted her stomach and ached in her chest. She'd naively believed that Sean would save her dad's legacy no matter what. But there was no reason for him to do that. Why would he risk everything for her?

"I'm going to do everything in my power to help it succeed," he said quietly. "Everything."

"Okay," she said, exhausted.

Back at the mansion, she ate a quick and quiet dinner and went straight to bed. She was exhausted—emotionally, physically, and mentally—and she knew that her second day would only be worse.

***

She arrived at the office in the morning, feeling tired. Though she drank tea at breakfast and another in the car, her eyes felt heavy, and her head ached. No wonder Sean drank so much coffee before, she thought. She trudged down the halls to her office, surprised to find Alan's secretary waiting outside her door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Blair," the secretary said. "Mr. Russell said these tasks were assigned to you last night."

Catherine looked at the massive stack of files in Lawson's arm and then up at the secretary.

"Let me guess," she said. "Lawson and his loyal hires?"

"Something like that," the secretary replied, looking uncomfortable.

"I'll handle it," Catherine said.

She took the files with a sigh. Melanie had sworn revenge, and it seemed she'd started immediately. Inside her tiny office, Catherine sat in the creaky desk chair and flipped through the files. At a glance, they all looked incredibly complicated. Probably the biggest problems each department has, she thought.

She fired up the computer and checked her email. There was a single new message from Alec. She clicked it and read: If you know so much about this company, why don't you work on some real problems? She sighed and closed the email, turning back to the files.

The first file had to do with an argument with a textile dyer. A pink post-it note on the front of the file challenged her to convince the dryer to cut their rates by 30 percent. Catherine sighed and turned to the next one. It was from the design department, informing her that all of the designers were refusing to work on the fall collection. The others were filled with various petty and complicated complaints, financial issues, and supplier arguments.

She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. If Lawson and the others thought they could push her around, they were wrong. She dialed Andy's number and told his secretary it was urgent.

"Andy Jones," Andy said. "What do you need, Mrs. Blair?"

"I want you to call an emergency meeting with all Department Managers," she said.

Andy chuckled, "That's not a typical request from an intern."

"I'm not talking as an intern," she said. "I'm talking as an heir and shareholder."

"Very well," Andy agreed. "How does 11:00 sound to you?"

"See you then," she said.

***

Catherine sat at the center of the long boardroom table, adjusting the silk scarf she'd tied around her neck. She took a sip of water from the bottle placed in front of her chair and watched as the managers filed in. Many glared at her, and a few whispered to each other behind their hands. She ignored them and waited.

At 11:00, there were still two empty chairs at the table. She scanned the irritable and angry faces and noticed that Lawson and Alec were missing.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"They said they refuse to come," said a balding, red-headed man.

"I see," she said. "Well, if they don't want to come to a Department Manager meeting, they can step down as Department Managers. If they're not here in the next two minutes, they're fired."