She took another calm sip of water, waiting for the managers to relay her message. She saw a few typing quick texts and smiled—they were the most loyal to Lawson—she'd have to keep her eye on them. Lawson and Alec marched in, looking furious. She ignored their glares, opened her first file, and looked around the room.

"I came to this company as an intern with the intent to learn about how it's run," she said. "So imagine my surprise when I discovered inefficiency and incompetence at every single level. I know many of you have complained that I'm just an intern, and it's true. I'm nineteen years old, and I haven't studied business a single day in my life."

​​

She took a deep breath and continued, "So you should all be ashamed. If an inexperienced intern can identify these many problems, what have you all been doing for the last few years? I called this meeting to find out exactly what's going on here and to work on making some changes. And make no mistake, I'm not speaking to you as an intern today, but as James' daughter, the heir of this company and as a shareholder."

The managers glared at her, but none of them dared to speak.

"Mr. Jones," she said, turning to Andy. "I understand you've recently assumed control. Since Sean trusts you, I will trust you for now, but I'm disappointed by how slowly you're working. I want full reports on what you've done so far and what you think still needs to be done."

"Of course," Andy said.

"As for the rest of you," Catherine said. "Tomorrow, I'm beginning a mandatory performance review. I want all of the most recent information from your departments, and I want to hear solutions to these problems you've given me. If you can't come up with any, I'll replace you with people who can."

"This is ridiculous," sneered one of the women who had texted Lawson. "We're all busy people. None of us have time to sit and listen to this child play pretend."

"Who are you?" Catherine asked.

"Elaine Hawkins," the woman said. "Manager of Fashion Design."

"Well, Elaine, you're fired," Catherine snapped. "Now, does anyone else have any issues with my requests? I hope no one else here is too busy to do their job."

"You can't do that," Elaine snapped. "Tell her she can't do that, Lawson."

"How are we supposed to get anything done if you fire everyone?" complained the red-headed man. "This is ridiculous!"

She thought for a moment, "Andy, I'd like HR to post job advertisements on all the major sites. I want them to look for experienced, intelligent, and creative people—but most importantly, I want them to look for hard workers. I'd like two of these new hires in each department to replace the lazy workers we've just laid off. As for the rest of you, I want departmental performance reviews at the end of each week, and if I don't see any improvements, I'll continue laying people off. Understood?"

"Who do you think you are?" Elaine hissed. "Your father would have never acted this way."

"Don't you dare speak to me about my father," Catherine snapped. "My father would have never tolerated your laziness and rudeness. And what are you still doing here, anyway? Don't you understand what it means to be fired?"

"The entire Design Department will protest this," Elaine threatened.

"That's fine," Catherine replied. "Their work has been terrible lately. We may be designing clothing for people with lower incomes, but there's no reason to present them with such simple, ordinary designs. We need to return to the elegance and beauty of the clothing we made when my father ran the company."

"That's impossible," Lawson objected.

"I'm disappointed to hear you say that, Uncle," she said. "That's not the attitude I'm looking for in my employees."

"Your employees?" Lawson roared, pounding his fist on the table. "I don't work for you! None of us work for you. You've gone way too far!"

Suddenly the door to the conference room flew open, revealing a tall man in a dark suit. Sean strode into the room, leveling an icy stare at the managers.

Catherine shot a questioning glance at Andy, but he seemed just as surprised by Sean's sudden appearance as she was. Sean crossed the conference, coming to stand beside her chair. He rested one longhand on the back of her chair and glared at the managers.

"Sean," she said, hating how weak and young her voice suddenly sounded. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to check up on my investment," he said.

"I see," she replied. "Perhaps you'd like to speak to Andy alone?"

"I'm much more interested in sitting in on this meeting," he said. "Would anyone like to fill me in on what's been happening?"

A long, tense silence filled the conference room. The managers looked down at their files or the table, trying to avoid Sean's icy glare.

"We were just discussing the future of the company," Catherine finally said. She looked pointedly at the managers, "But I think we're done here. Or does anyone else have any questions or concerns?"

Elaine lifted her head, and a cruel smile twisted her mouth, "I have a concern. This child seems to think she can play tricks with the boss, but I'd like to hear what you have to say about that, Mr. Blair. Surely an experienced businessman like yourself will see that she's unfit to make any decisions for this company."

"Are you questioning the decisions of a shareholder?" Sean asked, his voice low and harsh.

"I'm questioning the authority of an uneducated nineteen-year-old girl," Elaine replied.

"Well, perhaps you won't question mine," Sean said. "You have ten minutes to collect your things and leave, or I'll have security drag you out of this building."

Elaine's eyes widened, and her face paled, "You can't be serious."

"I am," Sean said. "Nine minutes now."

"You should go," another manager whispered.

Elaine stood and left the room. She stopped in the doorway and glared at Catherine over her shoulder before the door clicked shut behind her.

"This meeting is over," Sean snapped. "I want all of you to get out—except for you, Andy."