2025-07-06 05:14:04“Yes, I’m about leaving the house now. I’ll be there shortly,” Sophia said as she ended the call, grabbing her brown leather handbag from the dining table.
Today wasn’t just another working day, it was the day. The one that could change everything. Her heart fluttered, but not from fear, from the pressure of what this moment meant.
Since she took over Donovan Industries as the new CEO, today’s contract approval would be her first major deal. A single signature today could push the company into the front pages of the most influential business newspapers in the city.
It had been a week since Michael was chased out. His presence erased from their lives. His name never mentioned again.
Sophia had started to walk in her new role with pride—her name already buzzing in media articles as the rising face of Donovan Industries. But beneath the smile on her lips, a strange heaviness sat in her chest. It was quiet, unsettling. She couldn’t explain it, but it clung to her spirit.
She said a silent prayer under her breath. “God, let this go well.”
In the living room, Victoria sat lazily on the long couch, a half-filled wine glass between her fingers.
She watched her sister, dressed sharply in a cream-coloured suit, her hair neatly pinned back. Her eyes lit up with admiration.
“Sophia, you look stunning this morning,” Victoria said, swirling her wine slowly. “Honestly, I’m just glad we finally got rid of that brat called Michael. Imagine him trying to climb where he didn’t even plant a seed.”
Sophia chuckled, zipping her bag. “And you’re still sitting here drinking wine by 10am. You need to get a job, Victoria. You can always take a position at the company. There’s room.”
Victoria rolled her eyes. “You know I’ll always get whatever I need. I don’t have to run up and down like you. You’re the CEO now. I’ll just enjoy from the top.”
Sophia smiled faintly, checking her watch. “Alright. I need to go.”
***********************
By 10:07am, Sophia arrived at the headquarters of the Ainsley Group. The building stood tall and imposing, all glass and steel, as if it touched the clouds.
She adjusted her jacket and stepped out of her car, greeted immediately by the staff at the entrance.
Jordan, a young, courteous employee she had spoken with over the phone, stepped forward and bowed slightly. “Good morning, Miss Sophia. The President is expecting you. Please, this way.”
Sophia nodded, her heels clicking softly on the polished floors as they entered. The elevators opened swiftly, and she followed Jordan to the top floor.
They stopped in front of a door that bore a bold inscription in gold: ‘The President’s Office.’
Jordan turned to return to his own office.
Sophia took a deep breath. This was it. She whispered another short prayer. “Let this favour me.”
She knocked once, then gently pushed the door open.
But the moment her eyes met the figure seated behind the large executive desk, her feet refused to move further.
Everything around her blurred.
Time slowed.
Her heart stopped.
“Michael? What the hell?!” she gasped, her voice loud and sharp, bouncing off the walls like an alarm.
Jordan, startled by her outburst, rushed into the office, his eyes moving between them.
“Sir… is everything alright?” he asked Michael with concern.
Sophia turned to Jordan with disbelief written all over her face. “What is going on here? What is this brat doing in your President’s office?”
Jordan’s brows lifted slightly, confused by the question. “He’s the President of this company, Sophia.”
Her mouth hung open.
Her eyes widened.
She took a step back, shaken.
“What?!” she whispered.
Jordan nodded slowly. “Yes… the President.”
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Chapter 196: The Shape of the Future
Time did what it always did best. It settled things.Months passed, not in dramatic leaps, but in steady accumulation. Decisions made earlier began to show their consequences, not loudly, but unmistakably. The consortium found its rhythm under distributed leadership, no longer bottlenecked by a single centre of authority. Meetings became shorter. Execution became sharper. Confidence returned, not because people were reassured with words, but because outcomes kept arriving on schedule.Sophia’s regional division stood out quickly.What had initially been projected as cautious growth exceeded expectations within the first quarter. Her team expanded deliberately, talent selected for competence rather than allegiance. Processes were lean, communication direct. The markets she oversaw responded well to leadership that understood both structure and flexibility. Investors noticed. So did competitors.Michael watched the reports arrive with quiet satisfaction.Back home, Donovan Industries
Chapter 195: What Stays, What Moves
Sophia accepted the role two days later.She did it quietly, without ceremony, without the kind of announcement that often followed appointments of that scale. The decision was communicated through formal channels first, structured and precise, but it was the addendum that caught attention. She did not merely agree to lead the regional arm. She redefined it.Her acceptance came with conditions.The regional unit would operate with partial independence, its own internal governance, and decision-making authority that did not funnel every outcome back through Donovan Industries. Oversight would exist, yes, but not proximity. Collaboration would be deliberate, not assumed. Reporting would be transparent, but not hierarchical in the way some expected.There was resistance at first.A few executives questioned the need. Others framed it as unnecessary complication. But Sophia did not argue emotionally. She presented the structure the way she approached most things now—calmly, logically,
Chapter 194: A Choice Made in Daylight
The announcement came on a Tuesday morning, delivered with the kind of polished optimism that usually followed a battle survived rather than a war begun. The consortium had secured its long-term backing. The final investor commitments were signed, regulatory concerns addressed, and the rival firm’s pressure dissolved quietly into retreat. What had once threatened to stall the entire project now stood resolved, reinforced, and publicly affirmed.In the boardroom where the decision was shared, relief did not arrive as celebration. It arrived as composure.The victory was real, but it had been earned through strain, and everyone present understood that triumph did not erase cost. It only clarified what came next.Sophia received the offer less than an hour later.It was framed as opportunity, and professionally, it was exactly that. The consortium intended to establish a new regional arm—autonomous, strategically placed, and influential enough to shape policy rather than react to it.
Chapter 193: The Cost of Alignment
The scrutiny did not arrive loudly.It crept in through tone, through questions that sounded polite but carried sharp edges beneath the surface. It showed up in headlines that mentioned Sophia's name a beat too close to Michael's, in panel discussions where her role was acknowledged but never quite examined on its own terms. At first, it was subtle enough to dismiss as coincidence or paranoia. Then it wasn't.By the middle of the week, the pattern had become impossible to ignore.An investigative journalist had begun circling the consortium story from an angle that felt deliberate, intentional. The pieces were framed carefully, almost respectfully, but the implication threaded through them all was clear enough: proximity. History. Access. The suggestion that Sophia's growing influence was less about expertise and more about who she once was to the man now leading the project.Sophia read the articles alone in her hotel room late at night, her laptop balanced on the desk, the city
Chapter 192: The Leverage
By morning, the atmosphere around the consortium had shifted from cautious optimism to controlled alarm.What began as a strategic manoeuvre by a rival firm quickly hardened into something more dangerous. Legal notices were exchanged before midday. Political pressure followed not long after, subtle but deliberate, routed through regulatory bodies and whispered advisory channels. The intention was clear: stall the project long enough to weaken confidence, then step in as a so-called stabilising alternative.Michael became the visible centre of the response.He arrived early, long before most of the executives, and moved through the building with a quiet efficiency that set the tone without announcement. Meetings were convened, adjourned, and reconvened as information evolved. He listened more than he spoke, absorbing competing perspectives, weighing risk against timing. Publicly, he became the anchor.He addressed investors with calm assurances rooted in facts rather than optimism
Chapter 191: Dinner Without Illusions
The restaurant Michael chose was quiet in a way that felt intentional. Not secluded, just calm enough that conversation could exist without being swallowed by noise or the clatter of overworked kitchens. The lighting was warm, softening the edges of the room.Sophia noticed that immediately when she walked in.They were seated by the window, the city lights stretching beyond the glass, moving steadily as cars passed below in streams of white and red. A waiter took their orders, then disappeared with a polite nod, leaving behind two glasses of water and a silence as if both of them were waiting to see who would speak first.Sophia was the first to speak."I owe you an apology," she said, her voice steady, her hands resting flat on the table as if anchoring herself there. "Not for everything that happened between us… but for something specific. Something I should have addressed a long time ago."Michael looked at her, attentive but relaxed, his back against the chair, jacket folded ne
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