Chapter 5 - THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW REIGN
Monday morning arrived with the force of a hurricane.
By 8:00 AM,
the lobby was packed with employees.
The atmosphere was thick with anxiety.
They had all seen the news.
They all knew that the 'unfit' daughter was now their boss.
I stood at the top of the grand staircase,
watching them stream in.
I wore a black suit,
sharp and tailored.
My hair was pulled back,
revealing the hard lines of my face.
I didn't look like the girl they remembered.
I looked like a stranger.
I called a general meeting in the atrium.
Five hundred people stood in a circle,
looking up at me.
“My name is Catherine Hollister,”
I began,
my voice carrying through the speakers.
“Most of you remember me as the girl who was fired eight years ago.
Some of you were in the room when it happened.”
I scanned the crowd,
spotting a few executives who had smirked when Victor humiliated me.
They looked down,
unable to meet my gaze.
“I am not here for an apology,”
I continued.
“And I am not here to play favorites.
Hollister Industries has been dying for five years.
You know it.
I know it.
The debt-to-equity ratio is a disaster.
Innovation has stalled.
We have been surviving on the fumes of my father’s reputation.”
A murmur went through the crowd.
“That ends today.
Everest Holdings is injecting twenty million dollars in fresh capital.
But that capital comes with a price.
Efficiency.
Accountability.
And the end of the Hollister name.”
That caused a gasp.
“By the end of the week,
this building will be rebranded as Everest North America.
We are moving away from the cult of personality.
We are becoming a meritocracy.”
I saw Wittman standing at the back of the room,
clutching a briefcase.
He looked like he wanted to say something.
I didn't give him the chance.
“If you are here because you are good at your job,
you have nothing to fear.
If you are here because you were a friend of the family,
or because you helped cover up the financial rot of the last decade,
my assistants are waiting in the HR office with your severance packages.”
I turned to leave,
but then I stopped.
“One more thing.
My father,
Victor,
is no longer associated with this firm in any capacity.
If he calls,
you do not take the message.
If he visits,
he is a guest,
nothing more.”
I walked back to my office,
feeling the hum of the building.
It felt alive.
For the first time in years,
it felt like a place of work,
not a monument to a man’s ego.
But as I sat down,
there was a knock on the door.
It wasn't a tentative knock.
It was a frantic,
pounding sound.
I opened it to find Meredith.
She wasn't wearing her wedding dress anymore.
She was in jeans and a sweater,
her eyes red and swollen.
She looked small.
She looked like the little sister I used to protect.
“Cate,
please,”
she sobbed.
“They’re taking the house.
The movers are there now.
They said the lease is terminated.
Where are we supposed to go?”
I looked at her,
and for a second,
my heart wavered.
I remembered her as a child,
how she used to follow me around.
But then I remembered the way she checked her manicure while I was being fired.
I remembered the way she mouthed 'He’s right' while I was being humiliated.
I remembered the way she signed those documents without even asking if I was okay.
I reached into my drawer and pulled out a check.
I had written it earlier that morning.
It was for fifty thousand dollars.
Not fifty million.
Fifty thousand.
“This is enough for a deposit on an apartment and a few months of living expenses,”
I said,
sliding the check across the desk.
“It’s more than you gave me when I was fired.”
She stared at the check,
then at me.
“Fifty thousand?
Cate,
my wedding cost more than that!”
“Then you should have saved the money,”
I said,
turning back to my computer.
“Now,
if you’ll excuse me,
I have a company to run.
And you have a life to start.”
She didn't take the check.
She turned and ran out of the room,
screaming that she would sue me.
I knew she wouldn't.
She didn't have the money for a lawyer.
And Victor didn't have the strength.
I was alone in the office.
The sun was high in the sky now.
May you like
I took a deep breath and started to work.
The drama of the wedding was over.
