Chapter 10 - New Horizons
One year later.
The expansive corner office of Vance Logistics was bathed in morning sunlight. I stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over the massive shipping yard where hundreds of our trucks were rolling out, carrying freight across the country.
"Madam CEO?"
I turned around. My father, now happily retired and serving only as an advisory board member, stood in the doorway holding two cups of coffee.
"Dad," I smiled, walking over to take a cup. "You don't have to call me that."
"I absolutely do," he beamed with pride. "You've grown this company by forty percent since you took over. The new AI routing system Sarah Lin developed is dominating the market. We just absorbed three of the Sterling Group's former major clients. You earned the title."
It was true. The trial and the resulting media coverage hadn't hurt our reputation; it had cemented it. The industry saw Vance Logistics as a fortress—a company with unshakeable integrity, led by a woman who refused to be bullied, intimidated, or stolen from.
My phone buzzed on my desk. It was a calendar reminder. My divorce anniversary.
I looked at the notification, feeling a profound sense of peace. A year ago, I was a woman holding shaking papers outside a courthouse, terrified of the war I was about to start. Today, I was the undisputed leader of a logistics empire.
"Everything okay?" Dad asked, noticing my gaze.
"Everything is perfect," I said, deleting the notification. I didn't need to remember the anniversary. I was too busy building the future.
May you like
I walked over to my desk, opened my laptop, and looked at the expanding map of our global shipping routes. The parasites were gone. The foundation was solid. The lights were back on, and I was fully in control of the switch.
"Alright, Dad," I said, taking a sip of the coffee. "Let's get to work. We have an empire to run."
