The Board Meeting

I thought the entrance was the war.

It wasn't. The real war was on the 33rd floor.

The boardroom was full. Twelve directors, all old men who had followed my grandfather. My father sat at the head seat — the seat that should have been mine. Ethan Miller sat next to him as an "outside investor." And Chloe sat in MY seat, my mother's seat, smiling in her white dress like she already won.

When I walked in wearing red with Alexander's hand on my waist, every chair scraped.

"Sophia! You are late!" my father barked, trying to regain control. "We already started the vote to transfer Project Starlight to Chloe. Her design is more mature and—"

"Vote without the Project Manager present?" I smiled and pulled out the chair opposite him. I didn't sit. I placed my palms on the table and leaned forward. "Father, did Grandpa teach you to do business like this?"

My father's face turned purple.

Chloe quickly stood up, trying to be the peacemaker. "Sister, don't be angry. Father just thinks... after all, you have no experience. And yesterday at the hospital... you hit me... the directors are worried about your temperament..."

Perfect act. She showed her swollen cheek to the directors. Three of them looked at me with disapproval.

Ethan saw his chance. He stood up, in his expensive blue suit, and put a USB on the table.

"Directors, I also think Chloe is more suitable. Miller Group will increase our investment to 100 million if Chloe leads Starlight. And I have brought a better design team from Europe. Sophia's design..." He looked at me with fake pity. "Sophia, I saw your sketches. They are too emotional. A commercial project needs logic, not love letters to your mother."

The directors nodded. Money talks.

Alexander didn't say a word. He just pulled out the chair for me and poured me a glass of water, like this was our living room, not a battlefield. That calmness made the directors even more nervous.

I sat down slowly, crossed my long legs in my red suit, and opened my own bag.

I put three things on the table.

One, a bank statement.

Two, a contract.

Three, a recording pen.

"Directors," I said. "Before we vote, let me show you why you can't afford to lose me."

I pushed the bank statement forward. "Knight Empire has transferred 2 billion dollars to Lane Group's account this morning at 8 AM. Conditional. The condition is, I, Sophia Lane, must be the Project Manager. If I am removed, the money will be withdrawn within one hour, plus a 500 million penalty for breach of contract from Lane Group to Knight Empire."

The room went dead.

2 billion vs 100 million. Even a fool could count.

My father grabbed the statement, hands shaking. "This... this is real?"

Alexander finally spoke. His voice was lazy but deadly. "You can try to remove her and see if it's real."

No one dared to breathe.

"Second," I continued. I played the recording pen.

It was Ethan's voice from last night, on the phone with Chloe.

_"Don't worry, baby, after you get Starlight, we will sell the land to my uncle's company at half price. We will make a fortune. That idiot Sophia thinks a rose garden can make money? Let her dream..."_

Ethan's face turned white as paper. He lunged for the pen.

Alexander's bodyguard blocked him with one finger.

"Steal... steal company assets..." One old director who was my grandfather's best friend stood up, pointing at Ethan and Chloe. "You... you two want to sell Lane's land cheaply to Miller family?!"

Chloe screamed, "It's fake! Sophia faked the recording! Ethan would never!"

"Third," I didn't give them time to argue. I plugged in my USB.

On the big screen, my real design appeared. Not just a rose garden. It was a full commercial ecosystem — rose garden, luxury hotel, medical research center for plant therapy, and a memorial museum named after Henry Lane.

"Project Starlight was my grandfather's last dream before he died. He wanted to build a place where my mother could heal. Where people could remember love, not money. Chloe's design is beautiful, but it is just a garden. My design will make Lane Group the first company in New York to combine medicine, tourism, and memory. The profit forecast is 10 times higher."

I stood up, looking at every director.

"So, directors. You can vote for Chloe, get 100 million and a stolen garden that will get us sued for plagiarism. Or vote for me, get 2 billion, a future, and keep my grandfather's name clean."

Silence.

Then, Old Director Wang, who had been silent, stood up first.

"I vote for Sophia Lane."

"I vote for Sophia."

"I vote for Sophia!"

One by one.

Unanimous.

Except my father and Chloe and Ethan.

I walked over to Chloe's seat — my mother's seat — and looked down at her.

"Get up. You are sitting in my mother's chair."

Chloe's tears finally fell, real this time. She stood up slowly, humiliated.

I sat down, in my red suit, in my mother's chair, at the head of the table next to my father's seat.

Alexander stood behind me, his hands on my shoulders, like a king crowning his queen.

"Meeting adjourned," I said. "Project Starlight officially starts tomorrow. Miss Chloe Lane is demoted to intern in the design department. Mr. Ethan Miller, your Miller Group's investment is no longer needed. Security will return your 50 million check."

Ethan stared at me, like he was seeing me for the first time. In his eyes was shock, regret, and something like obsession.

"Sophia... you changed..."

"Yes," I said coldly. "I died once. Of course I changed."

Alexander's hand tightened on my shoulder, warning me not to say too much.

I smiled at Ethan.

"Get out."

Chloe and Ethan were escorted out by security, past all the employees watching.

And I, Mrs. Knight, had just won my first battle back.