Chapter 5 - The Desperate Demands
By Wednesday,
the situation at the family business had escalated from chaotic to catastrophic.
My father had stopped trying to call me from his own phone,
realizing I had blocked his number entirely.
Instead,
he started using different office lines,
trying to trick me into answering.
I sat in my newly rented office space,
a modern,
glass-walled room overlooking the city skyline,
and watched the unfamiliar numbers pop up on my screen.
Finally,
deciding it was time to establish my boundaries clearly,
I answered a call from a strange local number.
"Where the hell are you?"
my father roared into the receiver,
his voice echoing with pure,
unfiltered rage.
"I am at work,"
I replied calmly,
leaning back in my leather chair.
"You are not at work,"
he snapped back,
breathing heavily into the microphone.
"Your desk is empty,
the servers are locked,
and we are losing thousands of dollars every hour."
"Get down here immediately,
fix this mess,
and maybe I will let you keep your job."
I let out a short,
genuine laugh,
which only infuriated him more.
"You seem to be confused,"
I said,
keeping my tone perfectly even.
"I told you on New Year's Eve that I quit,
and I meant it."
"I no longer work for you,
I no longer work for Claire,
and I am not responsible for your failing company."
There was a stunned silence on the other end,
followed by the sound of shuffling papers.
"Listen to me,"
my father growled,
trying to regain control of the conversation.
"You cannot do this to your family,
it is completely unacceptable."
"Claire is having a nervous breakdown,
the board is panicking,
and our biggest client is threatening a lawsuit."
"I will give you a ten percent raise,
but you must come back right now."
"Ten percent?"
I echoed,
shaking my head in disbelief at his arrogance.
"You still do not understand,
do you?"
"This is not about money,
and this is not a negotiation."
"This is about you treating my daughter like an afterthought,
and treating me like a servant."
"You made it perfectly clear who matters in this family,
and it is not us."
Before he could formulate another hollow threat,
I pressed the end call button,
disconnecting the line instantly.
I blocked that number too,
placed the phone down,
and turned my attention back to my monitors.
My new software,
which I had named 'Equinox',
was ready for its official debut.
I had secured a massive meeting for Friday afternoon,
pitching my platform to the very same major client my father was currently losing.
They were looking for a modern,
automated logistics solution,
and I had the perfect product.
I was not just leaving my father's shadow,
I was actively stepping into his territory,
ready to take everything he had taken for granted.
I smiled at the thought,
typing away at my keyboard,
feeling more motivated than ever before.
May you like
The empire was falling,
and a new one was rising in its place.
