For the first time in her life, Bobo felt a sensation of freedom that was entirely new to her. It was a lightness she hadn’t realized she was missing until this very moment. In retrospect, she realized that the vast sum of money she had been holding onto had felt almost heavy, as if the wealth itself carried a curse that weighed down her spirit. It was a burden she hadn’t known she was carrying until it was gone.
Now that she had transferred the majority of those funds to her mother, that invisible weight had vanished. The suffocating pressure of her responsibilities as an heir to the Stern family finally began to dissipate. She felt stripped of the target that had been painted on her back for so long. No longer would anyone look at her as merely a competitor to be crushed; no longer would she have to spend her days looking over her shoulder, worrying about the vultures trying to steal her fortune or undermine her position. She was just herself now, unburdened and ready to live.
She believed she could finally truly enjoy herself. At least, that was the comforting thought she had lulled herself to sleep with. However, the reality of her first day as this "new" self proved to be far less peaceful than she had imagined.
The disruption came in the form of an urgent text message and a rude awakening.
Bobo blinked groggily, her mind struggling to catch up with the time. Oh, a text from Steve? And it looks like there are quite a few of them, she thought, panic beginning to set in. Crap, I just realized I overslept. I have a few missed calls as well.
It was the first time she had ever overslept like this, a testament to how deeply her body had relaxed after releasing her burdens. But the relaxation was short-lived. Before she even dialed Steve, her personal assistant, to return his frantic calls, she decided to read the messages that had been piling up on her screen.
The preview of the most recent message made her stomach drop.
"The boardroom has called for an emergency meeting. They need you there by twelve!"
Bobo stared at the screen, her brow furrowing in confusion.
A board meeting... why would they call for one now? she wondered, her mind racing to find a logical explanation. This isn’t the usual time. Usually, we would have our scheduled meeting in a couple of weeks. There shouldn’t be much to discuss right now anyway.
She sat on the edge of her bed, trying to piece together the sudden urgency. Unless it has to do with the recent investments? Maybe they want to have a say in where the money goes... but they haven’t before. Why start now?
The board of directors within Bobo’s company structure was not a massive, faceless entity. It was a small, intimate group consisting of only six other people. These six individuals were not strangers; they were the people who had helped her build everything from the ground up. They had been there since day one, assisting her in establishing the business when it was nothing more than an idea.
In return for their loyalty and hard work, Bobo had rewarded them generously. She had granted shares of the company to them, ensuring that they held a collective total of thirty percent of the business, while she retained the controlling interest of seventy percent. They had always seemed grateful, not just for the shares, but for the generous salaries attached to their respective positions.
Each of them played a vital role in the company’s ecosystem.
There was the director in charge of the physical infrastructure, the one responsible for setting up the entire facility in the first place. His job was to ensure that every square inch of their operation was compliant with a myriad of safety checks and regulations, guaranteeing that everything was up to standard.
Then there was the director in charge of product compliance. This person was responsible for navigating the bureaucratic maze, securing all the necessary checks and certifications before any of their products could even see the light of day or reach a customer.
There was also the accountant, the financial architect who had been in charge of setting up the business structure from the very beginning, directing funds, managing cash flow, and keeping the company solvent.
Due to the competence and specific positioning of these people, the business generally ran like a well-oiled machine. Things ran so smoothly, in fact, that there was rarely a need for everyone to interact constantly or micromanage one another. Furthermore, since Bobo was the only person who had injected a massive amount of personal capital into the business, the board had always deferred to her judgment. Despite owning a part share in the company, they typically let her do as she wished without objection.
This history of passivity was exactly why the whole situation felt so odd. The sudden demand, the timing, the urgency—none of it fit their usual pattern.
Finally getting up and shaking off the last of her sleep, she quickly got dressed. She decided to call her Personal Assistant while her driver navigated the traffic toward her office.
As soon as the line connected, she spoke. "What’s wrong, Steve? Did something happen?"
Steve’s voice came through the speaker, breathless and high-pitched with relief. "Oh, Miss! You finally picked up. I thought they might have done a hit job on you or something!"
Bobo gulped, a cold chill running down her spine. "Now, why would you say something like that?"
Her mind immediately went to the darker possibilities. She wondered if her family members were behind something sinister. There were certain members of the Stern family she wouldn’t put it past to orchestrate that type of thing, even violence, to get what they wanted.
"It’s just that... they all came in at once," Steve stammered, clearly shaken. "Every board member arrived together, demanding a meeting. When I told them you weren’t here, they said that you should be here at noon, otherwise it wouldn’t be good!"
He paused, lowering his voice as if afraid of being overheard. "I’ve never seen them with that look on their faces before. They all looked like a bunch of brutes."
Bobo tightened her grip on the phone. "I see. Well, thanks for informing me, Steve. I’ll be there as soon as I can."
The car sped through the city, and Bobo managed to make it to the office just in time for the scheduled noon meeting. However, the punctuality did nothing to settle her nerves; she had a bad feeling that something significant was up.
When she got inside the building, she bypassed her office and went straight to the designated meeting room. It was a space that was hardly ever used, reserved for formal occasions that rarely occurred. She pushed the heavy door open and stepped inside.
They were already there, waiting for her.
The atmosphere in the room was thick with tension. Six pairs of eyes turned to look at her simultaneously.
"Ah, Bobo Stern, you finally made it," one of the directors said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And here I thought you might have chosen to just ignore us." He gestured to the empty chair at the head of the table. "Please, take your usual seat."
There was a place reserved for Bobo, naturally. She was the Chairman and the current CEO of her company, titles that technically allowed her to make any decision she really wished. But as she walked over to the chair, the dynamic in the room felt shifted, as if her authority was being silently challenged.
As she settled into her seat, she looked around the table. That was when she noticed something that stopped her cold. There were seven people in the room, not six.
Sitting among the directors was a person she had only recently met.
"Sir Rum?" she asked, her voice betraying her surprise.
Rum nodded, his expression unreadable. "Right. I have been called for this meeting as well. I didn’t expect it so soon," he replied calmly.
He looked around the table before locking eyes with Bobo again. "Don’t worry, though. There will be one more joining us."
Bobo sat back, stunned, leaving her wondering what on earth was going on.