She told Asha and Nicole everything. The fact that Dad had been planning for months to sell his HNS shares and close Emerald. The fact that this plan was already in the works when Kamila made the deal with him to take on Anil’s account so Dad would go part-time. All that had been just a “placate Kamila” project—they didn’t care if she could secure the Aim High project or not. They just wanted to shut her up so they could continue to close Emerald without telling her. And they assumed she would be happy about it.

They hadn’t trusted her to know what she wanted with her own life.

Asha was as shocked as Kamila had been. “I’ve seen how dedicated you are to Emerald! To everything you do.”

“Yeah, well, apparently the men in my life think I’m a flighty, frivolous, worthless nothing.” She exhaled. “I get it, sort of. Dad has a lot of guilt over how Mom treated me when I was a teenager. He thinks everything I do for Emerald is out of loyalty to him. And now he thinks he’s releasing me from that burden. The worst part…” Kamila sniffled. “The worst part is Dad is happy. He’s really happy. He’s healthy, and his stress is low. I wanted him to go part-time, but maybe an early retirement is even better. I never imagined he’d be willing to do this, but it could be great for him. How can I be upset?”

“Kamila, you have every right to be upset. They should have discussed this with you. They should have asked you what you wanted,” Nicole said.

Kamila shrugged.

“This is just like men of his generation,” Asha said. “Always underestimating their daughters. It’s why I barely speak to my own father. Your dad should be giving Emerald to you, not closing it. Are you sure you don’t want to work at HNS?”

Kamila shook her head. “Absolutely sure. I hated it when I worked there before. Not all the associates there are men, but most are. I’m just not interested in working in a vat of testosterone…I’d rather not have to fight to be heard every moment of my day. And I love Emerald. I just helped Ink Girls secure that loan to open a new location, and Maricel and I are ready to start submitting grant applications for her puppy school.” Ugh. She couldn’t imagine Maricel or any of her clients going downtown to the financial district to meet with their accountants. “The worst part is Rohan. He…” She looked down at her hands. “Maybe everything he did for me and Dad was just so he could get Dad’s HNS shares.”

“I don’t think that’s true, Kamila. Rohan’s the person you were talking about earlier, right?”

Kamila nodded.