Kamila did. First the boardroom. “We don’t use this room much, so I didn’t do a lot here. Just a coat of paint.”

“It looks a bit like a classroom,” Jana said, looking at the whiteboard on one wall.

“It used to be one. This office used to be a tutoring business.” She took her to Dad’s office next. “We didn’t do anything here. Dad insisted he liked his box-store desk. I did change the artwork, though.” The pale landscapes were a far cry from the weird motivational posters that used to hang here.

“And finally, my office.”

Of course, since she had designed the whole space, Kamila’s own office was her favorite. A glass desk and pale-pink leather office chair. Succulents in white ceramic pots. Beautiful butter-yellow armchairs for clients. A teal filing cabinet. Brass and brushed-gold accessories, and a window that let in lots of natural light during the day.

Jana immediately sat on one of the armchairs, deep in thought. Kamila sat at her desk. While she was here, she might as well grab the Ink Girls file so she could work on their balance sheets after the prom tomorrow. She’d wanted to do it yesterday, but her broken-heart situation prevented her from coming into the office. She opened the file and started flipping through the paperwork inside, making sure it was all there.

“This is impressive,” Jana said finally. “I had a motive for bringing you here—I thought I could convince you to join HNS and grow Emerald while you were in your office. But…honestly? I love it here, too. You look like you belong here. Don’t let them turn this place into a corporate cookie-cutter chain. Don’t give up on what you’re doing here, either. Don’t let them close it, Kamila.”

Kamila looked up at Jana. She was right. Being here, at Emerald, it was so clear—she couldn’t give it up. Restarting somewhere else wasn’t an option. And Emerald would lose its personality if it was expanded into a chain.

“I can’t work at HNS. Even with Emerald as my own division, even keeping this space, a giant firm is the opposite of what I want.”

“What would be your perfect solution?” Jana asked.

“Keeping things the way they are.”

“But you said yourself that your father retiring is a good thing.”

“It is a good thing.” She sighed. “There is no happy solution. I can’t run Emerald alone, and I don’t want to work with HNS.”

“Why can’t you run it alone?”

Kamila looked at Jana, blinking. “I can’t because…”

“Because people like that Marlene lady think you can’t?” Jana asked.

“Yeah, people like her, and my mom, and even my dad. And probably Rohan, and definitely you don’t think I could do it.”