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One day, I hope to be a full-fledged Forensic Psychiatrist and be in charge of a psych ward but until then, I have to work my way up the ladder. Once I do, I’ll be a psychiatrist and then, if I stick with it, I can work with the FBI to help find killers.
That’s my dream, and it doesn’t involve a man. Sure, I want one eventually, but I feel I need to get everything else in place first. My mom always struggled after she and my biological father divorced, because she never went to school to get any higher education. She drove home to me how important it is for a woman to be self-sufficient and not rely on a man. Then, she met my stepfather, and he became the only father I truly ever knew. To have them both die was a family tragedy that my brother and I are still dealing with, each in our own way.
I don’t plan on every relying on a man for more than love.
After I finish washing my face and brushing my teeth, I fall into bed and glance at my cell, checking to see if Michelle or Sherri sent me a text.
Sure enough, there are several.
SHERRI: OH MY GOD Natalia. You should see this place. It’s so posh I feel like an imposter! But I love it. I wish you were here. CU Later babe…
SHERRI: Staying the night.
SHERRI: HE IS SUCH A HUNK
SHERRI: Kisses.
I shake my head and sigh, jealous that she has such confidence in her ability to, well, get whatever she wants.
NATALIA: Be careful. Call me tomorrow. We could go out and see a movie or something if you’re not getting engaged to Mr. O'Connor.
I send the text but don’t hear back from her, and finally turn off the lamp on my bedside table, figuring she's busy getting busy with Mr. Harrison O’Connor.
I know Michelle and I will hear all about it the next day.
CHAPTER 3
Harrison
One Month Earlier…
I spendthe day in meetings with my team, going over the latest acquisitions and planning what we’d do with them — break up and sell off assets, then reinvest the profits, or try to reform the companies, fix the problems and see them prosper. We buy up failing businesses, offering the executive a nice parting gift to give up control, and then we either save them or kill them off outright.
If they can’t be saved, the end comes quickly.
No sense in letting a failing company fail outright.
Better a clean quick death than a long slow one.
Some people don’t like what hedge funds do, but they don’t understand why we are necessary.
My team has been successful turning several failing businesses around, making them profitable and saving hundreds of jobs — productive jobs that create value.
The companies we shut down were beyond hope, and it was best that their employees left with a nice package and found new work in a more successful business. This garnered me a few enemies in the process, as is to be expected.
I sit at my desk in the penthouse office in the building my company owns and glance out at the Manhattan skyline.
Despite my success, there’s a hole in my chest where a sense of peace and optimism once resided.
Nothing — not even the billions of dollars in investments the company obtained from hopeful investors, not the personal wealth I have, nor the power that comes with it can change the past.
I have to move on and use my power the best way I can.
The past is gone. Today, and the future, are all there is.
Still, I can’t block memories of the past from my mind, especially when I glance at the wall beside my desk, which features photos of my family. I keep those photos in sight as a reminder of why I do what I do.
To keep me on track, and not stray from the mission.
