The older woman stared at her.

“That’s impossible.”

The younger woman turned her phone around.

On the screen was a legal document.

Her family name appeared across the top.

The older woman’s face went pale.

“My father built this company,” the younger woman said.

“When he died, he left every store to me.”

The woman in gold shook her head.

“No. Your husband transferred them.”

“My husband?”

The younger woman gave a broken smile.

“He was your employee.”

Silence.

The little boy squeezed his mother’s hand.

The older woman stepped closer.

“You can’t shut everything down over one argument.”

The younger woman looked at her son.

His eyes were still wet from crying.

“This isn’t about an argument.”

She looked back at the woman.

“You humiliated a mother because you thought she needed this job too badly to fight back.”

Phones began ringing around the terrace.

Managers.

Lawyers.

Security.

The older woman’s own phone buzzed.

She looked down.

Her access had been revoked.

Her accounts frozen.

Her position terminated.

She stared at the younger woman.

“You planned this?”

“No.”

The younger woman wiped the last tear from her cheek.

“I came tonight to decide whether I could trust you to keep running my father’s company.”

She took her son’s hand.

“And you made the decision for me.”