Chapter 16 - The Deposition
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By the time Clara celebrated her first birthday, the ghost of Dominic Vale had completely evaporated from our lives.
Vale Hospitality—now operating as Vance & Clara International—had expanded into four new international markets under my leadership as Chief Operating Officer and Lead Risk Analyst.
I sat at the head of a fifty-foot marble conference table on the top floor of our new downtown headquarters, reviewing quarterly revenue projections with Victor Vance.
"We exceeded our Q3 targets by twelve percent," Victor said, setting his glasses on the table with a look of genuine pride. "Your risk mitigation strategy on the Tokyo acquisition saved us eight million dollars in legal liabilities."
"Cautious management always beats arrogant expansion, Victor," I replied with a warm smile.
"Dominic always called you overly cautious," Victor remarked, leaning back in his chair. "He never realized that your caution was the only thing keeping his company afloat for seven years."
"Men like Dominic don't value the roof over their heads until the storm tears it off," I said, looking toward the glass doors as my assistant walked in, holding three-year-old Clara in her arms.
Clara had curly brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a laugh that filled every room she entered. She reached her arms out for me the moment she saw me.
May you like
I pulled her onto my lap, kissing her cheek.
"Mommy's building a kingdom for you, little girl," I whispered into her soft hair.
