And on the desk was the same folder I had seen earlier that week.
My name was printed across the top.
Richard pushed it toward me.
"Open it."
I didn't move.
"Please," he added.
I sat down and opened the folder.
The first page contained legal language I didn't immediately understand.
Then I saw the title:
Share Transfer Agreement.
I looked up.
"What is this?"
Richard leaned back in his chair.
"I'm retiring."
For several seconds, I thought I had misheard him.
"What?"
"I'm seventy-eight years old, Emily. I've spent forty years building this company. I can't keep pretending I'll run it forever."
I looked around the room.
Nobody seemed surprised.
They already knew.
Richard continued.
"For the last two years, I've been paying attention to what happens when I'm not here."
He paused.
"Who solves problems?"
No one answered.
"Who remembers what the clients need? Who notices mistakes before they become expensive? Who stays calm when everyone else is panicking?"
Then he pointed at me.
"You."
I didn't know what to say.
He turned the page.
"Yesterday, I told you that you would no longer work for me for a salary."
My face grew warm as I remembered the park.
"That was true," he continued.
Then he slid the document closer.
I looked down.
My name appeared on a list of the company's new ownership structure.
Beside it was a number.
25%.
I read it again.
Then again.
Twenty-five percent.
"Mr. Bennett…"
"Starting tomorrow," he said, "I'm no longer your boss."
My eyes moved between him and the document.
"If you accept, you'll become a shareholder and one of the company's executive directors."
I couldn't speak.
The tears returned.
But they weren't the same tears I had cried the previous evening.
"You're giving me twenty-five percent of the company?"
"I'm transferring twenty-five percent to you under the terms explained in those documents. Mr. Wilson will walk you through every page before you sign anything."
I stared at Richard.
"Why didn't you just tell me yesterday?"
For the first time since I entered the room, he laughed.
"I tried."
"What?"
"You didn't let me finish."
Then I remembered his exact words.
"Starting tomorrow, you will no longer work for me for a salary."
He had never said I would work for free.
I had filled in that part myself.
I covered my face with my hands.
"Oh my God."
One of the executives laughed quietly.
Even the accountant smiled.
Richard stood and walked around his desk.
"Seven years ago," he said, "I hired a frightened young woman who could barely speak during her interview."
I laughed through my tears.
"I wasn't that bad."
"You nearly dropped your water."
"You noticed that?"
"Of course I noticed."
Then his expression softened.
"But you told me something that day. You said if I gave you a chance, you'd learn."
He nodded toward the documents.
"You did."
The room became quiet.
"I built this company," he continued, "but building something isn't enough. Eventually, you have to decide who you trust to carry it forward."
I swallowed hard.