Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Promotion
The opportunity came in the form of an email from Margaret.
Lina,
I'm retiring at the end of the year. I want you to take over Elite Events. Think about it. Let me know.
—Margaret
Lina read the email three times.
Then she called Ethan.
"Margaret is retiring," she said. "She wants me to take over the company."
Ethan was quiet for a moment. "That's wonderful."
"It's terrifying."
"It's both. That's what growth feels like."
Lina sat down on the couch, her phone pressed to her ear.
"I don't know if I can do it," she said. "I've only been back for a year. My memory is still—"
"Your memory is fine. You're fine. You're more than fine. You're extraordinary."
Lina's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm scared," she admitted.
"I know. But you've done scary things before. You survived a coma. You rebuilt your life. You can do this."
Lina took a breath.
"Okay," she said. "I'll think about it."
"That's all I'm asking."
---
Lina thought about it for a week.
She thought about the woman she had been before the coma—ambitious, driven, always reaching for the next thing. She thought about the woman she had become—cautious, careful, afraid of risking what she had finally built.
She thought about Margaret, who had given her a second chance when no one else would.
She thought about the twins, who needed her to be present but also needed her to be fulfilled.
She thought about Ethan, who had never doubted her for a moment.
On the seventh day, she called Margaret.
"I'll do it," she said. "On one condition."
"What's that?"
"You stay on as a consultant. For the first year. So I don't screw everything up."
Margaret laughed. "I was going to offer anyway. I'm not ready to let go completely."
"Then it's settled."
"It's settled."
Lina hung up the phone.
She stood in the kitchen, her heart pounding, and felt something she had not expected.
Excitement.
---
The transition took three months.
Margaret introduced Lina to clients, walked her through contracts, showed her the ropes of running a business. Lina took notes, asked questions, and tried not to panic.
The twins noticed she was busy.
"Mama is working too much," Lily said one morning, watching Lina leave for the office before breakfast.
"Mama is working hard," Ethan replied.
"Too hard," Leo agreed.
Ethan knelt down to their level. "Mama is doing something important. She's taking over her company. That means she's going to be very busy for a while. But she still loves you. She still misses you. She's still your mama."
The twins considered this.
"Can we make her a card?" Lily asked.
"That's a wonderful idea."
The twins spent the afternoon making cards—Lily's covered in glitter and hearts, Leo's covered in precise drawings of stars and planets.
Lina found them on her pillow that night.
She cried.
Happy tears.
---
The first month as owner was chaos.
Lina juggled clients and employees and vendors, learning on the fly, making mistakes and fixing them. She came home exhausted, fell into bed, and did it all again the next day.
But slowly, gradually, she found her rhythm.
She learned to delegate. She learned to trust her staff. She learned that she didn't have to do everything herself.
By the end of the first month, Elite Events was thriving.
By the end of the third month, it was profitable.
By the end of the sixth month, Lina had stopped panicking.
---
The Celebration
Margaret threw a party to celebrate the transition.
It was a small gathering—just family and close friends—held at the penthouse on a Saturday night. The twins wore their fanciest clothes. Victoria brought a cake. Victor brought champagne. Katherine brought flowers.
Margaret stood on the balcony, looking out at the city.
"You've done well," she said to Lina.
"I had a good teacher."
Margaret smiled. "You had a good heart. That's more important."
Lina hugged her.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything."
Margaret hugged her back.
"Thank you for proving me right."
---
The party continued inside.
The twins ran around with their cousins. Victoria talked with Victor about sobriety. Ethan stood in the corner, watching Lina with a smile on his face.
Lina walked over to him.
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
"I'm thinking about the woman I met at that charity gala. The one in the green dress. The one who laughed at my jokes."
Lina smiled. "I don't remember that."
"You will. Someday."
"Maybe. Or maybe I'll make new memories."
Ethan pulled her into his arms.
"Either way," he said. "I'm here."
They stood in the corner, holding each other, while the party swirled around them.
And Lina felt, for the first time in years, that she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
---
The Next Morning
Lina woke up to the smell of pancakes.
She walked into the kitchen and found the twins at the table, Ethan at the stove, and a stack of chocolate chip pancakes already cooling on a plate.
"You said you would rest after the party," Leo said. "So we're making you breakfast."
Lina sat down at the table.
"You're making me breakfast?"
"We're making you breakfast," Lily confirmed. "Daddy is doing the cooking. We're doing the eating."
Lina laughed.
"That's not how breakfast works."
"It's how our breakfast works."
Lina looked at her family—her beautiful, strange, perfect family—and felt her heart overflow with love.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything."
Ethan brought her a plate of pancakes.
"You're welcome," he said. "For everything."
They ate together, laughing and talking and planning the day ahead.
It was not a special day. It was not a milestone. It was just a Sunday morning in a penthouse full of people who loved each other.
But it was enough.
It was everything.
---
End of Chapter Thirty-Eight