The new CEO

The weight of the realization hit her like a punch to the gut. "You're making her CEO."

Chen Jie flinched at the bitterness in her tone but nodded. "She's capable."

Chen Lin let out a quiet, humorless laugh, her fingers curling into fists.

She wanted to be angry. She was angry.

But underneath that, something deeper festered—disbelief, betrayal, disappointment.

Her own father.

Despite his absence for most of her life, he had still watched her grow in the little time they had together—yet he had given everything to a daughter who was practically a stranger to him.

"For years," she began, her voice dangerously calm, "you were never a father to me. You never tried to be. And I accepted that."

She exhaled sharply, eyes burning with something raw, something furious.