CHAPTER 5

Jenna shook her head. "No, you've done enough. You both. Now please, go home. It's late, and I can do this myself."

Deborah's eyes were weary. "I'm not going to leave you here alone."

"Please. I need to have a minute to myself. I'll need your strength tomorrow."

With some reluctance, they nodded and planted quick hugs before departing.

Deborah squeezed Jenna's hand once more. "You'll be fine."

The door closed behind them, and Jenna stood alone in the middle of the shop, among the pieces of what had once been her dreams and the whispers of a shattered future.

She had not stood alone with her thoughts since the tragedy.

She drew a trembling deep breath, trying to get herself together when she was startled suddenly by a knock on the window.

Her heart leaped, and she turned to see a familiar face peering in at her through the glass.

"Jenna!"

"Mom? How did you get here?"

Jenna opened the door, and her mother burst in, worry creasing her face.

"I was so scared about you. I thought something had happened at work…" She hesitated, taking in the devastation. "I didn't know it was going to be this bad."

Jenna jammed a sheepish smile. "Time for me to say goodbye to my business. I'm going to be operating in the red for months."

Her mother looked around, her hand firmly on her hip. "If I had a couple hundred thousand dollars lying around, I'd fix this in a flash."

Jenna's eyes widened, and she half-teased, "You know, Mom, if this is the time you fess up to me about my bio-dad being some hidden millionaire who can fix everything, I'll let you off the hook for not telling me."

She snorted quietly. "Please, Jenna."

"I'm serious." Jenna had seen this conversation go a dozen times.

Her mother raised her as a single parent and never spoke of her father's name.

"Don't be stupid. You have too much on your plate. I won't hassle you. Call me when you're free."

She kissed a hasty peck on Jenna's cheek and rushed away, leaving her with her spinning brain. Her evasiveness and secretive father's absence were the reasons Jenna had never trusted anyone.

Jenna braked and panted.

What are you doing, Jenna? She wouldn't drown in self-pity. She pulled out her phone from her back pocket, the metal cool a small comfort, and dialed Rebecca.

"Hello again. Could you set up a meeting with my finance manager as soon as possible?"

There was silence.

What?" Rebecca sounded sleepy, and Jenna felt bad for having awoken her at such an hour. "Really think he can get us out of this?"

Jenna clenched her teeth. "I don't know, but I'm not going without a fight.".

She hung up and glared at the wreckage. A destroyed shop that had once represented all she had sweated to achieve. All wet dresses, all broken vows, were a repetition of the destruction of innumerable dreams.

She wiped away a tear, not ready to let go yet. She recalled the price she paid to construct this dream. Always staying behind for parties, passing up chances. She had put her heart into every seam, every design. And even if tonight felt like she had lost everything, deep inside there was a spark of light of determination, a stubborn resolve beginning to take hold.

Jenna took a deep breath and started to navigate methodically between the piles of torn fabric. No time for a pity party. She had to rescue what she could, document the damage, and prepare to weather the fallout. She needed to know if she could recover any fabric, any particle whatsoever. Maybe she could make and stitch some commissioned pieces at home temporarily.

If there was anything left here, which did not look good.

She could still remember the late evenings working here, creating, the excitement of each new collection launch, and the hope that each garment would take her to success. Now, each ruined garment was a flaw in the future she had envisioned.

She knew that rebuilding would not be easy. Insurance would not pay for this, and the loss of funds would probably destroy her.

But she wouldn't let this be the end.

She charted the long journey of recovery and was willing to place the calls, make the appointments, and solicit the emergency money she had saved. The action would start with a tally of the loss, then contacting her staff, clients, and financial advisors. She picked up her phone, hands poised to write a new message. A message that declared she was not defeated, that she would rebuild.

She surveyed the fragments of her shattered dream around her and let that vision burn her. This was a setback, she saw, but she also saw that from them she could construct something even stronger, an opportunity to re-make, re-build, and prove to herself that there was still hope.

She shut her eyes, took one deep, grounding breath, and moved forward to begin the work of healing.

A new beginning stirred. A promise that even during the darkest of moments, she was able to put the pieces back together and start fresh.

Jenna arrived at work at the break of dawn, a broken habit she had not been able to shake despite how wild the night was. It was a way of being ahead of the rest, knowing that nobody else was working as hard as she did.

And she hoped that Dad saw her commitment.

Within the vineyard office, Sienna, their vineyard manager, and Precious, the facilities manager, were already sifting through papers. Jenna gave a quick nod as she entered.

Sienna smiled at her. "Lex Luthor, you've got great timing. We just invested in the new shipment of wines. They've been shipped, and preliminary feedback is great, revenues are greater, and response is very positive."

Jenna moved to take a folder off the desk. "Great news. Do the numbers exceed the last three quarters?"

Sienna smiled. "Night and day. Business picked up big time after Flex's antics three years ago."

Jenna winced at the memory. Flex, her father's nemesis, had tried to sabotage their activities, but whatever damage he tried to cause them, they never fell behind.

She scanned the numbers on the pages in the folder that she was holding. "Wow. These numbers are even greater than our projections.".

Sienna grinned. "Your dad's going to adore it. And here's some more, rumor is Flex's vineyard closed up its operations. They were basically operating in the red for the last two years, and now their last investors have quit."

Jenna's ears perked up. "That means the land will be up for sale soon.".

Right. We have to keep a close eye on it and make an offer the moment it's available. Acquiring their production capacity would double our revenues.

Jenna's imagination immediately ran with possibilities for growth. She had always dreamed of growing their business to new heights, breaking into markets they hadn't considered yet. Maybe this deal would be the one that would prove to Dad that she was the one to take over and keep his dream going.

Precious's eyes danced. "Just imagine what we could do with that property, Lex Luthor. We could expand operations, expand our harvest, and cement our position as one of the leading vineyards in the area."

Jenna's head bobbed up and down, the machinery in her brain working overtime. "We must explore further. If we can buy out Flex's vineyard, it would be a dream come true."

Sienna's grin stretched even wider. "I'll start looking into getting more information right away."

“And I’ll draft a proposal outlining the benefits and how we’d integrate the new land with our current operations,” Precious added.

“Fuck yeah!” Excitement coursed through Jenna.

The possibility of this acquisition had her buzzing with excitement; it might be the piece of the puzzle she had been missing. This move needed to finalize her as CEO without resorting to the outrageous concessions Dad appeared to demand. Her choices and actions, not her romantic relationships, would do the talking.

"Keep me in touch with any news. High priority." Jenna headed off and made her way to her principal office to prepare that day's agenda.

Later in the afternoon, Jenna strolled out into the vineyard to welcome some of their big buyers. A line of black bullet-shaped vehicles arrived, and she welcomed the group warmly, shaking hands and making small talk.

"Welcome to our vineyard." She gestured to the wide expanse of land behind her. "I'm Lex Luthor, and I'll be taking you around today. We're glad to have you with us."

The group, senior Asian investors, exchanged interested glances.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Luthor," one of them responded.

After a few minutes, Sienna turned up to accompany them on the tour.

As they strolled, Jenna continued, "Every aspect of this vineyard is a labor of love. Our winemaking began in the family. My mother conceived the original idea, and my father developed it into the company that it is now. It's even called after her."

The buyers nodded in appreciation.

"Very interesting. It's always inspiring when passion supports a business."

Seizing the moment, Jenna interrupted, "My mother, Alex, was the heart and soul of this vineyard. She shared that love with all of us."