The trial didn't go as well as Krystal had expected it would. A few days ago, she had had to hand in the document Krystal had wanted to use to testify against her father. The signature was real and in the document, it was said Jung Internationals would be transferred to her on the date of the wedding.

Only the judge didn't think of it so easily even though it had been crystal clear to Krystal. Clearly, the word 'wedding' that was named in the document was the thing that had set him off which was why Krystal didn't get the company to her name directly after the case had ended. The big throw-off was that Krystal wasn't getting married anymore, which had been one demands that legalized the document. Now that she wasn't getting married anymore, it was as good as worth nothing. Only her father's signature and the date mattered but the document was basically proved worthless by the judge, which made Krystal lose every leverage she had over her father.

Still, there was hope. Her father was still sick and an old man, almost ready to retire as well, which made the judge doubt to give it back to her father. What was the use of handing it back to the old CEO who would retire in a few years? Whilst Krystal was qualified to last another few decennia.

Not to forget that four big companies backed her up: Liu Economics, Song Software, Lee Electronics and The Empire Group. Their voices testifying for her were strong and clearly made the judge doubt the whole case. Although Krystal could’ve just bought their cooperation, the fact that all four CEO’s were here to back her up was remarkable.

But since her father didn't have anything besides his argument that he was the legal CEO and he was still allowed to decide over the company, the judge was stuck with an almost worthless document, a young annoyed woman and an older sick man who refused to hand over his company.

Which lead her to the decision to vote. At least, the employees were able to vote. And it wasn't the kind of charge that satisfied Krystal. Not at all.

It was her first task as an open person to not lock up her frustrations but tell Amber... and it was one of the most difficult things she had ever need to do.

The moment they walked out of court, her girlfriend could feel the tension building up inside her body. Krystal didn't want to hold hands when Amber reached out to her. She just sat down in the seat with her arms crossed in front of her body.

Amber sat down behind the wheel and sighed.

"Let's go out for dinner tonight," she suggested, already feeling how bad Krystal's mood had gotten.

"I'm not hungry."

"Really, Krys, this is just a minor inconvenience. You said it yourself: the employees love you. There's nothing to worry about," she said. "We can go to that tapas restaurant you like, La Cubanita right?"

"You don't understand. My father will only let level two, three and four employees vote. The majority of our employees have a level one pass. They were going to vote for me. All of those who didn't clap, who didn't support me, are level twos or threes.  I'll be losing so many votes..." she sighed annoyed. "And it's La Comida. La Comida Sabrosa to be exact."

"Well there's nothing you can do about it. Just let them vote and if you don't like the result then just go in appeal. You still have the law at your side. Shall I make a reservation for tonight? I'm feeling like eating tapas."

"If you say so," Krystal groaned. "No, I'll make the reservation, you're driving."

Amber chuckled softly and nodded. Krystal took her phone and called the number of the restaurant. It took only five minutes to reserve a place for two. When she hung up again, Amber shot her a look.

"I thought you weren't hungry?" she asked carefully. Krystal squinted her eyes annoyed and stuck out her tongue.

"Want me to cancel, then?"

Amber just laughed and shook her head. Krystal sighed and looked out of the window, trying to clear out the smudged landscape they were driving through. But that quickly grew boring and her annoyance that had risen since the end of the hearing was still too present.

"I just hate what he did to me, you know," she eventually sighed. Amber looked up and shot her a knowing look that was a mixture of pride and worry. Proud perhaps that Krystal initiated a conversation about her feelings and worry because she felt so bad.

Krystal sighed again and rubbed in her eyes with her thumb and index finger.

"He isn't a bad man. I love him, still, but he has such twisted ideas. I think he just wants what's best for me and the company but he simply can't see how toxic it all is. The way he raised me and Jess, how he doesn't want to see how happy I am now I'm not marrying a man I don't love and refuses to give me the company because of such silly reason while I dedicated my whole life to him and Jung Internationals and making him proud of me. I simply don't understand how he cannot see what sacrifices I have made.."

Amber took her hand and pressed a caring kiss upon the back of it to calm down her shaking voice. Krystal didn't want to look up just yet to see her gaze, but to feel her hand around hers was already calming down.

"He'll see, Krystal. It may take months or even years to convince him but he'll see. I promise."

Krystal wiped off her teary eyes and looked up. Amber was focused on the road but there was a hint of a smile on her face, faint enough to be oblivious to strangers but Krystal had grown to recognize the way the corners of were pulled up just an inch, causing her to recognize it immediately.

"You're doing a good job, Krystal, don't forget that. You're not wrong for wanting to be happy. As long as your intentions are true, you are never wrong. Just clear your mind from now — or you know, think about how dashingly good-looking I am, your choice — and enjoy the ride."

The voting happened a few days after. At the end of a busy Friday, they let the chosen employees come to Jung Internationals' Great Hall. The rest of the establishments would vote too. Krystal hoped that she'd get at least a few extra votes from the other establishments, especially those in Europe. Hopefully they were a little more open-minded and liked to see a new face as the spokesperson of Jung Internationals. But she didn't dare to get her hopes up yet. The whole situation was too doubtful to already predict who was going to win this battle.

It took another few days to count all the votes, causing eventually a week to pass since the court visit. 

During that week, it was easy to notice Krystal wasn't entirely herself. As well at work as at home she had become crankier. She caught herself yelling at her once and Krystal had always promised herself to not become the kind of boss who yelled at their employees. But because of the tension of the past few weeks it became a bit too much for her to handle at some points and if your personal assistant messes up your schedule of that day, it's easier to blame them than it is to blame yourself.

Amber had noticed it too but there was hardly anything she could do. Krystal still had trouble opening up to her. Right now, she didn't even want to try because that'd mean she might get in a fight with Amber instead and that wasn't worth it. Nevertheless, her girlfriend did notice her strange behavior. Krystal wanted it to be gone just as much as the people around her but she hadn't found a safe way to get rid of her anger and tension.

As soon as the results came in, Krystal called in a meeting with the board members, as well as her father. He wore his best suit when he came to the company. To Krystal's pleasure, she noticed some people point at her father and whisper softly behind his back as soon as he walked by. It may not be much but at least there were rumors going through the company as well. And would you gossip about the person you'd support? She just hoped that the judging glares would benefit her. 

The only people who were invited to the meeting were the board members, her father and herself. She wanted to keep it as small as possible, in case she did loose. They had invited one more person who would announce the result of the voting.

The meeting occurred in the small meeting room. Normally, either her father or herself would've sat at the head of the table. She used to sit at her father's right hand as his second in command. She came early to the meeting room to claim her spot, but she noticed that the order of the chairs had been changed, causing her not to be able to sit at the head. The table was turned horizontally, so all of them, the board members, her father and Krystal alike, sat next to each other. The board was already present, even though Krystal was a quarter early, and had only left the two chairs at the far right and the far left end of the table.

Evans and Mitchell alike shot her a glance, but she didn't return it. The man who was supposed to reveal the score was currently muttering softly to himself, trying to get the beamer to work and display his presentation.

Krystal simply sat down at the left end of the table.

Her father arrived ten minutes later. The way he walked into the meeting room immediately put Krystal off. With his back straight and the hint of a cocky smile on his face – like he had already won – he sat down on the chair on the far right end of the table. He had not greeted anyone, but had simply given Evans a nod. It seemed like he had smiled back at him, but it could also just be her imagination.

In the meantime, the man had managed to turn on the big screen and display his presentation. As soon as Eloisa and her father’s PA had brought them all a cup of coffee, the presentation was started.

With a small introduction that was expendable for most people in the room, he talked a quick five minutes before he got to the key point. The results of the other locations of Jung Internationals had come in yesterday, late in the afternoon. Together with the votes in Jung Internationals’ Headquarters, they had come to a conclusion.

The longer the man was talking, the faster Krystal’s heart started to beat. She wondered if she could control her emotions if she won or lost. Or perhaps she should just let everything go and follow Amber’s advice, just to rub her father his bad job as a parent in his face.

There at first was a histogram that showed compared the votes in the foreign countries and in the USA. Her father won with about 75 percent of the votes in the USA but Krystal had the upper hand in the foreign countries, albeit with only 60 to 70 percent.

But the percentages didn’t mean anything if they didn’t conglomerate the results. Which happened in the last slide of the PowerPoint presentation. The final graphic showed that the votes were equally divided. At least, that’s what it looked like at first sight. As soon as the numbers showed, Krystal’s heart sank.

Her father won with 54 percent of the votes…

With a dry throat, she underwent the feeling of the world collapsing around her. For a moment, she dazed off in her own panic, not hearing the clapping around her or the congratulations of the board for her father. She could only hear her own controlled breathing and notice the absence of her own heartbeat.

As soon as she came back to life, Evans shot her a compassionate glance, but she didn’t want anything of that.

How she had managed a smile on her face and get up from her seat, she didn’t remember. But she did it and walked over to her father to shake his hand. The smile was dry and ached on her face, but her father had taken her hand and shaken it firmly.

“Remember this when you’re ever thinking about overthrowing your old man again,” he had said, before he had walked out of the meeting room, together with the board. Krystal saw them leave. The man who had made the presentation packed his stuff too and she was still in the meeting room when he left too.

Eventually her hand reached for her phone in her pocket. She dialed the only person she knew who could cheer her up.

“Come pick me up, p-please,” she breathed in the phone.

“I’ll be there in five,” Amber had answered, before hanging up on her.