Chapter 120

The response to my speech was incredible. Two days later, at least a quarter of my school’s students had volunteered their time to help in some way.

Homes were being cleaned and repaired, food drives were organized, and donations to the Wilson Foundation were setting records.

But my success was bringing the reporters back into my life.

Yet, I didn’t mind answering their questions about the charity work being done. The publicity was making more donations pour in.

“You’re doing incredibly well, Daisy,” Victor said as we sat in my office at Wilson, Inc. “You learn incredibly fast. And what you’ve done with the charity is fantastic. You should be proud of yourself.”

Victor’s words made me blush, but I must admit I felt good about myself lately. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

Even Alex was doing better. He couldn’t work, but he spent more time out of bed each day.

My happy bubble was about to burst when one of the secretaries buzzed my desk phone.

I answered. “Yes.”

“Miss Wilson, John Cameron is on line two,” the secretary said.

“Thank you,” I replied. I looked at Victor and grimaced. “What do you think he wants?”

“Take the call,” Victor advised. “It’s the only way to find out but keep your tone neutral and respectful. If he’s looking for a fight, don’t give it to him.”

I sighed and pushed the button on the landline phone to speak to him. “Hello, Mr. Cameron. How …how can I help you today?”

“Keep calm, Daisy,” Diana told me. “Don’t let him upset you. He knows negative emotions can cause you to make mistakes.”

I knew she was right, but John’s next words were hard to take.

“You can start by not taking every opportunity to push your ridiculous charity agenda,” he replied. “Instead of playing up to the reporters, why don’t you get some work done and make money for the company and its investors.”

“Have you seen this quarter’s reports?” I asked. I was glad I had no trouble speaking clearly when I was angry. “Profits are higher than they have ever been.”

“No thanks to you,” he snapped. “You may sit in that office and push papers around and look pretty. But everyone knows Victor Klein is doing all the work and making the decisions.”

I pushed my temper down deep into the pit of my stomach. “You are mistaken. Mr. Klein is my mentor, but I am in charge of the company.”

“I don’t believe that,” he insisted. “You need to hand off the charity to someone else to play with and concentrate on running the company, or we will put someone else in charge.”

“Don’t you think all the good publicity we are getting for the charity is also good for the company?” I asked.

I knew the answer, and so did he. Yet, he ignored my question and got to his point of the call.

“I am putting together some tests for you to take to prove you are capable of acting as CEO,” he revealed. “If you know what you’re doing, you won’t be afraid to take them.”

I rolled my eyes, but I was getting rattled. Were the tests a set up? “I would be happy to take your tests if it will give you and the investors confidence in my abilities.”

Victor pushed a piece of paper in front of me. I read the words he had written on it and nodded at him.

“When did you want me to take the tests?” I asked. “I want to put it on my calendar.”

“I’ll give you one month to learn everything you need to run the company on your own,” John Cameron replied. “If you fail, you will be replaced with a candidate of my choosing.”

“I’m not afraid of anything you throw at me, Mr. Cameron,” I said. “I’m sure you and the rest of the board will be more than satisfied with the results of the tests. And you will provide me with copies after you grade them.”

“We’ll see, won’t we.” I could see his smug smile in my mind. “If you don’t want to make a fool of yourself, you better get studying. And give that blasted charity to someone else to run …immediately.”

I didn’t agree or disagree with him. The charity foundation was too important to me to give it up.

“It was nice to speak to you, Mr. Cameron,” I said sweetly. “Have a nice day.” I hung up and laid my head on the desk.

“How did such a despicable creep get to be the head of the Board of Directors of my father’s company?” I asked.

“Despicable creeps are good at making money and acquiring power,” Victor replied.

“Why is he trying to force me to give up running the charity?”

“Because he knows it means a great deal to you, and he’s trying to make your life more difficult,” Victor answered. “But I have some advice for you on how to handle it.”

I pick my head up off the desk. “I’m listening.”

“If I were you, I would appoint Debbie as chairperson of the charity to appease the board, yet you can have Debbie report everything to you for your approval.”

“That’s pretty much what she does now,” I said.

“Give her a bump in her salary and more responsibility,” Victor advised. “You know you can trust her. Giving her more responsibility would give you time for other things, yet you’ll still have the final say on any decisions.”

“That’s genius,” I said. “Let’s talk to Debbie right now.”

I sent Debbie a text, asking her to come to my office as soon as she could.

She arrived moments later. “Good afternoon, Miss Wilson. What can I do for you?”

I explained my problems with the board of directors and the charity. “The problem would be solved if you would accept the role of chairperson.”

Debbie’s eyes grew large with excitement. “Chairperson, me?”

I smiled and nodded. “You’re the only person I would trust with it,” I told her. “You would have control, but I would like a quiet role in the day-to-day operations.”

“That sounds fine to me,” Debbie agreed.

“How does a ten percent raise sound to you?” I asked her.

“Wonderful,” Debbie said. “I’ll email you the daily reports, and we will stay in touch whenever there is a decision to be made concerning the charity.”

“Perfect,” I said. Debbie left to return to her office, and I turned to Victor.

“Do you think John will know what’s going on?” I asked.

“You can count on it,” Victor replied. “But there’s nothing he can do about it. You were correct about the charity’s good publicity washing off on the company. And he knows that’s a good thing.”

“Then everything is going to be okay,” I said.

“Everything will be okay if you pass the tests,” Victor reminded me. “And John Cameron is going to make those tests as hard as possible.”

“Do you think I can pass?”

“We’re going to make sure you will pass,” Victor replied. “We have a month to teach you everything about running the company. As of this moment, consider yourself enrolled in business Boot Camp.”

“William and I will take turns drilling the knowledge you need into your head. John will make the test unnecessarily hard, but with your natural ability, you will do great.”

“When do we start?” I wanted to ace the tests and make the board leave me alone. I resented their interference in the company my family built.

Victor handed me a pile of folders and took out his cell phone. “Right now. Start going over these while I let William know what’s going on.”

I picked up the folders and began reading the information inside them. It would be a long, hard month of learning from William and Victor, but I was looking forward to it.

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