Melina Solberg is twenty-eight when she learns she has three months to live. Her fiancé Adrian never shows up at the hospital. When she returns home, she finds him in the arms of her stepsister Lisa. She runs out in despair and is struck by a vehicle. In her dying moments, her life flashes before her: her mother Elise died saving her from a fire; her father Henrik blamed her and grew distant; her stepmother Vivian and stepsister Lisa tormented her for years, keeping her from the company and the
I am back for sweet revenge - The shareholders' meeting, the day of truth.
The large conference room on the twenty-second floor of Wilson Tower, the executive floor, was charged with heat like the eve of a festival. In the high-ceilinged room, a long oval table was placed, and around it sat rows of men in suits and women in modest attire. Outside the windows, the harbor of Fredhaun spread out. The low winter sun made the sea surface gleam white.
This was the venue for the Wilson Family Group's shareholders' meeting.
In the chairperson's seat sat Margrethe Hauge, the director of legal affairs. In her sixties, she had her silver-streaked hair tied back in a single knot and wore thin-rimmed glasses. Her expression was as calm as a judge's, revealing no emotion. She was Elise's former colleague, and the only person in this company who had sided with Melina.
"We will now begin the extraordinary shareholders' meeting."
Margrethe's voice echoed quietly through the room.
In the front row sat Vivian Vestman. Forty-eight years old. Her lustrous black hair was gathered in a chignon at the back of her head, and a large ruby ring sparkled on the ring finger of her right hand. She wore a perfect smile. Her lips curved elegantly, but her narrow brown eyes were cold and narrowed, like a beast appraising its prey.
Beside her was her daughter, Lisa Vestman. Twenty-one. Her honey-colored curls flowed over her shoulders, and her round blue eyes blinked rapidly. A white lace blouse and a pale pink skirt. Her attire was like a spring flower. She had her arm entwined with Adrian Falk's, who sat next to her.
Adrian was twenty-nine. His light brown hair was neatly groomed, and he had soft green eyes. With Lisa's arm still wrapped around his, he gazed out the window with an expression that seemed to be thinking about something, looking somewhere far away.
"Hey, Adrian. Everything gets decided today. I'm going to be vice president. Isn't that amazing?"
Lisa whispered in his ear with a sickly sweet voice.
"Ah... yeah, I suppose."
Adrian's reply was somewhat absentminded.
At the back of the room, at the very edge of the guest seating, Melina Solberg stood.
Twenty-three years old. Her platinum blonde hair, reaching down to her waist, was worn down today. Flowing down her back like a curtain of snow, it sparkled silver under the room's lighting. Her eyes, which shifted from diamond blue to hazel depending on the light, stared straight at a single point.
At Vivian.
Melina wore a navy dress. At her chest hung a silver locket, a keepsake from her mother Elise. She gently gripped it over her clothes.
(Mama. Today's the day.)
(I'll end it all.)
She said this quietly in her heart.
At her hands, a small laptop was open. It was a control terminal connected to the large screen in the room. Several files were lined up on the display.
The audit report her mother Elise had left behind.
Bank records proving Vivian's fraudulent accounting.
And the audio data of Lisa fabricating false evidence of embezzlement.
These were all evidence prepared by her legal advisor Emil Strand and Margrethe Hauge.
(In my previous life,)
(I couldn't even have stood here.)
Melina took a deep breath.
"Now then, let us move on to today's agenda."
Vivian stood up. She smiled gracefully at the shareholders.
"Thank you all for gathering here today despite your busy schedules. Today's agenda concerns executive appointments. I, Vivian Vestman, will continue to serve as CEO, and I would like to newly appoint my daughter Lisa as vice president."
A stir arose from the room.
"Lisa has achieved wonderful results in the marketing department. She will surely put her youth and talent to use for this company."
Lisa, still clinging to Adrian's arm, wore a triumphant smile. The corners of her lips were raised just slightly.
"Me, vice president. It suits me, doesn't it?"
Adrian said nothing.
The atmosphere of the room was becoming Vivian's and Lisa's. The shareholders' expressions were tinged with resignation, or perhaps sycophancy.
(If the vote proceeds like this, it's over.)
(But I won't let that happen.)
Melina placed her hand on the laptop screen.
"Now then, we will proceed to the vote on executive appointments—"
"Wait."
Melina's voice rang out clearly through the room.
Everyone's gaze turned to the back at once.
Melina stepped out from the guest seating into the meeting area. The sound of her heels echoed through the now-silent room—click, click.
Vivian's eyes widened for just an instant. But she immediately returned to her cold smile.
"Oh my, Melina. You're an outsider with no voting rights, aren't you? This is a place for shareholders."
"I grant her permission to speak."
Margrethe said it quietly, but clearly.
"As an emergency motion from the board of directors, I recognize Melina Solberg's right to speak. This is a legitimate procedure based on the shareholders' meeting regulations."
The smile vanished from Vivian's face.
"Margrethe, you... what are you thinking?"
Margrethe did not answer, and instead directed her gaze toward Melina.
Melina stood in the center of the room.
"Everyone. I am Melina Solberg. The daughter of Elise Wilson."
Her voice did not tremble.
"Today, there is something I want you all to know. It concerns the fraud that has been carried out in this company for many years."
Melina operated the laptop.
The first image appeared on the large screen.
It was a bank transaction record.
"This is the flow of dividend payments from the shares my mother Elise left behind. Dividends that should have gone to me were continuously transferred to a certain person's account."
The numbers on the screen were highlighted in red.
"The recipient's name is—Vivian Vestman."
The room erupted in commotion.
The shareholders all turned to look at Vivian at once.
Vivian's expression did not change in the slightest.
"That was legitimate management based on the guardianship system. I was merely managing the assets on your behalf."
"Then what about this?"
Melina opened the next file.
Her mother Elise's audit report appeared on the screen.
"This is an audit report my mother wrote before her death, documenting the board's misconduct. In it, she recorded Vivian's misappropriation of company funds, improper profit transfers to affiliated companies, and—"
Melina paused for a breath.
"Serious suspicions concerning the death of my mother, Elise Wilson."
The room fell completely silent.
The air grew tense.
"That's nonsense!"
Lisa screamed.
"That's obviously a fake you made up yourself! You're trying to frame Mama!"
Melina looked at Lisa.
"Whether it's fake or not is for everyone here to judge. And one more thing."
She played the audio file.
From the speakers flowed a sickly sweet voice, now laced with sharp poison.
'—Pin the crime of embezzlement on that woman. Bribe the contractor and have them rewrite the estimates. That way, that woman is finished.'
It was Lisa's voice.
'Mama said it. If something's in the way, just make it disappear.'
Lisa's voice echoed through the room.
Lisa's face went deathly pale.
"N-no... that's not... that's not me...!"
She released Adrian's arm and looked at her mother.
"Mama! Help me! This is wrong!"
Vivian looked down at Lisa with cold eyes.
"Lisa. What have you done."
That voice was not one of protecting her daughter, but of cutting her off.
"Huh... Mama?"
Tears welled up in Lisa's eyes.
"I had no idea. That you had been doing such things."
Vivian turned back to the shareholders.
"Everyone, I apologize. That my daughter would commit such misconduct. It was my failure to supervise. Lisa's appointment as vice president is, of course, withdrawn."
Lisa collapsed to the floor.
"Mama... I did it for you..."
Melina looked at Vivian.
(Just as I thought. That's how she plays it.)
(She even cuts off her own daughter.)
(The old me would have faltered here.)
"Vivian. It's not over yet."
Melina opened the final file.
A single contract appeared on the screen.
"This is a copy of a fire insurance contract from twenty-three years ago. The policyholder was my mother, Elise Wilson. And the beneficiary was changed—two days before the fire."
The text on the screen was displayed in large letters.
Beneficiary: Vivian Vestman.
Date of change: Two days before the fire.
The air in the room froze.
"Two days before my mother died, the beneficiary of the insurance payout was changed to you. What does that mean?"
The expression vanished from Vivian's face.
For the first time, her perfect mask fell away.
"...Ah, I see."
Vivian's voice dropped a register.
"That's right. I did it."
The room erupted.
"This company is mine. You should have disappeared along with your mother."
Vivian wore a cruel smile.
"That woman got in my way. So I set the fire. Everything went according to my plan—if only you, if only you weren't here!"
Her words echoed through the room.
Everyone held their breath.
In the front row, Henrik Solberg slowly rose to his feet.
He was staring at Vivian.
"No... you... Elise..."
Henrik's voice trembled.
"Elise didn't die in an accident...? You killed her...?"
The strength drained from his legs.
Henrik collapsed on the spot.
"Elise... my... Elise..."
Adrian had also risen to his feet.
His face was pale, and his lips trembled.
"Melina... I... I couldn't defy my mother..."
Adrian looked at Melina.
"The truth is, I... you... I..."
Melina did not turn toward Adrian.
"I have no intention of forgiving you anymore."
She said just that, and nothing more.
Adrian broke down crying on the spot.
Several police officers entered from the entrance of the room.
"Vivian Vestman. You are under arrest on suspicion of murder and embezzlement."
The officers approached Vivian.
"Don't touch me."
Vivian glared at the officers.
"I built this company! It's mine! I won't hand it over to anyone!"
She struggled and screamed.
But the officers grabbed her arms and led her out of the room.
"Let go! Let go of me! This company is mine! Mine—!"
Vivian's screams faded into the distance.
A heavy silence remained in the room.
Lisa sat on the floor, trembling.
"I... I didn't know anything... Mama, she did everything..."
That was when it happened.
From the back of the audience seating, one female employee stood up.
"I was harassed by Lisa Vestman for years."
Another female employee stood up.
"Me too. She stole my project proposals and made it look like I had failed."
"Me too. I was threatened that if I went against Lisa, I'd be driven out of my department."
One after another, female employees stood up.
They were the people who had been oppressed by Lisa for years.
"No! You're all trying to frame me!"
Lisa screamed and cried.
But no one tried to help her.
Melina turned back to the shareholders.
"Everyone. As the daughter of Elise Wilson, I am the rightful successor of this company."
Her voice was quiet and powerful.
"I will restore this company, which my mother loved, to its proper form. Please, give me that opportunity."
The room fell silent.
Then, one shareholder began to clap.
Clap, clap, clap.
The applause quickly spread throughout the room.
Soon, thunderous applause enveloped Melina.
"Now then, we will proceed to the vote."
Margrethe said quietly.
"Those in favor of appointing Melina Solberg as the new CEO of Wilson Family Group, please indicate with applause."
Everyone in the room stood up.
It was unanimous.
Melina bowed deeply, deeply.
"...Thank you."
Tears welled in her eyes.
But they were not tears of sadness.
(Mama. I did it.)
(I made it here, by my own strength.)
She gripped the locket at her neck.
---
Night.
The rooftop of Wilson Tower.
The wind blew cold.
The city lights spread out below.
On the surface of the fjord, moonlight swayed in a long, thin line.
Melina opened the rooftop door and stepped outside.
Nikolai Berg stood there.
Twenty-six years old. His near-black dark brown hair was tousled by the wind. His deep greenish-gray eyes were as calm as the bottom of the se
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