Divorced with my newborn,l rose to power

Chapter 5

Six months passed like a storm that never fully ended.

For me, time did not feel like healing.

It felt like survival.

Every morning I woke up to my baby, Kris, breathing softly beside me. He was growing fast now—his small fingers gripping mine like I was his whole world.

And maybe I was.

Carol had helped me more than I could ever repay.

She brought a nanny to stay with Kris during the day, and she even arranged for food and basic needs whenever I had nothing left.

But she didn’t stop there.

She kept pushing me.

“Victoria,” she would say, “you can’t stay like this forever. You need a job. You need your life back.”

And I wanted that.

More than anything.

So when she finally told me she had arranged an interview at her company, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Hope.

Not loud.

Not strong.

But small… fragile… real.

---

The morning of the interview, I stood in front of the mirror for a long time.

I barely recognized myself.

No mansion.

No luxury clothes.

No “CEO’s wife” title.

Just me.

A woman who had lost everything… and still refused to disappear.

I adjusted my simple clothes, picked up my small bag, and kissed Kris gently on his forehead.

“I will come back stronger,” I whispered. “For you.”

Then I left.

---

The company building was tall.

Shiny.

Familiar in a painful way.

As I stepped inside, memories hit me instantly.

The way I used to walk here.

The way people used to greet me.

“Mrs. CEO…”

“Good morning, ma’am…”

Now no one looked at me twice.

I was nobody.

Just another applicant.

I lowered my head and walked forward quietly.

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped inside.

And that’s when I noticed him.

A man standing in the corner.

Quiet.

Shaking slightly.

Then suddenly… he broke.

Soft crying at first.

Then louder.

His shoulders shook as he tried to hold it in.

I hesitated.

Then slowly, I reached into my bag and pulled out a small handkerchief.

I gently held it out.

“I don’t know your pain,” I said softly. “But I’m sorry.”

He looked up slightly.

Our eyes didn’t fully meet.

He took the handkerchief without speaking.

Wiped his face quickly.

Then stepped out when the elevator opened.

I didn’t see his face clearly.

And I didn’t think much of it.

I was too focused on surviving my own moment.

---

Carol was waiting outside the interview room.

“There you are,” she said quickly. “I was worried you’d be late.”

“I made it,” I said softly.

She nodded firmly.

“Good. Listen to me,” she said. “They are strict today. But you are not here by accident. You belong here too.”

I looked at her.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

She gave me a small encouraging smile.

Then the door opened.

---

Inside, the interview room was cold.

Sharp.

Powerful.

A long table.

Several interviewers.

And papers stacked neatly in front of them.

One of the women looked at me and frowned immediately.

“Name?” she asked flatly.

“Victoria Texas,” I said.

A man at the table smirked slightly.

He didn’t even bother hiding it.

He looked me up and down.

“You?” the woman said again. “Do you have a marketing certificate or higher-level qualification in business or sales strategy?”

I paused.

My heart tightened slightly.

“No,” I said honestly.

Silence.

The woman sighed loudly.

“Then don’t waste our time,” she said. “This is not a place for beginners.”

My fingers tightened slightly at my side.

I almost turned around.

Almost.

But something inside me stopped.

A memory.

Elvis’ voice.

You are nothing without me.

Brianna’s smile.

You lose everything.

My chest tightened.

No.

Not again.

I stepped forward instead and sat down.

The interviewers looked surprised.

The man raised his eyebrows.

“You didn’t hear her?” he asked coldly.

“I heard her,” I said calmly.

“Then leave,” the woman repeated.

I shook my head slightly.

“No.”

That single word changed the room.

Silence fell.

The man leaned forward slightly.

“And why not?” he asked.

I looked at them one by one.

Then I spoke.

Not loudly.

But clearly.

“I may not have the highest certificate,” I said, “but I understand something most people here don’t.”

A small laugh came from one of them.

“Oh really?” the woman said. “And what is that?”

I took a breath.

“Your sales are failing,” I said.

Silence.

The room shifted instantly.

The man’s expression changed slightly.

I continued.

“Not just failing,” I added. “They are dropping month after month. Your marketing campaigns are repeating the same mistakes—targeting the same audience with no new strategy. You are losing younger buyers because your branding is outdated.”

Now the room went completely still.

I didn’t stop.

“And your online platform,” I said, “has been unstable for weeks. There is either a system error or a possible external interference. But no one has properly investigated it.”

The woman frowned.

“That’s enough,” she said sharply. “How do you know that?”

I looked at her directly.

“Because I studied people more than papers,” I said. “And I’ve lived around power long enough to understand when something is collapsing quietly.”

The man at the table leaned back slowly.

No smirk now.

Just interest.

I continued.

“If you keep ignoring it,” I said, “you will lose more clients within the next two months. And when that happens, no certificate will save you.”

Silence.

Heavy silence.

The woman looked at the man beside her.

He didn’t speak.

He was thinking.

I could see it.

Then suddenly—

The man leaned forward.

“What would you do?” he asked.

My heart beat faster.

But I didn’t hesitate.

“I would rebuild your digital strategy,” I said. “Simplify your brand message. Fix your customer targeting. And most importantly—find the source of your system failure before it spreads further.”

The room stayed silent for a few seconds.

Then the man slowly stood up.

He looked at the others.

“I think we’ve heard enough,” he said.

My heart sank slightly.

Was I rejected?

But then—

He turned back to me.

“Victoria Texas,” he said slowly. “You are not leaving this room without a job.”

My eyes widened.

“What?”

The woman beside him looked shocked.

“Sir—she doesn’t even have the required qualification—”

He raised his hand.

“I don’t care,” he said calmly. “We need results. Not papers.”

Then he looked at me again.

“You start tomorrow.”

My breath stopped.

I couldn’t believe it.

I had come here expecting rejection.

But instead…

I was chosen.

---

As I walked out of the room, my legs felt weak.

Carol was waiting outside.

She looked at my face immediately.

“What happened?” she asked quickly.

I looked at her.

Then I smiled for the first time in months.

“I got the job,” I said softly.

Carol’s eyes widened.

Then she screamed in excitement and hugged me tightly.

“I knew it!” she said. “I knew you could do it!”

But inside me…

Something else was growing.

Not happiness.

Not peace.

But power.

Because I didn’t know it yet…

But the man in the elevator.

The crying man I had helped.

Was not just an ordinary person.

And my life…

Was about to change again.