Four Times Three. TAND,2035.

The year is 2035. In a world where power is measured in money, influence is measured by the doors one can open, and success is defined by how widely a name is recognized, some corporations manage to change the way the world works. Some dominate markets, others set their own rules, and a few become part of millions of people’s everyday lives. TAND had managed to do all three. One of the newest and most influential corporations in the world, it had established itself in three major industries: food service, information technology, and film. Its restaurants could be found across the globe, its apps had become part of everyday life, and its films and television series reached audiences worldwide. The company seemed to have everything it needed to keep growing and expanding its influence. But behind its success stood more than money, ambition, and carefully planned strategies. There were four women. Four founders. Four CEOs. Four very different personalities who had somehow managed to build something far greater than a successful business. Yes, you read that right. Women. “Well, that’s it. The matriarchy has arrived!” you might be thinking. And you know what? Perhaps the world had always been in women’s hands. It had simply taken everyone else a little longer to notice. So, allow me to introduce them. Dana. A woman for whom punctuality isn’t just a good habit. It’s practically a religion. She oversees the company’s food service operations worldwide and approaches her work with such uncompromising standards that even the most experienced professionals prefer to double-check everything before showing it to her. Dana knows practically everything there is to know about food. And if there’s something she doesn’t know, chances are she’s already studied it, cooked it, and found something to criticize about it. She used to work as a chef and pastry chef, which explains her obsession with quality. For Dana, a dish being delicious isn’t enough. It has to be prepared properly, served on time, and meet standards that she considers non-negotiable. Anything less risks becoming a minor professional disaster. When it comes to punctuality, however, things get even more interesting. Once, Dana fired an employee for being just five minutes late in giving the signal to launch a fireworks display. Five minutes. For most people, that’s barely enough time to finish a cup of coffee. For Dana, apparently, it’s more than enough reason to reconsider whether you deserve to keep your job. Of course, punctuality isn’t the only reason people are afraid of her. Her criticism can make even an experienced head chef question their entire career, especially when the discussion turns to the proper doneness of a steak. And yet, nobody can deny her talent. In Dana’s hands, even the simplest dish becomes something special. Rumor has it that she once owned a restaurant that earned a Michelin star. There’s little evidence to confirm the story, but given her background, it doesn’t sound particularly far-fetched. It’s also said that Dana prefers to eat only food she’s prepared herself or products made under her supervision. Honestly, that seems entirely believable. When you’re capable of finding flaws in even the most carefully prepared meal, trusting someone else’s kitchen must feel like an unnecessary risk. And the nicknames she’s accumulated over the years deserve a book of their own. Some were probably invented for the sake of a joke. Others might have been a way for people to cope with working under her. Either way, I wouldn’t recommend finding out which ones she finds offensive. Cary. Or Kerim, if you prefer her full name. If Dana is responsible for perfection, Cary is the one who makes things happen. She handles negotiations, major business deals, and the relationships that play a crucial role in the company’s success. Politicians, investors, influential entrepreneurs, and even the most stubborn competitors — Cary seems capable of finding a way to get through to almost anyone. Her greatest weapon isn’t pressure or grand promises. It’s her ability to listen, notice the smallest details, and understand what another person wants. She can read the mood of a room, pick up on the slightest change in someone’s tone, and find exactly the right words even when everyone else has already given up on a deal. It’s hardly surprising that so many of the company’s biggest successes are tied to her work. But her business skills aren’t the only reason people talk about her. Rumors surrounding Cary have taken on a life of their own. Some people even claim that her abilities border on witchcraft. Apparently, after a meeting with another influential figure in the business world, flowers and gifts sometimes find their way to her office. Coincidence? Of course. It could be. But why does it keep happening? Personally, though, something else caught my attention. I’ve noticed more than once in photographs and video footage that Cary seems to use a system of gestures of her own. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a subtle movement of her fingers. Other times, it’s a brief signal that everyone around her appears to ignore. Yet there are moments when it feels as though an entire conversation is taking place through those movements, one that nobody else is meant to understand. Is it a habit? A private way of communicating? Or something else entirely? No one seems to know. At least, the meaning of her gestures has never been made public. And if Cary really has created a language of her own, she’s done an excellent job of keeping it secret. Emilia. Now, prepare yourselves. If the first two women represent discipline and the art of persuasion, things become considerably less predictable here. Emilia is a real firecracker. She’s charismatic, talented, charming, and possesses a tongue so sharp that even the most confident people sometimes find themselves thinking twice before speaking around her. She can be sweet, friendly, and effortlessly charming. That is, until someone decides that basic manners are optional. That’s when her famous bluntness comes out, along with everything she’s been thinking about the person standing in front of her. Once, Emilia told an exceptionally rude but highly influential client exactly what she thought of him. His position and status apparently impressed her no more than those of a random stranger on the street. It’s hardly surprising that she’s made a few enemies along the way. Given her temperament, I doubt they’ve always had particularly nice things to say about her. Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss Emilia as nothing more than a source of scandals. She oversees the company’s film division, and her imagination lies behind some of its most successful films and television series. She has a remarkable ability to see potential in ideas others might dismiss as absurd, then turn them into projects that capture the world’s attention. Her unconventional thinking has become one of the company’s greatest strengths. And that’s not all. Emilia speaks several languages fluently, regularly leaving the people around her astonished. Sometimes it seems she can switch from one language to another before someone else has even finished a sentence. It only adds to her reputation as someone who refuses to fit neatly into anyone’s expectations. With Emilia, you never know what to expect. A brilliant idea? An unexpected joke? Another international hit? Or a scandal that will be all over the news by the end of the day? With her, all of those possibilities are equally likely. Nona. And finally, the woman about whom perhaps the least is known. People talk about Dana because of her strictness, Cary because of her influence, and Emilia because of her unpredictable nature. Nona, on the other hand, prefers to stay out of the spotlight altogether. Her name rarely appears in the news for anything unrelated to her work, and journalists who try to uncover details about her personal life usually come away empty-handed. You could probably learn more about Nona from the programming languages she uses than from any interview. She has an exceptional mathematical mind, extraordinary programming skills, and a remarkable talent for chess. Among chess enthusiasts, she’s known as “Checkmate.” I doubt an explanation is necessary. At TAND, Nona heads the IT division and oversees its applications and technological infrastructure. She is responsible for essential digital operations that most people never think about, even though the company could hardly function without them. And yet, her professional achievements are almost the only things about her that anyone knows for certain. When it comes to her personal life, Nona remains practically unreachable. She avoids interviews, dislikes unnecessary attention, and sees no reason to share private details simply because someone wants to know them. Her composure can make her seem almost robotic, as though she’s already calculated every possible outcome before anyone else has even considered the question. But even the calmest people have their limits. Every now and then, rumors surface about Nona reacting aggressively to photojournalists. Some people connect these stories to speculation that she sees psychologists and practices meditation, searching for an explanation for her reserved nature. Of course, none of this has been reliably confirmed. It could all be speculation from people who simply can’t accept that someone might prefer to keep their life private. Whatever the truth may be, one saying has become almost synonymous with Nona in the eyes of the public: still waters run deep. And that, perhaps, would be enough to conclude our introduction to the four founders. If it weren’t for one little detail. The four of them. Four women with entirely different personalities, interests, and ways of seeing the world somehow understood one another as though they’d known each other their entire lives. Their connection seemed almost impossible to explain. Sometimes, a single glance or the slightest gesture was enough for the others to understand exactly what was going on. They were reminiscent of the Frost sisters: cold, calculating, and almost impossible for outsiders to read. Their connections extended far beyond the world of business, and their influence was so considerable that even major media outlets rarely dared to investigate their pasts in any real depth. Almost nothing was known about their childhoods, personal lives, or the events that had taken place before the company was founded. There were only fragments of stories, conflicting rumors, and endless speculation. How had four women so different from one another first met? What had brought them together? And how had they managed to build an empire known around the world while keeping almost their entire past hidden? There were countless questions. Almost no answers. But who said things had to stay that way? I wanted to know more about them. I wanted to understand what connected these women beyond their professional lives, what their pasts had been like, and what truly lay behind their extraordinary success. I couldn’t shake the feeling that beneath their impeccable reputations, recognizable names, and endless rumors, there was a story no one had ever managed to tell in full. Perhaps, one day, I’d find the answers. But for now, I still hadn’t managed to learn anything more about them.