AFTER HER

CHAPTER ONE

One summer morning, a warm breeze drifted gently through the streets of Santa Monica. The rusting chains clacking from the swings resounded as kids pumped their legs up into the sky. On the other side of the block, the screen doors muffled breakfast dishes. While the vacuum cleaner's low drone, the neighborhood starts.

Inside the living room, sharp static sliced the silence. The rapid fire of clicks hammered the remote control. The television screen strobed against the walls. Infomercials lie to one another—car commercials shriek to cartoon theme songs.

Grace, meanwhile, sat in front of her computer, while the coffee next to her filled the room with a rich aroma. Her fingers hammered the keys, eyes locked in front of the screen. Her project neared the finish line.

“Can you go back?” she asked suddenly.

Grace blinked; the rapid change of channels burned her eyes.

Her partner, John, had already changed the channel.

Voices hummed from the television.

“Breaking news. The former OMNImedia CEO passed away last night at Memorial Hospital. Age fifty-six.”

“Was she your boss?” John asked quietly.

Grace nodded in silence.

Her eyes were filled with disbelief. She leaned herself close to the wall, as reality snapped her back to where she stood. She then grabbed the phone and dialed the number. The tone hummed and echoed on the line.

A few minutes later, she called the office to confirm the news herself.

“Hello?”

“Yes… I saw it on the news.”

Her voice trembled. Tears slowly filled her eyes as memories of their years together surfaced all at once.

Sarah Ellis.

She had been Grace’s mentor—she worked back-to-back along with the best in the company. Sarah was brilliant in all aspects. As people really looked up to her for being patient and kind.

John walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Grace could no longer hold back her tears.

All she could do was cry and let the silence take over.

Meanwhile, the creative teams inside the office of OMNImedia filled the air with static sounds. Footsteps muffled in the hallways. Voices bleed in each of the conference rooms. Clients debate. Keyboards hammered in the quiet corner. With reports and deadlines looming into completion.

Across the reception area, the receptionist grabbed the ringing phone.

“Hi, this is OMNI. How may I help you?” the receptionist sighed.

“Can you transfer me directly to the head of OMNImedia?”

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll transfer you to their assistant.”

After several transfers, the call finally reached the CEO’s office.

“Hello, this is Neil Burnham’s office,” the secretary answered politely.

“Can you transfer me to Neil, please? This is Mary, Sarah’s daughter.”

The secretary knew Sarah Ellis. No need for a long queue. She hit the transfer button—Neil snatched the phone in one ring.

“Hello?”

“This is Mary… Sarah’s daughter.”

He turned around with his chair, making himself comfortable.

“Oh, Mary,” Neil said gently. “How are you? How’s your mother?”

“That’s why I called.” Mary sighed. “It’s about mom.”

A brief silence lingered on the other line.

“I came bearing news,” she replied softly. “I wanted to tell you before you heard it somewhere else.”

Neil turned back, facing his table and stayed quiet. He patiently waited for Mary to continue talking.

“Mom died last night,” Mary finally said, her voice breaking slightly. She let out a shaky breath before continuing.

“Can you help us deal with the media? Maybe help minimize the reporters around the hospital and the house?”

Neil lowered his head, stunned by the news.

“Oh… Mary, I’m so sorry.” His voice softened. “Yes, of course. We’ll do everything we can to help.”

“Thank you” Mary whispered.

He then dropped the call and called his assistant.

“Alex? Can you set up an emergency meeting with the head immediately?”

Alex came forward and nodded quickly. Both of hands are already clicking the touchscreen of her phone. Then the message sent a tone echoed throughout the text, including Neil’s number.

Neil stood up and walked towards the window pane. tHe leaned back to the table next to him, and looked back to his office. His thoughts then flew across the corners where he and Sarah used to work together.

He still could remember it.

Neil then stared at the horizon. His eyes gazed towards the skyscraper—the Grier Building. His mind drifted. Paper cut trails. Long folder buried. And the day he met Sarah Ellis.

It was the year 2008; everything happened inside the Grier building. ModelClick and AlphaCorp occupied opposite ends of the floor. Both companies remained locked in their own conference rooms. The lawyers paced the halls—they analyzed the final contract.

DDocuments placed on the long tables. Buyout metrics were highlighted, debated, and revised. And the negotiations continued.

Minutes turned into hours. Both sides waited for someone to finally agree to the final amount.

Yet, tension spread throughout the room. The executives from ModelClick exchanged uneasy glances—AlphaCorp might back out of the deal.

“Our company is in good condition,” Neil assured his colleagues in a low voice. “AlphaCorp. will go with us. They know our value.”

MInside the other conference room, overlapping conversations filled every corner. Some executives still doubted ModelClick’s long-term potential. Others seemed uninterested in the debate altogether.

Then a call rang from one of the representatives.

It was Sarah Ellis calling from the other line.

“Continue with the merger.” She said in a calm yet firm, as she guided the discussion back into focus.

Negotiators paced the corridors, a blur of proposals and concessions. They worked to pin down the hesitant, to twist the hesitant into the complaint. But for the rest, the boardroom had become a vacuum. The endless cycle of clauses and clarifications had worn them thin. Eyes glazed. Willpower flickered and died.

The deal was consuming the room.

But Sarah continued. She pushed every disagreement with determination.

By dusk, both conference glass doors had swung. The final amount had been met—the deal was sealed. AlphaCorp successfully acquired ModelClick.

Sudden relief burst Neil open. Yet, everything is short-lived. A summons came from AlphaCorp: discuss the future of ModelClick.

He arrived early.

The car parked in the designated lane. Neil straightened his coat. He walked straight to the lobby and presented his identification. The receptionist guided him through and toward one of the conference rooms.

“Someone will be with you shortly, sir,” she said before leaving him alone inside the room.

A few minutes later, she returned.

“Would you like some coffee, sir?”

Neil nodded once. “Black.”

He took a seat near the window overlooking the city below. Minutes passed quietly before the door finally opened again.

The receptionist entered first, followed by one of the executives leading the acquisition deal.

Sarah.

“Good to see you, Neil Burnham,” she said warmly as she approached him.

Neil immediately stood up. “Yes… I’m very honored to meet you.”

Sarah placed a folder on the table before taking her seat across from him.

“Let’s discuss our plans moving forward,” she explained calmly. “We want you to work with us in making ModelClick even more productive under AlphaCorp.”

Neil listened carefully as she outlined their goals, partnerships, and future expansion plans. Every word only strengthened his confidence in the merger.

By the end of the meeting, Neil had made his decision. And signed the contract.

“Pleasure working with you soon,” Sarah had said with a faint smile.

Then suddenly, someone called his name. Neil blinked and snapped back to reality.

“Sir?”

“Yes?” Neil answered quietly.

“They’re all ready, sir,” Alex said with a careful breath.

“Good.”

Neil straightened himself before walking swiftly toward Conference Room A with his assistant beside him. When they reached the doors, Alex quickly opened them for him.

Inside, the room was already filled with executives seated around the long conference table. Creative directors, managers, supervisors, and department heads from across YouTube waited in uneasy silence.

Neil took the seat at the center of the table.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

The silence stretched heavily across the room until Neil finally gathered himself and began.

“Our predecessor… one of our greatest mentors… and one of the founders of AlphaCorp, Sarah Ellis, unexpectedly died last night.”

The room fell completely still.

Some lowered their heads. Others exchanged shocked glances, unable to fully process the news. The silence lingered far longer than anyone expected.

Neil inhaled deeply before continuing.

“I need a team to help the Ellis family minimize the chaos caused by the press outside the hospital and their home.”

Several employees immediately nodded, already taking notes.

“We also need something to commemorate her years with us,” he added quietly. “A tribute, perhaps.”

No one interrupted him.

“How do we handle this?” Neil finally asked the room. “How do we make sure her funeral happens peacefully… and with the dignity she deserves?”

Afterwards, emails popping inside out from the world wide web. Telephone calls rang across the offices of OMNI. voices overlapped with explanations— Phones in the HR suite didn’t stop ringing. The department head sat hunched over a desk. Her voice grew raspy as she repeated the same rehearsed statement to journalist after journalist, trying to hold the tide of cameras back.

AlphaCorp responded, and volunteered to help as well. The searchup logo was replaced with her first doodles— as tribute to her passing.

“Alex, clear all of my schedules for the week,” Neil told his assistant.

“We need to speak with her family about how we’re going to release the news properly.”

“It’s already done, sir,” Alex answered swiftly. “The car is also ready to take you to the hospital.”

“Good,” Neil breathed quietly.

Without another word, Neil headed straight toward the elevator, setting aside every concern about the company. He trusted the team enough to keep things running while he was gone for a few days.

As soon as he reached the lobby, he stepped into the waiting car and sat down in the passenger seat.

“To the hospital, Dan,” he muttered.

His driver simply nodded, already knowing where to go.

The car slowly pulled away from the towering offices of OMNI, disappearing into the heavy traffic of the city. Neil stared silently through the window as memories began flooding back into his mind.

He had always seen Sarah as a visionary.

Even during the difficult negotiations surrounding AlphaCorp., she never allowed uncertainty to weaken her resolve.

The memories returned vividly.

Late nights inside the offices of AlphaCorp. Endless discussions. Hallways are still glowing long after midnight.

Sarah sat alone in her office, the city lights of Los Angeles stretching endlessly beyond the glass windows. A document rested in her hand while her thoughts drifted somewhere deeper.

Neil appeared by the doorway, a concern written across his face.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly.

He walked farther into the office before taking a seat across from her.

“I know there will be problems acquiring your company, Neil,” Sarah admitted with a tired sigh. “But I’m not giving up.”

Neil watched her quietly, still convinced that ModelClick was in one of the worst positions it had ever faced.

“The company has potential, Neil,” she continued. “It just needs something that allows us to take full control.”

“We can’t just give in to what Maxmedia wants from us, Sarah,” Neil said worriedly.

“Yes… I know.”

Sarah reached for another document resting on the table beside her.

“We still have to deal with this, Neil. This is a serious threat to the company.”

She stood and slowly walked toward the window overlooking the city.

“We need to take another step. Reboot. Realign the people behind ModelClick,” she explained. “Maybe even lay people off if we have to.”

Neil stayed silent.

Deep down, he knew something inside the company was already breaking apart. And somehow, Susan always seemed to know exactly where the problem was—and how to solve it.

The memory suddenly faded.

“We’re here, sir,” the driver said.

Neil looked up through the car window and released a deep breath before stepping out. He headed straight toward the hospital entrance and made his way to the third floor where the intensive care unit was located.

The atmosphere inside the hospital felt unbearably quiet.

As he approached the elevators, he noticed Mary walking toward the billing center, holding several documents tightly against her chest as she processed the final payment for her mother.

“Mary!” Neil called out.

She turned around immediately.

The moment she saw him, the strength in her expression collapsed. Tears streamed down her face as she stood there helplessly, unable to hold herself together any longer.

Neil quickly walked toward her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Dear… dear, I know,” he whispered gently, trying to calm her while she cried against his shoulder.