Page 40 of The Founder's Power

I exhale a deep, shaking breath.

“You want to dismantle those walls? You don’t need to bulldoze them all at once. Just open the door. Start there.”

“I don’t know how,” I admit.

“That’s not going to be easy, no, but…”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Might mean talking to someone.”

“I am right now.”

“I mean a licensed someone. A therapist.”

“I don’t?—”

He lifts his eyebrows.

“If I can’t manage… maybe I will,” I concede. “One last try, though.”

“Being afraid of losing yourself isn’t a small thing, Damian.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.”

* * *

Early the next morning,the conference room smells like tension.

Sweat, coffee, and stale cologne from investors who’ve been here too long trying to decide whether to believe in me or bail before the ship tips. The Veridian Holdings news has rattled them more than they’ll admit.

They don’t care how long I’ve been running this empire. They care about next quarter, and right now, next quarter looks like blood in the water.

Clara sits across from me, jaw tight. My lead counsel’s to my left, flipping through printouts as if the numbers will magically rearrange into good news.

And then Naomi walks in. She’s late. Her hair is pulled back in a sleek twist, and her heels tap out a rhythm of unapologetic confidence. She doesn’t apologize for her timing.

She sets her folder on the table and opens her laptop in one motion. “Gentlemen. Ladies. You’ve seen the risk. Now let me show you the strategy.”

I lean back slightly, folding my arms. I won’t dismiss her yet, but I might, depending on how she handles the moment.

Naomi clicks the remote, and a clean slide appears.Repositioning Kincaid Global Through Strategic Licensing.

She looks up. “Veridian Holdings thinks we’ll try to hunker down and pull in the sails, but that’s not how you win a siege. You widen the battlefield.”

The room shifts. Interest perks.

She moves through the pitch with surgical precision. “Kincaid has exclusive distribution rights to media analytics software in the North American market, but we haven’t touched South Asia. Not because we can’t but because we haven’t needed to. Until now.” She gestures to the screen. “I’ve already opened a conversation with WairuTech in Singapore. If we license the analytics tool to them, we undercut Veridian Holdings’ position in emerging marketsandcreate a perception of expansion, not contraction.”

One of the investors frowns. “Won’t that dilute Kincaid’s control?”

Naomi smiles. “Not if you structure the contract right. Which I’ve already outlined.” She turns the page in her folder and slides copies across the table. “Revenue projections, IP protection clauses, and a cross-licensing clause that keeps everything under Damian’s name.”

That gets them. I see it in their eyes. Not just interest. Relief.

I look at Naomi. She meets my gaze with zero self-congratulation. Just quiet certainty. She knows she delivered.

After the meeting, the investors file out, several of them nodding at me like I’ve suddenly remembered how to be a king.

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