Chapter Three
Lauren
Not many peoplecan say that they’re living their dream. I started on this path when I was only knee-high, but I never let anything stop me from achieving everything my father had planned forme.
When I was a little girl, my father and I would lie in the field behind our house for hours and stare at the night sky. He’d hold me close and point to the stars, twinkling like diamonds against black silk aboveus.
He dreamed of touching the heavens and visiting the vast reaches of space. He spent years studying to be an astronaut and almost achieved his goal. Tragically, within weeks of finishing training, a horrific car accident killed my mother and left him in a back brace for ayear.
His career ended before it even began, and he changed his focus to me. He didn’t force me onto the path I’m on now. No, my father taught me that I could achieve anything and believed I would touch the very reaches he’d always dreamed he would but neverdid.
“Lauren, your future is there,” he’d say with wonder andexcitement.
I’d look up, staring at the stars twinkling above us, and wonder what else was out there. Childhood curiosity and the love of my father drove me toward my destiny…toward today. Not into space, but to the inside of the boardroom, where I could make the dream a reality forothers.
Although I didn’t have the guts to become an astronaut, I knew from a young age that I wanted to make it possible for others to go where no man had gone before. My father believed in me and said I could do anything if I worked hard enough. I studied science and business at Boston University, graduating with a bachelor of science in aerospace and an MBA by the age of twenty-four.
It didn’t matter that I was a woman in a male-dominated industry, the only limitations I had were those that others had placed on me, underestimating my drive and determination to reach thetop.
Five years ago, I became the CEO of Interstellar Corp—one of the world’s cutting-edge producers of aerospace technology. They are the second-largest company in the field, behind only Cozza International, the oldest company in the field. I never thought that within ten years of stepping through the door, I’d be head of the multibillion-dollarcorporation.
I’d achieved a small piece of my father’s dream before the age of thirty, but my father never got to see me take the helm. Three years before I was appointed the head of Interstellar, he died of astroke.
Although he wasn’t standing by my side, I thought about him watching me from above, finally going to all the places he’d always dreamed ofseeing.
Ithappened.
I’d madeit.
Lauren Bradley, CEO of InterstellarCorporation.
Being a businesswoman and running a company came with some major hurdles that I had neverexpected.
But like everything else in my life, I didn’t let it stopme.
Icouldn’t.
I always knew the business world could be cutthroat, but I never expected the betrayal to come from someone close tome.
I braced myself for it. There’s always competition—both from inside the company and from other businesses in the samefield.
Years before I became CEO, I made amistake.
One that can be especially devastating to the career of a femaleexecutive.
Not a what, but awho.
TrentMoore.
We’d worked long hours together on the development of a new engine technology, and the lust became undeniable. It was my first big assignment for the company and the launching pad that catapulted me to the top. Between Trent’s rugged good looks and MENSA-level genius, I couldn’t help but be attracted tohim.
Heflirted.
Iblushed.
Hesmiled.
Iswooned.
