One afternoon, while Nia sat beside her hospital bed, Lorraine held up a draft proposal.
"Look at the language on page twelve."
Nia read it.
The provision described a transfer of exclusive licensing rights to a newly formed holding company.
She frowned.
"Wouldn't that require consent from the stewardship representatives?"
Lorraine nodded.
"Exactly."
Nia looked toward her.
"Did they ask you?"
Her mother gave a tired smile.
"No."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Lorraine folded the document.
"They want the technology, sweetheart. But they don't want the obligations that came with it."
Nia studied her mother's face.
She looked frail.
Her hands had become thinner.
Yet the familiar determination remained.
Nia reached for the paper.
"Then tell them no."
Lorraine smiled sadly.
"I intend to."
Six months later, Lorraine died.
She was fifty-six.
Her death left Nia devastated.
The apartment felt empty without the sound of her mother making coffee before sunrise or arguing with herself over engineering calculations.
The dining table was covered with notebooks Lorraine would never finish.
Her coat remained hanging beside the door.
And every time Nia heard someone laughing in the hallway, she briefly imagined her mother was coming home.
The funeral drew engineers, former colleagues, neighborhood friends, and people from the early years of Jade Passage.
Chairman Tan attended.
He stood quietly beside Nia after the ceremony.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then he took her hand.
"Your mother changed my life."
Nia's eyes filled.
He continued.
"She never let me forget that a company exists because people build something worth using."
Nia nodded.
Wei looked toward the photograph beside the flowers.
Then whispered, "I wish I had done more to protect what mattered to her."
Nia didn't understand the remark at the time.
Later, she would.
Lorraine's estate was smaller than people expected.
She had owned valuable equity interests, but much of their value was illiquid, restricted, or tied to corporate structures. The employee trust wasn't hers to spend. The founders' stewardship rights provided influence over particular decisions, not cash that could pay ordinary bills.
Her personal savings had been reduced by medical expenses, legal fees, and years of supporting research projects she believed were important.
Nia inherited an apartment with a mortgage, several accounts, her mother's personal belongings, and a complicated role under the governance documents.
She also inherited unanswered questions.
During the estate review, a lawyer explained that Lorraine had nominated Nia as her successor representative for certain stewardship rights.
The nomination required verification and formal recognition under the relevant trust and corporate procedures.
Once confirmed, Nia would be responsible for exercising the rights according to their governing purpose.