She couldn't use the position simply to enrich herself.
Nor could she transfer the protected assets wherever she wished.
She had a duty to evaluate relevant transactions properly.
The work frightened her.
She was twenty-seven.
She had never served on a major corporate board.
And the company involved was now valued in the billions.
But Lorraine had left detailed instructions.
Not instructions about whom to punish or which investor to oppose.
Instructions about which questions to ask.
Who would receive the technology?
Would customers continue to benefit?
What would happen to employee protections?
Which obligations survived the transaction?
And what documents established the answers?
Nia recognized her mother's way of thinking immediately.
She agreed to serve.
Her decision cost her professionally.
At the time, Nia worked for a financial advisory firm that occasionally provided services to companies interested in transportation technology.
When her potential stewardship role became known, the firm identified a conflict with clients involved in the sector.
Nia couldn't continue working on certain assignments.
She was offered a different position, but its hours conflicted with the estate responsibilities and her ongoing efforts to resolve her mother's affairs.
After several difficult conversations, she left.
She tried freelance analytical work.
Some projects paid well.
Others were delayed.
Months passed without consistent income.
Then the apartment building imposed a substantial maintenance assessment, and the mortgage became increasingly difficult to manage.
Nia accepted a temporary job at the restaurant where she'd worked during college.
Its owner, a warm but demanding woman named Mei Zhou, remembered her.
Mei had known Lorraine for years.
When Nia called asking whether there were any available shifts, the older woman didn't question why a college-educated financial analyst wanted restaurant work.
She simply said, "Come on Monday. Wear comfortable shoes."
Nia began serving tables four evenings a week.
The job was demanding.
She worked long shifts.
Carried heavy trays.
And dealt with customers who sometimes confused wealth with permission to behave badly.
But the wages were dependable.
The work was honest.
And her colleagues treated her like a member of the team.
For a while, that was exactly what she needed.
Her association with the restaurant was not a disguise.
She wasn't pretending to be poor to test a billionaire.
She was a woman rebuilding her finances while fulfilling obligations left by a parent whose life's work had become entangled in a corporate acquisition.
Some evenings she reviewed legal documents until two in the morning, slept for a few hours, then arrived at the restaurant to polish glasses and prepare private dining rooms.