At Ashford Holdings,
Lawrence Ashford spent his weekend on edge. He confird there was a new consultant, Dave Scott, in the company, and Lorenzo Cappo, his trusted associate, didn’t have access to many of the financial records.
The CFO, Charlie Harmon, had apparently restricted access to everyone.
Why?
That wasn’t how things worked. Unless Charlie Harmon was hiding sothing, Lawrence could already sll sothing fishy in the finance departnt.
Monday morning, the second the departnt of building inspection office opened, he walked in, used his connections to find out Damien had earned a permit to build a massive building after completing all the required tests, and the papers were ready.
The vendors of raw materials? He didn’t bother about it.
After gathering the required evidence, he called for an ergency board eting. He wasn’t going to let this one slide.
...
In Damien’s office,
Damien was too optimistic and thought everything was cooling down, and he had everything under his control.
Until a call snapped his illusion. Edward Langston was displayed on the mobile screen.
[Damien, what’s happening at the company? Why is there an ergency eting every week?] The voice belonged to Edward Langston, one of the older shareholders, heavy with age and influence.
Damien frowned. He wasn’t notified. "Who called for the eting?"
[Lawrence Ashford. Did you cause another ss?]
Damien’s shoulders stiffened. Lawrence didn’t seem to have any new project at hand to call for an ergency eting on it. He didn’t think Lawrence had another on him. If there was sothing, he couldn’t afford to lose the trust of the board mbers.
So he answered smoothly, "If anything, I’ve only done what’s best for Ashford Holdings. Lawrence Ashford might be stirring things up again. I will handle it."
[You better.] Edward snapped, and the call ended.
Damien imdiately called his secretary, "Find out what Lawrence is up to. Now." He commanded.
....
Thirty minutes before the eting,
His secretary returned, a little breathless. "Sir, Lawrence Ashford got hold of the Twin Tower project file and copies of the permits."
Damien shot on his feet. How did Lawrence get to know about the Twin Tower project?
That project had only been revealed to...
Aveline.
His face darkened a few shades. She was the only new person and an outsider who learnt about the project.
Did she tip Lawrence off?
He didn’t believe in coincidence.
Resisting his urge to find her and question her, he stayed calm. This wasn’t the ti to lose his cool, but think like a businessman.
"Prep the team for the presentation." He said.
He was determined to use this chance to his advantage and undermine Lawrence’s authority on the board.
Never the other way around.
...
In the boardroom.
It was a large room with a long oval table in the centre. There was a large area at one end and multiple screens at the side where shareholders were attending the eting through a web conference.
Though Maxwell sat at the head of the table, the board had long stopped looking to him for direction. He was a figurehead. Nothing more.
The interim CEO was already seated, playing invisible as always.
Damien entered with his calm and composure. A few board mbers gave curt nods, and he responded with the sa.
Just minutes later, Lawrence walked in, trailed by two secretaries and stacks of files.
One of the senior mbers slapped his hand on the desk. "Lawrence Ashford, do you think this boardroom is your playground?"
Lawrence didn’t flinch when every eye was planted on him. "If soone treats this board like their personal control room, there will be ergency etings every day."
The hush fell in the room. There was sothing different in his tone. He was calr than usual and sounded dangerous. That told everyone it wasn’t just any grudge.
Lawrence gestured to his secretaries. One began distributing file folders to every board mber. The second flicked on the screen and began presenting the directive.
Clause 3 appeared on the screen: "High-level appointnts, particularly positions with executive access, must be voted on by the board with a majority agreent exceeding fifty percent."
Lawrence addressed the room. "Please raise your hand if you were aware that a new consultant was appointed to Ashford Holdings last week."
Out of twenty in the boardroom, only five raised their hands.
Lawrence snorted, "Interesting. Did I miss the clause where Damien Ashford is allowed to make executive decisions on behalf of all of us? Or did he simply plant a man he wanted to use?"
"Sounds like a dictatorship," Gareth Morrow. A shareholder, an opportunist who was only loyal to power, added fuel to the fire.
Damien still didn’t move. He sat like he was watching the show reveal while the murmurs had already begun.
"The new consultant was brought in after delaying quarterly deliveries. In ten days, he’s delivered on every tric. That’s why I approved it." Edward Langston, Damien’s loyal supporter who believes in Damien’s mission, spoke in favor of the appointnt.
Mrs. Linette Rowe, a respected and wise shareholder, pointed out the problem, "The problem isn’t the consultant’s ability. It’s the process. We can’t defend executive oversight. That weakens us."
Many shareholders added in, agreeing with Mrs. Rowe.
Lawrence sniggered at Damien, who finally spoke, "It slipped my mind. I was busy cleaning up the ss." His tone is calm and asured.
Many were speechless.
Lawrence let out a short, amused laugh, "A director who forgets. How reassuring."
The murmurs only grew louder. The shareholders argued with each other, saying that though the process wasn’t right, they should focus on the outco.
So even started asking shareholders to vote for or against Damien for his actions. Before Lawrence could get happy for burning the house, Mrs. Rowe spoke.
"Damien Ashford..." Her voice silenced the room. "Take this as a warning. This won’t hold next ti. That consultant will be under the scrutiny of shareholders, and your conduct will be rembered. If you intend to beco CEO, behave like one."
Her ssage was sharp, and the silence in the room ant maximum support for her and her words.
Lawrence wanted to use this as his stepping stone anyway. Now that he had triggered everyone, he shifted to the Twin Tower project. He stood to get the attention.
"Thank you, Uncle Lawrence." Damien’s voice cut through.
Lawrence frowned. What was Damien pulling?
Damien stood, adjusting his cufflink like he had all the ti in the world. "I was skeptical about how to call for a board eting in less than a week." He smiled at the shareholders, "My uncle, Lawrence Ashford, made it happen. Just for ."
He snapped his fingers, and the lights dimd in the room. The screen behind him flickered to life. A 360-degree image of the twin tower design appeared.
A hush fell again.
"This," Damien said smoothly, "is the future of Ashford Holdings."
Across the table, Lawrence’s face cracked. His mask slipped. His eyes were wide, jaw clenched. He had handed Damien the perfect stage.
And Damien was owning it.
Mrs. Rowe leaned back in her chair, quietly impressed. She didn’t like Damien’s tactics, but the man knew how to command a room.
Lawrence looked around. Searching for sobody to focus on the problem. He spotted a few shareholders who were already flipping through the file he prepared.
Wait, why weren’t they looking angry?
Lawrence imdiately grabbed the file from the next person, and his face went pale. It wasn’t the folder he had prepared. It was Damien’s project brochure.
His eyes darted across the room. The project plans were everywhere. There was no trace of his reports.
Then he spotted her. His secretary stood by the wall, head lowered, avoiding his gaze.
The betrayal hit like a cold slap. He had walked in here to bury Damien, and he was the one being buried.
Damien smirked, watching Lawrence. While the rest of the shareholders were in awe of his project.
’Let’s see who’ll try to vote against now.’
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