Jacob felt uneasy when he saw Bella unexpectedly enter the eting room. He interrupted Archy, stating, "As the General Affairs Director, I expect you would be aware that this eting is restricted and invitation only, Archy! This is really disappointing!"
Upon Jacob’s remark, almost everyone in the room nodded in agreent, showing their disapproval of Archy.
Turning his attention to Bella, Jacob questioned, "Only shareholders with voting rights are allowed in this room. Why have you permitted her to be here, Archy? I don’t rember she was invited!" Jacob asks without shifting his gaze.
Bella lowered her head, hiding her smile. She was tempted to reveal her involvent but decided against it for now.
"Yes, Mr. Taylor, this is a private shareholder eting, not a family eting."
"Agree!"
"Yes, I agree too. Maybe young Miss Bella could wait outside after this eting finishes."
"Excuse , Gentlen. For your information, Ms. Arabella Donovan has every right to be here, to attend, and to participate fully in this eting. Because she has a share, she actually—" Archy’s words faded when he saw Bella signal him not to reveal yet that she represented Callia.
The room erupted with conversation as everyone shared their thoughts on the new information they had just received.
"Wait, she has a share? I don’t believe you."
"Under what na? Why didn’t we see her na on the list earlier?"
"Oh, she bought shares publicly?"
"Hahaha, no wonder her na wasn’t visible."
"Everyone, I would appreciate it if you could keep your voice down!" Archy’s voice was much louder and fiercer, and it worked to silence the room. So of the attendees lowered their voices, and the rest stopped speaking.
He continued, "I believe everyone here agrees this eting will take forever if everyone tries to voice their opinion out loud."
Archy’s last statent managed to quiet everyone. Then, their attention was fixed on him as he discussed the main agenda: to decide whether the current CEO of the Donovan Group would be replaced, which would be done through voting according to their shares.
Although no one said anything, the tension in the room grew, especially for Jacob and his group, who exchanged silent glances and worried about the vote’s result.
"Let’s begin the voting process," Archy said, motioning to two of his secretaries standing in the corner.
Shortly after, a male staff mber approached Archy, carrying a white box, and stood beside him. At the sa ti, a female staff mber distributed ballot papers to all eting participants, including Bella and one of her friends.
Thomas Donovan, observing Bella, frowned upon noticing that Bella and her friend received two ballot papers.
"Alright, ladies and gentlen, you now have your ballot papers. Please make your choices wisely. My staff will collect the papers in three minutes. You may begin now," Archy said, smiling at everyone. He also received a ballot since he holds a 4% share in the company.
The room beca noisy again as Jacob discussed the vote with Bradley.
Bella only took a few seconds to write down her choices. Without waiting, she imdiately called the staff carrying the box to put her ballot paper, which surprised Jacob and the others.
Harper, who happened to sit beside Bella, also finished her paper. She then followed Bella to submit her vote.
Jacob Donovan chuckled inwardly when he saw that Bella had finished making her choice. He didn’t feel worried if Bella didn’t choose him because he knew her vote wouldn’t make a significant impact.
He speculated that Bella had co to the eting as a stock market shareholder. Her share might have accounted for less than 0.1% because the company’s stock market shares comprised only 10%.
However, Jacob was concerned about the woman next to Bella. He suspected that she was from Callia Capital.
Nonetheless, he wasn’t too worried because even if they combined their shares, they couldn’t oust him from company managent if all his family supported him.
’Wait, father? Emma?’ Jacob turned his gaze to them. He was surprised that both had already completed their ballot papers and called the staff to submit them.
"Father, Emma, have you chosen as I said?" Jacob asked, worried that they would betray him.
Emma opened her mouth to say sothing, but Archy’s voice stopped her, "Gentlen, you have one more minute or your vote won’t be validated."
’Damn Archy Taylor! You are really annoying!’ Jason cursed in his heart. He quickly wrote down his choice and returned the ballot paper to the staff, followed by Bradley and the others.
Tension filled the room as they waited for Archy and his team to prepare for the vote count.
Later, Archy stood next to the whiteboard and started opening the ballot papers in the box.
"Ladies and Gentlen, we have twelve ballots, and I will start to count..."
Callia Capital: 37.5% (Agree)
Emma Donovan: 15% (Agree)
Isaac Donovan: 11% (Agree)
Bradley Caville: 10% (Disagree)
Jacob Donovan: 5% (Disagree)
Lucas Donovan: 5% (Disagree)
Archy Taylor: 4% (Abstain)
Thomas Donovan: 1% (Disagree)
Layman: 0,5% (Disagree)
Hill: 0,5% (Disagree)
Steward: 0,5% (Disagree)
Public: 0.09% (Agree)
Jacob was shocked to see the result. His eyes narrowed at Emma and his father; he couldn’t believe they betrayed him.
He could understand if Emma did it because of what he did to her son yesterday.
But his father? How could he do that!?
"Father? Why do you agree? Do you really hate this company for letting others with whom you share no blood ties care for our family company?" Jacob couldn’t help but express his anger. He couldn’t stand it anymore, feeling humiliated.
"Father, even though you are angry with us, how could you give this family company to soone else?" Lucas Donovan also expressed his annoyance.
Lucas knew he would also lose his position as COO of this company.
While his two older siblings were busy expressing their feelings, Thomas noticed his niece Bella conversing earnestly with Archy. This raised his suspicion. ’Is she the owner of Callia Capital?’ he wondered.
Before Thomas wanted to ask, Archy spoke again.
"We have the results of today’s voting. As you can see, more than 50 percent voted to agree to replace the current CEO," said Archy calmly. "Because of this result, I will hand the eting chairman, or chairwoman, to Callia Capital. For Callia Capital rep, ti and place are now yours..."
"Thank you, Uncle Archy, for your hard work," Bella said with a smile, then turned to her uncles and father. It was fun to see their shocked expression.
"Ladies and Gentlen, let introduce myself. I am Arabella Donovan, the representative from Callia Capital."
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