Irish furrowed her eyebrows and complained, "You said you would turn off your phone."
Joseph apologized to her and then answered the phone.
Soon a voice was heard from the other end of the phone. "Joseph, shall we have a talk?"
Joseph smiled faintly with his hands put at the door and then replied, "Leo, there is no need to talk since you have achieved your goal."
Leo didn't get mad as if he had expected what Joseph would say. "Don't decline my suggestion. Now you have left Runestone Group, and I think we should have a talk. We are now in the same scratch line."
"But I don't want to talk with you," said Joseph, then hung up the phone.
He got into the car and remained silent.
Irish looked at him secretly through the mirror. "Joseph, can you promise me something?" asked Irish after a small pause.
Joseph turned at her, waiting for her to continue.
Irish licked her lips and then added, "Let's enjoy this peaceful moment and put the rest aside." She cherished every single second of staying with Joseph.
Joseph locked eyes with her, sensing both her sincerity and apprehension. After a moment of contemplation, he responded softly, "Alright, I promise you," conveying his commitment.
****
It was an idle weekend.
Irish felt that they two were just like two mice bathed in sunshine on dry tree branches on Winter days. There didn't have to be too much stuff in life necessarily as long as the two could warm each other in a quiet and stable way.
However, life had to continue, and the joy was only for the short term.
Having known that, Irish understood how hard it was to gain short-term happiness, and as a result, Irish cherished it much more than ever before.
On Monday, all the news appeared actively.
Quiet for only two days, the news that Joseph had resigned was just like a monster who evaded from the cage and aroused many heated discussions. More importantly, even some people in the same field were discussing it.
Joseph's actions also influenced the stock of the Runestone Group.
The media defined Joseph's behavior as "being forced to resign" since he had been involved in two murder cases. He left without any dignity. Of course, no medium could confirm whether he had left without dignity, but obviously, the Runestone Group needed to go through a period without it.
The transition period required a strong controller; however, Roy was not fit for that.
Ruby's funeral was kept low-key.
In Roy's words, her wedding was kept in that way, so she would like her funeral in the same way too.
It was raining on this day.
It wet the whole cemetery.
Those who attended the funeral all wore black, Ruby's families, friends, classmates, and relatives. Some uninvited guests also came, like those reporters, many of whom were just driven out by the security.
Ruby was buried beside Emery, which resulted from Roy's persuasion of Shirley.
Shirley cried sadly, groveling on Ruby's tombstone. There was lightning and thunder, seeming to mourn for Ruby.
After the funeral, Roy still had to be faced with so much stuff in the company.
Those shareholders were the most difficult ones to cope with.
At this moment, he sat in the meeting room, watching those shareholders debate. They all had different opinions, which made him absent-minded. His mind just went blank, although he sat there.
Not until one shareholder called him did he recover from his absent-mindedness.
His mind went back. Faced with their unsatisfied expressions, he had to sigh. He didn't know how Joseph dealt with them usually. Now he just felt tired of it.
"Mr. Roy, we all agree that we should suspend Joseph's financing plan. One shareholder said.
Roy thought, "Why just ask me since you have decided it? Am I just a puppet in your eyes?"
He just responded angrily, "Just put it later."
"It's so important. Why just put it later?" The shareholder was obviously unhappy, and he just knocked at the table, "Joseph is involved in so many cases. To be clear, he is still a suspect. He will not be peaceful if there is no clear result in the case. The financing plan was made by Joseph previously, but now he left, so we need to cut the relationship with him. That is to say, we can't have some connections with him. It's for the sake of the Runestone Group, as well as for us and you."
Roy didn't say anything and just looked around those shareholders.
They just acted to be planning it earlier, and all nodded.
Roy was clear that those who supported this shareholder were mostly old shareholders, while there were a few shareholders later arranged by Joseph.
After Joseph's resignation, some new shareholders transferred their shares in just two days, which also aroused the fluctuation of the share price, while some old shareholders took the opportunity to buy them. As a result, now those old shareholders have become a dominant part of the board.
It was just like the political world.
It would be very dangerous if there were only one voice among those politicians. The leader was never afraid of the disharmony among them but their one common mind, whose result might be that they would threaten him.
When all those shareholders nodded to Roy, Roy felt that what the shareholder had said to him just now was as if a leader, instead, and others were his followers. How about Roy? Did he have the capability to be a real leader?
He didn't want to be a real leader but a captain.
As for those politicians, oh no, those shareholders, he kept the same attitude, "Just put it later." He was the director of the board, so he had the veto power as to why he put it later and when. He didn't know it either.
Maybe he still felt that Joseph would come back one day, or maybe he just believed that Joseph's decision was right.
The fact was Joseph would never come back.
After Roy returned to his office, William knocked at the door and came in.
Roy looked in a bad mood and just held a cigar in his mouth. After many times' trials, he still couldn't ignite it. William helped him with it and then ignited one for himself.
"Such an attitude is not good. They will have some negative comments on you one day."
Roy was still in a bad mood, and he just waved his hands, "Let it go."
William grasped his emotion, so he just smiled, "Do not be so impulsive.
"So what? What can I do?" Roy frowned, "They just waited for my nodding. Don't I have the right to veto?"
William smoked and then said slowly, "You need to learn from Joseph. Many shareholders also questioned him at that time, but he just made it. Although he has been dismissed, one thing is still appreciated. He would manage to persuade those shareholders as long as he stuck to one thing. Now you are in this position. It's normal not to be used to it. Just think of a way to work with them as a team."
Roy was still smoking. He looked worse.
Seeing the situation, William smiled, "It doesn't matter if you can't make it. I am here to help you. I will help you to be firmly rooted in the company."
Roy didn't raise his eyes and just put his cigar out by pressing it down to the ashtray.
The phone beside him rang. He picked it up.
After a few seconds of the conversation, he looked serious and just said, "I'll go back home soon."
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l