As soon as the car came to halt, Mark looked behind to make sure the two were doing good and met with an icy glare. He prayed for the health of the man in the Rolls Royce Ghost that suddenly blocked them in the middle of the road.
The Bentley barely managed to halt behind the Range Rover without crashing into it. The guards instinctively got out of the car before getting the sight of Alvin who stepped out of the Ghost from the driver seat.
Anya could still feel her heart beating loudly at the sight of Zane losing balance and the possible disaster on the road. She ignored the man who knocked on the windshield but the driver rolled her window down.
Talk about obedience.
"Why are you here?" Anya asked bitterly despite knowing the answer to her question. She still had goosebumps over her skin.
Out of the blue, Alvin had recalled her route from the hospital to the Nest villa and his route towards the Matthews Industries. He sped on the road and caught up with them at the intersection where they cross paths.
He was crazy, he knows that. She will call him childish if he answers her question. So, "I forgot to return something to you." His deep voice was mysterious.
Startled Zane: "..."
Did he just hear Chipmunk Monster's voice?
"Huh?" Anya turned to her husband without understanding what he forgot to give her. And she forgot that she was angry at him.
Alvin took the chance of her momentary confusion. He held the back of her head and tugged her close to the window. He caught her lips in a soft lingering kiss and left her in a daze. He straightened his back as if he did nothing.
Anya: "..."
Zane was grim the second he got to know it was his father. Who blocks the car in the middle of the road?
What if it caused an accident?
He managed to roll in Anya's arms and hissed, "Chipmunk Monster, are you trying to kill us?"
Whereas Alvin flashed her a tempting smirk, merely brushed his eyes over the little brat and went back to his Rolls Royce Ghost that was majestically blocking the traffic.
Instead of scolding the driver, or calling the cops, people were making videos and admiring the expensive cars on the road.
Anya should be furious at Alvin for blocking the road which could have caused a series of accidents and hurt her baby. But all she could do was control herself from smiling like a fool while watching the man take the backseat. She was losing her mind with her husband.
Zane sat next to her and caressed her arm, taking her silence as a shock. "It's alright, Momma, I won't stand on the seat anymore." He understood it was dangerous.
He got on her lap and hugged her. Calming her was the intention but with a hidden motive to persuade her to let him learn to ski in the winter.
Rob was shaking his head in resignation when he got back in the car with Alvin. As soon as Alvin took the driver's seat and sped on the road, he guessed it was something related to Anya Owen.
Mark breathed out a sigh in Range Rover. His boss could have called him and asked him to stop the car, right?
He signaled the driver to drive once Rolls Royce drove to the junction and took the right turn.
–––––
At Matthews Industries,
Alvin was the last shareholder to enter the conference room. The people uneasily shifted in their seats, afraid of losing their stand in the company.
Liam and Harrison entered at last. Liam's eyes lingered on Alvin when he sat down to head to the meeting. He knew Alvin was up to something. Something more than just giving him the power. He wondered if Alvin changed the plan because of his anger.
Nevertheless, he wasn't going to blame Alvin for anything. He had himself to blame for his stupidity. In the past, he didn't believe Casper when the latter was sending people to scare Anya Owen. He didn't trust Alvin could have taken care of Anya and faced Casper.
At present, he struggled to make the right decision. Then he chose to go against his father and stop Alvin to make peace. However, he ended up believing Casper's act in the hospital and blamed Alvin for that.
Why couldn't he just trust and have faith in one right person?
Till that realization, Liam had no idea he had trust issues. It made him wonder if he was going to make a similar decision if his wife was involved.
Anybody but he didn't want to hurt Lilian and his daughter. Rather, he was ready to get hurt by putting his complete faith in Lilian.
Although he was able to discern himself, his behavior, and his flaws, he didn't realize it wasn't his fault to have trust issues.
He grew up with parents who didn't speak to each other. His father saw him as a long-term business project. His mother loves him but hurt his innocent brother for another's mistake. His brother always kept him away. He had to respect the grandparents who were calculative and saw him as nothing but an heir to continue their succession.
How could he wholeheartedly trust anybody?
Nonetheless, Liam truly wasn't in a condition to handle the critical meeting of the company. All he wanted was to run from there, away from the schemes, and manipulative and selfish people, but he had no choice but to complete what was planned in the previous meeting.
After the greeting and reading of the agenda of the meeting, Liam pulled the microphone closer and panned his eyes over the shareholders who were confused about him heading the meeting.
He responded to their questioning gazes, "Due to unavoidable reasons, Chairman Matthews wasn't able to attend the meeting. We understand your worry concerning Alvin Matthews's demand to cut down the powers…" His voice trained when the room filled with the buzzing noise of mobiles.
Some ended the calls to focus on the meeting, some opened messages. Soon the shareholders displayed their mobiles to one another and started murmuring.
Harrison felt his mobile buzz too. He passed the mobile to Liam as soon as he read the headline. [Casper Matthews suffered a massive heart attack.]
Harrison easily guessed it was Alvin's plan. Or else how could their PR fail to stop the news? Now, Casper and his doctors' team were in a terrible position. They can't lie, or reveal the truth.
Liam couldn't help but glance at Alvin who was sitting on the chair and crossing his legs, looking bored as ever. Yet, Alvin looked like he owned the place and was heading the meeting. That dominance and strong air were hard to ignore.
Why did Alvin reveal the untruth?
"CEO Matthews, is this true?" A shareholder asked.
"How critical is his condition?" Another one asked after reading the article say,
[Casper Matthews, who suffered a heart attack and underwent surgery recently. The sources say that delay in treatment made the condition worse…]
The questions poured down as they read the article and summarized as Casper was in grave condition.
Harrison tried to control the chaos when the shareholders started linking Casper's health with the stock rate. It was inevitable that their stock rates would fall, and the business partners feel threatened. But the crowd was wild.
Alvin felt his ear buzz. This was the reason he hated having a large company and shareholders. Handling the mindless people was a headache. He grunted into the microphone, "Silence…"
As if there was a deafening thunder in the hall, everyone abruptly shut their mouths. Some even feared to glance at Alvin.
Harrison knew Alvin was the right person to replace Casper in the company. Anyway, he knew to keep some of his opinions to himself. Taking advantage of the silence, he nodded at Liam to continue.
"First of all, Chairman Matthews is recovering." Well, Liam had to lie because Anya had instructed him to play along.
He clicked a button on the remote controller. The smart television displayed a paper that had the details of Casper's powers that he was handing over to Liam, to make him President and CEO of the company.
"Chairman Matthews has stepped down from decision-making over the projects of the company. I will have the ultimate decision-making power unless it should come to the notice of the board members."
He paused and looked at the shareholders who were holding their breath. "The issues concerning the market situation due to the news will be handled right away."
His eyes halted at Alvin who wasn't paying attention to him, "I hope this decision will satisfy the majority of the shareholders."
This was what Alvin wanted for Casper. Now it is done, will Alvin leave?
Due to Liam's line of sight, most of the shareholders turned to Alvin. Her main worry was Alvin taking advantage of Casper's condition affecting the company. So they were eager to hear his opinion rather than thinking about their own.
Alvin ignored the eyes and waited for a message from Rob. His mobile beeped and there was a knock on the door.
'Tap, tap.' The precise and mild knocks on the door grabbed everyone's attention but Alvin's. Everyone knew there would be a twist in the story. The meeting couldn't end without sensational news. Thus the anticipation was obvious on their faces.
A man stepped inside when the door opened. The seriousness on his face, his hard gaze brushing over the shareholders and the clean suit on his lean body resumed the silence in the room.
When he walked inside, each deliberate step raised the heartbeats of the people, filling them with numerous questions.
Linus Collins stood behind Alvin who leaned back on the chair and finally lifted his predatory eyes. A devious smirk on his stunning face made him look menacing.
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