Chapter 456: He knows something.
Kael
The sun was unreasonably hot by the time we stepped out of the car and began to make our way into the company’s building amidst the crowd of gathering reporters and employees.
We didn’t know this at the time, but by the time we finally made it from Seychelles back to NYC, news of our ’retirement’ had spread like a wild fire across town. Everyone believed it was true and in every corner we entered, there were people talking about how we had ’decided’ that we were no longer a proper fit for our jobs, and that our cousin, ’Micah’ was best to take up our father’s legacy.
Like we’ll ever agree to something as outrageous as that.
My hands were balled into tight fists as we made our way through the dense halls and when we got into the elevator, there was no mistaking the sharp looks that some of our employees cast at us before turning away so quickly, you would think we were the sun and that we could get them blind just from staring at us.
"What the fuck is this?!" Caelum hissed loudly, his eyes bloodshot. I turned to look at him with a frown, only to find him desperately swiping at his phone, clearing texts and declining calls— all at the same time.
His voice didn’t just make me turn, it also made the employees beside us turn to look at him, and it wasn’t until that moment that a very different and very unrelated thought suddenly struck my mind. I looked up at the walls of the elevator, wondering if it was my brothers and I that had made a mistake... but it was not.
I hissed; "what the fuck is this?"
At my voice, everyone turned to look at me, including the three employees standing to the side. Even Caelum had slipped his phone back into his pocket and was now watching me like I had suddenly sprouted a second head.
He asked; "More news?" But I didn’t respond right away. Instead, I shook my head at him, pointed at the employees and asked;
"Why are you three using this elevator?"
In this company— our company— employees were prohibited from using the VIP elevator which was specially built for the CEOs and the members of their immediate family.
My father used to uphold that law. We used to as well... until now.
Until this...
Mister Mark lowered his head. "I am sorry A-Alpha..." he stuttered, and before he could even get the rest of his statement out, I already immediately knew where this conversation was headed. He stammered; "...t-the new CEO, Lord Micah, made a decree some days ago stating that we as employees could use any of the elevators... at least until after his inauguration."
"That son of a bitch!"
"He even goes by the name: ’Lord Micah’ now?" Zevran snarled, and I could only roll my eyes, watching in annoyance as Mister Mark shook his head like a convulsive patient.
His forehead was suddenly streaked with sweat and his hands, from where I could see them, were shaking violently.
I hissed; "Get out."
He froze, glanced at the beeping numbers on the wall of the elevator and mumbled; "It is already moving! The elevator is already moving, Al-Alpha!"
"Get off on the next floor." I drawled without missing a beat. "And do not ever step foot in this elevator ever again. Do you get me?!"
"Y-yes, Alpha!" He yelled while then leaned back to watch him silently as he fumbled with the buttons.
When it finally stopped at the next floor, which was floor sixteen, he immediately stepped out as if the devil was hot on his tails with the two tiny women beside him following him out like little minions.
—And then the doors were about to slide shut when Zevran suddenly stuck out his hand, stopping it, and barked; "And Mister Mark?"
He froze, turned around to face us, lowered his head and stuttered;
"Ye-yes s-sir?"
"Make sure you relay that message to everyone else who intends to keep their jobs." He stated, sounding so cold, there was little to no difference between his voice and the glaciers up at Antarctica. "Tell them the old rules of this company still stand. There are no new rules and there will not be any fucking inauguration. Do you understand me?!"
"Yes, Alpha!"
"Now, get lost!" He snarled and with that, the doors slid closed, shutting us away from the fretting women and the man who had now peed his pants.
It was not his fault. None of this was but still...
"What do we do about Micah?" Caelum asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had now settled in the elevator. I glanced at him briefly then at my still beeping phone and sighed.
"I have no fucking idea."
"I say we call for a meeting..." Zevran cut in, causing me to cock my eyebrows at him. His solution sounded unreasonable or so I thought until Caelum asked;
"A meeting?" He asked in confusion, "what for?"
At that, Zevran shrugged. "Micah called for a meeting to pass that bizarre news to the public behind our backs, so I think it’s best if we do the same to counter it. At least that way, people will get to know that it is false and our shareholders can stop calling us incessantly like the world is coming to an end." He answered.
While that made a lot of sense, something about it still didn’t sit right with me. I asked; "But he has already bought the votes of these said shareholders?"
"Who cares?" That was Caelum. "They are only shareholders while we are the owners of the company. We own the largest shares in the company."
"No, what we actually own is forty percent of the total company’s shares. Lord Anslem owns fifteen percent which was the second largest until Micah began to buy from the others behind our backs..."
"So if Micah gets his hands on Lord Anslem’s shares, then it’s over..." Zevran muttered in a voice so small, it could easily pass as a whisper, and I nodded.
"Exactly. He’s already been able to get his hands on about thirty percent..."
"Plus fifteen." Caelum drawled gravely, "...that’s already forty-five. More than ours."
"Yes." I answered, and with that, the elevator descended into silence one more time, and I was left listening to nothing but the sound of my raging heart as it hammered violently against my chest.
—
By the time we stepped into the corridor leading to the board room, the chaos had grown so much, it was the only thing that mattered.
Employees, due to how chaotic it was, scrambled from one end of the hall to the other. No one even noticed our presence yet as board members were actively shouting at the top of their lungs and lunging for each other. Members of the press were standing to the side with their set microphones and camera... with lists of unending questions clutched at their armpits...
While Micah, the brain behind all this chaos, stood at the front, his chin slightly raised, his eyes glinting with malicious delight and his hair and suit impeccable as he addressed the crowd;
"Ladies and gentlemen, please sit!" He shouted, "please! I won’t repeat myself one more time!"
When no one would listen to him, he slammed his fist into the table in front of him, causing everyone to snap their lips shut before he continued;
"If you have anything to say or ask, do it after I am done addressing all of you!"
"And why should we do that?!" Gavin yelled from the back of the room. Sometimes, I forget that he is one of the minority shareholders. Thankfully, Micah hasn’t succeeded in buying his shares as well.
"Why should we listen to you? Why do you think we should simply take your word and believe that the Alphas have decided to leave De’ Storm to you?!"
"Because I have no reason to lie!" Micah clapped back, his tone vicious. "If you think I am lying, then where the fuck are your so-called Alphas now? Have they not tucked their tails and hidden from the whole stir this has caused?"
"Or maybe you are the one who tucked your tail and ran, only to return as soon as you heard we left the country," Caelum snapped, earning himself a series of shocked gasps as many people turned to him— us— with wide shocked eyes.
Micah, who had been standing tall only seconds ago, literally deflated right in front of us. His shoulders instantly sunk, making him appear smaller and the color on his face immediately disappeared as he muttered under his breath;
"A-Alphas?" He sounded shocked to see us— too shocked if I might add. "Aren’t you three supposed to be dead?"
"Dead?" I muttered, frowning, just as the crowd went even more wild. "What do you mean by the words: supposed to be dead?"
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