Chapter 458: Done deal.
Kael
This was what Micah has been after from the onset. He wanted to smear our names so bad, people would be forced to vote us out of the company.
And that was what was happening.
"I think so too!" Another person called out. It was a man who had previously sold most of his shares to Micah so I wasn’t really surprised to hear him say that.
My eyes darted to meet his, and I saw the smile spread across his face before he coldly reigned it in, glared and then lowered his head.
"We cannot allow the company to be led by criminals, murderers and..."
"Who did you just call a criminal?" Zevran growled, interrupting him.
For a moment, after Zevran spoke, silence settled in the room and I could t help but notice the way the man’s face went from smug to appalled then to fearful within the span of thirty seconds max.
He took a step back when Zevran walked forward, his hands desperately gripping on Micah’s as he tried to escape Zevran.
I didn’t miss the not so subtle way that Micah shrugged him off himself. Neither did I miss the look of betrayal that appeared on his face when this happened.
I was however, just about to compliment on that when someone suddenly spoke from the back, interrupting me. He said; "I do not think the Alphas should lose the right to their company simply because there are some rumors spreading about them now."
"You call that rumors?!" Someone barked. "They tried to murder their cousin! The only competition that they have and you call it rumors?!"
"Yes, I do!" He clapped back in annoyance. "We didn’t see them trying to kill him. We have no proof besides the marks on his skin which may have been as a result of something else entirely. Goddess help me, but he may have hurt himself! He may have been hurt during training or may have gotten into an accident! You all need to stop acting like you can only get bruised when an attempt has been made on your life!"
Finally, someone with a working brain!
"I agree!" Gavin hissed, "...and I genuinely think that Micah did that to himself!"
"You’re only saying that because you’re blinded by your relationship with them! Because you’re their chosen Beta and they’re your in-laws!" Another person yelled at Gavin who rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Exactly! These people are biased."
"Well, not for long!" Someone yelled authoritatively, causing everyone to immediately go quiet. I turned around briefly to find Micah’s father leaning to the back with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes glinted with a strange light, one that made my blood run cold when they met mine.
He seethed; "Since we all have different views about all of this happening... why don’t we cast our votes to support whoever we think is more befitting of the position?"
I frowned at that.
Caelum hissed; "What do you mean by that?"
He smiled. "What I mean is, since you three have refused to take responsibility for your actions, I think it’s only normal that we do this in the way of old. That we cast our votes, and whoever wins the heart of the majority rules."
"In our company?" I asked in disbelief, absolutely not believing my ears. "You mean that I should let people cast votes... to decide whether I am fit or not to rule my company?"
"Exactly that!" He cooed, riling me up even more than I already was.
"But we have the major shares?" Zevran chirped in. "By right, we own most of the shares in this company and this is our heritage."
At his words, everyone turned to look at him then at Micah and his father. The atmosphere became so tense while this happened— so tense that you could cut through it with a knife.
"That’s BS." That was Micah and the way he said those words made me extremely annoyed. "You used to own the largest shares in the company... I now own about thirty percent."
"And we still own forty..." I began to say but stopped when he waved his hands dismissively in my face.
"Lord Anslem has decided to sell off ten percent from his fifteen." He sneered and as soon as he said that, my heart stopped.
Without thinking, I turned to look at my brothers and after seeing the horror on their faces upon the realization that our worst nightmares were finally coming true, I gulped.
"He is?" Now, my voice was smaller... softer. Shakier.
I didn’t like how it sounded. How it made me feel small. And Micah probably noticed this because then his grin widened. He hissed;
"Yes." Then turning to a corner of the room, he added; "I am right, aren’t I, Lord Anslem?"
"Yes, you are right." A voice responded, and I could only feel the color drain from my face as lord Anslem, in all his glory, walked forward to the front of the room.
His eyes didn’t meet mine in the full minute that he spent walking forward nor did he acknowledge me in any way possible.
Why? I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t bring myself to. And as the corners of my eyes burned with rage... and tears... I could only imagine how my father— our father— must be turning in his grave as we speak.
"I do not intend to sell ten percent of my shares..." he drawled softly, earning himself raised eyebrows. "I intend to sell twelve percent."
Those words hit me like a bombshell. My throat instantly went dry, and upon seeing the smug smile on Micah’s face, I lost every ounce of hope left.
So I lowered my head, chewed on my lower lip and held myself from crashing out.
I was failing... woefully.
"But I am not selling to Lord Micah. I said I would sell but I never talked about selling to you..."
My head snapped up and so did Micah’s.
I saw the exact moment the smile on his face disappeared, replaced instead with a look so funny, I would’ve burst out laughing if the situation wasn’t so dire.
But I didn’t laugh. I was simply stunned.
"I am selling to a person who has shown interest for a while now. A person who gave me a better deal than lord Micah ever did..."
I hate the way they all keep referring to him as Lord Micah instead of Micah.
"...and she is..."
"Let’s quit the unnecessary formalities, I am the person who got his sold shares!" A feminine voice suddenly called out from the doorway, snapping me out of whatever daze I had been in.
My head shot up just in time to see a mass of silver hair strut into the room with a bravado and aura so great, my heart leaped for joy in my chest.
I froze.
It was Leilani and she was still clad in the clothes she wore when we dropped her off in front of Frostclaw.
"Leilani?" I couldn’t help it. I also couldn’t fight the smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
Hell, if she had gotten even fifty percent or more of my total company’s shares, then I wouldn’t have bothered as long as it was her. I would gladly lose my company to her!
"Kael," she drawled back at me, smiling with her eyes as she said; "I texted you three but none of you responded."
"Oh, I didn’t notice."
She shrugged. "It’s fine! Anyways, I am here now and I’d like to introduce myself briefly." She said, and without waiting to be asked whether or not to do it, she walked over to the front, curtsied and began to speak;
"Hello everyone, my name is Leilani Sinclair, the leading engineer and now CEO of Frostclaw. Inc. I recently acquired twelve percent of Lord Anslem’s total shares and to thank my mates for always being there for me and for holding my head above the water when I needed it the most, I hereby give all my acquired shares to them as a gift, making them the largest shareholders of this company with about fifty two total shares. Am I right?"
I couldn’t believe my ears, I also couldn’t stop smiling at her... at Micah. In fact, at everyone.
"Now, if a vote is to be cast, it will be meaningless in the sense that they— being my mates— own more than half of the total company’s shares, and there is absolutely nothing that can compete with that." She continued, stunning everyone even further.
As soon as I heard her words, the heaviness in my chest felt like it had been lifted, and at that moment, I couldn’t help but turn to look at Micah’s
Goddess, the look on his face was murderous.
In fact, murderous was too light a word to use in describing it.
I burst out laughing.
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