Chapter 61: Hatred
"We should talk about our personal matters in private when we get home," said Anthony, who had been in charge of MC Enterprise for over ten years and was used to making arbitrary decisions about the company as he wished.
The only reason he handed it over to Michael was because of his age, which left him with less energy to handle his business affairs. However, he never expected his son to make this kind of move. On top of that, he felt completely blindsided and stabbed in the back.
Michael’s Success in secretly buying up an extra 11% of the company’s shares was telling of Anthony’s failure in this meeting.
"You’ve never been afraid of embarrassment, so why should I be?" said Winnie in a much more confident manner now that she had Michael backing her up. Anthony had angered her plenty of times over the last few years.
"Now that I am the biggest shareholder here, I hope that everyone can take a stand regarding the new chairman on the board of directors. The sooner we arrive at a decision, the sooner this meeting can come to an end," said Michael.
Naturally, the first person to support Michael was Winnie. Since she owned 5% of the Company’s shares, her decision to stand in solidarity with Michael meant that he now had the equivalent of up to 31% of the shares on his side. As long as the number of people who supported him added up to more than 50% of the overall shares, he would become the new chairman of the board of directors. Of course, Michael had put in a lot of effort behind the scenes in order for today’s meeting to happen.
Over the last few days, he had been contacting the different shareholders, buying from them, and garnering their support. Unofficially, the support he received had already exceeded 50%.
The meeting today was just a formal procedure to officially appoint him as the new chairman of the board of directors, as well as strip Christian of his position as vice-president and expel Anthony from his role as the previous chairman.
However, Michael was surprised when Christian was the second person to vocalize his support for him. With a breezy smile as if he did not care who the chairman was, Christian said, "I am in favor of my brother becoming the new chairman."
"Christian Lucas!" Naturally, Anthony had the biggest reaction. He said, "What do you mean? Don’t forget that I gave you the shares in the company. Do you think you can still remain in this company if you work with Michael to strip me of my position?"
"Father, you’re getting old, and I think it’s time for you to retire so that you can take care of your health," said Christian as if he genuinely meant well for his father, "You must believe that Michael can bring the company to greater heights."
Despite being momentarily surprised by Christian’s actions, Wendy soon figured out his motive. After all, he already knew in advance about Michael’s guaranteed victory today. He was not trying to win Michael’s favor-rather, he wanted to make it difficult for his brother to fire him after this.
After all, people would only see how Christian remained righteous and helped his older brother become the new chairman. They would think negatively of Michael for turning right around and avenging his personal grudge by firing his younger brother after this. Once this matter got out, everyone would criticize Michael for going Overboard and not treating his brother fairly, let alone with love as anyone would expect from family. At the end of the day, outsiders would not care about the exact nature of the relationship between the two brothers.
All they would see was how the situation ended with Christian helping Michael but Michael backstabbing him instead.
Pursing her lips, Wendy could not help but glance at Christian again.
She thought, this man is really scheming. Every single move he makes is well thought out.
Feeling Wendy’s gaze, Christian’s smile grew wider. He met her eyes calmly.
Since Wendy was able to connect the dots, there was no doubt that Michael could as well. His initially confident expression slowly turned gloomy.
At the end of the meeting, he had over 60% of support in terms of the company’s shares. With that, Anthony was stripped of his position as chairman. Feeling weak all of a sudden, he fell back onto a chair.
Michael stood up and smiled respectfully, "I want to thank everybody for their trust and support. I promise that I will bring MC Enterprise to greater heights and live up to everyone’s expectations."
After his courteous speech, Michael glanced at Anthony and said mercilessly, "Due to the former chairman’s old age, I find him to be unsuitable for any position in the company. Now, as the new chairman of the board of directors, I wish to invite the previous chairman to step down and enjoy his golden years in peace."
All the shareholders agreed with Michael, so there was a consensus. Even the older shareholders who supported Anthony were forced to play along. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to maintain a stable footing in MC Enterprise.
Michael then glanced over at Christian. Sighing, he said, "During Christian Lucas’s time as the vice-president, he has accomplished next to nothing. Now..."
Sensing that Michael was about to fire Christian, Wendy had no choice but to step forward, even though she had planned on simply sitting by the sidelines throughout the meeting. She whispered softly into Michael’s ear, advising him, "Be careful."
Those two words made Michael swallow his words again. He felt rather indignant. He could not believe that Christian had still managed to defend himself, even at this stage in the process and in their relationship. Inhaling deeply, Michael suppressed the rage building in his heart and said, "I’ll now give the vice president three months to prove himself. If he still does not accomplish anything, I will choose to leave his position in more capable hands."
The only reason that Christian never did any real work of note for the company was because Michael never entrusted anything important to him. Throughout his entire two months at the company, he had not handled a single project.
He just showed up to work and went home on time every single day. Michael’s decision to withhold important projects from Christian was specifically to be able to set him up for today. He had already been secretly acquiring shares behind his father’s back since the first day Christian stepped into his role at the company.
It was the incident he witnessed at the mansion between Anthony and Winnie that sped up the entire process. What happened today was something that would always have happened sooner or later.
The meeting did not go on for too long, as the conclusion had already been predetermined.
The only variable was Christian. There was no smile on Michael’s face when he returned to the office. Instead, he slammed the documents down on the desk in a rage. Then, he gripped the edges of the desk so hard that veins bulged out of the backs of his hands.
"Michael..." Wendy wanted to comfort him, but she could feel the anger radiating from him without even getting near.
"Aren’t you happy that I didn’t manage to fire Christian?" Michael’s tone grew unpleasant when he thought about Wendy’s advice to him earlier in the conference room.
"What could you possibly mean by that?" Wendy did not expect him to take out his anger on her. "You saw what happened today-if you had fired Christian just like that, it would be no time at all before your reputation was affected and everyone talked about how treacherous you are. Right now, Christian still has no real power in the company. Isn’t it better to just let him hang around for three more months before firing him, like you said the plan was?"
Michael heard took this in, pinching the area between his eyebrows. He spoke in a low tone.
"I’m sorry, I lost control of my emotions." He had an irritable temperament and was easily prone to bursts of anger. If this were like before, he would have kicked her out of the office a long time ago.
His current behavior was considered an improvement. However, this made Wendy understand that no matter how much she tried to explain herself, Michael still doubted her relationship with Christian.
Feeling slightly apprehensive, she approached him slowly and tentatively patted his back. Trying to comfort him, she said, "Michael, you are now the chairman on the board of directors of MC Enterprise, whereas Christian’s role as the vice-president is merely an empty title. This is a victory."
"No, I have not succeeded yet," said Michael sternly as he stared at Wendy. "As long as Christian remains at the company, the two of you will still have plenty of chances to meet."
"I..." Wendy never expected Michael to be so obsessed with this matter. She had initially felt happy when she heard that he wanted Christian to leave because of her. Now, however, she did not feel the same happiness. Instead, she felt worried.
"Wendy, I want you to promise me that you won’t meet Christian again," said Michael intimidatingly as he grabbed her shoulders.
Wendy opened her mouth but at that moment, she did not know what to say. Frowning, he questioned her, "You can’t promise me that?"
"The possibility of us not running into each other here at work is too small, but I can promise you that I won’t meet him privately ever again. After all, we work in the same company, and there are many opportunities for us to run into each other still." This was indeed what Wendy truly thought.
In fact, she felt that even if she did not want to see Christian, he would still find ways to approach her-just like that night when he came to her apartment the moment Michael left.
However, since Michael was presently obsessed with this matter, Wendy needed to placate him first. This was not worth fighting over. Michael was obviously a little unhappy with her response, but he couldn’t deny that Wendy’s reasoning made complete sense. He could only try to figure out ways to kick Christian out of the Company even sooner.
"Michael Lucas, you traitor!" Anthony’s furious voice rang out from outside Michael’s office.
Just then, Anthony entered the president’s office and casually grabbed the first thing he saw to throw at Michael.
Michael did not dodge his attack. He stood still and endured it. The piece of decor hit Michael’s forehead and a resonated with a thud. It was made of iron and had sharp edges. Fresh blood instantly flowed down Michael’s face.
Wendy covered her mouth in shock. She immediately rushed over to check on his open wound and said, "Michael, you.."
Michael pushed her away, not wanting her to get involved in this.
"Do you hate me that much? How dare you go behind my back to take me down?! What exactly did I do so wrong to you? I gave you 15% of the company’s shares when I only gave 5% to your mother. I even let you become the president. What exactly were you so unhappy about that you had to be so cruel to me?!" Blue veins bulged on Anthony’s forehead as his complexion grew flushed. When he spoke, spit flew everywhere. It was clear just how furious he was.
"Do you really not know why I hate you so much?" Michael tried to tolerate the throbbing pain in his forehead. There was blood on his lips as he sneered, and it was both a charming and tragic sight.
"Even if I let your mother down, I never treated you badly," said Anthony. Knowing that his behavior was wrong, he did not speak especially confidently. However, he still relied on his role as Michael’s father and lectured his son, "Haven’t I given you everything that you wanted since you were a child? You just had to ask for it. If not for me, would you have been able to become the president of MC Enterprise and have your Current ability and status?"
"Haha..." Michael snorted, "if not for you, I would have led an even better life. Do you think I care about being the president of MC Enterprise?"
"If you didn’t, why did you call for this meeting?"
Anthony did not understand what was going on.
He said, "l am your father, and MC Enterprise will naturally become yours after I retire. You couldn’t even wait for two more years? Did you really have to embarrass me like that in front of so many people?"
"I’m only taking it from you because you care so much about it," replied Michael mercilessly.
"Do you hate me that much?" Anthony’s hands were trembling. He did not expect Michael to resent him so deeply. He had asked this question several times now.
"Yes, I hate you, and very much so," said Michael, his face darkening. "This is the first of many things that I will do to you."
"What else do you intend to do?" Anthony stared at Michael with trepidation. He could not believe that the man standing in front of him was his biological son. "No matter what, I’m still your father! Will you only stop when I’m dead?"
