A premeditated accident

《A few days later》

After Nicholas had acquired all of Rafael's and Rachel's shares in the , along with all of the scattered shares he had been buying, he finally secured a seat at the Carthwright Group's decision making meeting.

Even though Vincent Carthwright was the head of the group, his status had gradually declined after the incident three years ago between his wife and one of his mistresses that took her life.

If became even worse when he couldn't even acquire the yatch company from Richard, and now, Rafael his son whom he thought had acquired it told him he handed it over to someone else.

He was really angry when he was told that but there was nothing he could do. The yatch company that would have helped enable their stand in the company had been given out by his stupid son.

Not one of the shareholders respected him anymore after the first incident talk more of now even though he was the first born son of old Mr. Carthwright.

Even though he knew that at this decision making meeting that was about to take place, he would not be able to sustain his position as the CEO, he still hoped that one of his children would take his position.

He didn't want the legacy to be passed away to his brother's son, Richard. Just the mere thought of it made him shiver at his spot. He of all people knew how reckless and evil Richard is so he would do everything in his power for the legacy to stay in his family.

One by one, the shareholders trooped into the large meeting hall. After they had settled, the three heirs to the company walked in; Rafael, Richard and Rachel.

"Now that we're all here, let's start the meeti..."

"Wait.." Rachel suddenly said, interrupting her father.

"What is it?" Vincent asked her in confusion, wondering what was happening.

"There's still one more person yet to come. Without him, we can't start this meeting." She explained.

"One person?" Vincent asked himself as his eyes roamed around all of the shareholders seated. He recognized all of them and there was no one missing at all.

He was about to ask who it was when the door was pushed open from the outside revealing Liam first before Nicholas came in. The whole crowd were really stunned to see the famous Nicholas Armani there.

They've heard of him before but they never expected he would be a shareholder in the company; an important one at that. Richard stared at Nicholas' figure with a deep frown on his face.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he angrily stood up from his seat.

"Same thing you came here to do. Participate in the election of a new CEO." Liam answered him.

"What?? You can't do that. You have no right to." Richard said.

"He has equal rights as all three of us and I'm sure you know that already." Rafael said to him and that only made him angrier.

"So what?? He hasn't been in the company for a long time so his right has already been forfeited." Richard argued.

"And what rule states that?" Rachel was the one to ask him this time. Richard opened his mouth but no words could come out.

"As long as he is a Carthwright by blood, he has every right to be here and take part in the election." Rachel added and the whole room turned into a loud uproar.

"A Cartwright by blood??" A shareholder muttered.

"What does that mean??" A second one said.

"Is he an illegitimate son of one of the three brothers??" Another muttered.

"He isn't an illegitimate son." Rafael said, answering the shareholder's question.

"So how's he related to the Cartwright?" Asked the shareholder again.

Rafael stared at Nicholas and he gave him a small nod, signaling to him to go ahead; "He is the first born and legitimate son of William, my uncle whom recently passed away after years of being in coma." Rafael explained and the whole room turned into a loud uproar again.

Vincent on the other hand had been staring deeply at Nicholas since the time he entered the hall. He looked so similar to his younger brother William; the stance, the gaze and even the aura.

So when Rafael announced his true identity, he wasn't really shocked, only scared. He saw the look in his eyes and he knew that Nicholas didn't come to play.

Handling Richard was already a problem but Nicholas joined now, it would be a big issue. He turned to Rafael and Rachel and gave them a disapproving look. He thought his children would at least support him but instead, they are warmly welcoming the enemy into their territory.

After the introduction, the hall finally calmed down and the election kicked off immediately. Surprisingly, Rachel and Rafael didn't join as one of the candidates for the post and that only infuriated their father the more.

Richard and Nicholas were the only one participating in the election. At first, the shareholders didn't want to acknowledge Nicholas until after Rafael amd Liam presented all of his achievements in the company within the short time he was there, including taking over te yatch conpany from Richard.

Seeing that even Rafael and Rachel supported his claim, they had no choice but to acknowledge him as they didn't even want Richard to take the position in the first place.

When it was time to vote, ninty percent of the shareholders including Rafael and Rachel voted for Nicholas so he emerged to winner and the new CEO of the Carthwright Group.

This fact enraged both Richard and Vincent but there was nothing they could do. Their worst fears and finally come to pass. After the meeting was over, Nicholas shared a last look with Vincent.

Vincent's face that was initially pale with anger suddenly changed into fear when he noticed the look on Nicholas eyes. He knew that this wasn't the end. Taking over the company was just the beginning for him.

He knew Nicholas wasn't going to stop there after what he did to his father, William. After inflicting the fear he wanted by just a look, Nicholas left with a satisfied smile on his face.

As he got to the company's garage, he told Liam he wanted to ride alone to meet with his wife so Liam took a designated car back home. Nicholas drove alone to Catherine's company and they left together for their house.

As Nicholas drove back home, he explained to Catherine the outcome of the election and Catherine couldn't be more proud of him. She was glad that her appearance in his life didn't change his future.

As they were busy talking and laughing amongst themselves, they didn't expect a crazed Richard to drive into their car. Before Nicholas could swerve out of the way, Richard's car crashed into theirs, causing a big accident.