Chapter 3

Meeting hall:

Shareholders and the board of directors were already waiting for Christian's arrival. The murmur of sounds could be heard inside as they began talking to each other. Different people inside had different thoughts. Some were in Christian's favor whereas some were against him.

As soon as the door to the room opened and Christian entered, everyone in the room stood up and chanted, “President.” They only sat down after Christian did. The room fell into a complete silence, which they called ‘pin-drop silence. Christian eyed everyone in the room, then raised his hand forward indicating the start of the meeting.

Directors from different departments stood one by one and began to present their plannings and the works they had done during the month. They provided Christian with a detailed report of everything. After they finished speaking, Christian began to read each report carefully. They were already used to their president’s habit, so they did not dare to speak a word in fear of disturbing him.

Finally, only the revenue department was left to present their report. The head of the revenue department was a middle-aged man who was in his late 40's. Beans of perspiration could be seen in his forehead as he stood up and all the attention fell on him. He nervously wiped up the sweat with his handkerchief and replied stammeringly, “Boss, this is the file of this month’s revenue and profit generated by our company.”

Everyone held their breath as Christian began to read the report thoroughly. After a while, a thud could be heard in the meeting room which made everyone present in the room shiver. They looked up to see that Christian had thrown the report file in the round desk.

Seeing a smirk pasted on his face, all those present in the room could guess what was about to come next. They began to sympathize with the head of the revenge department in their heart. They also readied themselves for what was coming next.

And as expected, Christian’s cold voice sounded, “So, you showed me this file to tell that our company suffered a 1% loss this month?”

The head of the revenue department trembled at his boss's words but still managed to reply, “Boss, it is not lost. It’s just that our profit decrease by 1% this month from the previous month. It is only because we had spent a bit more since our new mall is starting soon. After the mall begins to operate, we can easily cover this 1% and our profit margin will also start to rise.”

“Heh," he laughed, “So, you mean to say that the amount which we specifically saved for this project was not enough that you needed more amount than that to complete it?

Christian then turned to another middle-aged man who was seated on his left side and asked, “Mr. Shawn, as the head of the planning department, can you clarify why the budget we planned for this project was not enough?”

Mr. Shawn, head of the planning department wanted to beat the head of the revenue department for making him a scapegoat. But since they were in a meeting in front of Christian, he could only curse his luck and stand up to give Christian a satisfying reason.

Mr. Shawn then spoke, “Boss, actually Mr. Wilson, the CEO of Will Corporation, from where we were planning to buy the construction material suddenly increased his price by 20% and he was not willing to decrease the price. We had already started the project and needed the materials urgently so we had to buy those materials from him at a high price. That is why the budget we separated for this project was not enough and we had to spend more.” Mr. Shawn replied in one breath. After saying his part, he took out his handkerchief from his pocket and started to wipe the sweat formed in his forehead. He was waiting for his boss's response but all he got was an indifferent look and silence.

“Heh! That old man must be courageous, huh? He actually dared to go back on his words and even tried to negotiate? Is he willing to die so much that he dares to offend me?” He said out loud intentionally so that everyone could hear him.

Everyone shivered when they heard him because they knew that their boss was not the type of person who only speaks, she actually dares to do it. There was one time when a middle-aged man, the CEO of one of the top 10 companies of the country, dares to provoke him and actually asked him to get his (Christian’s) sister(Catherine) married to him in a meeting while negotiating the terms and condition.

At that time, Christian was silent and did not speak a word. But just two days later, there was the news on that very CEO who demanded to marry Catherine. The news said that his business has gone bankrupt and he was transferred to a mental asylum after that. There were also signs of someone forcing into his body. From the moment on, they realized how cruel their CEO could be and he was not someone to be provoked. Now that Mr. Wilson has crossed the line, only time can tell what is going to happen to him. These were the thoughts of almost everyone present in the meeting room.

“But Mr. Shawn, this does not mean you have got off the hook, right?” Christian broke off the silence which was emanating in the room.

Being called on like that, Mr. Shawn trembled and said, “Boss, I don’t understand what you mean?”

“Oh? You don’t understand? From when have our employees become this dense, Zen?” Christian spoke. It looked like he was asking Zen but everyone knew that he was actually condemning Mr. Shawn for his stupidity.

Everyone, even the head of the revenue department who was trembling before, now pitied Mr. Shawn to fall under Mr. Shawn’s radar. It was not exactly his fault that he did not understand the boss. Anyone would feel the same if they were in his place. But nobody dared to speak and stand for him, and just continue listening to their boss.

Mr. Shawn now wanted to cry but no tears came out.

Zen understood Christian’s intention. He wanted him to clarify his words, so he replied sarcastically, “Mr. Shawn, boss’s meaning is that you dared to agree to Mr. Wilson without discussing with the boss first? How dare you agree to his conditions on your own? Are you our boss’s boss or is our boss your boss? Do you not want to work here anymore?”

Mr. Shawn knew that Zen was Christian’s right-hand man and whatever he spoke was actually his boss’s words. Mr. Shawn now felt that everything was over and he nearly fainted right then and there. The thing their boss hated the most was someone outsmarting him. Now that he had done that thing, he was not sure if he would ever be able to live the same life.

But before his boss could decide on his punishment, Mr. Shawn hurriedly spoke, “Boss, trust me, I did not know that you were unaware of this. Mr. Wilson told me that he has already contacted you about this and you have accepted the proposal. He said that I can directly send you the new contract and you will sign it immediately. I was not sure about it but when I handed you the contract, you really signed it. So, I thought that you were already aware of this.

Zen, who was sitting beside Christian, was confused when he heard this. Because he never heard of Mr. Wilson talking about this with his boss. If the event had really occurred, he would have been aware of it.

Just then, he got a look from his boss and he immediately knew that they actually got tricked by Mr. Wilson. Now when he thought about it carefully, he remembered that Mr. Wilson had really called them that day saying that the contract had some flaws on it, so they will have to sign in again.

Before signing, they did check the previous contact and they really found a flaw so, his boss did not give it much thought and just signed the contract. Moreover, Christian was not feeling well that day so he did not think much about it and just signed the documents. Zen cursed at himself inwardly after realizing that the plan was all well- settled by Mr. Wilson.

“Hah! That Mr. Wilson actually dared to trick boss. He must have been tired of living.” Zen thought.

After Mr. Shawn finished his words, everyone started whispering among one another about it. But they all stopped when they felt a cold glare from their boss and the room once again returned to complete silence.

Christian broke the silence by speaking, “The head of the planning department, i.e. you, Mr. Shawn, will not be getting any salary and bonus this month since you were careless with your work.”

Mr. Shawn breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that it was actually a better outcome than he had expected and thanked his boss in his heart for letting him go.

“End” Christian announced, stood up, and walked out of the meeting room, indicating the end of the meeting.

Zen followed after him and everyone else also started to leave gradually.