When Ableson awoke, he found himself in a hospital bed, and his head was heavily bandaged.
Upon seeing Ableson awake, his secretary, a nervous wreck, stuttered, "Mr. Lopez…"
It took a while for Ableson to process that his secretary was now addressing him as "Mr. Lopez," rather than "President Lopez."
Propping himself up on his elbow, he gruffly asked, "Where is everyone else?"
Taken aback, the secretary asked, "You mean… who exactly?"
With an irritated look, Ableson snapped, "Who else could I mean? The other stakeholders! That bitch Eileen dared to lay a hand on me on my own turf! They were all witnesses! Did they call the police?"
The secretary, with a twitching corner of his mouth, replied, "Err…"
"What do you mean 'err'? Did they call the police or not?" Ableson demanded.
"Actually, they didn't," the secretary said.
Ableson was taken aback. "They didn’t call the police? Is it because they pity Eileen since she is my adopted daughter? Foolish! Where are they? Outside? Call them in."
The secretary's mouth twitched even more as he said, "Well…"
"What's wrong with you today? You're stuttering and stammering! Spit it out!" Ableson was becoming impatient.
The secretary took a deep breath, then said, "Mr. Lopez, the shareholders are not outside. In fact, after they called the ambulance for you, they went out to have lunch with… President Lopez."
"What?" Ableson's eyes widened in shock. "What President Lopez? I'm right here! There's no second President Lopez in Apex Synergy Group! Where's my phone? Give me my phone!"
The secretary hurriedly handed him his phone, along with a document, saying, "Mr. Lopez, this is a document that requires your signature…"
Ableson was about to dial Clark's number when he glanced at the document and noticed the words "Company Renaming Proposal" at the top of the page.
Ableson was flabbergasted. He snatched the document and began flipping through it. The more he read, the more livid he became. "What is this?!" He shouted.
The secretary handed him a pen and said, "This is a renaming proposal for the company. President Lopez suggested that 'Apex Synergy Group' should be renamed to 'Nathan Finance'. Out of eight shareholders, seven have already signed the proposal. Only your signature is missing. President Lopez instructed me to have you sign it as soon as you woke up."
Ableson was trembling with rage as he shouted, "Absurd!"
Seeing that Ableson was about to explode, the secretary quickly added, "But President Lopez also said that if you do not wish to sign, you don't have to. Whether you sign or not, it won't change the final decision."
Ableson, in a fit of anger, ripped the proposal to shreds! Moments later, the entire room was covered with bits of paper. Finally, Ableson seemed to have vented some of his anger. He glowered and said, "That little bastard thinks she can overthrow me. Dream on!"
Shaking his head, the secretary lifted a box from the floor and placed it on Ableson's bed. "Mr. Lopez, the document you ripped wasn't the original. President Lopez predicted you might tear it up in a fit of rage, so she had me prepare fifty copies. If you wish, you can tear them up one by one."
Ableson stared at the box full of copies, his eyes bulging out of his head!
The secretary added, "President Lopez also said that she showed you the proposal out of respect for you. She said she's a civilized person who doesn't stoop to underhanded tactics. If she wants to change the name of your company, she'll do it openly and honestly. If she wants to strip you of your position and power, she'll do it openly and honestly. She also said that if you're angry after hearing all this, then she's done right."
Ableson was left speechless. Seeing Ableson's veins bulging out in anger, the secretary quickly retreated a few steps to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Meanwhile, at a VIP booth in a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Clark, representing the others, stood and raised his glass in a toast to Eileen, who responded with a smile, clinking her juice glass against his.
Another shareholder chimed in, "Come on, waiter, let's fill up President Lopez's glass. Today is a big day for President Lopez's inauguration at the group, it's not right to be drinking juice. She should be drinking wine."
The waiter, following the instruction, was about to pour wine into Eileen's glass.
Eileen, however, placed her palm over the rim of her glass. Her eyes slowly shifted to the shareholder who had made the suggestion. At first, the shareholder didn't realize what was happening. But when the room suddenly went quiet and everyone turned to look at him, he finally understood and began to sweat.
Clark sighed, relieving the tension, "Why must we limit ourselves to wine? Juice is fine. Waiter, please bring us more juice."
After the waiter left, Eileen moved her hand away from her glass and said, "Let's eat."
Halfway through the meal, some of the shareholders' phones began ringing. Eileen knew that it was Ableson calling them, but she didn't care.
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