"The reason why the projects were allowed and why the annual profit was even lower than eleven years ago is that all of your pockets were the thickest during this past year."
No one reacted, but they were not looking at me either.
"Come on, look at me," I dared them.
They are not looking at me because they are feeling guilty. They are not looking because I simply hit the nail on the head.
That's all.
Because I aired their dirty laundry without inhibition.
"This is already getting too much, Lilith Kingsley," Richard finally spoke after being silent for a while.
"65 percent, Richard Kingsley," I retorted.
This shut him up once again.
Then I turned to the board members again.
"I have the right to speak my mind because this is basically MY company now."
I made sure to wave what I hold even more in front of them.
That I hold the power here.
"And right now, what I want is profit, not losses."
I held my hand towards Hannah.
She took a bunch of USB drives and gave them to me.
I placed my hand above the table, then dropped it like candies being dropped for children to take for themselves.
"Here are the files that I compiled, which are presented by all of you. And the projects that you all approved without thinking about the company."
Putting both my hands on the table, I said, "Now prove to me why you are all part of the board. Meeting adjourned."
Then I left.
...
*Bang*
Gary slammed his hand on the table in irritation. He was the one who was insulted the most.
He could not even retort, and to top it off, that woman was way younger than him.
"Why is that woman the one alive right now?" Francis looked at Richard, not giving Gary attention for his tantrum.
They are all aware that everything happened because of his own carelessness.
Gary looked at Richard with blazing eyes while the others were also glaring at him, though not as intensely.
"That's right, why did you allow that problem child to return?" Gary followed.
"Who told you to be stupid?" Richard retorted.
Among the board members, it was only Francis whom he treated with respect.
"!!" Gary wanted to retort, but ended up being silenced by Francis's look.
"I thought she would be the first among all of them?" Francis asked again.
"Riven did not let her know about what was going on," Richard sighed.
Everything was already prepared for her arrival, yet who would have thought she wouldn't return despite the death of her parents and grandfather.
He only realized that this was the case when Lilith arrived after Riven's death. Riven had been brushing off the topic of Lilith every now and then.
Using what they all desire, money. Talking about the profits they would get for projects whenever they tried to ask him about her.
"And you did not prepare for her arrival after any of the other deaths?"
Richard shook his head, "No one anticipated her arrival. The eyes I put on her lost her."
He had placed people to keep an eye on her.
So that he would know when she finally received the news and decided to return, yet one way or another, he lost contact with them.
He should have known then.
He only thought that, since they received the money, they decided to run away with it.
But with how Lilith handled the five men he sent, it was obvious that his eyes were also disposed of.
"And? You did not try warning her?" Francis continued asking.
"I did. But..." Richard trailed off.
"How many did you send?"
As Francis questioned Richard, the rest of the board members simply watched the exchange.
"F- Five."
"..."
Silence followed.
The clock ticked, and all Richard could do was stare at his hands.
Francis sighed before standing up, "That is not how you warn others. Have you forgotten the example that man showed you with the rest of the people we dealt with?"
"Yes..." Richard replied.
Francis walked over, placing a hand on Richard's shoulder, "I'll let Gary handle it for now. You must have looked down on your niece."
Richard nodded his head while Gary looked triumphant.
"That child is the problem child. She may be able to defeat a few, but she surely can't handle more," Francis added, picking up a USB drive.
"Have the IT department check if there are any bugs on these drives. If none, then just follow her for now. Gary, you do your work this evening. I need results tomorrow."
After that, he also left the room.
"Watch and learn," Gary gloatingly said to Richard as he picked another USB drive.
The rest followed, and soon the only one left in the meeting room was Richard.
Richard purposely did not speak about Lilith's return gift when Francis gave the task to Gary. That man even gloated at him.
Richard did not wish for Gary to fail, but he still looked forward to his niece's return gift.
"Let's see you gloat if you indeed fail," he muttered.
But there is one thing he is also wondering about, whether Francis did not bother asking about Lilith's husband, or if he was planning on asking at a separate occasion.
...
"I want to change everything to black," I said to Hannah after we returned to my office.
Looking around, I remembered Kieran's setup and decided that I wanted it that way too.
Hannah nodded her head, "Very well. I will get everything done."
"We will add a coffee machine here, so be sure to add a table for that," I then said.
Hannah took note of it.
After some thought, "We're done for the day. I'll visit Kieran's office."
I took my bag and left the office, but before going to the Sinclair Empire building, I went to the closest mall.
Planning to buy something for his office.