Clarence took a step forward, but someone stopped him by holding his hand.
He turned around and saw Stella silently staring at him.
Clarence held Stella’s hand and said, “Don’t worry. Everything will be over today.”
“What do you want to have for dinner? I’ll make it for you.”
Clarence smiled mischievously, “I liked everything you made.”
Stella smiled and covered her face with the blanket. She muttered, “Stop it.”
“It’s true.”
Stella let go of Clarence, “Alright, alright. Go now.”
Clarence headed to the door, but he returned and kissed Stella on her lips, “Wait for me to come
home.”
“I will.”
After Clarence left, Stella lay on the bed with her eyes closed, but she wasn’t sleepy anymore.
Stella sat up from the bed and scratched her head. Then, she took her cell phone to see what time it
was.
It was seven-thirty in the morning.
Stella yawned and got out of bed.
When Sherry and Elaine arrived at Stella’s house at nine o’clock in the morning, they were surprised to
see a table full of delicate and delicious breakfast.
Sherry asked, “What’s the celebration?”
Stella walked out from the kitchen and replied, “There’s no celebration. It’s just that the fridge is full of
food, and I don’t want to waste them.”
Elaine said, “But we can’t finish all these.”
“It’s alright. Just take whatever you want you to eat, then I’ll pack the rest up and take it to our studio,”
Stella then put down what she was holding and headed into the kitchen again, “Oh, you guys should
have dinner outside tonight. You can even order food delivery if you want.”
“What…”
Sherry quickly nudged Elaine.
Sherry replied, “Sure! I could show Elaine around our campus as well. There’s a lot of good food there.”
Stella nodded, “Alright.”
After Stella walked into the kitchen, Sherry scolded Elaine, “You silly girl. Stella and Clarence are going
to date tonight. Do you want to be the third wheel?”
Only then did Elaine realize how silly she was. She covered her mouth as a sign of regret in saying the
wrong thing.
Sherry patted Elaine’s shoulder, “We should come back at late night, and try to be as sneaky as
possible so that Stella and Clarence aren’t disturbed.”
…
In the Conrad Group.
It wasn’t even the operating hour, but all the staff had arrived in the office. It felt pretty tense.
Every pantry was filled with people gossiping around.
“What do you think the board wants this time? I’ve heard something, but they felt like rumours.”
“Is it about Mr. Conrad’s resignation? I’ve heard those too. It didn’t seem possible though.”
“Why not? Didn’t you know what happened to the Conrad Group lately? Mr. Conrad brought the
person-in-charge from different branches back. Plus, there were changes in a few major ongoing
projects. I’ve even heard that the share of the company…”
“Shh! Don’t spread the rumours.”
“Who’s going to take over the Conrad Group if Mr. Conrad resigned?”
“Didn’t Mr. Conrad have a brother? Could he be the one taking over the company?”
“But I heard that he is in a wheelchair? He wasn't even involved in any previous project. It doesn’t feel
right if he’s the one taking over the company.”
“But we won’t have any say in this.”
“True. All these guessing are useless anyway. We’ll know about it after the board meeting today.”
“You’re not wrong, but the Conrad Group would be a little unstable if Mr. Conrad resigned.”
“I don’t want Mr. Conrad to resign.”
“Me too…”
At the same time, in the CEO’s office.
The assistant knocked on the door and entered the room. He said, “Mr. Conrad, the board members
are here.”
Clarence nodded and glanced at his watch, “How long till Nathan gets here?”
“Mr. Lance just got off the plane. It’s going to take around half an hour to reach here.”
“Alright. Prepare the necessary documents and bring them to the meeting room. I’ll be there in ten
minutes.”
“Sure.”
The board members were discussing and gossiping in the meeting room.
They were all working under Clarence after Clarence got rid of Dempsey Conrad’s people.
These people got the news about Clarence’s resignation a few days ago, and most of them didn’t
agree with it.
Some of them were trained by Clarence since they got hired, and some of them used to work under
Dempsey but now they’re helping Clarence.
Witnessing the development of the company, all the board members were clear that Clarence was the
key to success for Conrad Group.
The share price of the Conrad Group would definitely drop once Clarence resigned. No one could
survive the wave.
The fate of Conrad Group lay with Clarence.
The board members started to express their rejections of Clarence’s resignation when he walked into
the meeting room.
Clarence sat on his chair and listened quietly without stopping them.
The board members went on and on for about five minutes before they stopped to grab a glass of
water.
Clarence then said calmly, “Are you all done talking yet?”
An older board member told Clarence, “We’re done, and we hope that Mr. Conrad would take our
opinions seriously.”
Clarence said, “I’ve made up my mind. There’ll be no changes.”
“You…”
Clarence continued, “Everything is well-arranged for after I leave the company. All the projects will go
on as usual. There’ll be no harm to all your profits.”
Some board members tried to cover their embarrassment by coughing, “What are you saying? It’s not
what we meant.”
“Everyone likes profits. I knew why you all stand with me from the beginning,” Clarence placed his hand
on the desk and continued calmly, “I believe some of you wasn’t very happy with me being an
illegitimate child, and you all thought that I was going to ruin the company’s reputation.”
It was exactly what some of the older board members thought.
They used to feel unhappy with Clarence because of his origin, but all they did was gossip behind his
back. After all, who’d give up on thick profits? The profits Clarence gave them was way better than that
in Dempsey’s time.
Suddenly, one of the board members who previously kept quiet said, “The fact that Mr. Conrad held this
position long enough proved that one’s status doesn’t define his capabilities.”
Then, the rest of the board members chimed in, “Yes, it’s just a status. It meant nothing. Plus, you’re
the only person left in the Conrad family. The company will lack a leader if you resign.”
Clarence replied, “You should remember that I have a brother.”
The board members stopped talking and looked at each other.
“He is the legal heir of the Conrad family. The Conrad Group should belong to him.”
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