The voices of dissatisfaction kept growing against her. Except for the loyal supporters of Lana's mother, everyone else started demanding resignation from Lana.
Lana looked at everyone with her sharp gaze and spoke in a chilling voice, "So every single one of you, who did nothing for this company throughout their lives, now wants to ask for my resignation?"
"Lana, you have other ways of earning money aside from this company. You are a very capable and renowned lawyer in this city and have already made a name for yourself. But for people like us who are now in the last phase of our life, the profits from this company is our only source of income.
We cannot allow this empire to crumble down and suffer losses for the rest of our life because of your mistake," said one man in his sixties who also wanted Lana to step down as the CEO.
"So for most of you, everything is about the profits and not what is best for the company. You people don't care whether the next elected person would be right for the company or not!
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtIf this is what everyone wants, then I am ready to resign from this position. But before we initiate the process of my resignation why don't you all vote and elect a new CEO? I would love to see how capable the new CEO of the company is."
As soon as Lana said this, the entire hall went in an uproar and they all started discussing who would be the best person for the post. Lana's uncle, Jay Zhao, signaled one person, who was in cahoots with him, and he stood up and mentioned his name for the post of the CEO.
Everyone nodded and after two more members gave their names the voting started for the next CEO.
Jay Zhao had bribed many board members who were present and because of this, he was certain about receiving the highest votes. He could feel his victory even before the voting commenced.
Just as the staff was preparing for the voting, the door of the meeting room opened and Loli walked in hurriedly. She looked as though she had come running here and was even panting as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She looked at Lana and nodded slightly.
Loli then reached Lana and handed her something. Lana's eyes swept through the papers and a triumphant smile crept up on her face. Lana looked at Loli and whispered something in her ears before she stood up from her seat and walked towards the projector, and inserted a pendrive in it.
"Excuse me, everyone, may I have your attention, please? Before we all start voting let us learn more about our candidates and understand their vision for our company in detail."
Her words made everyone frown and they started looking at the screen.
"Mr. Jay Zhao, as we all know, is very anxious about the falling profits and the slumping sales of our company. Not to mention, he is even worried about the reputation of the company as well. Am I right Mr. Jay Zhao?"
Lana looked into his eyes intently and gave him a meaningful look. She then turned her gaze towards the rest of the board members and gestured to them to look at the screen.
"These are the sales figures of our company two months after I left, I mean I "ABANDONED" you all and the company. Even after seven months the sales never dropped." Lana showed the sales figures and the charts showing the steady increase in sales of their cosmetic products.
"The sales started dropping four months before I came back, and I would like you all to focus your attention on the sudden drop in sales.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmOur company showed great progress and had excellent sales which kept increasing when our team was headed by Mr. Oliver. Unfortunately, he was forced to leave because he was pressurized by some so-called higher up in the company.
Mr. Oliver was replaced with Mr. Kent, and his credentials were approved by the same person. His job appointment was confirmed even before the HR department could do a background check on him."
Lana turned to face the board members and her gaze sharpened when she spoke next.
"Right now most of you must be wondering what does this all has to do with the voting and why I am wasting everyone's time here! You are right… but here comes the most interesting part of the story.
The higher up who fired Mr. Oliver is the same person who hired Mr. Kent. On one side we have Mr. Oliver who was a long term senior employee in our company. He was the most trusted, faithful, and loyal worker who didn't bend any unspoken rules.
And on the other side, we have Mr. Kent, whose work performance is among the lowest rate. He didn't have a background check run on him so we don't even know if he is qualified enough to be in this position. He single-handedly changed the most hard-working team to the team which makes the least profits."
People started murmuring when they heard the things Lana spoke and most of them understood what Lana was implying. Irked by her words, Jay Zhao shared a look with the person he had bribed. He immediately stood up and started slandering Lana for everything she said.
"How dare you try to blame someone else for the losses incurred because of your reputation and incompetence? If it is so difficult to own your mistakes, then why do anything wrong in the first place?"
Kyle, who was sitting nonchalantly, observing everyone as they discussed and remarked, smirked and suddenly sat up straight on his chair. He kept his arms on the table and looked at Lana who was standing with her chin up, bravely accepting all the accusations directed at her.
Kyle then spoke in a loud and overbearing tone, "So Ms. Lana Huang, are you planning to defame someone among us to escape the humiliation and keep your position as the CEO of the company? Do you think that we are a bunch of fools sitting here? Are you implying that all of us will believe your words and let you off?"