Husband With Benefits
Chapter 366: A Setback

Chapter 366: A Setback

Demetri sat at the head of the conference table, flanked by Ian on one side and Lucien on the other as Seb took his place, his piercing gaze locking onto Elena’s as she settled into her seat with an air of smug satisfaction.

Elena looked at the three brothers and smirked as she took the seat on the opposite end. Very soon, she would make sure that Demetri would not be able to take that chair again.

With a thin smile at Demetri, venom dripping in every word, she murmured," I hope you don’t mind, Demetri. Business is business. As for Gabe, he needed to be elsewhere so he had to transfer his stocks to me."

A cold smile played on Demetri’s lips, his voice steady. "You mean the power of attorney to his stocks, Mrs. Winthrope."

"That’s splitting hairs, Demon," she retorted dismissively. "I have the complete power of attorney, to do with them as I want."

The silence that followed was simmering with resentment and anger as Elena leaned back and waited for Demetri to refute.

"So, what is it that you want to do?" Ian, broke the silence as he looked at the stock holders, his question direct. He’d already investigated them and knew that most of them were simply dummy holders for Elena, who’d been planning this for a long time. While the remaining few had their own agendas.

Elena smirked at Ian," I like how you want to get this over with, so I’ll be direct. When you liquidated your stocks previously, you reduced your percentage for each of you, maintaining your majority by combining your ten percent each. But,I now have Gabe’s stocks which brings your share to fifty percent instead of sixty seven percent. So, while that might not make e majority, it puts us at an exual footing. Neat, isn’t it."

Lucien smiled at that," Thank you for breaking that down for us, Mrs Winthrope. We would not have been able to calculate that otherwise."

"Are you trying to be smart with me, Lucien? Are you so overconfident that you can handle this?"

"Not over-confident. Just Confident."

"I like how you all maintain this unconcerned front. But it’s no use. I’ve won this time."

"If you say so. Should we get to the point now?" Demetri added.

Elena leaned forward, her eyes glinting with triumph. "Oh, we’ll get to the point, Demetri. But before that, let’s discuss the terms of your surrender."

Demetri raised an eyebrow, his composure unwavering. "Terms of surrender? I wasn’t aware this was a war that we’d lost, Elena."

She chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down the spines of those in the room. "Oh, it is, Demetri. And you’re about to realize just how powerless you are."

With a flourish, she produced a document from her briefcase and slid it across the table. "Here are my terms. First and foremost, I want a complete overhaul of the entire management. I’m talking about new faces, new blood, people who understand the future of the industry."

Seb scoffed, unable to contain himself. "You expect us to just hand over the reins of our family business to your puppets?"

Elena’s gaze turned icy. "Oh, they won’t be puppets, Seb. They’ll be competent professionals who understand the modern market dynamics. Unlike your outdated methods and old-fashioned mindset." She continued, "Secondly, I want all of you to resign from your executive director positions. I’ll graciously allow you to stay on as figureheads, but the real power will lie with the new management. It’s time for a fresh start, a new era under my leadership."

Demetri leaned back in his chair, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "These demands are quite ambitious, Elena. Do you really think we would agree to such terms?"

Elena’s smile never wavered. "You don’t have much of a choice, Demetri. Either you accept these terms or I will drop fifty percent of the stocks in the market tomorrow and you know what will happen then. I will also mkae public the information about Gabe, how he abducted my daughter and kept her under imprisonment all this while."

The room fell silent as the weight of her threat hung in the air.

Finally, Demetri leaned forward, a troubled expression on his face as he said," I see."

"Thats it? I suggest you get to drafting your resignation, Demetri. After all, the longer you resist, the more damage I can inflict."

Demetri turned his head to Lucien and nodded once who understood and sighed," I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Mrs Winthrope but there is a small problem in your calculation."

Elena stilled and narrowed her eyes. They definitely had some trick up their sleeve."

"I’ve already made certain that my calculations are correct. So you cannot fool me."

"Oh, but I can. You see, there is a problem with Gabe’s stocks."

"What do you mean? Are you trying to mislead me? I verified that he is the owned of seventeen percent stocks. I also know that he has not sold his stocks or there would have been a transfer certificate. So..."

"Ah! He is the owner of seventeen percent stocks but he is not authorized to give the power of attorney to all those stocks. You see..."

Slowly, Lucien pulled out a file and passed it to his assistant standing behind him, who then carried it over to Elena. "Now, where was I? Ah yes. The problem with Gabe’s stocks is that he mortgaged his share of stocks to the company a year ago, before he left. And according to the papers, the power of attorney to those shares belongs to the chairman of the bank... who happens to be... me."

Elena’s eyes widened in shock, disbelief washing over her smug demeanor. She quickly scanned the document Lucien had handed her, her fingers trembling slightly as she read the intricate details.

"This... this can’t be true," she stammered, her voice wavering.

Lucien gave a sympathetic but entirely fake smile as he consoled," So, you have the POA to only seven percent of his shares.. Which makes this ratio back to sixty: forty..."

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