"That kid is unreliable. He's not like Virtus, who managed to unite us all with his ambition and high spirits."
"Exactly! Virtus gave us a deal that benefited both us and the company! Without him, this company has become stagnant! And that kid is just squandering his inheritance."
"I heard he's living with Virtus's second family? A stepfamily full of women, huh? A young man like him must be satisfied with his life. Having sex every day with women who are his stepfamily. Truly typical of a Fortis descendant."
Bang!
The iron round table was slammed hard by the palm of a man wearing square glasses.
The man with square glasses looked at each of the twelve Executive Board members sitting at the round table. With a cold and serious gaze, he replied.
"Ladies and gentlemen. You must remember, the child you are talking about is only 16 years old. What were you doing when you were 16? And then you casually expect a teenager like that to lead our company and expect the same results as when his father sat in this chair?" The man with square glasses lifted the nameplate in front of him that read CEO Fortis company.
Then the man with square glasses sighed deeply. He saw some faces begin to relax and some faces become even more tense.
"At least, when I was 16, I was already working hard and starting to build my dream brick by brick until I could sit here. I didn't just sit around and wait. If I deem the current legitimate heir unworthy, then I will gladly say that I will withdraw from Fortis company."
"Me too, the Reiss family is now more promising with their intelligent young lady managing all of her company's business affairs compared to that kid who relies on a temporary replacement to handle his own father's company business."
The man with square glasses snorted silently. He truly hoped that Vincent would arrive soon and at least say a few words that could make these old, money-grubbing men think straight. If they had never been recruited by Virtus, their lives would have only been as leaders of a junk shop.
*Truly ungrateful. The bean forgets its skin.* He thought.
Until finally, the young master the man with square glasses was thinking about arrived in the meeting room.
"Good afternoon, I apologize for being late."
Vincent, wearing only a simple black suit, equally black and slightly wrinkled trousers, with a red t-shirt visible from behind the suit collar. He combed his hair back to give a neat and formal impression. Nevertheless, Vincent seemed too relaxed and too free by the faces of the twelve Executive Board members.
"Heh, look at him. Treating this meeting like a gathering of old people. Truly lacking professionalism." Said a man whose hair was already half-gray.
"Let's hear his response first." A woman in her above thirties said. She seemed interested in Vincent's demeanor, which was not scared or tense as he entered the meeting room, where the room certainly filled with Executive Board members, the people who built Fortis company with his father from the beginning.
"Ah, you've finally arrived, young master. I will give you a summary of the core discussion regarding our current issue." The man with square glasses handed Vincent a tablet. Vincent quickly read it briefly.
"Our company's stock is down 20%, then we suffered a pretty devastating attack from Reiss company, causing our stock to drop for the past three days. It seems something has happened, causing one of our company's best-selling works, namely the construction services sector and the construction material supply sector, especially the iron industry, to decline significantly over the past three days. Investors are starting to withdraw, stock is falling. We are discussing how to fix all of this." The man in square glasses explained, who was none other than Manager Jian. Vincent nodded slightly.
"We need your response regarding this issue, young master Vincent. Our relationship with your father is based on mutual benefit. If we deem your response not beneficial to us, then do not blame us if this year and the following years, Fortis company will be led by a foreigner and not by your chosen person. Young master Vincent." A man in his forties said with a stern face.
Vincent glanced at him and put the tablet he was holding down on the table. He then walked to pick up a marker.
"This is bad news. The news I just received is that some of you want Manager Jian, as the temporary replacement for Fortis's CEO, to step down from his position and you will replace him with someone better than him."
Vincent walked around the round table, smiling faintly and glancing at the faces of each Executive Board member who were holding back their emotions.
"Of course. With all due respect, we have a more potential replacement compared to Manager Jian's performance as the company leader." Said a short-haired old woman.
Vincent shook his head once and finally reached the board on the wall. Across from the board wall was a view of the city outside, a wall full of windows surrounded two sides. Behind Manager Jian and across from where Vincent stood.
"For the past three months, our revenue has been stable, even long before that, when my father was sick, Manager Jian, with his abilities, was still able to maintain the company's income at its peak until now. And when something happens, you want to blame Manager Jian for being incompetent, causing our stock to decline? Even though the problem is clearly visible from inside?"
Vincent said with a mocking tone. Making some Executive Board members clench their jaws and tense their neck veins.
"What do you mean, young master Vincent? Do you want to accuse one of us is betrayal and causing this problem? Do you not know who made Fortis company one of the top 10 largest companies in the world?" Said a stout man in his fifties.
*Certainly not just you.* Vincent said to himself. He really wanted to laugh at the stout man who acted so influential, but he held back and stayed in line.
Vincent shook his head slowly. Without any fear, Vincent continued to speak seriously.
"I am not accusing you. But if, when we find out, the networks are connected, I will not hesitate to take action to cut off those dirty networks from my company." Vincent stared back at the old man with a threatening gaze that made the stout old man snort in silence.
Then Vincent wrote something on the board.
"Here's my response, Manager Jian has confirmed where our stock decline occurred and who our external opponents are. Reiss Company has successfully profited from our weaknesses in construction services and construction material supply. From this, we can know that something happened in both of these areas that made the Reiss family dare to attack and profit.
"My father once taught me some basics of business. That business and war are no different at all. We will find out more about the root cause of our weaknesses in construction services and construction material supply. From there, we will discuss the next steps." Vincent finished speaking and finished writing on the board.
On the board, a writing that said; "Find out the cause. Just talking will not solve the problem." was written as if mocking the Executive Board members who felt mocked.
"That would require quite high operational funds. We don't want to take risks in areas that are not our expertise." A young man said. Vincent then smiled.
"That's where the role of the company's leader lies. Alright, who here is in charge of those two areas?" Vincent asked.
Two people raised their hands. A man in his forties and a woman who was only in her thirties and still looked beautiful wearing round glasses.
"Although I don't want to take the company president's seat yet, Manager Jian and I will monitor developments at your locations tomorrow. Manager Jian, please go with the beautiful lady with glasses, and I will go with you, Mr. Patrick Anderson."
Vincent said next to the old man in his forties who tried to put on a friendly smile but couldn't. Then Vincent tapped the table and clapped his hands once.
Tap! Clap!
"Let's end today's meeting, ladies and gentlemen. You have worked hard for this company. Thank you for your hard work and your concern for my father's company. Let's meet again in three days after we find the source of the problem."
Vincent then walked out of the meeting room, leaving the twelve faces of the Executive Board members who felt offended and some felt amazed or even amused.
"That brat..."
"Heh, I like his spirit and his mind. He's like Virtus when he was young."
"Although he seems too free and not serious, all his responses are commendable and the way he speaks is not like an ordinary teenager. He is worthy of our consideration as a company leader."
Everyone still sitting in the meeting chairs grumbled or praised in silence.
Like Manager Jian who smiled widely without opening his mouth. Feeling relieved that Vincent turned out to be quite capable of managing company problems.
Meanwhile, in the men's restroom. Vincent, with trembling legs and a pale face, had just finished vomiting, staring at the sink mirror and talking to himself. Making some male employees who had just come out of the toilet look at Vincent in confusion.
"What are they thinking, expecting a teenager like me to respond company problems. Blech... it was so tense in there... I really need to practice speaking more..."
***