Chapter 85 Chapter Eighty Five
“Because Rose sold her shares to me,” Lucas replied with a self satisfied smirk
I drew back in shock, What? Why would she do that?
I remember vividly when Mark confidently told me that he had more shares and became the de- facto head of the Group because of his mother’s five percent if added to his own forty six percent stake. So what does Rose selling her shares to Lucas mean now? No shareholder. especially the greedy ones here in this room, will allow a partially sick man to head them with below average of the total company’s shares
Even if Mark hadn’t lost his memory, he still would not be able to ensure absolute control amongst the board of directors.
I gazed around the room at the other shareholders as we waited for the host and Mark; some of them were having low conversations between themselves but I could literally see the greed in their eyes. This was the opportunity they’ve probably all been waiting for, the opportunity to
overtake
I just hoped all these wouldn’t be too overwhelming for him as he is still struggling to grasp everything around him.
I turned back to Lucas who had his gaze affixed on my face. The corner of his l*ps tipped up in a small smile. “You look stunning
“Huh?” I blurted out. I contemplated telling him about what had happened to me and that I was actually coming from the hospital after being unconscious for a whole night. But it wasn’t the appropriate place. Besides, there was a more radical matter at hand.
I said you look stunning. I slightly felt his breath on my face as he moved closer, his eyes shifting from my l*ps to my eyes. Tm resisting the urge to pull you in my arms and ravish you right now.”
“What are you saying? Did you just say Rose sold her shares to you?”
“Yes,” he answered, his brows drawing down in a small frown.
“Why will she sell her shares to you?” I whisper–yelled. I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything. “How did you even get her to sell them to you in the first place? Rose’s shares are like her lifeline. She would never let go of it. Most importantly, she hates us owning shares in GT Group the most.
His smile widened and looked more mischievous. I drew back. I didn’t like that look at all. And I was sure I would like whatever he had to say even less. “Ofcourse, I know all that.”
“So?” I frantically threw my hands in the air. “How did it happen?”
“Relax, babe,” he drawled and moved closer to me. “So here’s the thing,” he flattened his palm on the long conference table, I naturally knew Rise would not easily agree to sell shares so I used.
some tricks.”
I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “What tricks, Lucas. What did you do?” I did not like where this was going at all.
“So I have been planning this for a while, yeah.”
“You have?” I gaped at him, utterly surprised.
He smirked, “Yes. You couldn’t tell, right?
What the hell! My insides were screaming but instead I said calmly, “Go on.”
“Okay. Before I returned to the country, I pulled the connections I had in the gambling world and made them introduce Rose to it. As you well know, Rose is a sucker for winning, she hates to lose. So since she was still new in the game, she kept on losing and kept on thinking that she couldn’t leave like a loser so she kept playing until she was addicted. Now it wasn’t a case of losing it winning anymore, it was now a case of her feeding her addiction. After she used up all of her enormous savings and owed the casino a lot of money. To repay her debt, she had not
Chapter 840lugiter Fielov Live
13
choice but to fall back on the most valuable asset that she had, his grin widened and I swear Lucas looked like a manitar. “And that was the GT Group shares
His l*ps curled in a self indulgent smile and he proudly told me, “She had to repay her debts o slowly, she started to sell those shares to an anonymous buyer. She sold it to the anonymous buyer because his bid was the highest. Guess who the mysterious buyer is, habe
My heart was practically thrumming in my ch*st , “You”
His hand reached under the table and he squeezed my thigh. “That’s my girl”
I managed a laugh that sounded like a strangled cry to my ears.
He continued, “When the shares remained about three percent, she started to hestate. By the time it became one percent, she refused to sell anymore. I have been trying to get her to sell it but she remained unyielding so on the day of Mark’s engagement, I sent someone to take her and tie her to the suburbs on the outskirts of the city. There I threatened and intimidated her for days…”
I suddenly felt extremely guilty and ashamed that I hadn’t believed Rose when she said she was thrown in a remote place with no network. So she was telling the truth after all. She was stuck in that remote place because my own boyfriend abducted her. She must have been ridden with dismay that she missed her son’s engagement and wedding only to come back and find out that her son had been involved in a ghastly motor accident which caused him to lose his memory. For the first time ever, I felt pity for Rose. I wondered the misery she must be in. She was in much pain yet she hid it so well by being b**chy and frustrating.
He cleared his throat and shrugged. “One morning, she eventually agreed to sell it. Perhaps, she had missed her son and wanted to see him again. Perhaps, she didn’t want him to love face before the members of the parliament and ruin the good marriage arrangement, he shrugged. again, I don’t know why because I hadn’t even begun to torture her as my last resort but she signed the last share transfer agreement.”
He then reclined in his seat with a smug smile.
I stared at Mark, my eyes searching his as I looked into them.
I felt uneasy and I wished he hadn’t told me all the things he told me now. How could he? Why did he do it? I thought he had forgiven them and let the past remain in the past.
As I looked at him right now, the stupid ugly snug smile still plastered on his face, he looked different from the man I know and fell in love with. I searched for the kind forgiving man I loved and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach when I couldn’t find him.
Who is this man?
“What now?” His smile wiped off and his expression softened, “Why are you looking at me like that? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I licked my l*ps and pulled away from him, ignoring his question. I felt deceived. I felt duped. “Sydney, look at me,” he ordered and I obliged. “Don’t blame me. Rose and her husband, for their own selfish interests, squeezed out my mother, poisoned my b*dy and made me a weakling who had to rely on the wheels and comfort of a wheelchair for twenty years of my best years!” I could hear and see the hatred and bitterness in his voice and eyes and I just stared at him in disbelief.
“I go to the hospital as often as I take my daily meals! You know how much suffering I have suffered to get here, you knew how hard it was for me, you know all this, Sydney. They deserve whatever comes to them.”
“So what are you going to do now?” I asked in a croaked voice.
He looked ahead, his gaze fixed on the head of the chair where Mark would take his seat. “What I’d do today is to kick Rose and Mark out of the board of directors and get back what my mother and 1 deserve. What was rightfully ours all this while.”
I flinched when he grabbed my hand and palmed his ch*st with his own hand. “Sydney, his voice was soft and I caught a glimpse of my Lucas, “I know what must be going through your head. I know you think I’ve changed, but I have no choice. It’s beyond my control”
lapter Khapter Fility ve
I wanted to yell at him and tell him that it was not beyond his control. He could let it all forget about it. But I didn’t. I stared at him and listened to him speak
go and
“The only thing that hasn’t changed is that I love you and I’ll always do no matter what. So can you help me?”
I was moved by his words. I knew what he had gone through, his pain, the helplessness and misery of going in and out of the hospital, his second home. But if I agreed to help him take over from Mark, what about the promise that I made to Doris?
It was unfair, being faced with a choice like this. Why did he have to get revenge and make me have to choose?
“Sydney?”
I swallowed and looked away from his probing gaze. I didn’t want to see the expression in his eyes when I told him that I wouldn’t be able to support him or help him. I already gave my word to Doris but he didn’t let me.
He gave my hand a squeeze, “It’s okay if you can’t decide, he paused and added, “Yet. I understand. But since you haven’t come to a decision, just keep silent, okay?”
I looked up at him, about to tell him that I had made my decision when the door opened and the host’s voice broke the noisy silence in the room and all the murmuring stopped.
“GT Group 111 Annual Shareholders‘ Meeting is now starting!
Lucas gave me a nod and a smile. Then he released my hand and got on his feet. Everyone walked as he walked to the stage.
He smiled as he opened his m*uth to address all of us. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Lucas, the youngest son of the founder of GT Group. As you all know, the current CEO of the Group, Mark, has lost the ability to remain the CEO of GT Group.”
There were murmurs then it slowly went down. “Due to that fact, I would like to propose a motion to cancel his position as CEO of the group. If you’re in support, please, raise your hands.
