Shattered Illusions Love Lies and Redemption (Lizetta and Remington) novel Chapter 1142

"Exactly! Please sit down, Chairman Porter. We need you in that seat to give us a sense of direction."

"Chairman Porter, we're just missing the formal voting process at this point. I, for one, raise both hands in support of you as our new chairman. I'm confident everyone else here will make the same wise decision. Go ahead and take a seat."

...

The chorus of voices grew louder. These were the men the Porters had been courting heavily in recent days.

Clearly, they had completely defected to the Porter camp.

Under the overwhelming pressure of their "enthusiastic" invitations, Chairman Porter raised a hand to quiet the room, pretending to be deeply reluctant.

"Since you all place such immense trust in me, I suppose I can't let you down. I'll step up in this time of crisis and take the seat for now. Everyone, please sit."

He swept his gaze across the room, a wide smile plastering his face.

Once everyone was seated, he asked, "Are all the shareholders present?"

It was a pointed question. The Maddens held the largest stake in the company.

Yet, not a single member of the Madden family was there—not even Jerome. Chairman Porter, however, acted as if he simply hadn't noticed.

Mr. Zhu, sitting nearby, quickly responded. "Mr. Madden hasn't arrived yet. But the meeting time has already passed, so I doubt he's coming. I have a mountain of work waiting for me on my desk, and we can't wait forever. If you ask me, we should consider it an abstention according to protocol."

A few voices immediately murmured in agreement.

Peak, the eldest Porter son, stood up to make it official. "Since everyone agrees..."

Lynn was a widow with no powerful backing. Her shares had been left to her by her late husband.

Peak had assumed she would be an easy target. She was the first person he had approached to buy out, but the woman had proven shockingly stubborn.

Chairman Porter had berated Peak endlessly for failing to secure her shares, leaving Peak harboring a deep grudge.

Now, publicly embarrassed, Peak unleashed his pent-up frustration to assert his dominance.

Lynn simply let out a cold laugh.

"I may be a housewife relying on this three percent to raise my kids, but these shares were earned honestly by my late husband. What gives you the right to look down on me? Ha. I only have three percent, but let me ask you—how much do you have? If memory serves, you don't even hold that much yourself! If anyone lacks the qualifications to voice an opinion here, it should be you!"