Chapter 399
Chapter 399 Someone Caused Trouble
Things were already an utter mess by the time Amelie arrived at the office. Many of the shareholders who rarely showed up were all present-some of them stood around while others sat down with sour looks on their faces. "Mr. Fleurs, Mr. Weir, Mr. Langston..." Amelie greeted everyone politely. Even though she hadn't met them in the past, she had memorized all of the shareholders' names throughout her three months in Genesis.
"You could've just called if there were any issues. Why did all of you come over?" Amelie asked.
"Miss Dillon?" Andy Weir called out to her. He was a man in his fifties, and he was dressed in a dark-colored shirt with a vest on the outside. He seemed like a gentleman, but he didn't sound that pleased at that moment. "If my memory serves me right, you're Leo's ex-wife, right? What are you doing here? Where's Leo?" he asked.
Amelie kept a smile on her face. "You sure have a good memory, Mr. Weir. Why don't we head in to have a talk?" she asked while pointing at her office.
Andy seemed a little less agitated after hearing her words of praise, but he continued to wear a stern look on his face as stepped into the office with Amelie. The other shareholders followed closely behind them. Eugene hastily arranged some chairs for the shareholders while the secretary hurried in with the shareholders' preferred drinks.
Darren Langston glanced at the cup of tea in front of him before he picked it up and took a sip. "I heard that Mr. Alston hasn't been in the office for more than three months, Miss Dillon. Is that so? Has he decided to stop running the business and hand it over to you? If that's the case, then why did he have to hide it from us?" Darren asked.
"We're the company's shareholders, after all. We might not hold as many shares as the Alston Family, but we still have the right to vote and make decisions. Are you guys looking down on us right now?" another shareholder voiced out.
"You guys are too much!" The other five shareholders started speaking up after hearing Darren's words.
Amelie quickly shook her head with a smile. "That's not the case, of course. I'm just a temporary replacement."
"I heard that he's abroad with his daughter. Is that right?" Travis Sunders asked. Travis was quieter than the rest of the shareholders. He was a man with small eyes and thin lips, and he looked like an extremely wise and thoughtful man. His question wasn't directed to Amelie-instead, he had gone over to ask the secretary who handed him his drink earlier.
The secretary had been informed by Amelie to stick to this particular story, so she nodded and smiled. "Yes—"
"No!" Amelie interrupted the secretary before she could complete the sentence. She turned to give Amelie a puzzled look, and Amelie walked over to pat her on the shoulder. "You don't have to be here anymore. You may leave now," Amelie urged.
"Sure." The secretary walked out without protest. After that, Eugene walked over and shut the door behind the secretary while Amelie stood in front of all the shareholders to give them a clear explanation. "What you guys heard earlier was just a story that we've told the rest of our internal staff and clients. The truth is that Leo has suffered a cardiac injury and is currently still in a coma."
Eugene shot Amelie a surprised gaze after hearing her words. However, he didn't say anything. "A cardiac injury?" one shareholder asked.
"He's in a coma?" Both Andy Weir and Sebastian Warhol wore looks of surprise on their faces, while Darren and another shareholder, Jonathan Lee, showed no response. Darren simply rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his face, while Jonathan wore a rather amused expression.
Eugene seemed to understand something when he noticed the two men's expressions. He couldn't help but feel amazed by Amelie's wits right then. "How could such a thing happen?" Andy asked. Amelie told the shareholders a brief summary of what happened to Leo when he was abroad.
"Well, if he hasn't woken up for three months, it's clear that he's never going to wake up. We can't just allow you to handle the company, can we, Miss Dillon? How could we have such huge changes without a formal announcement?" Darren asked with a slow but harsh tone.
"Yeah." Andy nodded in agreement. "Mr. Alston is a brilliant man. I only invested in this company because I was impressed with his abilities." In other words, Andy was implying that he had no trust in Amelie.
"Same here. I only invested in Genesis because of Mr. Alston." The rest of the shareholders began to share their thoughts after hearing Andy's words. "Furthermore, regardless of how great your skills are, you're merely Mr. Alston's ex-wife, Miss Dillon. You're not even part of the Alston Family. How are we supposed to trust you?" Andy's eyes glinted with rage as he spoke.
"Yeah."
"Yeah!" The rest of the shareholders were in agreement with Andy's words.
"There was a huge issue that arose after you got a divorce with Mr. Alston, right, Miss Dillon? Mr. Alston might be in a coma, but Mrs. Alston is still well and alive, isn't she? How could she allow this to happen?' someone asked.
"Yeah. Your relationship with Mr. Alston is too complicated for you to be able to take over Genesis, Miss Dillon," someone else said.
"I'll have no choice but to retract my investments if you insist on taking charge of Genesis, Miss Dillon!" Jonathan was the first to express his wishes. Even though the rest of the shareholders didn't speak up, their body language made it clear that they were in agreement with Jonathan.
Amelie didn't seem fazed by the shareholder's threats-she continued to smile at them as she stood in front of the crowd silently. Eugene stepped forward then. "Miss Dillon has already taken over the company for three months, and I believe you guys can see how well the company has been doing ever since she took over. Her skills are undeniable." Eugene placed some company performance reports in front of the shareholders as he spoke.
These reports had been prepared beforehand, and Amelie was the one who had requested for them to be prepared. Eugene was extremely impressed by how Amelie seemed to have predicted all of this to happen. "Furthermore, if you guys are worried about how trustworthy Miss Dillon is," Eugene continued after handing the reports out, "Both Mr. and Mrs. Alston have complete trust in Miss Dillon. Otherwise, they wouldn't have handed the entire company over to her."
"Well, that's their business! We don't know Miss Dillon at all, so how are we supposed to trust her?" Jonathan spoke up in a dissatisfied tone. It was evident that he was a rash and impatient man. "Yeah. I met Miss Dillon back in the Alston Residence, and it seemed like the Alstons didn't really fancy her. Why would she help a family who doesn't like her? Does she have some ulterior motive? The Alstons aren't the only ones who own this company. We have rights to the company as well!" Andy added. He was expressive of his distrust in both Amelie's skills and her character.
Sebastian spoke up as well. "Genesis started off with a strong foundation. The outstanding performance in the past three months simply shows us that Mr. Alston has done a good job with managing the company previously. It doesn't showcase Miss Dillon's skills at all!" The shareholders were very direct, and they clearly had two main concerns. Firstly, they didn't trust Amelie's skills, and secondly, they didn't believe that Amelie genuinely cared for the Alston Family.
Eugene was worried that Amelie wouldn't be able to handle the crowd, and he had been about to speak up when Amelie held her hand up to stop him. She continued to wear a pleasant smile on her face as she spoke. "Well, if you are so suspicious of my abilities, you may retract your investments. I'll pay you with whatever the market rate is."
"Well..." The shareholders were stunned after hearing her words. They had been ready to start a fight earlier, but now they were all frozen in their spots. "You... You're too reckless." Jonathan was the first to express his displeasure. "How could Genesis be the company that it is now if it wasn't for our help back then? You're getting rid of us after receiving our help!"
"If that was what I wanted to do, we would've bought off all your shares years ago. Leo is a skilled man-he would've had his way to make you guys comply with his wishes if he wanted to do so. He didn't pull such an act because he was grateful for all of your help." Amelie remained calm.
"Now that I'm the one in charge, I continue to share the same views as Leo. I won't allow any of you to suffer any losses. If you trust me, you may continue to be a shareholder of the company. Even if you decide not to trust me, I'll still make sure that you don't suffer any losses," Amelie offered.