Chapter 17
Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen
In a couple of hours, we were down to a more feasible solution. Since the cash flow was too low,
Grace and I were the only ones who volunteered to lend our savings to thepany in our personal
names. The overbearing shareholders imed they couldn’t take such decisions without properly
informing the share- holders.
After, we summed everything up, we were quite confident that it would keep the business afloat for
the mean time while all ns are effectively acted on.
“How did such a dumb employee even get hired in the first ce?!” I turned to the HR team. “What
have your team been doing?”
Grace’s response beat their hesitating one, “This isn’t the first time. I have had to relieve several
employees of their job myself because they were just outright ipetent. In the three years you
were absent, without your firm hand on the board members, they have been stuffing thepany
with their unwanted in-petents. If you don’t fullye back, thepany will be ruined by
them.”
“Oh God,” I breathed and held my head as I felt a headacheing on. “This dis- cussion will be for
another day,” I glowered at the administrative teams who couldn’t meet my gaze. “Now, go put our
ns into action.”
Their muttered, ‘thank yous‘ and ‘yes ma’am‘ filled the air as they scrambled to their feet and
shuffled out of the board room.
The shareholders remained.
“We demand this financial crisis be acted on as soon as possible. I’ll also speak to my boss about
lending a certain amount to boost the finances of Luxe
Vogue,” one of the cocky shareholders said, his nose in the air.
The rest also imed that they would not hesitate to pull out if mere insubordi- nations were not
taken care of effectively.
Afterward, they took their time to put their things together and strutted out of
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Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen
the board room with grim and angry faces.
I watched them as they left. For shareholders who owned merely a quarter of thepany each,
they were too conceited. It was a good thing that Grace and I had ensured that we kept atleast
eighty percent of thepany to ourselves
no matter what.
I let out a loud hiss and held my head in my hands as the door closed behind their stiff backs. I felt
Grace’sforting palm on my back.
“The board and HR department needs to be restructured,” I said to myself but
Grace answered nevertheless.
“Badly.” She gave me a pat on the back, “Just don’t be too hard on yourself. It
wasn’t your fault.”
My grip on my hair tightened and I felt the urge to scream. After transferring
my savings and Atelier studios proceedings to save Luxe vogue I had less than
a million dors left in my personal ounts and Atelier studiosworth was
nothing to boast of anymore.
Now how am I supposed to raise a million dors? Where do I get such ridicu-
lously huge amount from?! It would take me years to work for such amount!
I took another deep breath, trying to calm the frustration bubbling within me. It
seemed fate had its own ns, because now I would have no choice but to stay
with Mark for a longer time.
I suppressed the scream that threatened to tear from my throat without my per-
mission. Gosh, I thought, gritting my teeth. I hated it when things were out of my control and they
always seemed to be.
“You really did well,” Grace pulled me out of my thoughts. “You were amazing, babe. Did you see
the faces of the shareholders? They could barely look you in
the face.”
I managed a smile. That was one of the reasons why I’ve stuck to Grace all this while; no matter
how bad things seemed to be, she always managed to focus on
the brighter side.
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Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen.
Briefly, I wondered what the brighter side of staying married to Mark was.
“You have no idea how these old guys ganged up and bullied me when you were gone,” she
continued, pouting slightly.
My brows creased in annoyance, “Really? You should’ve informed me.”
She shook her head, “You were going through enough in that sad marriage of yours.”
I drew back and palmed my ch*st , “Touche.”
We both burst outughing then I sobbered up. “It was no big deal to be honest. I did what had to
be done.”
I couldn’t even imagine asking for a million dors now. If I did, thepany would go bankrupt and
there’ll be nothing to pay these shareholders. And thest thing I wanted was to have an issue with
them. Atleast, if they get their right share of dividend on time, those old guys would keep their m*uth
shut and let people who had important things to say and do speak up.
After Grace and I overlooked some information with the head of the Finance de-
partment that was invited back, we left the board room and proceeded to my of-
fice.
summoned
The moment we got in, I quickly my assistant. “Sort out the list of
personnel the shareholders had stuffed into
thepany, both at Luxe vogue and Atelier studios. Get me their names and everything about
them including who ced them in whatever position they’re in,” I ordered.
“Yes ma’am,” she nodded, “I’ll get on to it right away.” Then she left.
Grace gaped at me, “What are you about to do?”
“Exactly what you’re thinking,” I faced myptop and turned it on. I shot a text
to the ountant to send get me the detail of the employee that caused all of this mishap. Then I
turned back to Grace, “I’m about to startying the ipe- tent off. If anyone has any issues with
it, they shoulde face me,” my tone
wasced with authority as I told her.
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Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen
Her eyes widened in shock. “Are going to be that harsh?”
“Yes,” I replied sinctly with a straight face.
Since they now seemed to underestimate Grace and not give her the regard. that she deserved, I
was now the only one fit to put them in their ces and ma- jorly lead thepany.
A ping sounded from myptop. The details of the employee has been sent.
Without wasting time, I forwarded the detail to the legal department and gave firm instructions for
them to instantly file apensationwsuit against the employee.
“I get that you want to put these shareholders in their ce,” Grace started, her wordsing out
slower as she seemed to carefully choose them. “But isn’t
that too harsh? You know they were clearly offended in the boardroom. It was why they dared to
threaten to pull out. And now you’reying off their people.” She paused. “What if they retaliate?”
Her eyes wide widened as she edged clos-
er, “What if they actually pull out? Aren’t you bothered that they really might pull out? Those men
invest a lot in ourpany, you know,” she raised a brow and reclined back in her seat. “I suggest
you take this slow, Sydney.”
I fully turned to her. “At this point, I doubt there’s anything to be afraid of,” I told
her calmly, “Luxe vogue is on the verge of sinking. Our sweat and hardwork is on the verge of going
down the drain!” I leaned forward and shrugged. “If I was
scared of their retaliation, I wouldn’t have called the meeting.” I sat back. “I pre-
fer to cut the Gordian knot. I have never been a person who hesitates and you
know that. I won’t change my decisions because I’m scared of what they’d do. We have to let them
see that we still know how to wield our power, then they’d
behave and not blindly and dumbly do things that will bring destruction to thepany,” I bit out,
suddenly feeling my anger boiling up again.
Grace psed her hand and raised it up then she closed her eyes. “Thank you, God. Thank you so
much for bringing back my Sydney. I’ll forever be grateful.”
I smacked her on her arm,ughing. “Don’t be silly.”
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Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen
She opened her eyes and gave me thumbs up. “You are the real Sydney. Not the one that stayed
married to Mark.”
Well, I’m still married to him, I thought solemnly.
“Get out!” Iughed and she did too. Then she hugged my head to her stomach on her way out.
“Remember, don’t be too hard on yourself, okay?”
I nodded. “Yes mum.”
After she left, I Immediately went back to work, partly because I didn’t want to think about the issue
of our financial status or the fact that I had to stay longer
with Mark. And mainly because, now that Luxe vogue was in crisis, I would have to work even
harder on Atelier Studios so I can quickly raise a million dol-
I added the finishing touches to the jewelry pieces I had been working on be-
fore I paid a visit to the ountant and found out about the huge mishap. Iid them down for my
assistant to encase in their designated boxes and then I
took out Mark’s jewelry pieces order that I was already working on.
I brought out the sapphire n*e and gold bracelet and worked on it for a
bit. Then I put it aside again. I would only need to work on it one more time and
it would be ready.
The thing about making jewelries was that you had to take your time in making
them. If they’re rushed, they might look good but they’d, in some way, lose their
shape and sparkle. And that thing that make them stand out will be gone.
By the time I finally finished the design drawings for more orders, it was al-
readyte at night. I thought of staying back and working till dawn but I quickly decided against it.
Right now, I needed all the rest I could salvage.
Bregrudgingly, I drove back to Mark’s residence. As I drove, I wished I hadn’t agreed to remain in
his ce until I’ve paid him the damned breakup fee.
As I stepped through the doorway, I squinted my eyes at the dimly lit room, my feet hit something as
I closed the door. I pushed harder on the door as it wasn’t
shutting, what hit my feet must have gotten stuck in between, I thought.
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Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen
Then I ruffled through my bag to bring out my phone so I could make use of its shlight. As I did
so, a sudden hard force blindsided me causing a scream to erupt in my throat as it crashed into my
side and sent me sprawling onto the so- fa and my bag flying into the air.
I iled my arms, my heart ramming against my ch*st as their weight knocked the breath out of me.
Thankfully, I had been able to get a hold of my phone. I fumbled with it and turned on the shlight
then I shone the light on my assail- er’s face.
Mark was grinning at me, his dark eyes were ssy with inebriation. I scrunched my nose when he
opened his m*uth to speak, his breath heavy with the stench of alcohol. “Hello wifey.” Content is property of N?velDrama.Org.