Chapter 38 Full of Trust
With Gabriel absent, the conference room erupted into chaos as the directors and Simon pointed fingers at each other, the blame game churning into a tangled mess.
A crowd that normally looked so prim and proper sat there, shirking responsibility and loudly arguing for a solid two hours.
Indeed, Gabriel wasn't there, but Michael was present, taking the seat of CEO. Despite his presence, the Harriman family's relatives, along with those senior Directors, bickered until they were red-faced and hopping mad as if they were fighting over an inheritance.
The scene was boiling over with noise and quarrels, ringing in Michael's head and giving him a headache. With a loud thump of his cane on the floor, he shouted, "Quiet! One more word, and you're fired."
The room went silent.
Leveraging himself up with his cane, Michael stood and directed Simon to gather the financial statements from the various investment companies under the older Directors' names, like Prosperity United Financial Services and Unity Trading Co., and have them on his desk by six o'clock that evening.
Seeing that Michael, despite his advanced years and long retirement, still possessed the authority and decisiveness he was known for, no one dared to step out of line.
The meeting concluded with Michael's cold, displeased scolding, leaving the executives shuffling out with their tails between their legs, disheveled and red-faced.
Stepping out of the conference room, Landon activated his headset and connected to his communications device, "Gabriel."
He knew Gabriel had been listening in on the entire regular company meeting.
Gabriel responded calmly, "The mess left by the older Directors is a historical issue for the company. The corporation hasn't approved any of its project documents in the past two years. Its funding gap is too wide; apart from looking to Simon to create disorder and divert attention, it has no other choice. I've got it handled, and Michael doesn't need to worry too much about it."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard Jessica returning home with Danielle, and he ended the call.
Jessica had been reviewing scripts at home all morning. Waking up too early, she was hit by drowsiness before noon even arrived.
Struggling to keep her eyes open in hopes of reading a bit longer, she eventually didn't realize when she had dozed off and slumped over the living room's coffee table.
"Mommy," Danielle emerged from her child's bedroom, one hand clutching a small doll and the other holding a toy pizza. It was the weekend, and she'd been playing for hours, preparing lavish "feasts" in her toy kitchen for her dolls until the pangs of hunger sent her rushing out.
"Mommy?" Danielle walked up to the coffee table and tilted her little head to look at Jessica. Seeing that Mommy had fallen asleep, she first glanced down blankly at the toy pizza in her hand and then turned to run toward the main bedroom to knock on the door.
"Spencer." Danielle softly called out while knocking.
Gabriel opened the door and looked down at the little one, whose height barely reached his thigh.
Danielle gestured with her finger, signaling him to crouch down.
Perplexed, Gabriel watched her for a moment. Seeing her urgently beckon him again, he hesitantly crouched down after half a second. "What's up?"
Once he crouched, Danielle quickly extended her chubby little arms to wrap around his chest, leaned into his ear, and whispered, "Mommy's asleep, but I'm hungry. What are we going to eat?"
The sweet scent wafted from the little one, who was still clutching her doll. Unable to hug him tightly, when her arms reached for his neck, she gripped a little tighter as if scared he would stand up soon. Her eyes blinked trustingly.
Gabriel didn't push her away. Instead, he looked at Danielle, who seemed to exude an irresistible charm and then glanced toward the sofa.
Because the back of the sofa was in the way, he couldn't see what Jessica was doing, but with the little girl hugging his neck tightly, he lifted her with one arm and stood up.
That's when he saw Jessica was asleep on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
"Wow! You can carry me; are you all better..." Danielle's voice rose with excitement.
Gabriel placed a finger gently on her lips and motioned with his mouth, "Shh."
