Chapter 171 Turning the Tables
At precisely 9:00 AM, Lori, exhausted after a sleepless night, arrived at the equity brokerage firm. Mary and Susan, usually bundles of energy, trailed silently behind her.
Their impending doom hung heavy in the air. Elbert–or rather, Paul Three, had rejected all their proposals. FutureTech, their family's legacy, was about to be swallowed whole by a faceless corporation. The consequences of this failure were too devastating to contemplate.
Inside the auction hall, a dozen of FutureTech's shareholders were already seated, their faces blank with slightly foggy eyes. Rex was smirking triumphantly while sitting amongst them. Behind him was a stern-looking middle-aged man – Peter Sanchez, the Vice President of VitaCure Labs, the company poised to devour FutureTech.
The auctioneer, a portly man with a booming voice, took his place at the podium.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he announced, his gaze sweeping across the room. "In a few minutes, we will commence the auction for 52.13% of FutureTech Group's shares, with a starting bid of $26.03 billion."
He paused, glancing at the laptop open before him. "For this auction, we will be accepting both online and on-site bids."
"Online bids?" Peter scoffed, turning to Rex with a puzzled frown. "Is that really necessary?"
Rex, ever the sycophant, leaned in discreetly. "Just a formality, Mr. Sanchez. A mere technicality. The sale of FutureTech's shares hasn't been made public; no one outside this room knows about it."
He lowered his voice, adding in slight smugness. "Even if they did, what sane person could conjure up $26 billion in cash on such short notice? Rest assured, Mr. Sanchez, everything is under control."
He winked, his voice confident. "Once the bidding starts, all you need to do is raise your paddle. The price won't budge. It'll be a clean sweep, just as we planned."
Peter, reassured by Rex's words, leaned back in his chair with a smug smile.
Lori, her heart sinking with each passing moment, made a last-ditch effort. "Rex," she pleaded, her voice cracking with desperation. "Please, reconsider. There has to be another way. Jessica… she's your wife. She's part of the Browns, too."
At the mention of Jessica's name, a flicker of confusion crossed Rex's face, his eyes momentarily losing their sharp focus. "Jessica?" he mumbled, his voice distant, almost childlike. "She's… she's an angel. A goddess. You mustn't speak her name so casually. It's… disrespectful."
Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the confusion vanished. His eyes hardened, his face turning furious.
"The Brown family?" he spat, his voice dripping with venom. "You think you're worthy of my consideration? You, who cast me aside, mocked me, and stole what was rightfully mine?"
He slammed his fist on the table, yelling. "FutureTech will be mine! Today, I'll take back what you stole from me!"
The auctioneer, oblivious to the drama, tapped his gavel, bringing the room to order.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced, his voice booming through the hall. "The bidding will commence in ten seconds. Please prepare yourselves."
The countdown began.
Rex, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, turned to Peter. "This is it, Mr. Sanchez. Nothing can stop us now. We're about to acquire a multi-billion dollar company at a bargain price. It's a glorious day for VitaCure Labs!"
Peter chuckled, his voice greedy. "Indeed it is, Rex. Indeed it is. And you can be sure, your efforts will be handsomely rewarded."
"Three… two… one…"
Peter reached for his paddle, smirking victoriously.
And then, just as the gavel was about to fall, a voice cut through the tense silence, amplified by the room's sound system.
"Online bid received!"
The auctioneer froze, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. He glanced at his laptop, his eyes widening as he read the notification.
"Congratulations," he stammered, his voice laced with disbelief. "The winning bid… for 52.13% of FutureTech Group's shares… goes to… Mr. Elbert?"
The room erupted in gasps and murmurs.
Peter's arm remained suspended in mid-air, his paddle inches away from signaling his non-existent bid.
Rex, pale with shock, stared at the auctioneer as if he'd grown a second head.
'What just happened?' everyone felt confused.
Before anyone could process the unexpected turn of events, a single, slow clap broke the stunned silence.
All eyes turned toward the entrance as the doors swung open, revealing a figure bathed in the soft morning light.
Elbert, calm and confident, strolled into the room with amused eyes.
"Congratulations to me," he said, his voice laced with a hint of irony. "It seems I'm now the proud owner of FutureTech."
Lori's heart leaped in her chest. Hope, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, surged through her veins.
Rex looked furious, leaping to his feet. "You!" he roared, pointing an accusing finger at Elbert. "What have you done?!"
Mary and Susan, their initial shock turning to relief and elation as they rushed toward with beaming looks.
"Elbert!" they cried in unison, their voices filled with gratitude and admiration.
Peter, confused and angry, struggled to comprehend the situation. "Security!" he bellowed, his voice panicked. "Escort this man out of here! He's disrupting an official auction!"
Elbert, ignoring the commotion around him, calmly went to the front row as he looked at the stunned shareholders.
"There seems to be a slight misunderstanding," he said, his voice calm but firm. "Security has no authority to remove me. I'm afraid you're all about to receive a crash course in corporate law."
He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small, sleek device that resembled a high-tech speaker. Placing it on the table before him, he pressed a button.
The device hummed to life, bathing the room in a soft, pulsating blue light.
"What is this?" Peter demanded, his voice trembling with anger and fear.
Elbert smiled, his eyes predatory. He said in a dangerously low voice, "This, my dear Mr. Sanchez, is where your carefully constructed plan falls apart."
He looked toward the shareholders, their faces still blank.
"You see, I'm well aware of the little game you've all been playing," he continued, his voice steely. "Steven's little mind control experiment? Not as foolproof as he'd like to believe."
The pulsating blue light intensified, bathing the room in an ethereal glow.
"Time to wake up," he said, his voice echoing with power.
As if a spell had been broken, the fog lifted from the shareholders' eyes. Confusion, then dawning realization, spread across their faces.
Rex, however, reacted differently. His eyes widened in terror, trembling uncontrollably as he clutched at his head with a strangled cry.
His well-manufactured sanity crumbled, revealing the broken, demented man beneath.
One by one, the shareholders, their minds freed from Steven's control, looked around in bewilderment.
"Where… where am I?" one of them stammered, his voice thick with confusion.
"What's going on?" another asked, looking around the room in panic.
Elbert, with triumphant eyes, stood up.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself," he said, his voice commanding attention. "My name is Elbert, and I believe it's safe to say that FutureTech is no longer up for grabs."
He smiled slowly and dangerously, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present.
"Because FutureTech," he declared, his voice echoing with power, "is now under new management."
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