Chapter 435 A Crushing Victory?
"Chelsea."
Fiona had just stepped out of the elevator when Laura greeted her.
"Thank you for making the trip," Fiona said warmly.
"It's part of my job as your assistant," Laura quickly replied. "Everything you asked for is ready, and Mr. Rhoads's secretary has been very cooperative."
"Good."
Fiona nodded.
All eyes were fixated on her.
If Janna were still in good standing, the reaction to seeing the infamous Miss Rhoads would be quite the opposite. They would have swarmed her with flattery and attempts to curry favor.
Thankfully, Fiona didn't care for such attention; she found it annoying.
She walked alongside Laura, chatting on their way to the president's office.
It just so happened that Ken and Alice, both sharply dressed, were also near the office.
"I'll say this one last time: open the door," Ken demanded with a scowl, chastising the staff of President Janna's office.
"Without Mrs. Rhoads's approval, we will not allow anyone to enter her office," stated the executive secretary Julia, her expression blank and her voice robotic as she repeated the line.
"Ms. Fiona," greeted Julia with a smile, striding confidently across the room.
The staff in the executive office lit up as they saw Fiona approaching.
"Miss Chelsea," Julia greeted hastily, a stark contrast to the robotic demeanor she had just moments before.
"Let's not start the day with a heated temper," Fiona said as she arrived at the door without sparing Ken and Alice a glance.
"Understood," replied Julia as she swiped her access card and opened the door to the CEO's office for Fiona.
"What do you mean? Weren't we told nobody gets in without the chairperson's permission?" Ken asked, his face darkening.
Julia turned back, her expression as impassive as a machine.
"Apologies, but Miss Chelsea is the only exception. The chairperson stated that this office belongs to Miss Chelsea by right."
"That was in the past!" Ken snapped, visibly irritated.
Curious glances started to gravitate toward the commotion.
Alice tugged gently at Ken's arm. "Honey, let it go. It's just an office."
Fiona ignored the pair and walked straight into the office with her entourage. The secretarial staff followed suit, with the last person carefully shutting the door.
Ken fumed, his nostrils flaring with anger.
"One day, when I'm the chairman, I'll fire all these fools! Can't they see who the boss is at this point?"
"Calm down," Alice soothed him tenderly. "Anyway, all the important stuff from the office was already being handled by us. Let her go in; her victory won't last long!"
Ken huffed in disdain and headed for the conference room.
At nine o'clock, the meeting officially began.
Fiona and her team arrived punctually, pushing through the large doors of the conference room.
Ken swaggered over to Janna's usual chair, defiantly eyeing Fiona as she entered. "Young ladies have this flaw. They always like to be fashionably late."
"The meeting is starting right now," Laura said, looking at Ken. "And you, being an elder, should know better than disrespecting the chairperson's chair like this."
Fiona took her usual seat as the heated discussions continued.
"That's right! Even if you're confident, there's no need to hurry. Wait until the shareholder meeting is over before you take that seat," one of the seasoned members remarked.
Fiona turned toward the speaker, her face breaking into a gracious smile.
The older gentleman returned the smile affectionately.
Harry, a colleague of Janna's since their youth, had long settled in France. Knowing Fiona was in trouble, he returned immediately to support her.
"Harry, it's just a seat!" Ken scoffed.
Harry responded with a cold rebuke, "That's Janna Rhoads' seat, the chairperson of the Rhoads family. And who are you exactly?"
Ken's face froze instantly.
Alice, noticing the tension, quickly jumped in to lighten the mood and gently persuaded Ken. "Honey, come sit with me."
She took a seat across from Fiona.
Ken clenched his jaw, glared at Harry, and moved to sit beside Alice.
"It's about time. Let's start the meeting now."
He had just sat down and was about to speak when Fiona, with a crisp yet commanding voice, cut in before him.
Alice watched Fiona intently. It was no surprise that Janna groomed her—the aura of authority was impressive. The moment she spoke, the entire room fell instinctively silent.
"If you ask me, this meeting is pointless," a board member challenged Fiona. "The Rhoads family won't let some unknown person take over, especially not the lady of the Solomons household meddling in Rhoads affairs."
As his words trailed off, the large screen in the meeting room lit up with a video segment from a car's dash-cam, showing Darwin and Janna. When Darwin mentioned Fiona's heritage, Janna didn't hesitate to affirm that Fiona was indeed her granddaughter, confirmed by DNA testing.
The room erupted into whispers.
Ken seemed caught off guard by Fiona's evidence. His face shifted as he said, "It doesn’t prove anything."
"These are the paternity test results," Fiona interjected, pointing to the screen.
Two paternity test results files were displayed. "The one on the left is between my grandmother and me, and the right is between Mr. Ken and myself. If there's any doubt regarding these tests, I'm willing to undergo verification once more."
"So what if you are a Rhoads? You're already married!"
"I won't respond to such ignorant and foolish questions," Fiona dismissed the comment without a glance. "We're all here today to select a new chairperson. I don't want to dwell on meaningless matters. Everyone's time is precious."
"I agree. Let's start voting," Ken said smugly at Fiona.
Barely out of her youth and yet so bold? This was unmistakably Janna's upbringing—she was cut from the same cloth!
"Let's begin," Fiona declared calmly.
By now, most people had an idea of how the votes would pan out.
Within fifteen minutes, the votes were counted.
"Mr. Ken at thirty-one percent, and Miss Chelsea, adding her shares, comes to fifteen percent."
"A landslide," taunted Ken's supporters.
This outcome had been well within Ken and Alice's expectations.
They watched Fiona intently, hoping to see her crumble with confusion and helplessness. But then...
"Alright," Fiona said, looking across the room. "It's time to read the will my grandmother left behind." "
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
