Chapter 436 Rightful Claim
As Fiona finished speaking, the once noisy conference room fell eerily silent.
Ken's smile slowly froze on his lips as he looked at Fiona. Abruptly, he stood up, pointing at her, and accused, "Chelsea, how dare you forge a will?"
Fiona turned to face Ken. "You're so quick to deny it without even seeing it. Isn't it a bit too soon?"
Harry's face was stern as he said, "Chelsea is right. Who among us doesn't know that Janna had already made her will?"
"Yes!" Ken raised his voice, interrupting Harry. "Unfortunately, the lawyer who drafted the will for our mother has been missing for days, along with the will."
His gaze shifted back to Fiona. "Who knows if someone here, knowing the content of the will was not favorable to them, might have..."
"Mr. Ken," Fiona said sharply, "this is the shareholders' meeting of the corporation, not a place for your conspiracy theories. Whether the will is valid or not will be clear once we've seen it."
After Fiona spoke, Laura quickly operated the computer.
The next moment, the big screen flickered to life.
Ken and the others watched the screen intently, their brows furrowed. Alice's expression suddenly changed as if she'd seen something alarming.
After a couple of seconds, the shaky image stabilized, and Janna's weary face appeared. In the bottom right corner, the video's timestamp was visible.
It was the morning before Chris's death.
"Members of the Rhoads family enterprise, I'm sorry to attend the election of the new chairperson in this manner," Janna spoke into the camera, her presence as commanding as ever despite her exhaustion. "Facing dire straits and uncertainty about my life, I recorded this video to distribute my assets and ensure my previously made will doesn't vanish."
"Turn it off! She fabricated it! Shut it down!"
Ken stood up again, shouting as he tried to kill the power.
Then, the doors to the office opened.
Dozens of burly men stormed in.
The room erupted into chaos.
Fiona paused the video, pulling her gaze from the screen that had gripped her with worry. She looked across at the astonished Ken and his wife.
Mike was still nursing his injuries, but he couldn't stay away at such a critical moment. He marched up to Ken and his wife. "What's all the noise about?"
Then, he addressed the shareholders, "Glad to see everyone made it. You all know me, right?"
Harry's frown vanished as he greeted with a chuckle, "Isn't that Mike from Janna's crew? I haven't seen you in a while, buddy. Grown another inch?"
Mike turned to Harry with a grin spreading across his face, "Mr. Montgomery, you're joking!"
Alice clutched Ken's arm, keeping a safe distance from Mike. "What in the world do you think you're doing here? Are you trying to muscle in on the company?"
Mike's eyes fell upon her. The more he thought about how this accident had landed him injured, the more he blamed this wretched woman. The fierce look already on his face turned even more menacing as he said, "The shamelessness of a woman who steals another woman's husband surprises me. I'm Chairperson Janna's bodyguard, and I’m here to maintain order during the meeting. We wouldn't be here if you weren't causing a ruckus inside!"
Alice's face turned pale.
Mike no longer bothered with Alice. He looked respectfully at Fiona and said, "Miss Chelsea, the meeting can proceed now."
"No, you can't..." Ken's objection was cut short as Fiona resumed playing the video.
In the next second, Mike's hand shot out, his palm gripping the back of Ken's neck. With a thud, he forced him down onto the conference table.
"Madame raised you so well, yet you never seem to learn. No disruptions during the meeting, understood?"
The entire room went still, eyes wide with shock at the scene unfolding. Not a soul dared to make a sound.
"Does anyone else have any objections?" Fiona's gaze swept over the silent crowd. She seldom appeared at the company, and when she did, she rarely spoke up. Some had mistaken her silence for weakness—ripe for the picking.
Silence followed.
"Good." Fiona's expression remained calm as the video continued.
Janna's voice filled the room, "All of my stocks, funds, movable and immovable properties, as well as the entire share of the Rhoads family estate, will be inherited by Chelsea."
Faces across the conference room displayed a spectacular array of expressions. Those who had backed Ken shifted from red to pale.
As Janna concluded, everyone expected the video to end, but then...
"If, unfortunately, I pass away, I accuse my eldest son Ken and daughter-in-law Alice of murdering me. Furthermore, they're responsible for the death of my youngest son, Chris. Should Chris's wife and child also die, the culprits are still Ken and Alice. I implore the police to investigate thoroughly!"
"Lies!" The word burst from Alice's lips almost involuntarily.
"Let go of me!" Ken struggled desperately. "Chelsea, your obsession with seizing control of the Rhoads estate knows no bounds. I know you've got some hotshot hacker who can fabricate videos! This footage is fake; Mom explicitly expressed her disdain for you and never wanted to see you again! She would never leave her inheritance to a nobody like you!"
Fiona observed Ken's futile attempts with a cool detachment.
Scanning the room, she declared, "According to the will, the shares backing me as chairperson far exceed those of Ken. It's only proper that I take over as the head of the Rhoads Corporation. Does anyone have objections?"
A collective silence ensued.
"If there are no objections, let's consider today's meeting adjourned," Fiona stated coldly.
Indeed, there were those among them who disagreed, but faced with Fiona's assertive presence and the strange turn of events, who would dare to speak up?
Furthermore, anyone with even half a brain could see that the video Chelsea produced was highly unlikely to be a fake.
Ken's denials were nothing more than a last-ditch effort.
Chelsea's victory was all but secured.
Even those shareholders who begrudged Chelsea's rise to power could not muster the courage to voice their dissent unless they were prepared to sever ties with the Rhoads family.
Thus, as Fiona's voice faded, the attendees filed out individually.
"You can't leave! The meeting isn't over! Don't you dare leave!" Ken bellowed, struggling vehemently against Mike's grip, but he couldn't break free even as his neck looked ready to snap.
And just like that, the spacious conference room emptied in an instant.
Fiona stood up slowly, walked over to the chairperson's seat that Ken used to favor, sat leisurely, and swiveled the chair to face Ken. "It's hard to imagine how you could be this clueless. I wonder what my mother ever saw in you." "
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