Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

Chapter 667: The Board

That morning, Damien attended the Park Group board meeting to inform the members of the changes in the major shareholders, given the discovery of William's birth. They didn't give Frederick a chance to defend his honornot that he could since he wasn't present in the meetingbut with legal documentation that proved William had the right to equal shares with Frederick, the takeover was done as they expected.

Saying that the members of the board were shocked by the discovery would be an understatement, but Damien didn't allow them to linger on that subject. He settled the room and proceeded to start the motion to remove Frederick as the chairman and then, a surprise to some of them, nominated himself as the new chairman.

Back when he was still planning to remove his uncle from the seat, Damien secretly bought shares from the company, and over time, his accumulation plus his original shares combined made a good enough percentage to sway the board had he planned to overthrow his uncle then.

Because Frederick was forcibly resigned, all his shares were then sold back to the company and Damien didn't waste any time taking most of it. He allowed several millions of dollars for William and a few more for the rest of the board. Damien could buy all of it if he really wanted to, but he extended the courtesy to William for however much William could afford. While a small portion of the shares that were sold at a discounted price to the rest of the board was made to appease them of what was happening.

Damien and William half-expected for the members to protest and voice out their concerns, but surprisingly, they all settled without much of a disagreement. If they did, however, the two would've had to manipulate their decision by letting them know that as soon as the meeting was done for the day, an article about Frederick's resignation will be released. If they didn't remove Frederick, that would have affected the company a lot more. And in the following days, his arrest would be made public. Damien and William were willing to take the risk since Park Group had always been their family's company, but the two didn't have the same faith as the rest of the board.

Fortunately, everyone expressed their approval to put Damien as Park Group's chairman. It was mostly for technicality and Damien didn't have to be in the company all the time, but he would still oversee the board.

What came next, though, was a tough one because Damien's first motion was to appoint William as the new CEO, and there were a few objections to thatand those came from the members who weren't a fan of William and the ones they weren't able to convince during the times they tried before today.

Unfortunately for those who objected, the majority of the votes went to assigning William as the new CEO.

So far, their plans were in place. And things were going well. After a long morning, Damien called for a lunch break before the next matter at hand would be discussed.

The board members scattered around the room after taking food from the catering service and chatted in groups.

Damien leaned against the wall with a black tumbler in hand and scrolled through his phone with the other. He had just finished his lunch when he decided to check in on Katherine.

[ Me: How's it going over there, Kitten? ]

[ My Queen: Stressful. The board isn't happy, but they don't have a choice. Grandpa's lawyers and Frank have been helpful though, so hopefully, this will be over fast. ]

[ My Queen: What about your end? ]

[ Me: So far so good. Nothing to worry over here. And please eat your food. One bite isn't enough. ]

[ My Queen: Stop spying on me! ]

[ My Queen: :heart_suit: ]

The corner of Damien's mouth curled into a smirk, justifying the act that he had eyes watching her only because he cared about her.

[ Me: I'll pick you up as soon as we're done here to destress. See you later, love. ]

"I'll buy you out." William took the black tumbler from Damien's hand and sniffed it. "Dude. Really? You're hiding whiskey in coffee tumblers now?" Then he took a sip.

Damien cocked a brow and took the tumbler back. "Situation calls for it. And no. You can't buy me out, idiot. It's in the papers."

"Fuck the papers. I'll pay you generously."

Taking a sip of his drink, the amber liquid slid smoothly down his throat. There was a lot to deal with that day. He needed the drink. "You can offer me billions plus a million llamas and I won't sell you my shares."

"You're not that special. Only special people get llamas."

"Considering you're convincing me to sell you my shares by paying generously, I know I am that special."

William narrowed his eyes on Damien and ran his tongue along his teeth. "You're not my boss. And I'm your uncle."

Damien rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me. I'm not calling you uncle. And technically, I am your boss because as a CEO, you are an employee of the company. And as the chairman, I have the final word. Case in point, you answer to me."

"ONLY in certain situations do you have the final word. More often, you don't even get involved because you don't have to be here all the time. And I'll make sure you won't have any reason to come here so I can run this company on my own terms."

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." He patted William's cheek as if he was a little boy and stifled a chuckle as he walked away.

Although Damien didn't really plan to lord over Park Group because he already decided to give William free reign, it was nice to mess with him. And he didn't have any plans on giving up his seat or his shares in the near future.

:crown::crown::crown:

While Damien dealt with Park Group, Katherine was also in a conference room with Young Corporation's board members. She wished her grandfather was there, but sadly, Grandpa Theo was still in the hospital. A few days ago, she thought about waiting for him to wake up so he could give his orders, but it had been weeks already, and she couldn't hold on to Deborah and Higgins indefinitely.

The longer they kept them in captivity, the higher the risk of unfortunate circumstances like them breaking out, or worse, they'd try to kill themselves.

For the most part of their meeting, Katherine told them a careful summary of the truth about Deborah's identity and involvement in Mason and Natalie's deaths, leaving out details that they didn't need to know, like Shadow and other unnecessary things. There was no other way than to inform them about it because when the news breaks later, they all had to deal with it. It was a courtesy call.

"I'm telling you all this because you deserve the truth from me and because we're going to face probably the biggest impact Young Corporation will ever have since my parents' deaths." With the room silent and the members' heads all loweredpossibly still taking in the shocking newsKatherine took a deep breath and added, "I understand if the situation discourages you because it truly is discouraging. And if you believe that what's best for you would be to withdraw and not be part of this corporation anymore, now would be the best time because this afternoon, the articles will be released along with Deborah's arrest, and the next few weeks will be hard for us.

"I wish I can give you more time to decide, but we don't have that much. We'll have a one-hour break. Please use this time wisely." Katherine slightly bowed before them and got to her feet. The board members took time to stand and got off their chairs before dispersing. Food arrived soon after.

She regrouped with her grandfather's lawyers and Frank at a dining table on one side of the room, discussing a course of action. She didn't think any of the members would want to get out of this and sell their shares, but if that ever happened, she was ready to save her family's company even if she had to use her personal money. And if that wasn't enough, Damien had alreadyand adamantlytaken up the responsibility to buy it for her. He had even sent his accountant there just in case.

Before the meeting recommenced, Katherine received a text message from Caroline using Noah's phone.

[ Noah: Please let me talk to my mom. I need to ask her about my father. This is my only chance. Please. -Caroline ]

Katherine didn't have to think it through because she already planned to give Caroline a chance to talk to her mother anyway. So before going back to the table, Katherine called Noah and Amelia to give them the go signal.

A couple of hours and three less members of the board later, the meeting finally ended. Katherine leaned back on her desk chair and closed her eyes. Her head was pounding, the soles of her feet were aching, and she wanted to beat someone up to release her stress. That was the longest day she ever had in the office and the trouble had only just begun. The chaos was yet about to start.

The incessant ringing and rattling of her phone on the desk caused the vein in her temple to throb. Groaning, she swiped it and answered with a lackluster spirit. "Katherine."

"You're not going to believe what I just heard from Caroline and Deborah's conversation," Amelia announced in a toneless voice.

Katherine narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Caroline's father is Frankie Bianchi."

Her mouth hung open. "No way" It was like the missing piece of the puzzle. Caroline's father was Shadow's former boss, and the man Amelia killed when she went rogue.