Benjamin was dumbstruck.
Everything still felt so unreal. Perhaps he had not even woken up from his bed this morning. Was he still dreaming?
Why had Colin suddenly switched teams? Benjamin was even dismissed from his job and was going to be investigated?
Benjamin’s heart was thumping wildly as he subconsciously looked at Jasper. What he saw was the same calm and unruffled Jasper from the moment he first walked through the door. He looked breezy and indifferent regardless of the mockery and ridicule thrown at his face. There was a layer of calm on his face that was impossible to comprehend.
The mysterious and calmness he exuded was nothing at first, though when Benjamin realized that Jasper had so stealthily got the entire situation within his grasp, everything suddenly seemed so terrifying.
The things he and Mr. Monty did and said earlier must have seemed like a joke to Jasper, right?
At the thought of this, the completely disheartened Benjamin looked to his only backer for help, hoping that Conrad could speak up for him.
Conrad, however, was livid at the moment. He looked so gloomy it was as if a thunderstorm was approaching. How could he possibly be in the mood to help him?
After casting several glances, Benjamin sighed hard and said dejectedly, “I understand.”
As Benjamin said those words, he stood up and walked out of the conference room.
His departure did not catch anyone’s attention.
From the very start, Benjamin had been an insignificant character sitting on this conference table. No one cared about him.
The things Mitch said earlier had offended Dwayne, so he was not going to be so cautious anymore.
Dwayne was a mid-level senior executive in the Securities Regulatory Commission. He had connections of his own and wielded authority, so even powerful bosses of listed companies were exceedingly polite to him.
Dwayne did not want to offend Mitch, the young master of Harbor City, but that did not mean he would put up with anything.
He enforced the law impartially so no one could find fault with him. Dwayne refused to believe that the Langdons would come all the way to the Mainland to pick on him because of this.
“If that’s the case, let’s begin voting on the second motion—”
Dwayne was halfway through his sentence when Conrad cut him off. “Hold on.”
Dwayne looked at Conrad. Although he was upset with Mitch, he still needed to show Conrad some respect.
Conrad looked at Jasper and took a deep breath, saying, “You’ve planned all this from the start, haven’t you? Colin has already picked your side, right?”
Jasper chuckled and said, “Don’t say that. The voting system of this shareholders meeting is open and fair. The entire process is recorded and filmed. The Securities Regulatory Commission will review this too. How could we have possibly colluded?
“This is for the good of the company, everyone.”
Conrad sneered. “Since you already hold the winning card, Jasper, then stop pretending. That will only make me despise you more.”
As he said those words, Conrad turned to look at Colin and said calmly, “Mr. Walter, I don’t know what Jasper offered you or what he used to threaten you, but you must make careful considerations when voting for the next motion.”
“If you make the wrong choice, someone will pay the price.”
Jasper said calmly, “Mr. Monty, there are many people watching and listening. Do you think it is right for you, as the chairman, to threaten your shareholders so overtly?”
Conrad sneered, “Are you afraid?”
“Afraid?” Jasper let out a fascinated smile and then looked at Dwayne before saying, “Mr. Martin, let’s begin voting.”
Dwayne nodded. This time, everyone in the conference room, himself included, no longer thought that Jasper was only playing to the gallery.
Even if Jasper was playing to the gallery, they were the ones who were pulled onto the stage in the end, whereas Jasper was the bigwig sitting in the audience watching the show.
Dwayne let out a sigh. From the bottom of his heart, he admired the means and strategies that Jasper had adopted.
He had managed to deceive everybody with his strategies and pulled the rug out from under Conrad’s feet. This was simply… ingenious!
“If that’s the case, let’s begin voting on Mr. Laine’s second motion on reorganizing the board of directors and removing Mr. Conrad from his position as the chairman. The voting will begin now.”
“I object!” Conrad stared fixedly at Colin, gritting his teeth.
“I represent the retail investors holding 6% of the shares to abstain from voting.”
Dwayne looked at Colin. At this moment, he felt slightly anxious as well, and his palms were drenched in sweat unknowingly.
He knew that Colin’s answer would determine the direction of the shareholders meeting. He could also tell the result of this match between Jasper and Conrad, the genius from the Southeast Province that only appeared once every half a century.
