The Unexpected Billionaire's Revenge

CHAPTER 7

Taron turned his attention from Steve and Selena and faced the others.

“It’s good to have you all here tonight,” he started. “I’m sure you all must have heard about the sad passing away of our friend, Pablo Hernandez. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”

A few of them said ‘Amen’ while the rest murmured amongst themselves.

Taron cleared his throat and continued. “Pablo left his chain of companies in my care at his death, and I have called this meeting to address a few issues I have noticed. From now henceforth, things would be run my way.”

Taron could hear the murmurs amongst them but he ignored them. His eyes were fixed on Steve and Selena. Their faces were pale. Of course they knew he was referring to Garrick Modeling Agency.

James Garrick who didn’t have an idea of what was going on listened attentively to the new chairman, while wondering why his son was sweating under the cool air conditioner in the board room.

“Before I go into further details I would like to take a few complaints and suggestions,” Taron announced.

Almost all the hands went up immediately and Taron pointed at a Chinese man on a grey suit just two seats away from him.

“Sir,” the man started. “Business has not been good for Lin Xu’s Solicitors over the past three months and this is owing to the fact that Pablo Hernandez slashed the amount he invested at the beginning of the year by 50 percent.”

Taron jotted down as the man talked and when he was done, he raised his head up.

“Any other person with a similar issue?” Taron asked.

Almost all the hands went up and Taron sighed. He knew they were all going to ask for a raise in capital.

“A sheet of paper would be passed around now,” Taron said. “I want you to write down the amount invested into your company at the beginning of the year alongside your previous year’s profit and the new amount you want invested into your company. Be sure of what you’re writing down because I have my records.”

Taron signaled to two men who started sharing the papers round and he looked around to see if there were still raised hands.

Only one hand was still raised, and it was no other than James Garrick.

Taron caught sight of Steve signaling to his father to drop his hand and he knew he had to dive at his first chance at vengeance before it eluded him.

“Yes?” Taron smiled. “James Garrick?”

James stood up from his seat and flashed Taron his best smile.

“I can see you know me,” James said. “The CEO of Garrick Modeling Agency.”

“Oh yes I do,” Taron smiled. “Your company is not one that can be easily overlooked, not with the services of your hardworking son, Steve and the beautiful model, Selena.”

James’ smile widened into a grin. He was pleased to find out that the new owner had already recognized his hard work.

“I see you know my son as well, Steve,” James smiled. “There he is. And my top model, Selena. They are the face of the company, the future.”

“Of course I know your son, Steve,” Taron nodded. “What I’m not so sure of is what he does at the company to be earning twenty thousand dollars a month. Mind telling me?”

The board room went as silent as a graveyard immediately and Steve bent his head down in shame. He had seen this coming.

“He..he..he is an intern,” James stammered. “I decided not to give him any preferential treatment even though he is my son and so he works as an intern in the company.”

“His job description clearly states ‘miscellaneous’,” Taron said sliding a paper down the table to James. “And now you leave me wondering if miscellaneous and intern mean the same thing.”

James sat down, dumbfounded. The meeting was not going as he had planned in the least and he turned to face Selena expecting her to do her magic as she had promised.

Selena couldn’t even raise her head up. She was too ashamed of herself. The very person she had turned down just a few days ago was now the one in control of the company where she worked. Her fate was literally in Taron’s hands now and she knew that he planned to make her miserable.

“I’m not done with you yet, Garrick,” Taron said. “You might as well stand to your feet.”

Everyone was shocked to see how Taron was treating James. They all knew how much Pablo had respected him in the past but apparently, his heir had no regard for him.

James Garrick felt a mixture of anger, hatred and frustration as he stood up to face Taron . Who the hell did he think he was? If only he knew the close relationship he had with Pablo. He was the only one there that knew Pablo’s real name and the nature of his deals.

“I’m sure you’re making a mistake here,” James said standing to his feet. “I’m James Garrick, Pablo’s close friend and confidante.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you have been stealing from him,” Taron said.

“Stealing is a strong word…” James grunted.

“What would you call what you are doing?” Taron asked. “With the amount invested into your company monthly, you barely bring any profits. All of them here have made more profit than you.”

James turned to Selena and grabbed her by the arm so hard that she almost winced out in pain.

“I didn’t bring you all the way here to watch me get berated by someone young enough to be my son. You better go ahead with your plan immediately or never come back to work again.”

Taron smiled at the two of them and waited for the drama that was going to play out next. He didn’t have the faintest idea in the world what James had said to her but whatever it was, it was going to be fun. He watched as she rose to her feet slowly. She could barely look him in the eyes.

“Sir…” she started.

“Oh come on,” Taron raised his arms dramatically. “Cut the act. You are one of the only people here opportuned to know my real name. You and your jobless boyfriend. So address me properly.”

“Ta-ta-Taron,” Selena stammered.

“I can’t hear you from here,” Taron sighed reclining on his chair. “Maybe you should come over here and make your request.”

Time froze for Selena. She gritted her teeth and bit her lips in pain. This was the one side of Taron McCarthy that she had not seen.

Selena started towards him, trying her best to avoid the many eyes that followed her as she walked.

It took her another minute to get to the other end of the table and she stopped some meters away from Taron, her head facing the ground.

Taron stared her down. She wore a dark blue gown that stopped way before her knees.

“Why are you dressed like this to a business meeting?” Taron asked.

Selena stared down at her gown and looked up at him. “I…I…I thought…”

“You thought you could seduce me,” Taron cut in. “Is that it?”

Tears were dropping from the corner of her eyes already and from the other end of the table, James frowned, wondering why he was picking on the poor lady.

“You’re not properly dressed Miss Goldbridge,” Taron said. “This is not a studio. We are not doing any shoots here tonight and you’re quite aware of it. We all came here to discuss business.”

“I’m sorry,” Selena muttered.

“You would be,” Taron grunted.

He stood up from his seat and faced them.

“This is a new dispensation,” Taron started. “As the new head of all companies, I’m going to be making a lot of changes. Positive changes that would benefit us all. The first thing that would be changing is the capital invested into every single company, starting with James Garrick of course.”

James narrowed his eyes at Taron and waited for the big news.

“Your capital would be cut down by fifty percent…”

“Outrageous!” James exclaimed. “Totally unacceptable.”

“You can decide to sign off all documents and allow me hand the company over to someone who would accept my terms,” Taron shrugged. “Or you can decide to revise the wage bills of your staff. The choice is yours.”

Taron turned to face the rest of them. “And subsequently, the capital of all other companies would be raised by twenty five percent…”

They started clapping one by one and soon enough, the room was rowdy again.

Taron stood up from his executive chair. “That would be all for now. Have a good night.”

He walked out of the room amidst the excited cheers and laughter from everyone present and just as he was about to walk through the door, he caught Selena glaring hard at him.

He stopped at her table and faced her

“This is only the beginning,” Taron whispered to Selena

And with that, he left the room.