CHAPTER 9

The clapping dwindled into a feeble echo and was replaced by the attendees’ faces turning to a mask of confusion and their lips forming silent questions.

Lady Vivian and Arabella couldn't believe it. Their eyes widened with shock as they stared at each other again. Their thoughts were racing in a bid to understand the mystery behind the announcement.

Arabella swayed, her feet tripping over each other in confusion as she missed her seat while trying to return to a sitting position but she quickly regained her balance.

“What exactly is going on here? Is this a comedy show? Why is Oscar mounting the podium? Is no one going to have anything to say about this?” Arabella turned to Lady Vivian, her voice edged with confusion.

Lady Vivian’s mouth was too heavy to even bring out the words that she had in her mind if she had any. “I have no idea, I have no words right now. Maybe we should talk to one of the concierges and ask if there is a mistake somewhere.”

Arabella signaled at a concierge closest to her and he came closer. He was dressed in a bow tie and a crisp white shirt.

“How can I help you Ma’am?” the young man bowed his head to ask.

Arabella bit her lips. “Ermm, I—I think there might be a mix-up somewhere. The man on the podium is below the class of anyone here and besides he should be behind bars right now.”

The concierge shrugged off Arabella’s statement, a faint smile playing at the corner of his lips as he offered no words to her. Arabella felt maximum embarrassment as if she had just spewed nonsense from her mouth.

Inara and her husband, George were also dumbfounded in the event hall and couldn't believe their eyes.

Oscar’s face squared with pride, his face etched with a smirk of self-satisfaction. “Thank you for your warm welcome. It is an honor to stand before you here today and be conferred the position as the CEO of Jones League of Companies.”

It was at that moment that it dawned on Lady Vivian and some members of the Delway family that Oscar was the son of the renowned Lord Henry after all.

Lady Vivian was shaking visibly with tension as it began to dawn on her that she had messed with the wrong person. Was he the same person they were expected to cast their hope on for the future of Delway Group?

Oscar continued, his gaze sweeping across the room with a sense of authority. “Without wasting too much time, I will use this opportunity to announce a few companies who have performed well and would get a new and improved role with funds being wired into their financial treasury.”

“But I would like to start by listing just a few companies who would no longer be under our sponsorship or guidance. They are going to be weeded out like dirt and would no longer receive investments from us.”

The air was filled with whispers of misery as some of the attendees had their voices echo through the room in a plea for understanding.

Lady Vivian’s heart pounded like a war drum, her body rigid with tension as her body was an onslaught of negative emotions.

“—-Delway Group is also no longer under the Jones Consortium,” Oscar finally announced.

The announcement struck Lady Vivian like a bolt of lightning, her breath catching in her throat and her chest heaving with the effort of her containing her regret.

Was it really the same Oscar who she always tortured, abused, and demeaned that was now striking such a huge blow to her heart? Was it real or could it be a dream? She asked herself.

Arabella, Inara, and George all had their faces drained of color as they absorbed the news. Their eyes clouded over with sadness and disbelief.

Oscar continued. “Not just that, Delway Group has been alleged to be guilty of multiple credit card fraud offenses and I am using this medium to inform the authorities to ensure that the big players in the company do not leave this hall until they have submitted themselves for questioning.”

The room fell silent, the gasp of surprise filling the room as they all turned towards Lady Vivian who some of them knew to be the head of the Delway Group.

Arabella, who was sitting close to Lady Vivian subtly changed her seat. She couldn't stand the many eyes that were fixed on her just because she was sitting with Lady Vivian.

But her strategy didn't have much effect as a few eyes still followed her to the strategic location where she chose to sit.

Meanwhile, Oscar wasn't close to being done yet.

Oscar commanded the stage with a natural charisma, his words carrying an undertone of confidence. “I know many of you wouldn't believe me but someone among us is a member of a crime group that focuses on blackmailing people

with their medical records and getting money from them.”

Immediately Oscar said those words, the projector screen erupted into a blaze of incriminating images, the attendees' faces frozen in a moment of shock.

A flurry of whispers rippled through the crowd, the attendees craning their necks and their eyes darting about the room in search of the person whose incriminating videos and excerpts from text messages and chat logs were littered across the projector screen.

Their eyes finally found the person - Bradley Stevens, the same man who smashed Oscar’s ex-wife, Charlotte, and humiliated him.

Charlotte was seated close to him and suddenly had a rising tide of panic and humiliation sweep across her face. She also couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was an uncomfortable revelation. The air seemed to close in around her as her shoulders sagged with the weight of shame.

She turned to her fiance and with her voice quivering with terror, she asked. “Babe, what is going on here?”