Page 77 of The Next Door Billionaire's Deception

Gerard Haynes, his right-hand man, breaks the silence. “A partnership with Vibrant Corp will benefit this company in the shortandlong term. My accounting team has worked out the details. Can you give us any figures or facts that’ll make us understand why it's a bad idea to merge?”

There’s none.

“I don’t have any figures or facts. But I’m well aware of the strategy Richard Burnes is trying to adopt. As the merger is being processed, he’ll start poaching our stocks one way or the other, so when the merger is done, he’ll be in a strong position to convince the lot of you here to sell your shares at much lower prices. Before we can say bull for profit, he’s the major shareholder and de-facto owner of the two companies.”

Lamar chuckles, before bursting into laughter. “Miss Durham. You’re trying to tell me he’ll use such an old method in the book and I won’t notice?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. What’s your source?”

“I don’t have a source, in the strict sense. I just know it.”I told him how to go about it after all.

“I must say, I’m quite disappointed in you, Miss Durham. As CEO, I expect you to know better than summon a board meeting because something came to you in a dream, on a whim, or something. I was mistaken.”

“But –”

“Let me finish. You’ve had your say. What you just did should be getting you booted on a normal day. The board should be voting on your expulsion, as I’m talking, but today’s not the day. Firing you would mean settling contracts, handling press conferences and the like. There’s no time for all that due to the merger processing. An irony is that you owe your job to what you want to stop. This meeting is over.”

Lamar, adjusting his suit, moves out of the conference room, followed by the other members. I’m left in the room, my mind reeling.

Lamar and Richard win this round. In the end, nothing changes. The merger is still endorsed by the board.

Chapter 23

Richard

“Mr.Burnes!You’vearrived!I have some great news for you!”

I take a sip from my coffee, watching my finance officer, Thomas, tremble with sheer excitement as he delivers reports concerning Emerald to me.

My plan is in motion. When Lamar accepted my terms two weeks ago, that was the first step. The processing of the merger is already underway and gaining momentum – my advisers tell me it’s just two weeks at best before my dream of bringing Emerald and Vibrant together is realized.

Despite all these, I’m not as ecstatic as I should be. I’m not punching my fist in the air or slapping the back of people like Thomas, making this deal work; I’m not hosting dinner parties or taking my subordinates out for a drink. If anything, I’m less enthusiastic.

There’s one reason for this – Melissa. Ever since she ended our relationship, I’ve not been myself. It doesn’t help that Alex is also avoiding me now. I’ve not heard from him since our row in my office.

“Morning, Tom. Talk to me. What’s the update?

I relax on my chair as Thomas rubs his hands together before bringing out his phone.

“Remember the stock sales last week? We advised each member of Emerald’s board to sell at least twenty percent of their stocks in the first step to diversification. Well, sir? They caught the bait.”

“Oh? What’s the update on that, now?”

“As a collective, sir, all fourteen members control about sixty percent. Each selling that amount of stocks reduced that number to forty thereabouts. Here’s the good part. We just got some proxy associates to buy those stocks for us in their name. Technically, you’ll be the top stakeholder before the merger is even completed if we maintain this buyout policy. Genius move, sir!”

The genius here isn’t me. It’s Melissa.

We’re not a thing anymore, yet I still can’t help but worry about Melissa. A week ago, I got in contact with the FBI because I’d gathered some evidence. I’m still uncovering more, but I need to make sure she’s safe from the troubles that’ll occur from exposing the corruption of Emerald’s top dogs.

Another meeting is scheduled for today. This time, I’m to meet with the head of investigations on the Emerald Inc. case, Chad Tracinski.

“I see. Good job. We should be able to transition without any hiccups if things go well, yeah?”

“Things are going well, sir. All we need is to finalize the merger deals, and we’re good to go. Emerald is as good as yours.”

“Alright. Keep me informed. Now, please excuse me, Tom. There’s a shit ton of work to do.”

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