Page 7 of Insufferable Boss

“Alright,” I said.

“Give her the option to go to an apartment or the hotel as soon as she lands, and of course, ensure David is on the ground to see to whatever needs she desires. I’ll call her afterwards to set up the meeting.”

“Yes, Sir,” he replied, and I set the phone down.

“You’re really not enthusiastic about her visit, are you?” Our resident lawyer Matthias commented from his seat across my desk.

“What’s there to be enthusiastic about?” I asked as I straightened and tried to get back to work.

“She’s been a pain in the ass from the moment her dad passed away. Uncooperative and fucking selfish. Now that I have to deal with her, what joy could possibly be in that?”

“Not only deal with her, you have to technically buy her cooperation.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Everything has been going fucking downhill since her dad passed away and left the company to these idiots, knowing that since I’m in charge, I wouldn’t’have a choice but to manage them. I loved the old man, but this has to be the cruelest thing he has ever done to me, and I deeply resent him for it.”

Matthias chuckled. “I understand your pain, but the more things unfold and the more tension arises, I’m beginning to think that your fathers may have had ulterior motives with equally dividing the company between the four of you.

“What do you mean?” I asked, and he explained.

“What was their favorite game to play together?”

“Chess.”

“So what if all of this is nothing more than a chess game. Your father, in particular, always used to say that even if you distributed resources equally amongst the masses, it would all end up going to the person who was the most qualified in the end. So, I don't think he wanted you four to just possess equal equity and run the company in harmony. They wanted the best man to win since obviously they didn't want to just hand it all over to you. I mean, you’re obviously the best one, but they needed to I guess, show your partners that so that they’d believe it.”

I listened to his words and smiled.

“You’re quite confident that I can get back the equity from all three of them eventually.”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to?” he asked.

I went silent after this and shook my head while he became curious.

“You’ll be able to, right?” he asked, and I was amused.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I be able to?” I asked. “I’ve long suspected what you just mentioned, so of course, I’m going to annihilate their diet asses.”

“Exactly,” Matthias agreed. “You’ve been working here for a decade, and you’ve single-handedly generated more than 60% of the company’s profits. What other proof of competency does anyone need to know how this is going to end?”

I sighed. “Sometimes, though, I get the feeling that they did this for entertainment purposes. To put us against each other and see who would win solely for their enjoyment. They probably just didn’t know that they’d both pass way before the plans came to fruition. If this truly was their idea and intention, then I am deeply offended. If I put much thought into this now, I truly might just leave and toss the company to them to burn.”

“You’ll never do that,” Matthias said. “It’s not just about money for you now, is it? It’s about impact and legacy, and of course, you enjoy this.”

At his words, I had nothing to say in response because, as unfortunate as it sounded, he was a hundred percent correct. I sighed and began to sign the stack of documents that had been presented to me.

“So…” Matthias continued. “On to legal matters. You’re going to tell Miss Mercer about the dividend increase battle, right? And where you want her to stand on it?”

“Well, knowing her personality so far, I don’t think anyone can tell her where to stand on anything,” I said. “But at least she’s coming here, which means there’s an opening and she has considered my offer. I’ll see how she responds tonight and how things go.”

At this, Matthias went silent for a little while and then he spoke again.

“Any possibility that she won’t be offended when she finds out that what you actually want is to buy her vote?”

“I’m paying extensively for it.”

“Hm,” he said. “That is also another bone of contention. The others still don't know that you put ten million on her table.”

“Exactly, that’s why there’s still relative peace. After I get Lena to agree to it, then we can finalize it, and by then it’ll be too late for them to have a fighting chance at stopping it.”

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