THE ULTIMATUM

"Great. I will hold your word to it. So what brought you here? "I deflected from the defensive stance Zeeb had made, hoping to divert his attention.

"As planned, the shareholders will be here in an hour. Based on the allocation of shares, two shareholders seem to be in a lot of debt: Declane Brooks and Boris Carter. But we need to give them an ultimatum about the sale of the shares. "

"How fast can we make an offer? I want you to buy the shares they have," I informed Zeeb.

"What?" He exclaimed in shock. 

"Why the fuck would you? Are you surprised? If I attempted to buy the shares, they would label me as a bully. But if you buy the shares, it would show that you want to be part of Due Corporation', ' I explained. 

"Lucian, you know my financial situation. Unless you give me five years, I will purchase the shares." Zeeb explained.

"Take it as a loan that I am giving you. This is a chance that you can't afford to miss," I winked at him. 

"Lucian, are you sure?" He pressed on. 

"Fucking yes" I laughed. 

"Okay. I will have the paperwork ready before the board meeting." He agreed. 

"I will inform Ashina about our plan and have the funds ready for you," I winked at him. 

"You are going to make it difficult for me every time you mention her name, right?" Zeeb mused. 

"Of course," I acknowledged. 

"I am off," He announced and left my office shaking his head. 

***************

Two hours later, the board members had already arrived at the executive boardroom and were being served coffee and tea by Isla and Amelia. Zeeb and I left my office after reviewing the documents he had prepared for the buyout of the shares. 

He walked ahead of me and opened the executive boardroom door and upon entry, they all stood up in greetings. 

"Good afternoon board members, have a seat everyone," I instructed them. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. 

"CEO Lucian, what is the urgent matter that made you summon the board on such short notice? "Carter was the first to speak up. He was seated next to Declan Brooks, who looked annoyed and irritated. 

"CEO Lucian has two agendas on the table today. One is the matter of the debts that the shareholders have and the other is the value of the shareholding in the shares at Due Corporation. 

"Before we begin, I would like to bring to your attention that CEO Lucian plans to build a resort using the company's funds without having the shareholders approve of the project," Carter spoke up arrogantly. 

"Really?" I smirked. 

"Lucian, even if you are the largest shareholder, the shareholders, and the board members should discuss such a massive project. "

"Carter, where did you get this information? I do plan to build the resort, but I had not discussed this with you," I mused. 

He snickered and then stated, "As a shareholder, I am privy to such information." 

"They misinformed you, "Zeeb said. "Due corporation will not be involved in building the resort. I can attest to this. " 

"What?" one shareholder exclaimed. 

"I will finance the project myself. This has nothing to do with Due Corporation," I stated firmly. 

"You are lying. Anisha was already preparing the financial report for this project, "Carter yelled. 

"Summon Anisha" I turned around and spoke to Zeeb. 

He nodded and walked out of the boardroom. 

"Lucian, whatever you are doing is illegal," Carter threatened. 

"I pity you, Carter. As the deputy CEO, you don't know your place at all. Such a high-level matter would have been sorted out of this boardroom instead of confusing the shareholders. But you want to cause trouble." I stipulated. 

You know how to defend yourself when you are in the wrong Lucian" He chuckled in response. " 

At that moment, Anisha walked into the executive boardroom with Zeeb.

"You called for me, CEO Lucian," Anisha spoke. 

"Please inform the shareholders about the project for the resort," I urged her. 

"Right away CEO Lucian. Zeeb had given me the information about the Resort Project he plans to have on the Freki land. I thought that this was a project for the Due corporation and prepared the financial statements and plan for it. But when I delivered the documents, CEO Lucian clarified that he would finance the resort with his own money and that Elder Zaya of the KODA council would be his partner for this project. "Anisha answered. 

There was pin-drop silence in the executive boardroom as everyone turned to stare at Carter.

"Deputy CEO Carter, they misinformed you. Look at the mess you just created" I drawled

"Will that be all?" Anisha inquired impatiently.

"Thank you. You may leave" I dismissed her, and she nodded and left. 

"Let us discuss the agenda on the table. Last week, Alpha Lobo walked into my office with a document of a share transfer from Declan Brooks to Alpha Lobo Aria," I stated while watching the reaction on Declan's face. 

"Why would you bring up the matter? We already agreed and closed it. Are you planning to cause me trouble, Lucian?" Declan seethed. 

"You wanted to sell your shares to Alpha Lobo?" One shareholder demanded. 

"I did, but CEO Lucian stopped it. "Declan huffed. 

"You are right. I fucking stopped it. "I stood up and walked over to where he sat. "You wanted to get away with the one hundred million dollar debt? Are we a joke to you? The money was to expand your franchise, and you squandered it all. If you had come to me, we would not be here discussing this matter." 

" Alpha Lobo offered to buy the shares since I owed him money. I had no option or I would have lost my family's house and they would have been out in the streets. And with the assurance of Carter, I proceeded with the offer. Can you deny this, Carter?." Declan's eyes blazed at Carter.