Ch 302 - Rats Deserting the Sinking Ship

Alex was shocked as he thought, They need over a billion dollars. What's going on? What's happened in D.C.? The Drake family worked for the Ambrose family so Alex couldn't understand how his family had gotten into this situation. He wondered, Is the Mitchell family involved? I remember hearing that they were becoming a real threat. Are they trying to damage my family?

Although Alex was estranged from his family, he was still an Ambrose. Although he could not use their money or rely on their reputation or help, if the family was in trouble, he couldn't just stand by.

"What's going on?" he asked Lindsey.

"Well, yesterday, at almost the same time, all the subsidiaries of the Fidelity Group experienced a range of disasters all at the same time. Because of the problems, most of their clients and partners have cancelled their contracts with them. Their company instantly lost around two billion dollars," Lindsey told him.

She continued, "At the moment, all the Drake family businesses have been suspended, and they're losing more and more money. They've already asked everyone they can think of for loans and investments, but they've run out of options."

Lindsey briefly described the difficulties the business had been experiencing.

"How could every business suffer these disasters at the same time?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, but David thinks that someone has set them up to deliberately harm his family," she replied.

"Someone deliberately targeted the Drake family." Alex murmured thoughtfully. He wondered again, Was it the Mitchell family? He could think of no other family that would have the power to carry out such a coordinated attack.

But why haven't the Ambrose family responded? He wondered. Has something happened to my family? He was becoming seriously concerned about his own family.

"I'll try my best to get the money, and I'll fly out to D.C. immediately," Alex told Lindsey. He knew that he wouldn't be able to relax until he had found out for himself what had happened.

"Well, right now everyone is at the company headquarters. Please come here as soon as you can."

"Okay, call me if you find out anything else," Alex said and ended the call.

After saying a hurried goodbye to Don and Daisy, Alex took a cab and went straight to the airport. He bought a ticket and caught the next flight to D.C.

**

After speaking with Alex, Lindsey felt relieved. She was sure that Alex would be able to do something to help. With him involved, she felt that the situation wasn't as hopeless as before. She thought The flight from Baltimore to D.C. is just over half an hour so Alex will be here soon.

The thought of seeing Alex again made her happy.

Back in the office, Lindsey told her father the news. They still didn't know whether Alex would be able to solve the Drake family's problems, so they decided not to tell Reginald yet.

Reginald walked over to them and said politely, "Please wait for me here. I'll ask my PA to bring you some drinks. Now I have to attend a meeting with the shareholders and senior executives. Please forgive me, I'll be back later." Reginald had already invited the shareholders and senior executives to attend the meeting at headquarters. He had to update them on the situation.

One of David's cousins said, "Uncle Reg, we'll all go with you. We're all members of the Drake family and we know what's going on. It will give a good impression to the senior executives and shareholders if we're there to support you."

"Yes, we'll go with you," said another.

"Let's go," said the first.

The other young men of the family all agreed that they should accompany Reginald.

He smiled at them and walked out of the office toward the conference room.

"Good. Come on all of you, come with me," David told his cousins and brothers. They followed Reginald into the conference room.

All the senior executives, shareholders, and managers of the subsidiary companies were already seated, waiting for Reginald. Their expressions were serious because they knew that over the last twenty-four hours, the problems of their respective companies had only become worse.

Seeing that so many members of the Drake family were attending the meeting, the senior executives felt a little more confident.

Most of the Drake family members stood at the back of the conference room to watch and listen. Reginald sat on the chairman's seat at the conference table, and David stood beside him.

"Welcome, everyone. Thank you for coming. I know that you're all very concerned about the current situation that the Fidelity Group is in. I hope that we can unite to find a pathway out of the present crisis together." When he looked up and saw everyone's solemn expressions, Reginald felt very depressed. He looked to David for help.

David stepped forward and said, "That's right, everyone. We are all part of the Fidelity Group, and no one should give up too easily. We're in this together, and if we unite, no one can defeat us." He wanted to take some of the pressure off his father's shoulders.

Reginald looked at David gratefully and patted him on the back. He thought, David's spirit is commendable, but there was no way for Fidelity to get out of this predicament.

"Please could everyone report the latest situation with their company." Reginald wanted to distribute the money he had to help out the subsidiaries that were in the most need. But before he could finish, he was interrupted by someone at the table shouting, "Mr. Drake."

The man stood up. He was in his fifties and of medium height and build. He had a large forehead and very small eyes, and his expression was cold. Everyone in the room was silent when they heard him call out.

It was Noah Freeman, one of the directors of the Fidelity Group. Reginald didn't know that he was secretly in collusion with Colin Patterson.

When he stood up, everyone in the room looked at him.

"What do you want to say, Noah?" Reginald asked.

It was very impolite to interrupt the chairman's speech. However, Noah was a very senior member of the board of directors and Reginald had always been very tolerant of him.

Noah didn't speak, but instead, he walked over to Reginald and placed a piece of paper in front of him.

When Reginald saw the words on the paper, his anger rose.

"A resignation letter," David said in shock when he read the words on the paper.

Everyone gasped when they realized what Noah had just done.

Noah was one of the most important directors of the Fidelity Group. If he resigned, how could the company hope to recover from the current crisis?

David couldn't believe it. He glared at Noah and asked, "Noah, what are you doing? The Fidelity Group is facing its most challenging moment and you feel that it's a good time to resign? You and my father built this company from nothing. Do you really want to abandon it now?"

"David, I'm just a manager at the Fidelity Group. It was your father who founded this company. I can't take the credit."

"You can't?" David said.

Noah replied, "As a worker, are you saying that I don't even have the right to resign? I assume you're joking?"

David couldn't believe that Noah, who was usually so polite in front of him and his father, was being so rude. He was angry and wanted to scold him.

Reginald saw what was happening and raised his hand to stop David. Noah was an old friend and colleague and they had been through a lot together. No matter what, David wasn't qualified to scold him.

Also, Reginald could understand why Noah chose to resign at that moment.

"Well, I accept your resignation. I'll make sure that you're paid all the money that you're owed," he said.

Noah looked at Reginald and thought, Do you think I'll just accept some money from you? Oh, Reginald, you look down on me but you have no idea what I'm capable of. I want you to watch with your own eyes as I destroy the business empire you created. That's what I want.

Noah looked around the table at the other executives and winked at them.

He had already spoken to them individually, and they knew what was expected of them.

A bespectacled executive stood up and handed Reginald his resignation letter. He said, "Chairman, I resign."

Another slim female executive stood up and said, "Mr. Drake, thank you for all you've done for me over the years. I'm sorry, but also I have to resign."

Six or seven executives stood up in succession and handed their resignations to Reginald.

"Mr. Drake, I can't continue to work for you because of the current situation that Fidelity is in. I'm sorry, I quit," said one.

"I quit too. I can't work in a company that's going to go bankrupt," said another.

"I'm quitting too," said one more.

Having watched nearly a quarter of the senior executives resign, the other people at the meeting were confused. What was going on? For so many of them to resign in one day was beyond their comprehension.

Reginald felt a sharp pain in his chest and collapsed into his chair. He had devoted his whole life to building this company and had spent many hours training his executives to achieve everything they had. Now he felt betrayed.

David tried to help his father. "Dad, are you okay? Take some deep breaths, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale."

When Reginald's breathing calmed down, David turned angrily to the executives and said, "Do you have any conscience? Think about how my father has looked after you. And this is how you all choose to repay him? Well, since you want to get out of here, all of you can go now. We don't need anyone here with so little loyalty."

David scolded the executives and most of them felt extremely guilty. Many of them had started at the company straight from college and, with Reginald's guidance, had worked their way up to executive positions.

In Reginald's company, anyone with talent who was willing to work hard had excellent opportunities for promotion. Their salaries were also significantly higher than those of their peers working in other companies.

They knew that Reginald was a decent and noble person and that they had betrayed his trust. None of them had wanted to do it but they felt they had no choice. Noah had told them that the Drake family was being targeted by a larger force, and there was no way for the Fidelity Group to escape the disaster.

Noah had also promised them that if they did as he requested, he would give them a generous reward. Once the Fidelity Group had been acquired by the more powerful family, he assured them that they would all get their jobs back.

They were all intelligent people, and after weighing up the situation, they all felt that their only choice was to turn away from the Drake family and follow Noah.

Looking at the rest of the executives who hadn't yet resigned, Noah said, "All of you, listen to me. It's clear to everyone that the Fidelity Group is finished. If you choose to stay and work for the Drake family, you will be finished with them. I urge you to resign and leave Reginald alone on his sinking ship. Why should you all suffer for his mistakes? You have to think of your own futures."