CHAPTER 8 - Still Persistent

Cale Hunt immediately rushed out of his office toward the elevator the moment he received the call from the Chairman's assistant. He could only hope she wouldn't dismiss anyone from their job.

As soon as he entered the Chairman's office, he felt the temperature drop a few degrees. After taking a deep breath, he summoned the courage to approach her. "Chairman Ems, you called?" Cale Hunt asked, waiting for a response before taking a seat.

The Chairman angrily hurled some files to the other end of the table, making Cale flinch at her action. "What's all this about? Are you trying to ruin the reputation of this company with the kind of people you employ?" she questioned, her expression dark.

Confused by her anger towards the documents, Cale reached out, picked them up, and began to review the contents. The moment he opened them, he froze. He knew Stephen Rawlings had been conducting shady business, but he had no idea Stephen was using the project funds to clear his debts.

"I haven't been involved with the company's work for just a few months, and this is the result?" Emris raised her voice in anger, feeling a sharp pain in her head.

"Ugh," she winced, clutching her head.

"Chairman Ems..." At the sound of her pained wince, Cale instinctively moved forward, only to halt as a low growl echoed from beside her. He had completely forgotten that MG was always at her side, fiercely protective whenever she was in pain, preventing anyone from approaching the Chairman.

"Chairman Ems, I'm so sorry. I was negligent in this aspect." Although he apologized, he hadn't expected Stephen Rawlings to stoop so low. This revelation made him question himself. How had the Chairman managed to gather all this information about the man in such a short period? Perhaps it was his own response to the Chairman that had drawn her attention to him, though he had little idea at the time.

Seeing the blood drip down to her hands, she could only sigh. She hadn't expected something like this to happen today, of all days.

"Pass me the wipes on the table," she instructed, raising her head.

Cale gasped as he saw blood dripping from her nose. He quickly brought over the wipes but stopped in his tracks when he saw MG baring his teeth at him.

Emris grew irritated as Cale held the wipes in his hands without bringing them to her. "Cale, this is no time for jokes."

"Chairman Ems, I know, but MG..." Cale quickly explained, drawing Emris's attention to her pet.

"MG, it's okay, let him come," she said, caressing him the moment he reached her side.

"I still prefer Trevor to him..." Cale muttered, handing the wipes to Emris with a huff.

MG growled at Cale once more as he took a few steps away from Emris and towards Cale.

"Woah... hold him." Cale became anxious as he saw MG approaching him.

"Relax, boy. Trevor won't be coming anytime soon—unless you misbehave." MG quickly returned to her side, nudging her as she spoke.

Emris laughed at his reaction. She had two pets: a snow wolf and a tiger. Although the two generally got along well, MG often became jealous the moment she paid more attention to Trevor. Coincidentally, Cale preferred Trevor's company over MG's, which only fueled MG's desire to keep him at bay.

Taking his seat, Cale gave MG a mocking smile, knowing well that MG was powerless the moment he heard Emris threaten to bring Trevor over. Cale's concern shifted to Emris's condition. "Why don't you go for your medical examination? You can't keep delaying it, you know that, right?"

Emris stared coldly at Cale when she heard his words. "There's no need for you to worry about that. Just focus more on the progress of the company and keep people like this out." Her voice was icy as she pointed at a picture of Stephen Rawlings.

"Yes, Chairman Emris." Cale bit back the rest of what he wanted to say about her health and refocused on work.

"But Chairman Emris, how did you come to learn about Stephen's dark side?" Cale asked, curious about how she had obtained the information so quickly.

"Dark side? It's not a dark side but an act of stupidity. Keevan passed the information to me the moment I stepped out of the meeting room," she said, pulling out a flash drive.

"So that's how it is," he mused, surprised that the Chairman had requested information about the company's higher-ups.

"Yeah, even though I've put the company in your hands, I still need to be informed about who the higher-ups are. I can't just throw money around without seeing any profits," she replied, a sinister smile playing on her lips as she toyed with the flashdrive in her hands.

Cale had anticipated her response; that was just how much of a capitalist she was. "So, how should I proceed with the information we just received?" Cale clenched his fist, seething over Stephen's betrayal. He was eager for this man to lose everything. How could he have been deceiving them all this time?

Emris tossed the flashdrive to him and continued, "These are the names of the people who need to be screened out of my company by tomorrow at 12 PM."

"Why wait until tomorrow when we can do it now?" Cale asked, looking puzzled.

"Because I don't want him to have a good night's rest tonight," she said, laughing at her own cunning.

Cale felt goosebumps on his skin. It would have been one thing if the Chairman had laughed after a light-hearted incident, but not in a situation like this. Her laughter only confirmed that she wanted Stephen Rawlings to suffer before facing humiliation tomorrow.

"Also, send the criminal records of the names on the flashdrive to the police, but only after you've blackmailed them and recovered everything they stole from me. Send them proof of their wrongdoing first."

"Ahhh..." Cale was speechless; he knew their fate had already been sealed by Chairman Ems. He could only listen carefully.

Standing up from her seat, she walked over to her wine bar and poured a glass of whiskey for herself before making her way to the French window.

Cale was stunned as he observed the figure by the window. Her calm demeanor and commanding presence were akin to that of an imposing emperor. Although dressed in professional attire, her strikingly beautiful face blurred the lines of gender, making it hard for outsiders to discern if she was male or female. It made one wonder if she was a celestial being descended to earth.

Cale could only smile at the scene, hoping she would find peace in her life after everything that had happened.

"Then, after you've collected the money, send that information to each of their families. I want their families to see their true colors," Emris said, taking a sip of her drink as she continued.

"Why go through all this stress? Might this not lead some of them to end their lives?" Cale asked, clearly confused.

"That's exactly what I want," she said, her tone so cold it could pierce through bone.

"Announce that Makdews Corporation will be screening out some bad eggs tomorrow morning before you proceed with exposing the information to the media by 12 PM. Is that understood?" Emris instructed coldly.

"Yes Ma..."

"Good, I think that will be all for now. If there's nothing else, I need to prepare for a meeting," she concluded.

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"Why do you still need to meet with the Italian investor? I heard he turned down our proposal," Cale didn't know why she was so insistent on meeting with this investor.

"He will agree after seeing me, there's no doubt about it," she pressed on as she made her way to her seat.

"But..."

"There's no buts CEO Hunt." She interrupted

"Now, if there is nothing else, I have documents to review and a meeting to attend. So please make use of the door," she relaxed as she turned to face her laptop.

Before leaving her office, Cale took one last glance at her, then proceeded to the Chairman's personal assistant's office.

"Cheryl, do you have any clue why the Chairman is insistent on meeting with that Italian investor?" Cale inquired as soon as he entered the office.

"Not now," Cheryl continued, focused on her task without lifting her head to acknowledge the person in front of her

Cale sat across from her, continuing, "It doesn't make sense why she's still determined to meet him. We already have enough resources for that project."

"I'm not sure she sees what we have as sufficient. She wants everything to be perfect, which is why she's putting in so much effort," Cheryl attempted to persuade him.

"Does that mean she would work tirelessly for it? We both know that wouldn't be beneficial; she needs to recognize her body's limitations."

As soon as he uttered those words, Cheryl sighed. "If that's her strategy, it won't benefit her body. She's even skipping the medical examination."

Cale sighed deeply. "I suppose I'll have to call Dawson and discuss this," he said, retrieving his phone.

Anticipating his actions, Cheryl swiftly intercepted his phone and concealed it. "Don't," she urged, "the Chairman entrusted us with this information, and we shouldn't undermine her by going behind her back. Our role is to ensure she doesn't overexert herself."

"I'm just trying to help her here," Cale complained.

"Cale, please, head to your office and tackle the assigned tasks. Remember, you've got three meetings in just two hours. Focus on achieving positive outcomes from each one."

"Oh, damn, I completely forgot," Cale muttered, hastily exiting the office and making his way to the elevator. The realization hit him hard; he had a significant problem to solve.

Cheryl could only hope that would distract him from calling Dawson.