To her surprise, Anastasia saw that there more people than she had expected in the lounge.
This lounge had been made at the request of her mother as a break to take a short nap or just sit around to relax when she or her father had to work long, continuous hours at the company.
Not only were Tanner and Cadmien present, but also Niel Patterson, Dean Fleamont were also there along with her uncle's wife - Mrs Estell Rayburn and all of them had their children who were working at the company with them.
Niel and Dean were the husbands of her two paternal aunts.
Before any of them could speak, she saw Ivy Smith and Jason Holand entering the lounge. Both of them came towards her with quick steps and weak smiles. Ivy and Jason were her two close aides that had been taught and brought up by her parents as her future close aides.
They were her figurative right and left hands and would be her swords and shields as the situation demanded.
She had never once doubted their absolute loyalty towards her. However, why was such a haphazard group congregated all at once?
"Ah, Ana dear! Please come in. We seem to be in a bit of a pickle I am afraid." Tanner said with his usual saccharine-sweet voice that hid thousands of needles in it.
Anastasia felt her heart beating at the speed of a mile a minute when she heard those words.
Today was the first full meeting of the investors since her parent's deaths and Tanners words sent her heart racing because this meant that they were ready to spring whatever trap they had thought of at her.
Otherwise, it made no sense for all of them to come together and giver her a show of force in such a brazen manner.
She had naively believed that they would hold off until she entered the company but she realised that they must have been eyeing her as a danger that they needed to nip in the bud if they couldn't even wait a few years to start dealing with her.
She tried to talk above the rising lump in her throat, "Wh...What is the matter?"
She flushed to know that when she should have shown them a strong front, her voice had quivered and given away her inner turmoil.
Tanner frowned at her and she didn't find that reassuring at all because such a frown was always e prelude to Tanner creating troubles for others.
"Ah, It's regarding the company, you see," Tanner began and Anastasia felt herself going week in the knees.
She fervently prayed that it wasn't bad news that the company stocks had fallen or that they had found a large number of discrepancies in the financial ledgers.
With a quivering voice, she questioned, "Is the company in some trouble?"
"Not in imminent danger but the situation does have bearing on the reputation of the company and it doesn't look positive."
At his words, she buckled under the onslaught of emotions that reared their head inside her and she was thankful when Jason pushed a chair underneath her as she sat down.
"I am afraid the current problem has to do with the recent project your parents had undertaken," Tanner explained.
Anastasia glanced briefly at others in the room and found looks of mild disgust or schadenfreude smiles at their faces.
"What is it, uncle?"
She heard Niel mutter, "Just get it over with, Tanner. I don't have all day to waste."
Her uncle sighed at those words and began, "Ana, you see your parents invested in new medical research for Alzheimer patients and though they had talked about the plan with other investors, the proposal had been rejected. Elder brother had been adamant in his decision and therefore, he had borrowed money from The Donovan family to invest in the project."
At that point, Dean questioned her, "Did you know anything about it?"
She nodded her head and admitted, "Yes, Uncle Dean. Papa had talked about it with me a few days before..."
She abruptly stopped in the middle of her words as she couldn't verbalise that her parents weren't with her any longer.
That comment got pity filled eyes to turn towards her but then those eyes hardened within a few seconds.
Tanner again took control of the conversation and said, "Ana, the thing is that The Donovan patriarch signed the loan with the assurance that your father would return the money in the next half a decade. It was a loan that Elder Brother took against his name, so the company finances cannot be used to return the amount owed to The Donovan family."
He further explained, "Moreover, now that unfortunately, brother is no longer with us and you can't sell your shares to pay the loan, The Donovan Patriarch has said that he wants the full payment of the loan returned within a month or we have to find another way to pay it off or he would make things difficult for The Rayburn Industries."
Anastasia frowned her head and bit her lips while thinking about all the words her father had said when they had discussed the loan amount.
She knew it was fruitless asking these white-eyed wolves to help her pay off the loan and she herself didn't have that much money in movable cash.
She could sell some of her immovable property to try and collect the money but the real estate industry was already in a slump these days and even if she was successful in selling her properties, they still wouldn't amount to the overall amount of money owed to The Donovan Patriarch.
She blinked her eyes in confusion while her mind raced to think of some way out of this mess.
She knew these people were somehow involved in the mess that they had heaped on her shoulders, but it was useless having any sort of expectations from them.
She also wondered what had prompted The Donovan Patriarch to take such a drastic step.
Though The Rayburns and The Donovans couldn't be said to be the best of friends, they at least had various projects they were collaborating upon, so it didn't make any sense as to why the old man of the Donovan clan had given such a strong ultimatum.
She recalled that he seemed to be a kind, amicable old man but then in the business world, how many people who stood at the apex of power were truly innocent at heart.
The business empires were definitely made upon the bones of countless shattered families and dreams, so she couldn't be sure what the old man was angling for with such a sentence.
Still, no point in thinking about things that she didn't completely understand.
Coming to a swift decision, she looked up at all the adults gathered around her and with a smile replied, "I understand. I will look into things and won't let anything untoward happen to the company."
Finished with her words, she left the lounge before she could be further unsettled by anything else.