"Yes, I am Amelia, the granddaughter of the chairman of Oasis. The girl who was supposed to marry Jason Wilson this year. The girl who fled from her marriage and ended up in a refugee situation in a different city. I got a fake identity and ended up getting a job in Revolution, only to find out it was where my so-called fiance's brother works."
Adam blinked at me twice before saying, "SO you're saying that you're actually loaded?"
I was expecting something like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe that.' but I got this reply. He was totally missing the main point. I mean ya, I am rich, but how does that matter? "You got that out of my confession?"
Adam shrugged and said, "No matter what your identity you have, you're still the same person-"
See, this was very touching, reactions like, 'You deceived me!' would have been a tad extra. But Adam had to ruin it.
"Since you're loaded, you might as well pay me back everything I spent on you. Like when we went to lunch in that restaurant and I paid the bill because I thought you were tight on money." He said without a hint of shamelessness.
I scoffed at his words, "You wish!" Dude, seriously? No one asks someone for money like this. Asking me to pay next time is reasonable, not this.
He did not stop this conversation there, he went on further and said, "It's not like I'm asking you for your money, I'm just asking you mine."
"Shut up. Or else I swear-" I almost cursed him, but he interrupted me again.
"Now it all makes sense! When you used to buy things worth thousands without batting an eye made me so confused. I even thought of planning an intervention for you. Luckily, I dodged that bullet."
Through the eyes of Adam, I would have looked like this- wearing black sunglasses and gold chains as if imitating 'thug life,' while tossing money up in the air and making it rain.
"Go die." I said while grinning at him. Roses are red, violets are blue, if I had a brick, I'd throw it at you.
"Nah, you would be too lonely without me." He said cockily. I rolled my eyes at him. I did not deny it though. He was the only normal person I met after Lily in that office. Staying too long with Mr Wilson shows its effects, not lying.
Adam drove back to the office, I looked at him with confusion. I already applied for a leave. Why did we come back here?
"I already told you before, I have work to do. Now go back and don't use your leaves too often." He advised.
I never got a chance to use my leaves for a reason other than Mr Wilson, he and his tantrums. *shaking my head*
Anyway, I did not argue with Adam; I went to my desk and saw a pile of paperwork. The hell?! I left for half an hour and this is what I missed? I buried myself into the pile so I could get it done as fast as possible. While I was still looking at the figures of the financial statements of the company which Revolution wished to become a partner with, I got a call from Adam. "Quick, come to my office! We're in a situation, a really critical situation."
Adam's tone was very urgent and unless it was a big crisis, I do not think that Adam would be this worried.
I went to his office, and he looked unsightly. His tie was nearly undone, and he caught up in many calls.
After he got off the phone, I asked him about what happened.
He narrated the whole incident to me. Chris Wilson's decision of acquiring a failing entertainment company and using his brand to bring it up as a way of entering the entertainment industry was confidential. Even the board of directors were unaware, Chris planned on getting everything ready and presenting a proper business strategy to the members. That was why I had a lot of paperwork to go through. The background checks of that company, its financial statements, any scandals it had been previously involved in, and so on were the documents I had to file and keep it safe. Since Adam was the top manager, he knew the details, and he worked towards this motive. Two other people knew about the details as they were forming the strategies and filing the documents needed for acquisition. Who the other two were, only Adam and Chris knew, I did not have that much clearance. The crisis started when this information was leaked. The entertainment company had its fair share of scandals, but not as deep and dirty as other companies have since it was a small one. The information leak had pushed that company into the limelight and had many curious about its past, so the previous scandals came up again, which tarnished Revolution's name since it was planning to obtain it.
As if this was not enough, the board of directors started to severely oppose the idea. The fact that Chris did this under their nose hurt their ego, and so a few said things like how the stocks dropped to influence the neutral members to oppose his decision too.
When Adam said these things, my business mind started tingling, I have seen and studied many such cases since I remember. The first thing to do is to call Mr Wilson, he should handle the board of directors. And the rest can be delegated. I tried calling Mr Wilson, but he did not pick up. I seriously wanted to curse him.
I called him again, and this time Elena picked up the call.
"Listen here secretary whatever, don't cross your limits." She said cockily. The company is in a crisis and I am worried, so this attitude of Elena lit the firecrackers in my head.
"Don't talk to me about limits when you over stepped your boundary and touched Mr Wilson's phone without his permission. Tell him the company is in a crisis and he has to come back immediately."
"Don't talk to me with that attitude, I can get you fired if I want to. A small-town girl like you telling me what to do? What a joke."
"Try me!" I said and cut the call. I knew that Elena will not relay my message, so we had to solve the problem. Adam was given the authority by Mr Wilson regarding the acquisition. Therefore, he would be the one who has to solve the matter. I decided to help as much as I could.
While Adam was on a call, I suggested, "Let's start from finding out the culprit."
I dealt with all the documents, but my involvement in the case was not much. So even though I was suspected, I could easily prove my innocence. Mr Wilson trusted Adam the most, so he was clear of suspicion.
Being the IT techie Adam was, he traced the recent phone calls and found out the culprit. The lady responsible for filing the documents leaked the details deliberately. Her fiance, who worked for a prospering entertainment company, influenced her. He was in a well-paid position. According to the conversations on her phone, he thought of sabotaging Revolution's plan as soon as he got to know about it from his fiance. If Revolution took over, it may pose a threat to his company, so he thought of nipping the bud and attacked as soon as possible. By manipulating her, he successfully got the lady to give him the documents, and he revealed these documents to the media.
The lady and his fiance were being arrested, and Revolution's legal department decided to sue.
Although Adam and I were sure that the man's company was involved in this scheme too, it could not be proven from the limited pieces of evidence we had.
The next problem was Revolution's reputation and pacifying the board of directors. I asked Adam to reveal a new scandal about a celebrity to cover this. As predicted, when the scandal was exposed, everyone forgot about Revolution's case, giving the PR department time to go over the issue and find a solution. They decided to hold a press conference and provide an answer to all the 'questions'.
"How did you get a celebrity to agree in revealing you-know-what?" Adam asked me. He was genuinely curious. I smiled at him proudly and said, "It's all about choosing the right person, the person whom we selected is no saint, and she is craving for publicity after being away from media for so long. If Revolution is spreading the news, it would obviously have a great media coverage. So you see, no one is at a disadvantage, it's a win-win situation." Wow, I'm so intelligent. Sometimes I get surprised of how intelligent I am. Okay, okay, I'm getting too cocky hehehe.
As for the board of directors, I finally got the chance to use my talent, 'persuasiveness,'. I have gone through those files so many number of times that I memorised it. I managed to make a presentation in time.
"Hello gentlemen, I'm Luna Brown, Mr Wilson's secretary, and I'm here to address the issue on his behalf." I flashed the most dazzling smile possible before I started talking about the issue. Some supported Mr Wilson because the idea was not a bad one and the returns would be quite good, however they were dissatisfied as they were not aware of this matter at all. Mr Wilson was the largest shareholder, and he would know what's best for the company. He started working here when he was quite young and made great changes during his time. He continued his father's legacy, as people say.
Persuading those who favoured the decision was the easiest. Those who remained neutral were the next category. They were a tough nut to crack, but it was not impossible. The pros outweigh the cons of his decision and with the PR managing Revolution's image, this situation is still salvageable.
As for those who were fully against it, though I did everything I possibly can, dealing with them was my most favorite.
Don't care if you don't like my ways, but establishing authority was my favorite thing to do. The person who did not agree was the second largest shareholder, along with a few. He had his eyes on Mr Wilson's position ever since. I would not let him go that easy now, am I?
I warned them. "With all due respect, no matter how much you disagree, this acquisition will take place. I suggest you get your mind to accept it because this acquisition is inevitable. Mr Wilson is the largest shareholder and the CEO, his decision is final. This meeting is a mere formality." At that moment I did not realise how dominating I appeared, but it was needed. If I acted scared or weak, Mr Wilson can get into trouble. I'm saving his ass while he's out there enjoying. But there's only so much I can do. He still needs to give closure to this matter.
The corporate world is full of foxes and snakes, and the leader has to be like a lion to get them in control. If you do not put people in their place, they will try to walk all over you.
Many were astonished by how I spoke. They might think that I'm just a secretary hired for my 'looks'. They do not know who I really am, I am Amelia Smith, heiress of the largest jewellery company. I have been around this kind of environment since I was a child. I studied in the number one business school and topped my class. I am a born leader and no matter where I am, I will be a leader. And yet my father still does not believe in me, tell me! What's a girl gotta do?