Nate froze, in confusion, his gaze moved from the lady who spoke to him and to the other two behind her. But he had definitely heard what she called him.
"Excuse me, what?" He decided to think he had not heard her well. "Are you speaking to me?"
"Yes, of course. Who would I be speaking to?" She glared at Nate and then made invisible quotation marks in the air. "Aren't you a cripple?"
Nate took a deep breath, to steady himself. He was pained and angry that he was being called a cripple but it indeed seemed so to an outsider. He guessed that the women worked in the company but they didn't know who he was.
He decided to keep quiet until Lucas was back, so the issue wouldn't escalate. However, they were having none of it.
"Hey! Can't you speak? Or are you suddenly dumb?" The woman inched forward, her eyes filled with mockery.
"Who the fuck are you? What do you want from me?" Nate couldn't keep it in anymore as he glared back at her.
"Don't fucking look at me that way!" The woman suddenly slammed her hands on each side of Nate's wheelchair. She held his gaze, a hint of pride in them.
"Don't you know who I am?" She snickered and then continued, "I am the Director of Finance, Ashley Mane, in this great company! If you are talking to me, you should put some respect on my name!"
"So?" Nate sneered, pushing her off him. "Don't you know who I am too? I am the CEO! I am your boss and you dare to insult me in such a manner?"
"I will make sure you get fired!"
The office fell silent, the women and even Ashley looked surprised. Nate finally wondered if they had come to the realization of their stupid acts. The women looked at each other and suddenly, they burst into a peal of mocking laughter.
Their laughter resounded through the office, leaving Nate perplexed.
"What–"
"Shut up!" Ashley cut him off, her laughter suddenly came to a halt. "Do you think you can even pass for a CEO?" she chuckled.
"Look at yourself, it looks like the suit is hanging off your shoulders. You look hungry and pathetic. If you are the CEO, I will surely resign and not work under a scrawny boss like you."
Nate was floored. He blinked his eyes and looked down at himself. Even though his appearance was a bit bad, he wasn't about to back down.
"You say you are going to resign if I am the CEO, right?" Nate smiled, a wicked look in his eyes.
"Yes, why?" Ashley asked, frowning. The look in Nate's eyes scared her a bit but she couldn't take her words back.
"Then in about twenty minutes, I expect you to tender your resignation letter, otherwise you will be fired, Director Ashley!" Nate threatened but his eyes held a certain level of seriousness.
"I wonder how you even became the Director of Finance, with that attitude of yours." Nate sneered.
Ashley swallowed, feeling fearful and the women behind her, her assistants, tugged her from behind. They really didn't know who Nate was and even Ashley was starting to rethink her actions.
What if she had made a mistake? The confidence Nate showed was setting her off guard. If he was the CEO, she would definitely know but no memo was given in the company. She suddenly had renewed confidence.
"You want to fire me?" She sneered. "You–"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind, "Who dares to fire you, Ashley?" All eyes turned to the door where a burly middle-aged man walked in with seven other people.
Ashley's eyes widened and then she quickly rushed toward them. She bowed, "Welcome, everyone."
"The meeting will begin soon, please make yourself comfortable." She said amicably, pointing at the chairs in the office.
"Mr. Lucas has said the meeting will be held here." She notified them calmly, a stark contrast from her earlier attitude.
Nate was amazed and with the way she talked, he deduced that these must be the shareholders.
"You still haven't answered my question, Ashley." The burly man said he went closer to her, holding her hand slightly. "Who dares to fire you? Even Lucas cannot dare to do that! Does he want to go against me?"
"Oh, Mr. Chase, you flatter me." Ashley chuckled. She then pointed at Nate who looked calm, "I came in here this morning to find Mr. Lucas, only to see him here. He claims to be the CEO but we all know our CEO is probably non-existent, right?"
"Is that so?" Mr. Chase's eyes landed on Nate and he walked forward.
Mr. Chase! That name rang a bell in Nate's head. He had gone through the documents briefly and he saw that this man owned a whopping 20% of the company's shares! He was indeed no joke. However, Nate wasn't going to be trampled upon.
Nate began, "Hello–"
Pak!
"Ahhh!!"
A resounding slap was delivered on Nate's face and gasps filled the room. Nate's head whipped to the side and he saw red, as his face pulsated and turned red.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Nate yelled.
"That is for claiming what you are not and for disrespecting my girlfriend." Mr. Chase snickered, pointing a finger at Nate.
Ashley was his girlfriend! He didn't even care to hide it. It was no wonder she was so haughty.
"Mr. Chase, you didn't have to do that." Ashley suddenly ran forward and took the man's hand, blowing his palm with her little mouth.
"But we have to teach him a lesson, right?" Ashley said with a toothy grin. She was proud of what her man had done.
"Do you know what you have done?" Nate gritted his teeth in anger, glaring at Chase.
"Of course," Chase smirked. He then turned to the swarm of people behind him. "Call the security and get this impostor out of here."
Immediately, the other shareholders scrambled to take out their phones, to do what Chase had just said. They feared him and didn't want to go against him.
Suddenly, Lucas appeared at the door, behind them all and his voice boomed, "Who is the impostor here?"