Stella & The CEO

CEO & The Lawyer

Chapter 18

Julius

"A lawsuit?" I ask angrily as I stare at the papers in front of me. I had been served with a lawsuit, by that spineless weasel. "Call in Terrance." I instruct Amelia. She nods quickly before scurrying out of the room.

A few minutes later I get a knock on the door. "Enter."

Terrance, our legal consultant, walks into the room. "Yes sir."

I toss the file on the desk in front of both of us. "Read this and tell me we can fight it." He picks up the file and begins reading. He skims, going from page to page before finally stopping and looking up at me reluctantly. "Well?" I ask.

"There's a lot of evidence against the company. It would be very hard to fight, but not impossible. The suit is claiming that our company's negligence is the reason for the explosion. Due to a faulty part that was supplied by Ashford Industries."

"My company is nowhere near negligent and you know this. I want you to find our evidence, we are not settling."

"I'd be honored sir, but you may have forgotten I'm only a consultant. I'm not qualified to defend you in court, you'll need a lawyer."

I sigh, "Tell Amelia to come in on your way out."

He nods, "Of course. My apologies sir."

I sit at my desk with my hand massaging my temple as he leaves the office. As the door shuts Amelia walls in with her heels clicking softly against the floor.

"How do you want to proceed, sir?"

I sigh, "Find me some lawyers."

-

I spent the remainder of the workday interviewing lawyers. I knew working with Ratliff would bite me in the butt if I waited long enough.

A faulty product? Sounded like bullshit.

He even refused to speak to me about the matter, claiming it might interfere with the investigation. It had been 5 days since the explosion and somehow he'd already placed blame on Ashford Industries.

I got home late in the evening, ready to eat some dinner and knock out. But to my surprise, I was bombarded with two unexpected visitors as soon as I walked through the door.

"Julius! Nice of you to finally join us." My father says as he places his wine glass down on the coffee table. Beside him sat, to my surprise, Julia.

"Dad, how did you get in here?"

"I have my ways. So I heard we're being sued?" He asks.

I sigh, "It's been a long day. Couldn't you have called the office like a normal person?"

"I did. But it seemed you were too booked up to speak, so I thought I'd catch you here."

"What do you want?"

He frowns, "Don't be rude, won't you acknowledge our guest?"

I fight the urge to roll my eyes, "Good evening Julia. What do you guys want?"

"Excuse his attitude." He whispers to Julia before turning to me. "I've found our top lawyer for the case."

I frown, "I've already hired a lawyer."

"Well fire him. Julia will be representing us."

I squint my eyes in confusion, "We? Us? Last I checked I was named CEO."