***
Japan.
Known for its beauty and diversity.
One of the richest countries in the world.
One of the busiest and most expensive places that anyone could reside in.
Home to the world's most prominent business empires.
Home to Manoban Conglomerate's main office.
The moment Lisa and Chaeyoung landed, they immediately rushed to the hospital to see Laura and Marco
"Mother," Chaeyoung said when she saw Laura sitting in a daze outside the ICU.
Seeing her daughter and Chaeyoung did not change Laura's expression. Her face was still blank, devoid of any expression, her usual lively vibe gone.
"The doctor said he got a concussion when some debris hit his head," Laura said when Chaeyoung and Lisa were close enough to hear her words. "He protected me when the explosion happened that's why he got the brunt."
Chaeyoung could feel the sadness in Laura's voice, but her expression was not showing this.
The current Madam had some bandages wrapped around her head and arms. Aside from this, she seemed to be completely fine.
Chaeyoung decided to take a seat next to her and slowly put her hands on top of Laura's hands before slowly squeezing them. No words were said between the two, but the impact of Chaeyoung's action made its way to Laura's eyes.
Laura looked at Chaeyoung before looking at Lisa. Her daughter was just staring at her, her jaws clenched and her hair slightly ruffled.
"He must be tired from the flight," Laura thought. She could see the intensity of Lisa's gaze. She knew that her daughter was angry this time, the exact opposite of the calm Chaeyoung who was still holding her hands.
Laura lowered her head as her eyes began to water. As a strong, independent woman, Laura couldn't remember the last time that she had felt this kind of sadness. However, seeing Chaeyoung and Lisa also made her feel relieved, and somehow happy.
"Mother, you should go home and change your clothes," Lisa said before silently sitting next to her. Now, Laura was seated in between Chaeyoung and Lisa.
"I won't leave your father," she answered promptly.
"It's okay. Lis why don't you go ask someone to bring some clothes for Mother?" Chaeyoung said while sending a glance at Lisa. "Don't worry Mother, we will find out who did this."
Chaeyoung's words earned another nod from Laura before she closed her eyes in exhaustion.
Seeing Laura's tired face, Lisa pulled her mother into her embrace and let her lean on her arms.
This was going to be a very long night for everyone.
....
After making sure that Laura was comfortable enough, Lisa and Chaeyoung went to one of the Manoban Family's villas in one of the most private properties in the city to rest.
Lisa's father was still unconscious so Lisa was going to start handling the business the next day. This had already been arranged by her father for whenever unexpected situations like this came up.
This decision instantly made some of the investors uneasy. After all, Lisa was still young. Although she was smart and more than qualified to handle a billion dollar empire, she was still lacking in experience.
The accident at the Manoban Conglomerate was big. This time, they were unable to suppress the media from releasing the news. After all, both Marco and Laura were considered celebrities in the business world.
The news instantly made its way to international television, creating some panic with investors and to the the world market.
However, panic was only reasonable because MC Oils was one of the largest oil companies in the world, and a small mishap from the company could immediately alter the world market, as well as the overall economy.
Because of this, many eyes were currently focused on Lisa. More and more people started to investigate the woman who was to take over the company.
After an hour, Lisa's name was already a trending topic around the world.
Everyone had their eyes on the heir of the Manoban Conglomerate.
"Nervous?" Chaeyoung asked as she handed Lisa a cup of freshly brewed coffee. The latter was reading some documents that she needed for the company.
Lisa just looked at her and shook her head. She had been born and trained to handle the company.
This was her fate.
....
"Young Miss, the board members are already waiting for you in the board room," Jin said as his face began to turn into a frown. Why was his boss was not informed that there would be a board meeting the moment she arrived at the Manoban Conglomerate's main office?
This was a blatant disrespect.
Even the vice president had not informed her nor welcomed her when she had arrived at her father's office.
"Hmmm," Lisa's nonchalant response was something that Jin had not expected. "Let them wait."
Lisa did not even spend a minute of her time thinking about this board meeting. Her attention was focused solely on the files that she was looking at.
She had been reading the reports for the last two years and her eyes had already caught some problems.
"Young Miss, someone called Bambam is here to see you," she heard Jin's voice announce.
In response, Lisa nodded. Bambam had been chosen to be her secretary ever since Lisa started her training almost 3 years ago. When she was training about how to handle company affairs, Bambam was also trained along with her.
"Miss Manoban," Bambam made a low bow as he stood in front of Lisa. He then gave Lisa a black USB and two white binders. "The Old Master asked me to give this to you the moment you start working at Manoban Conglomerate. He said you should know already know the password. These binders contain information about all of the board members and every shareholder."
Lisa accepted the USB and the binders without any questions before inserting the USB into her computer. She immediately typed in the password that her grandfather had give her years ago and started reading the files one by one.
"Miss Manoban, are we not going to attend the board meeting?" Bambam decided to ask when he noticed Lisa's lack of interest.
"No. I was not invited," she promptly answered.
"But Miss Manoban, the vice president already sent his secretary twice to let you know that they are waiting for you," he reasoned.
"No, he did not." Lisa's words instantly baffled Bambam.
However, Bambam had been trained just like Jin: to become someone with absolute loyalty. If Lisa were to go left, Bambam was trained not to go right.
This method was unique only to the Manoban Family. None of the other prominent families used this kind of method when choosing their subordinates. Since young, someone was chosen to be trained to serve the next patriarch; someone was already assigned to take care of their every need.
Although Bambam was trained not too long ago, he was already extremely familiar with Lisa and the Manoban Family. However, he still couldn't say that he completely understood Lisa's way of thinking. So in response, Bambam just nodded and went back to his own working table just outside of Lisa's office.
He was not stupid. Bambam could already feel the intimidating aura slowly creeping out of Lisa. He knew that Lisa was mad this time. He also knew that minutes from now, the vice president was sure to come knocking at Lisa's door.
Just like what Bambam expected, the vice president, with some other investors in tow, strode towards Lisa's office with a dark face. Bambam tried to stop them but he was easily overpowered.
"Miss Manoban, what do you mean by this?" Hu Renjie, the current vice president, asked the moment he barged into Lisa's office. "We have been waiting for more than an hour already! How can you disrespect us like this?"
Lisa raised her head to look at the vice president who was fuming. She then gave the old man a chilling smile.
"Mr. Hu... Are you here to welcome me?"
Hu Renjie instantly frowned when he heard Lisa's words. "What welcome? Your father is dying in the hospital and you are still thinking of a welcome party?"
"Three things," Lisa said before calmly getting up from her chair. "First, my father already woke up this morning. Second, I would like to remind you that I am the new CEO of MC Oils because my family owns more than fifty percent of this company. And third, I won't tolerate any disrespect coming from any of you. If you are not satisfied with me, then I would suggest you pack up your stuff, sell your stock, and go somewhere else."
Lisa's words coupled with her cold eyes made some of the men shiver. They couldn't help but wonder if they were really talking to someone who was half their age.
"Is this how you talk to your seniors? We have been with this company before you were even born! How dare you berate us like this?" Hu Renjie exploded. His family was one of the oldest board members in this company. Even Marco Manoban wouldn't dare disrespect him like Lisa just had. "We were waiting for you! I had my secretary call you thrice! Yet you have acted arrogantly and refused to see us!" This time, Hu Renjie was already pointing his fingers towards Lisa.
Hu Renjie couldn't deny that he did not have an iota of respect towards Lisa. This was not because of Lisa's age, but rather it was because he hated the fact that a woman younger than him beat him to the CEO position.
Hu Renjie was aware that Lisa was the only heir of the Manoban Conglomerate. However, after Marco's accident, he was expecting that the authority to handle the company would be given to him until Lisa was fully capable to handle the business. After all, he was the vice president and the acting senior manager for all of their projects.
For Hu Renjie, giving Lisa the position was a sign that the company did not trust him. This was the reason why he called for a board meeting the moment he was informed that Lisa was to take over today. Aside from this, he deliberately did not inform Lisa ahead of time about this meeting and deliberately did not welcome her when she arrived this morning.
He wanted to show the young woman who held the authority in this company.
"Bambam," he heard Lisa say in a low voice. In response, Lisa's secretary immediately scurried towards her. "Tell Mr. Hu that he is fired. Starting tomorrow he is no longer the company's senior manager. Make preparations for a forced buyout. Today, buy all of their family's shares. I want this all done by tomorrow morning."
Everyone stood there stupefied when they heard Lisa's words. They couldn't seem to process Lisa's words.
Fired? Just like that?
"Are you out of your mind? Why could you fire me?" Hu Renjie fumed. "My family has been working with the Manoban Conglomerate for decades! You cannot do this to me!"
"Says who? Did those politicians that you bribed say that?" Lisa raised an eyebrow.
Seeing Hu Renjie's pale face, Lisa continued, "Manoban Conglomerate's lawyers will deal with you and the millions that you have embezzled. For now, save some face for yourself and get out of my sight!"
Hu Renjie stared at Lisa, his thoughts running rampant. He wondered how Lisa could know about the politicians that he had bribed in abroad for an offshore mining contract. This contract had earned him millions of money outside of the amount that he earned from MC Oils. He squinted his eyes, trying to analyze Lisa's facial reaction.
Did Lisa know about all of his previous misdeeds?
"Why are you still here? Do you want me to call the security so they can drag you out of my office?" Lisa taunted.
In response, Hu Renjie gritted his teeth in annoyance and stormed out of the room. He would back down, for now.
After making sure that he had left, Lisa looked at the group of businessmen who were trying to avoid his gaze. This group of people had been with MC Oils for decades and most of them had forgotten that the Manoban Family owned more than half of the company. They had become arrogant because Marco treated them well.
However, Lisa was different. She would not tolerate corruption, nor anything that could possibly cause any damage to MC Oils. As the new CEO, Lisa was determined to make Manoban Conglomerate number one, not just in their country, but also internationally.
After seeing that she was able to establish the effect that she wanted, Lisa sat down and looked at the group of man in front of her.
"So... let's do this again. Are you here to welcome me?" She asked, her tone as serious as her face, her aura intimidating.
The group of businessmen gulped as they looked at Lisa who was sitting like a queen on her throne. Then they nodded. Yes, they are indeed here to welcome the new queen of Manoban Conglomerate.
.....