The next day, the stock prices of Long Industries crashed overnight. Long Hui was summoned for an emergency meeting with all the executives, board of directors, and other important shareholders. He knew that he was in trouble, especially after what they were saying about him on the news. His current image and reputation were in tatters after the cheating allegations shifted from Lin Yehan and Jiang Yingyue to him and Mao Qiuyue instead.
A hysterical Mao Qiuyue called him this morning, yelling and crying because she was also being bashed everywhere just like him. She was accused of being a homewrecker. Fortunately, he was able to calm her down by promising to comfort her with a night-long fuck session tonight before heading to the company. He almost didn’t want to go to work but had no choice because he didn’t want to lose his position to compete in the battle for succession.
Upon arriving at the company, he was welcomed by looks of judgment and contempt. His jaw tightened as anger filled him, but he controlled himself and walked faster while looking straight ahead and not meeting anyone’s gaze.
“Good morning, Deputy CFO Long,” some people still greeted him.
To him, however, it sounded like they were mocking him, so he only nodded at them stiffly with a cold expression before walking away even faster.
“Wow. What a jerk. And I thought so highly of him before. How the mighty has fallen! Yes, he’s President Long’s eldest son but it turns out that he’s not automatically given shares. He has to buy the shares but can’t afford it, so he pimps himself out to a rich woman. What’s the difference between him and a gigolo?”
“It’s no wonder that he lost custody of his son. I feel so sorry for Miss Jiang. She really suffered the most during the custody battle just because she came from a normal background and got pregnant outside marriage.”
“To be honest, I also condemned Miss Jiang before but now that I know that it was actually Deputy CFO Long who cheated first and did her wrong, I really feel bad for her. It’s so unfair that she had to suffer fake cheating allegations with an innocent man when she was actually the one who was cheated on. Poor woman!”
These people spoke in whispers but Long Hui still managed to hear them. He wanted to lash out at them, to scold them, to punish them for badmouthing him.
‘Endure,’ he told himself. ‘Focus on your goal—to succeed Father and become the next head of the clan, and most importantly, Long Industries. Once you successfully obtain your goal, all of these nobodies who dared disrespect you today will one day need to bow their heads down to you. Then you can kick them out of the company.’
“I’m alright. Please don’t worry,” he reassured them, trying to present a confident front.
“I saw your father, the President, earlier. His expression didn’t look good. Scary. I hope that you prepared a good explanation today. I’ll try to help you out as much as I can in the meeting later. Just be ready because you’re gonna have it tough.”
[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]
Long Hui took a deep breath before nodding. He managed to look calm on the outside but the truth was he was shaking on the inside.
“Eldest Brother, how are you?” a familiar voice greeted him from behind.
He turned and saw his half-brother, Long Jian, looking fresh and polished in his crisp business suit. Long Jian just arrived together with the COO.
Long Hui greeted the COO before his brother. “I’m alright.”
“Are you really? I was overcome with worry when I saw the news.”
Long Jian’s tone was filled with brotherly worry but Long Hui saw mocking in his eyes. Long Hui gritted his teeth but forced himself to smile, knowing that his brother was the COO’s current protégé. “Thank you, Brother. Don’t worry too much about me.”
“I heard that there are some board members who are demanding your resignation. Please be careful, Eldest Brother. They’re out to get you,” Long Jian whispered to him.
To others, like the COO who was listening to their conversation, it sounded like Long Jian was giving a kind warning to his brother. But Long Hui knew that Long Jian was enjoying the precarious situation he was in.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” he forced himself to say with a smile, only barely managing to stop himself from hissing.
After a few minutes of faking a close brotherly bond in front of the COO, Long Jian and his mentor, the COO, finally left him alone. Then he saw the two elders, Long Jufang and Long Meng, who just arrived. The elders were also shareholders so they had the right to attend the meeting.
Long Jufang snorted in derision when their eyes met before heading to a group of other shareholders. On the other hand, Long Meng gave him an encouraging smile and approached him.
“You’re your father’s eldest son, so don’t worry about being fired. You should be fine,” she assured him.
“I heard that some board members want my resignation,” he said, finally showing a hint of anxiety to his allied elder.
