Karl’s POV
THE NEXT DAY
AT NICHOLAS’S COMPANY
“He can’t be in the CEO position anymore. He has to step down. He isn’t a good leader” Mr Benjamin said.
“Yes, I agree with Mr Benjamin. A marriage contract is scandalous. Our stocks have gone down drastically” Mr Paul said, hitting his fist in the brown long desk.
“if it was only the stocks dropping then it would be better, but what’s worse is that some of our investors are calling to know if what the media is saying is true. I’ve been receiving calls all morning and I can’t even answer some questions because I’m embarrassed and scared of them pulling their investments out of our company”, Mr Paul said angrily.
“What do you have to say, Mr Karl? You’ve been oddly quiet all afternoon”, Benjamin said, turning to me and everyone’s gaze was fixed on me.
“I’m also disappointed in Nicholas, but we have to think things through. He did this because he wanted to retain his position as CEO and if we are being honest, we pushed him to it. We gave him three months, which we later shifted to two months and two months is barely enough time to find someone and marry” I said, explaining our fault and all the directors fell mute as they left, took my words seriously, and thought deeply about it.
Silence lingered in the conference room as everyone stared at each other but our minds weren’t really on each other because we had our different thoughts to think about.
“Mr Karl is right. We pushed Nicholas to this. If we had given him enough time to find someone, then we wouldn’t be suffering this now” Mr John said, agreeing to what I said previously, his voice laced with guilt.
“Ethan Knight, who is claiming that the babies are his how sure are we that he is not lying?” Paul asked.
“Nicholas confirmed it himself. He signed a contract with Monica after she left Ethan Knight. Monica was the ex-wife of Ethan Knight and was pregnant when she met Nicholas”, I said, confirming the certainty of Ethan’s accusation against Nicholas.
“But Nicholas’s actions were childish. Why go as far as claiming someone’s baby as yours just because of the CEO position? What so important in the CEO position that he can’t let his brother occupy?”
“Nicholas finds it difficult to forgive Greg and his mum because of what his father did. We all know what our friend did that hurt Nicholas’s mother so much. These past actions from our friend have been in Nicholas’s mind for years now”, I said, not wanting to mention Nicholas’s late father’s name.
Nicholas’s father was my best friend and I remember advising him against having an affair, but he still did what he wanted and had Greg. Nicholas’s mother had a heart attack after finding out and things got worse from there.
Nicholas used to be very sweet, happy, and childish, but after he lost his mum, he became so cold, arrogant, and distant.
“So what’s the way to go about this now? There are reporters almost everywhere in this building waiting for the moment we walk out or the moment Nicholas walks in so they can ask their various questions” Mr. Paul said.
“The best thing now is to tell the media the truth and Nicholas will not go unpunished” Mr Benjamin uttered angrily, and I couldn’t help but agree with him.
This was the first scandal of the company since its foundation and Nicholas was the cause of it. I had suspected Nicholas’s speed at having a child and a wife but I never expected that this was what he would do.
“I think Nicholas should step down and Greg should take over the CEO position, at least till the whole media gossip dies down” Mr Paul suggested, his voice laced with sadness and disappointment.
“I agree with Mr Paul. Greg should take over from Nicholas, Nicholas failed us and has put this company in a tight situation” John said.
I sighed in disappointment and exhaustion. Nicholas was not going to be happy with this news but this was the only thing we could think of now.
“All those in favor of Greg Sterling being the next CEO should raise their hands,” I said and Mr Benjamin raised his hands instantly.
Mr Paul and Mr John stared at me, hesitating but then slowly raised their hands, their faces wearing a look of disappointment.
“Then we have it. Mr. Greg is the new CEO of Sterlings group”, Mr. Benjamin uttered, a victorious smile playing on his lips.
” Congratulations to Greg Sterling, the new CEO,” I said, faking a smile, then I turned to look at Mr john and Paul who weren’t excited about the whole issue, but there was nothing that could be done “Now that is settled, what then should we do about the_” I couldn’t complete
The door stormed open behind me and I turned to see Nicholas panting hard like he had been running. Sweats dripped from his forehead and I wondered what could have happened on his way here “Greg can’t be the next CEO”.
“Excuse you? What do you mean by that? He is already the CEO” Mr Benjamin uttered angrily, a frown on his face.
“Nicholas, you disappointed this board of directors. You disappointed yourself and the company. How could you think of claiming someone else’s child as yours?” Mr Paul uttered in disappointment.
“I didn’t claim anyone’s child. They’re mine”, Nicholas uttered, and I found his words confusing.
“Are you all right Nicholas? You seem off” I uttered, looking at him intently.
“Can you all just listen to what I have to say” he roared, his voice sharp, and the room instantly fell silent “Yes, I claimed Ethan’s babies as mine, but they aren’t Ethan’s”, Nicholas explained, but his explanation still wasn’t adding up.
“Do we look like children that can be lied to? What do you mean by they aren’t Ethan’s kids? Are you saying that Mr Ethan has been lying all this while?” Mr John asked, confusion and anger evident on his face.
“Mason and Macy are my kids and not Ethan’s. Here is the DNA result from the court meeting which was held a few hours ago.”