Sophia’s POV: The Board’s Decision.
The meeting was taking forever. In reality, it’s been only five minutes since Ivan stepped in here but to me, it’s been like five hours. I was itching to confront him but I was scared also, what if he admitted to killing my father? That would make me guilty, right?
Of course, it would.
If I’d told the police that Ivan was behind my kidnapping and all the things he said about my father, he wouldn’t have been able to harm him. So it was my fault.
Bile rose to my throat and I focused on trying not to throw up, I couldn’t embarrass myself in front of all these people.
All these happened because of my confused feelings for Ivan.
Shit!
I didn’t like my father but I didn’t want him dead, I didn’t want to kill him.
Breathe, Breathe, calm down. I repeated to myself over and over.
Maybe I’m overthinking this and it really was just an accident, to be fair, the investigations proved it wasn’t murder.
But my gut-
“…Tom Smith was the chairman of the board,” Ivan said, snapping me back. I didn’t realize he’d been talking. “A new chairperson needs to be appointed and a new CEO too. Tom Smith transferred his shares to me based on an agreement as you all can see in the documents presented to you.”
I scanned through the papers placed in front of me, it was proof that indeed Ivan was the majority shareholder, 40% and 25% leaving me with 6. 3% and 19. 1% respectively of both companies.
But how was this possible? Dad hates Ivan, there’s no way he had willingly agreed to this.
“So,” he continued. “I believe Tom Smith would want me to take over as the chairperson. He was to retire by August before the unfortunate incident.”
There are murmurs and grunts of agreement from across the room. My heart sank, I didn’t expect them to side with me anyway. No one ever took me seriously.
“Let’s vote, though I don’t see the need for that. From this evidence, the late Chairman Smith trusted you to take over. But the opinion of the board matters too,” The white-bearded man said. “If you’re in support of Mr. Ivan Kozlov being the new chairperson, please raise your hand.”
Everyone raised their hands except me. I balled my hands into a fist and clenched them so hard my nails pierced my palms. I wanted to just disappear, this was beyond humiliating. It’s all my fault, I was too careless and confident that with dad’s death, I’d won. But I was back to square one.
“That settles it then,” the white-bearded man spoke again. “The new chairperson is Mr. Ivan Kozlov.”
“Thank you all, I won’t let you down,” Ivan said politely, his eyes finally met mine for the first time since he sat down for this meeting. “Now, for the new CEO, I heard the other one resigned. We either hire someone or vote for someone for the position.”
“You’re right,” Another member of the board said.
“I think voting one of us is more efficient,” the lady with short hair jumped in.
“Very well then, the best candidate for that position will be Miss Sophia Smith,” Ivan said firmly, shocking me. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. “If you’re in favor of Miss Sophia Smith, please raise your hands,” Ivan added.
Seven hands were up, including Ivan’s, while four remained down.
“Majority wins, our new CEO is Miss Sophia Smith. Do you accept this?”
“I-I,” I stuttered. Then I cleared my throat. “Yes, I accept. Thank you all for your support,” I said firmly.
“That’s it for today,” Ivan said and everyone stood, shaking each other’s hands as they filed out.
I walked up to Ivan, “A word, please,” I gritted out. The people behind him looked at him, waiting for a reply. “In private,” I added.
He nodded. And I walked away heading straight for dad’s office not caring if Ivan followed.
I walked in and turned around when I heard the door close behind me.
Ivan stood there, staring at me blankly.
“Do you mind explaining what that madness was about?” I bit out. “I know for a fact that dad would never give away everything, especially to you. He hated you.”
“The agreement between your father and I is none of your business,” he said calmly and that seemed to fuel my anger more.
“None of my business? This is my father’s company, he built it from the ground and I worked so hard to make sure I’d take over whenever he was ready to retire!” I snapped.
His eyes roam from my head to toes and then he crossed his arms, leaning back against the door. “Maybe he was sure you were unfit to take over, so he wanted me to instead.”
“Liar!” I retorted. “That’s a fucking lie! He was going to give everything to me, he wasn’t the best father, he didn’t love me but he wouldn’t let his work go to someone else who wasn’t family, that’s…” I trailed off.
That’s why he wanted me to marry Harry, so my husband would be beside me when I took over, I wasn’t a son but I was still his heir. I don’t tell that him though.
“What?” He asked.
“Nothing, but I don’t believe you. That day at the office, he was furious after you left, you must have blackmailed or threatened him. You’re the type to do so after all, you harm people and have blood on your hands.”
He had an expression on his face that I couldn’t quite read and as quickly as it came, it disappeared.
“You did blackmail him, didn’t you,” I whispered.
He moved away from the door and walked toward me, and my stupid heart skipped a beat.
Really? In a serious situation like this? Ugh! I hate myself.
“Is that why you wanted to talk to me? In private, Milaya?[Darling]” He asked softly in a husky voice.
I moved back until my back hit the office desk. “Sophia. My name is Sophia. I told you I don’t want you using endearment with me, I’m engaged!” I said, hoping my voice was as firm as I wanted it to be.
He stepped back, his gaze hard and cold. “You should get to work and get settled. It takes a whole lot to be a CEO, not just anyone can.” He said stiffly and turned to the door.
His words stung but I didn’t react to it. I had an important question to ask anyway.
“Did you do it?” I asked.
His hand paused on the door knob and he turned around to look at me.
“What?” He asked. I tried to read his expression, maybe I’d be able to tell with how he would react, but he showed nothing.
“Was that accident caused by you? Did you kill my father?” I asked quietly.
Time stretched as we stared at each other.
“No,” he said coldly. Then he left.
A breath of relief escaped my lips as I sank back onto the office desk. At least I could stop blaming myself for my father’s death. The weight of guilt was finally off my shoulders, my life was already a mess and I didn’t need an extra baggage.
“It was just an accident, you were just paranoid,” I muttered to myself.
One problem solved.