Chapter 61 Chapter Sixty One
His breathing was harsh as he spoke, “Thank Goodness. I thought you wouldn’t be in.” “What is it this time?” I asked numbly. I couldn’t even think straight anymore.
“The Luxe vogue logistics and warehousing partners called,’ he said as he spread out papers on my table. “They’ve raised their fees so they’re demanding a year’s fee in advance or we could as well look for other partners.”
Grace and I exchanged glances. Grace abruptly stood up. “I can’t do this right now. I can’t! You’ll meet in the conference room, she erupted and stormed out of the door.
I watched her leave. It was insane, all of these things that were happening. It was all happening in a blur that it was hard to keep track.
“Tell them we would pay,” I told the accountant. They should give us some days.” Then I muttered under my breath, “this isn’t the best time to start sourcing for new partners. Luxe vogue is literally in ruins.”
I dragged my feet to the conference room when the time for the meeting came. There were just the HR manager, two shareholders, the accountant, Grace and me.
The shareholder who called for the meeting went straight to the point. His face was squeezed in rage as she spoke, “What is this I hear of you losing employees and your partners pulling out?” “It’s just a minor issue that we are working on. It will be sorted out soon and they will come to work and partner with us again. I tried to assure him.
But he was adamant. ‘Soon?!” He erupted, “Soon? Is it until you finally go bankrupt? Till the company is seized and closed down?”
“I assure you, we are not going bankrupt, M-” the accountant tried but he was interrupted. “I don’t want to hear assurances! I want to see results!”
“Mr-
“Don’t call my name!” He yelled. “I give you three days! Three days! If I don’t hear good news. then I’m afraid of what I will do.” Then he stormed out.
The other shareholder who had remained solemn and remained silent all the while slowly rose- from his seat. He pinned me with an unfathomable gaze, “I won’t give you an ultimatum but I want to see improvement.”
I forced a smile and nodded. “Thank you.”
After the door closed behind him, we all exchanged glances. We just broke a record.
We just held the shortest meeting ever!
Seconds later, everyone solemnly exited the conference room. So it was just Grace and I.
I turned to Grace, she had remained silent all through the meeting. “Are you okay?”
The question had sl*pped out of my m*uth before I knew what I was saying. It was the most stupid question ever.
She scoffed, her gaze pinned on the table, “I can’t believe you just asked me that question.” Then she raised her head and looked at me, “What do we do, Sydney?”
My heart broke as I looked at her, her eyes were red and they glinted with unshed tears. Then I realized that she must have cried in her office before coming for the meeting.
“Grace,” I cooed and quickly pushed my chair back. I rushed to her side and sat in the seat beside hers. I faced her and held her hands.
“We have to remain strong, babe, I squeezed her hands in comfort, “This is just a phase.” Tears slid down her eyes as she just looked at me then in seconds she was sobbing seriously. I hugged her head to my ch*st and gently caressed her hair.
As I listened to her cry and absentmindedly patted her on the back and rubbed her hair, I
Chapter 61 Chapter Sixty One
wondered what was happening. The supplier’s words came back to me and I tried to figure out who could be behind all of this. What was their aim?
Grace’s trembling voice brought my attention back to her. Her eyes were already puffy as she turned her gaze to me, “I remember a company wanted to acquire us before.” She sniffed and I frowned.
“Why don’t we just sell the company to them? Let’s just sell it off while we still can. I really don’t want to end up with nothing. Her voice started to quiver as she spoke, I’m sorry but I’m really scared of being poor again. I don’t even want to imagine going through those hard times again. I can’t,” she shook her head deliriously and her grip on the side of my dress tightened, “I can’t go back to those days.
She started to cry again and I comforted her, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. We’re in this together. Let’s keep holding on. Whoever is behind all this will eventually show themselves. Then we’ll know what to do.” I made her face me and I firmly held her gaze, “Don’t worry, this is not the time to panic. This is the time to remain strong and keep our hopes alive.”
Grace sniffed and nodded, hiccuping. “Okay.”
It’s been days of receiving bad news and the worry and fear was anxiously eating away at me. I might have assured Grace that everything would be fine but I wasn’t so sure anymore. I told her not to panic but it was the exact thing I was doing. My grips on the handles of the cups were so tight that I was surprised that there were no broken cups or mugs yet and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
As each night morphed into another day, so did my hope morphed into despair. I couldn’t watch a company we’ve worked so hard to build just collapse in the blink of an eye yet there was nothing I could do.
No matter how much we promised our partners or suppliers, they were adamant on pulling out. I had even desperately promised the shareholders a higher dividend and the investors a higher return on investment even though I was well aware that it might cripple the company in the long run but they all refused. They just didn’t want to have anything to do with Luxe Vogue.
I flinched, almost jumping out of my chair when Grace burst into my room. I held my ch*st as I watched her drop her laptop before me. “What happened?”
“I can see you haven’t checked our business mails. We just received a purchase proposal!”
I turned in my seat and stared, wide eyed, at the amount in the mail.
“Five million dollars?!” Grace and I said simultaneously. Mine came out confused and shocked while Grace sounded ecstatic.
“Sydney,I’m sorry but we will sell Luxe Vogue. We can start over with this payment.” “What about our Goodwill? The image we’ve built all these years,” I started to argue but I derailed. “Wait, who wants the company? Who is willing to lay this much for a company that’s slowly deteriorating?”
It hurt to refer to our company like that but it was the truth.
Grace shrugged. “I don’t know. I read it but I don’t remember. My senses must have deleted it when I saw the amount they were willing…” she trailed off as we both saw the acquirer.
My blood ran cold and I gritted. It was Mark’s f**king company – GT Group!
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Grace asked, her voice trembling in anger – I hope. “They offered a hundred million dollars before!”
“It all seems clear now. They manipulated everything and now they want to take advantage of the situation.”
“Goddamn!” Grace blurted out and started to pace the room, her hand gripping her hair.
I sneered, my gaze pinned on the company’s name of the proposal mail. “Grace, just wait,” I bit out bitterly, “I will teach that bastard a lesson and let him know that we are not to be trifled with!”
