Chapter 203: A Rumbunctious Entrance
Sinclair needed the Vanitas name to be clean, and he also needed the public to look favorably at the company so that he wouldn't have an issue with trying to expand the company in the future. Right now, Mark's presence was like a poker card. There were those who loved Mark for all that he had done in the city, and there were also those who saw Mark as nothing but a murderer.
How can they improve the company if the public sentiment was this vague?
Sinclair was a businessman, and he knew how important public sentiment and your image in the eyes of others was. The mere fact that Mark was willing to go out into the public as a vigilante without caring about what sort of message that would pass on to those who invested in his company proved to Sinclair that Mark did not have what it takes to oversee this company.
Sinclair saw Mark as nothing but a battle maniac who would do anything in order to enjoy the thrill of a good fight. That is not someone that deserved to be the CEO!
One of the members of the board, a middle-aged woman who had a mean look on her face and wore black-rimmed glasses with silver handles, spoke up. She had a high pitch to her voice that made everyone turn to her immediately she started talking, but she was not paying attention to anyone but Hugo as she said what was on her mind.
"That boy should be sent back to business school so that he may learn how to act in public as the heir to a company as large as this. After four years, maybe he will learn enough to finally come and sit down at this table, but until then, he does not deserve to be here."
The woman was one of the major shareholders in Vanitas Motors, and she had sent a lot of her children to business school so that they would learn how to take care of a business as well as how to act in public so that they do not tarnish the image of their business. As far as she was concerned, all this happened because Mark did not know how to act in public!
They never gave Mark the proper education, so they were partly at fault for him acting in th way that he was!
Another man who was already balding in the middle of his head spoke up while glaring at Hugo and leaning forward over the table.
"And isn't there another issue that recently happened with that Mark boy? He killed someone, and the public is not fully in his favor because of it. What sort of person would do something like that just moments before coming back to his father's company? Forget him being the head of the company, just the mere fact that he is in here is already affecting our image in the eyes of most of the civilians.
Are you that desperate to see our stocks plummet? You want to see a murderer as the head of our company?"
The board of directors suddenly started to become more and more vocal as they all agreed with what the other two were saying. They knew that it would be a bad idea to let Mark become the CEO, but it was also true that just allowing Mark into the building was already enough to affect them negatively!
They wouldn't be surprised if their stocks plummeted the moment it got out that Mark was in the building!
Hugo was dumbstruck in the face of all the accusations that were being thrown around. What is this? Why were they all so against Mark like this!?
Hugo would understand if it was one or two people who were against Mark being here since Hug knew that many of them were in Sinclair's circle and they preferred Sinclair to Mark as the next CEO, but it was almost everyone that was speaking up and they were all on the same page! It almost seemed like they had already planned this earlier before Mark even came here.
But I am sure that no one knew that Mark was coming, so how was Sinclair able to find out about this?
Hugo glared at Sinclair in anger, and Sinclair just leaned back and smiled as he watched the other members of the board making his points for him. Sinclair knew that he had Hugo in a chokehold right now and that there was nothing that Hugo could do.
If there was one thing that Sinclair had learned about Hugo in the few years that they have worked together, it is the fact that Hugo lacked a backbone when it came down to decisions made by the board. When the board was in general agreement like this about something that could affect the company, it was fucking easy to make Hugo fold and agree to whatever they were saying.
Right now, Sinclair knew that Hugo would be in a very tough position. So, tell me, what exactly are you going to do? Are you going to ignore the warnings of the board and bring that boy in here against better judgment, or are you going to listen to us and get rid of that boy before he can cause even more trouble than he already has?
Sinclair waited patiently for what Hugo was going to do, and he leaned forward as he saw that Hugo was ready to talk -
Slam!
A body suddenly slammed into the door leading to the room and threw it open before they slammed into the wall on the other side of the room, and the person slumped against the wall. Sinclair blinked twice in surprise as he saw the person who was currently unconscious on the ground. Isn't that my bodyguard? Wait, did Mark beat my bodyguard!?
"Ah, this is so annoying. You old people should really know how to pick your battles better. Aren't you ashamed that you're saying all this about someone less than half your age?"
Everyone in the room immediately went silent as they turned to look at the door leading into the room, and they saw Mark Vantas entering it. He had one hand in his pocket and the other was around the back of his neck as he turned his neck from side to side. Mark took a punch from the bodyguard earlier, and it made a small tension form in his neck.
Crack!
Mark twisted his neck to one side, and the tension cracked out of place. He then sighed as he entered the room and looked around at the people at the table. This was quite the gathering. Mark remembered most of these people from four years ago when he was still just a kid, and he couldn't help but smile a bit as he looked around the table.