The Disabled CEO is Mine

Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

Jasper’s POV.

My face was still contorted in outrage moments after Clinton has explained what the matter with Mart was. I felt my patience explode into smithereens inside my head. Just how much did one have to take from a jealous younger brother?

“What do you mean he called a bloody meeting with the board? Mart’s in no position to do such without first running it by me!” I finally found my voice.

Clinton was now standing in front of me inside my hospital room. Once he’d told me Mart was my problem, I ordered him to come up at once. Some issues were too sensitive to discuss over the phone.

“Felix called a while ago to say that your brother instructed him to call a meeting with all our top shareholders — everyone whose words were like gold on the board,” Clinton said.

“And did he say why?” I snapped impatiently in the middle of Clinton’s explanation.

“Well umm… you see, boss, as much as everyone is elated to have you back after your accident, they seem to think things are going a little too slow for the company at the moment.”

“And why the hell would those ingrates think that?” I roared before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Put a call through to Felix. This madness must stop,” I instructed with a dismissive wave of my hand. Ranting and reacting to my brother’s effrontery was sooner going to leave me unable to take any concrete actions against him if I carried on going back and forth with Clinton.

I’d asked Clinton to reach Felix and not my brother because I wanted to have the element of surprise on my side. Plus I’d run out of breath for the umpteenth time and reaching across to pick my phone up from the corner where I’d flung it in frustration after Clinton’s call was out of the picture for me.

Clinton pulled out his phone and dialed Felix right away. He handed the phone over to me once it connected.

“Listen, big guy, I’m not marching into the room to tell that bull of a man that he’s flouting administrative orders! Where’s the boss?” Felix began saying once I received the phone. Just what I wanted—to hear his mind before asked him to speak.

“So you’d rather have my brother ruin everything I’ve worked hard to build over the years because you’re simply too scared to do your job?” I asked a little to calmly. My voice was firm and I could almost hear Felix’s teeth rattle in shock upon hearing the sound of my voice.

“Mr. Hawthorne. I mean good morning, sir. I’m umm.. sir I was umm.. I had no idea it was you on the phone, sir,” he explained with an unbearable stutter.

“I don’t want to consider hiring a more suitable person for your job, Felix. So the next time you see something wrong going on in my company you should bloody alert me right away! Is that understood?” I roared my anger through the phone.

“Of course, sir. My sincerest apologies, Mr. Hawthorne.”

“Save it…” I turned to Clinton. “Get me a tablet and FaceTime this man. I need to fix this mess myself.”

He nodded and exited the room promptly.

“Get a tablet on your own end and go into that conference room immediately. If anyone stops you make sure to tell them you’re acting under my orders,” I said to Felix and ended the call.

I looked down at my lower body still wrapped by the blanket. I felt bile rise up to my tongue from the back of my throat. None of this would be happening if I wasn’t in that stupid accident. Mart would never dream of crossing me if I hadn’t become weak and incapacitated, all thanks to my legs.

Clinton returned just in time to stop me from what I believed to be another looking outburst. I could have sworn that if he came in any later than he did I’d have thrashed around wildly—again.

I snatched the tablet from him, very much eager to pour my bad blood into the confrontation with Mart and the board members. Imagine the nerve of the old men to try and make a decision in my absence.

“What is the meaning of this, Felix? This is an executives only meeting,” I heard someone say in the room through the tablet.

“Felix? Why is my screen filled with a view of the ceiling?” I snapped.

“My apologies, sir. I had no idea you’d connected already,” Felix apologized and positioned the tablet properly.

“Take me to the bloody table, Felix. I didn’t call to stay in the corner of my own conference room!”

“Of course,” Felix apologized nervously.

Just as I expected, Mart was seated in my seat at the head of the table and on either side of him were six of the biggest investors in the company, sitting evenly distributed.

I cleared my throat and began. “Get out of my seat, Mart,” I said coldly once my gaze locked on his in the screen.

“Oh come on, brother. Do you have to be extra all the time? We were just deliberating over issues concerning the future of the company. Besides I’m acting CEO until you fully return,” Mart said with a mischievous smile on his face.

I wished to wipe the smile off his face with a clean punch.

“Get out!” I snapped and he got the message. I didn’t mind being petty if he thought there was no problem with being overly ambitious.

Once Felix placed the tablet properly on the desk at the head of the table, I cleared my throat again and examined the room. Mart was seated on the other side of the desk, and his smile has been replaced by a mild frown—just what I wanted. I looked away from him. The board members seated were quiet—more stunned by the drama between me and Mart.

“Good day, gentlemen and lady,” I looked at the only lady in the room. Julia Berger. She was a very cunning woman, sneakier than my brother was and always looking for an opportunity to make gains at the expense of another. People liked to gossip about her singleness at over fifty being as a result of her bad character. I didn’t think their opinions were wrong anyway.

“Mr. Hawthorne. We had no idea you weren’t going to be present in this meeting… well of course we expected you’d possibly not be around, but at least we thought you’d have left a message of some sort,” Maxwell Fitzgerald chimed in with a patronizing smile. He held the least shares on the board and was a chronic feet kisser.

“You’d assume that I would leave a message when I didn’t call for a meeting at all? Do you ever even think before you speak, Fitzgerald?” I said with a scoff and watched the man grow red with embarrassment.

“Well, since you’re here, we’ll just dive into the matter on ground,” Mart announced. I could sense the tension rippling off the others even from my hospital room.

“Mr. Fitzgerald bring my brother up to speed on the topic of our meeting,” Mart said, smiling mischievously again.

“Well umm.. we were just talking about how our stocks are being matched by our competitors on the market. It was Mart’s idea to expand the company and acquire more property in the far west of the country, a place where our competitors haven’t looked to reach yet. And he also suggested that umm..,” Fitzgerald looked nervously around the room. He was clearly uncomfortable with whatever it was he’d been tasked with saying.

“Let me help you there, Mr. Fitzgerald,” Mart broke in. “We’re expanding west and I’m going to lead the movement. I mean it’s only natural for me to do so as assistant CEO,” Mart stated and looked around the room for support.

“Mr. Hawthorne, you must understand that this purely a business move. Four competitors get that bit of market before we do then there’d be serious issues at hand than some sibling rivalry,” Julia said, blinking her eyes with an air of shiftiness.

“I see,” I mused to myself in disgust. I was outraged by the sheer audacity of everyone in the room. “First off, Julia, what happens in my family is none of your business and secondly, your fears are very invalid. If our competitors have stayed away from a certain area it’s because they’ve seen what waste of investment it would be to venture into those areas,” I was still speaking when Mart slammed his palms on the desk.

“That is just pure nonsense, Jasper. You won’t sanction the move because you don’t want me in a position of power—you don’t want me in my rightful place,” he said with contempt.

“As a matter of fact, you’re right. I don’t want you in a place where you’d make more foolish mistakes than you’d normally make. That would be too costly for the company,” I said with a coolness that surprised even myself.

“Nonsense! I say we vote. All in favour of a move indicate by raising your hand,” Mart shot up from his chair and lifted his hand in the air. He left his eyes locked on mine through the screen and I could almost see the daggers going back and forth between us.