After Divorce, Billionaire Ex Found Me Pregnant-Chapter 43 Meeting With The Shareholders.

Black face cap and mask concealing her identity, Angelina jogged out of the hotel that had been used for Stellar’s birthday event and onto the other side of the road where a car sent from her company had been waiting for her.

When she slipped into the back seat, her manager eyes the marks on her exposed neck. Even in the dim atmosphere of the car, tinted windows and all, the marks were still overly visible.

"Ms. Fernandez...those..."

Following the directions of her manager’s line of sight, the brunette chuckled. "Oh don’t worry, this aren’t real." Reaching into her hand bag, she pulled out fresh wet wipes and dragged the across her skin, cleaning off the makeup to reveal her unmarked skin underneath.

Her manager stared at her, confused.

"You wouldn’t understand," Tossing the wipes on the floor with one hand, she patted the innocent adolescent on the head with her other one. "Now tell the driver to take us to the studio, I don’t want to arrive later than the scheduled time."

"Y-yes ma’am."

With that, the car began to drive away, while Angelina smirked at her lastest win.

*~*

Seating in front of her makeup mirror with a make up brush in her hand, Leonica felt a shiver run down her spine.

Who the fuck was plotting against her so early in the morning?

Swiping the brush against light powder, the White-ette brought it up to her neck, brushing it against the places that were red, freshly marked with evidence of her mistakes the previous night with Gabriel.

Staring at the red marks, Leonica gritted her teeth, filling yet another bile rise in the back of her throat. It was yet another urge to bend over on her toilet seat and puke out her entire yesterday’s meals, just like she had done when she returned home, disgusted and angry at herself.

After five years, no, seven, after seven who fucking years, how was it that Gabriel still had so much control over her body?!

One freaking touch and she melted like a fucking ice block placed in front of fire!

Nothing could have disappointed her much like her actions yesterday. Be it the effect of the alcohol or whatever her subconscious tried to use to make excuse, the fact still stood that she had sex with Gabriel, And for that, she was disappointed with herself.

Pushing her thoughts aside with a sigh, Leonica was about to grab her concealer when the sound of her ringtone blared, making her flinch at the unexpected sound.

Cursing at how jumpy she had been feeling all morning ever since returning home, she reached for the device that was laying face down, her brows creasing in confusion when she saw the person calling was none other than her assistant.

’Did I forget something important?’ She questioned, going over her schedule for the day in her head as she swiped on the answer icon and brought the phone to her ear.

Instead of her usual way of answering, she went straight to the point. "Yes Kennedy, what is it?"

"Ms. Romero, good morning. I apologize for calling but your presence is required at the company."

Mentally done with her run through of her schedule, and realizing she didn’t in fact have to drop by the company today, she questioned. "What for."

"Well, the thing is..." Kennedy hesitated to explain. Waiting for him to continue, Leonica placed her phone on loud speaker and placed it on her table, going back to her earlier work before he had called her.

"This morning, some shareholders showed up and they’ve been throwing fits ever since, demanding number of times to see you, despite me telling them that you weren’t coming in today."

Leonica who had finished covering up the marks and was now reaching for her jewelry for the day, froze, eyes gravitating towards her phone.

"What? Why?"

"They refuse to tell me. I apologize Ms. Romero."

Thinning her lips, she waved her hand despite Kennedy not being able to see her. "It’s fine. Take them to the conference room, I’ll handle them myself when I arrive."

"Yes Ma’am."

And with that, the call ended, leaving Leonica to sigh to herself.

First her mistake with Gabriel and now those lousy shareholders, how much worse could her day get?

Picking out a simple pair of earrings, she placed them on, followed by her necklace and bracelet...

Huh?

Staring at her jewelry box with narrowed brows, Leonica searched for the one bracelet she always seemed to wear.

She was sure she had put it on the previous day, when she left the house. But it wasn’t anywhere in the box.

"Did I take it off at the party?" She muttered to herself, searching the box for a few minutes before sighing.

If she couldn’t find it, then she had lost it somewhere, and with the kind of bracelet it was- custom made and given to her by someone she cared for- the chances of getting it back was slim.

"Fuck, and I had to be so careless."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she got up, grabbed her phone and bag and headed out, intending to deal with her problems one at a time.

First the shareholders, and then she’d find a way to recover the bracelet, if possible.

*~*

Arriving at the company, Leonica was greeted by the security guards and several employees on the first floor.

She greeted them back, a small smile on her face as she did so. She was about to make her way up the elevator to the eighteenth floor where the conference room was when Kennedy suddenly called out her name.

Having waited downstairs for her for the past hour, he quickly spotted her and strolled forward. "Ms. Romero,"

Leonica turned around, a smile making its way to her lips once more. "Kennedy," She acknowledge the assistant before asking. "Where are they?"

"Conference room 2, floor eighteen." Kennedy responded, offering her the coffee he had fetched go start her very much crappy day. Leonica accepted it with a tough, yet grateful smile and took a sip from it as he lead her to the elevator.

"Any clue to why they want to see me?"

"No," He shook his head, stepping into the elevator with his employer. "They refused to tell me their reason. I apologize."

"You don’t have to."

And then there was silence, both of them watching the elevator screen display the number of floors they were ascending, waiting for the elevator doors to open.

When the lift came to a stop and the doors opened, the two of them stepped out, and meandered for the conference room.

Let’s get this over once and for all.

Reaching the door, she pushed it open without any hint of hesitation and stepped in. All the shareholders present, about nine or ten, were instantly put on high alert at her presence, rising to their feet to greet her with a bow.

The only person who remained seated was Rodrigo.

"What is this all about?" Sinking down into her chair, she fixed her gaze square on who she was sure the gang leader was, Rodrigo.

He didn’t hesitate to bare his fangs this time around. Tossing a file at her, the paper slid on the table, stopping before it could fall off the other end and in front of her.

"You’re refusing to cooperate with Bryce Empire?" He questioned.

"Yes." Leonica answered, unbothered by whatever look he and the rest of the shareholders were giving her. "Do you have a problem with that decision."

"Do I..." Rodrigo chuckled as if finding her words funny. "Do I have a problem with that decision? Like hell I do!" Slamming his fist against the table, he rose to his feet.

"Are you the slightest bit aware of what you are doing?! This decision of yours, do you know how detrimental it would be to our company?!" He scolded, voice high with the intention of bringing her down in front of the present shareholder.

If he had most of them in his side, her seat as president would slowly become shaken.

"Your father and I, we entrusted this company to you, Leonica, yet here you are, making decisions that could cost Romero Empire it’s future, do you want this company to crumble?"

"Romero Empire would not crumble because of this one decision, rather it would become stronger." Leonica defended.

"Stronger," Rodrigo scoffed and shook his head at her words. "Leonica, the person you’re planning on going up against is The Business prodigy, do you think we will stand a chance if he decides to retaliate?!"

Murmurs of agreement from the rest of the shareholders was heard, but Leonica wasn’t affected by them.

"Romero Empire is not as strong as it was before, but Bryce Empire on the other hand, they’re stronger. You should have taken this opportunity to join forces with him instead of trying to go up against him. Now because of your actions, the company’s reputation is dropping."

"Then so be it." Came Leonica’s sharp response. "The Romero Empire I know was built strong enough to withstand a couple of rumors and social dropping. If we can’t withstand that now, then I don’t believe we’re worthy of being Norway’s too business entity."

Her words quieted a few people, while the others weren’t afraid to show their objection to he’d words.

"That’s total bullshit," one of them said. "Going down a path like this would only lead to doom."

"Yeah," her seatmate concurred. "If we continue on like this, nothing would be left of Romero empire. This isn’t right and if we’re going to continue being the Romero Empire I know, then I suggest we have a change in presidency."

More and more people started to add in their two cents, their voices getting louder and louder as they continued talking and discussing amongst themselves, making Leonica feel frustrated and annoyed.

From where Rodrigo stood, a smirk made its way up to his lips as he kudos to the scene internally. It was exactly as he wanted it.

Things were going exactly as he wanted it. Now it was time for him to step in and play the good cop.

"Please, everyone calm down." He requested, his voice silencing the entire room. "I understand everyone’s worry, I myself would be lying if I said I don’t have several. And," he turned to face Leonica. "I can also understand my niece’s way of thinking. That’s why I have an idea. Rather than cooperating with Bryce Empire for along period of time, why don’t we have a one off deal with them. A one time thing that can ensure a smooth severing of ties between both companies?" He suggested and just like dumb puppets, the shareholders began agreeing to his words.

"Yes, that’s a brilliant idea."

"We could make them agree to a one time deal, and if things get better, we can cut ties with them."

"Brilliant, yes, that’s exactly what we need!"

To say Leonica was surprised by their stupidity was an understatement, but at the same time, she couldn’t voice those words, seeing clearly as Rodrigo had more people on his side than her and automatically, she had lost the battle, for today.

Sighing to herself, Leonica leaned back against her seat and folded her arms, glaring at the man before her. "Rodrigo, in this company I call the shots and when I say we won’t partner with Bryce Empire for anything, then we wouldn’t. If it’s the company’s reputation that you’re worried about, leave it to me, I’ll handle it."

"How so?" The male challenged.

"A partnership better than thatof Bryce Empire." She confidently told him.

Rodrigo chuckled on the inside, knowing fully well that Leonica couldn’t leave up to her words and was simply trying to prevent herself from getting eaten in today’s meeting.

But very well, he was going to play along and even use it to his advantage.

"Alright, you’ll call the shots. I’ll leave you to provide a better partnership deal, but under one condition." Holding his index finger up, he announced. "One week, I’ll give you one week and if in that time span, you fail to bring a better partnership deal, I’ll become a co president of Romero Empire."

"And if I do?" Leonica questioned, tilting her head almost innocently. "Would you resign from Romero Empire?"

"That...that’s too much to stake."

"And you think half of the company’s control isn’t? Put your right cards in the table here, uncle." She retorted.

Her unwavering determination made anger pull in Rodrigo’s stomach.

She has the guts to act all brave now because she’s in the presidential seat, just she wait, he’ll make her pay for her behavior.

"Excellent then," Rodrigo forced a grin and turned to face his colleagues. "Let’s do it that way. So, is everyone in agreement? Shall we go ahead with the plan?"

"Yes, let’s."

"Then, the decision is final. We’re going through with this."

"Good, good," Rodrigo nodded, happy that the decision was settled.

"If that’s all, then meeting dismissed." Leonica said and stood up. She had walked towards the door before stopping and looking over her shoulder to speak. "Oh, and bare this in mind; today would be the first and the last day you all would you all would show up at MY company and cause such a ruckus, or else I would personally see to it that you are all replaced, no matter how long it would take."

With those words hanging in the air, Leonica stepped out of the room, her assistant training behind her as she walked towards her office, while thinking of the one person who could fit the bill for her plan.

And then an image flashed in her mind.

"Kennedy, get Mr. Richardson on the phone." She instructed.

"Yes Ma’am."

While Kennedy was doing his job, Leonica suddenly wondered what had happened to Arvan after she had gone to look for Gabriel.

They had come together yet she had abandoned him to scold bastard that wasn’t even worthy of her time.

Talk about the perfect partner.

"Ms. Romero, there’s a little issue."

Leonica turned her head to face the assistant who had returned with the news. "Ms. Chloe just informed me that Mr. Richardson had been sent to the hospital late in the midnight."