The shareholders’ meeting carried on.
As Third Young Master Ye’s announcement of his resignation ended, Ye Zhenhua was forced to nominate Louis as MBS International’s next president. While this was part of Ye Zhenhua’s plans, putting them into practice made him feel helpless. He sharply realized that things had departed from his intended plans and moving in an unknown direction. This unknown change would utterly wreck his life’s work.
Ye Zhenhua suddenly realized that letting Third Young Master Ye run MBS International was not too bad a decision. Although he was rebellious, proud, and hated him, he was, however, a management guru that few could match up to.
Although Third Young Master Ye did not like him and he already had plans to replace Third Young Master Ye following the latter’s disobedience, Old Master Ye, at his juncture, felt that MBS International without Third Young Master Ye would start to decline. MBS International’s decline was not what he wanted.
It was not him not wanting his oldest son Louis to take over the position, but Louis had the Mafia to run and most of his dealings were associated with the underground. With a huge Mafia to run and having to worry about his life day in day out, Louis’ management of MBS International would definitely not be as good as Third Young Master Ye.
MBS International’s development in the past few years was significant, and he would be lying if he took not the slightest pride in it.
Men were such weird creatures. When their passions were stoked, everything else could be forsaken. But when things hit the fan, many would hem and haw about their plans and even contemplate regretting their actions.
This is human nature.
Third Young Master Ye was, however, much more vicious than him and would not give him wriggle room. When Third Young Master Ye struck, he would achieve his objective, not stopping until he achieved it.
His resignation at the shareholders’ meeting was already a given. Even if Ye Zhenhua bent his knees to beg him, he would not change his mind as images of his youth replayed in his mind.
The more Third Young Master Ye thought about them, the more hatred he felt and the more vicious he became.
It was a cut and dry fact that father and son could not become enemies overnight. What a load of bull! Since Old Master Ye did not treat Third Young Master Ye as a son, the latter did not need to treat the former as a father either. In all these years, he refrained from taking action. Ever since he had Anya and Ning Ning, his life became meaningful again. He used to recall these unforgettable things and would leave them as they were and stop being so stubborn.
He was no longer the teenage Ye Chen. He knew what he wanted the most, which was to run MBS International into the ground. What he wanted now was to live happily with his family.
He tried to let go of his hatred, but Ye Zhenhua and Louis gave him another emotional time bomb before he could let go of that hatred. The emotional time bomb unraveled all the hatred that lay deep in his heart in all these years and sent him into a madness meltdown.
While he could tolerate Ye Zhenhua’s coldness, indifference, and favoritism, he might not tolerate what he did to his mother and himself, let alone his mother’s death due to Ye Yukun that brought him into three years of inhuman torture. All that was to happen was their own undoing.
It all started with his indulgence and pampering of Ye Yukun.
Since that was the case, why was he still gentlemanly about it?
People are often near or close to each other. As Ye Yukun was bright from a young age, Ye Zhenhua doted on him and started to groom him to become his successor. He even condoned his perverted sexual preferences. When Ye Yukun made a mistake, Ye Zhenhua would always choose to sacrifice somebody else to protect him, including his mother and himself.
He wanted to protect Ye Yukun but caused somebody to die for naught and lived a tragic life. If father and son wanted to get away scot-free, fat hope!
While Third Young Master Ye still smiled elegantly, his fists were tightly gripped. As he recalled his mother, his heart greatly mourned. There was a saying that goes, ‘Revenge goes in endless cycles, and the greater wisdom is not to tangle oneself in it.’ What a load of bull!
As long as such events do not befall oneself, these sayings could be easily and irresponsibly justified.
As she did not have a similar experience of pain and loss as him, Cheng Anya was in no position to tell him to let go of his hatred. Cheng Anya had never wanted him to let go of it but to have him face it. She was worried that he would not dare to face it, burdening himself in the process, rather than really letting go of it and relieving himself of that mental burden.
His woman saw through things even more clearly than him. Apart from himself, nobody else could tell him to let go of that deep-seated hatred. Even if Ye Zhenhua, at his deathbed, begged him to show mercy, he would not.
A shred of viciousness and cruelty flashed past Third Young Master Ye’s gaze.
The entire conference hall felt cold.
Ye Zhenhua stood between Louis and Third Young Master Ye. With his sons next to him, Ye Zhenhua naturally chose Louis as he had no alternative.
Third Young Master Ye had already removed all possibilities, and he could only choose Louis. Given recent developments, he could only choose to trust Louis.
This son had won his heart since young and he extremely trusted him. He could trust him that he would not disappoint him. Since Ye Zhenhua was human, Third Young Master Ye pushing him to such a stage would only mean that he would not compromise.
As Louis pondered emotionlessly, he truly looked like a melancholic prince. He was secretly figuring out what was going through Third Young Master Ye’s thoughts. It did not take long, and he guessed that Third Young Master Ye was about to make a move against MBS International.
The man who swore that he would not leave MBS International yesterday but suddenly changed his mind could only mean one thing—the hatred in the depths of his heart had fully blown out. Ye Wei had told Third Master Ye his identity.
He had probed him earlier today and assumed that Ye Wei, out of concern for Third Young Master Ye’s deep-seated mental burden, would keep that from him.
He was clearly wrong. Ye Wei told Ye Chen everything, which resulted in his rage and action against MBS International. Ye Chen even feigned it extremely well earlier today.
He was almost fooled, and if that was possible, it also meant that…
He had overcome his inner demons?
How could that be possible?
A slight surprise colored Louis’ lips. How could he have overcome it that easily? This was a deep mental burden he had held for seventeen years, and it was so serious that he would just face it at best.
He really looked down on him.
Louis thought that Third Young Master Ye did not know that he did not die and had returned. When he made contact with Third Young Master Ye two years ago, the latter would have broken down and gone mad had he known. What happened was the opposite.
He had miscalculated.
What he would do next was to run MBS International into the ground. But how?
Through the influence of the Dragon Gate?
Louis laughed coldly in his heart. The Dragon Gate, the largest Chinese Mafia in North America, was active in North America. While it was powerful, it was far from the Mafia. In City A, the Dragon Gate was about the control of the entire underground scene.
It was a pity that it was on shaky ground. The previous turf war, kicked off by the destruction of Fire Beacon Hall, was still in play. It would take the Dragon Gate at least half a year to regain its footing.
How would he deal with MBS International then?
Bring away the A-team that he single-handedly groomed?
That was no biggie as he was prepared. He could replace whomever Third Young Master Ye led away. All projects could still carry on, so what could be too difficult for him?
Louis coldly smiled. Anyway, his main aim was not MBS International.
When Ye Zhenhua nominated Louis as the next president, everyone save those privy were aghast, including the media.
This was how GK Media reported the news: CEO Ye nominates the godfather of the Mafia as president of MBS International—turning MBS International into part of the Mafia or driving it to its doom? It then praises the great accomplishments of Third Young Master Ye being the president of MBS International. As Klose, GK International Media’s president, had strict orders to frame the financial report through a more humane lens. During the broadcast, Third Young Master Ye’s indignation and forbearance were emphasized, giving the public the message that Third Young Master Ye had endured countless indignation and oppression. It then contrasted it against the Mafia’s overbearingness and dominance, along with CEO Ye’s incompetence and poor judgment.
The report put MBS International’s start toward decline and eventual absorption by the Mafia in broad daylight.
As GK International Media was one of the most influential media outlets, despite Klose’s unrestrained nature, people flocked to listen to it when they heard GK International Media’s name. The news that GK International Media carried were often highly credible.
But, the experts analyzing the MBS International shareholders’ meeting were drenched in cold sweat. Despite the smiles that implied their well-learnedness, they were grumbling in secret as this was not their analysis. Instead, they were, on Klose’s orders, bringing the news to the public.
As GK International Media was a very reputable media outlet, along with Klose’s quarter British royalty bloodline, he had a solid background. Even if Klose spread untruths, Ye Zhenhua could do nothing about it as it was a matter of time before what GK International Media reported became truth, and the public would worship GK International Media even more.
With this report, MBS International’s share prices were gravely affected. What started out as a rise in stock prices when the market opened became a crash when GK financial channel reported the news. The share prices then rebounded due to behind-the-scenes manipulations, and it was clear that Louis’ consortium were no slouches at their job.
Klose smiled at the report as he knew that the real show had yet to begin.
At the same time, Klose, Lin Yixuan, and Fourth Young Master Tang engaged in trading through a joint venture against MBS International. They operated slowly without being discovered, saving major maneuvers until after the shareholders’ meeting.
The three of them were experts at such operations. If one of them were enough to control the entire market, let alone the three of them in concert.
Most importantly, they knew all about MBS International, how it operated, its cash flow, etc. They had all the information at hand.
It was natural that Third Young Master Ye revealed the information to them. Given his skills, nobody could trace anything back to him, so what had he to fear?
This was a battle where one party had the drop on the other. It was evident who had the upper hand.
That was why Third Young Master Ye was exceptionally elegant and calm at the shareholders’ meeting. He was waiting for the moment Ye Zhenhua was downtrodden and wasted. While he originally wanted to reveal Louis’ identity at the shareholders’ meeting, he thought about it and decided against it. It would not help, and even the police could do nothing much.
What exactly happened years back became a secret. What exactly happened to the real Louis? Third Young Master Ye loved to get his hands dirty since Ye Yukun was his deepest mental burden, and he would not allow anybody else to take care of him.