86. The Board (Part 2)

86. The Board (Part 2)

Of the board, only the younger woman, Vanessa Daniels, and one of the forty-year-old men, Capris Morgan, seemed somewhat unphased by her declaration. She was unsure if it was partly due to the generational divide or some other strange reason, but of the whole board, it was just these two who remained the most cordial towards her.

Granted, they could obviously see the major issues that her planned direction for the Branford group would lead them to in the current market, and if she were honest, anybody with a basic economic understanding and knowledge of which markets were the most profitable could figure it out.

But for whatever reason they seemed to be far more accepting of her decisions, both as Chester and as Aurora respectively. In the meeting In the previous week, she distinctly remembered their reasonable response to her proposed plans, letting her go through with them for a period provided that should the group lose money after 1 year from her changes, then she would personally compensate for the losses.

That however had been a far more reasonable response than the rest of the board however. They were just as stubborn and set in their ways and pushed for more, which included her resignation as CEO on top of any compensation.

She could freely admit her plans would cause short-term losses for the conglomerate as they entered into new markets and invested their capital into various investments, but in the long term, the Branford Group would eventually break even.

However, the board’s additional pushes did considerably annoy her since it was a clear attempt to push her further from the company and to attempt to assert their own control over it. She could understand their reasoning to an extent, since they were shareholders they received dividends based on how well the group performed, so they would want the company to generate as much profit as it could to fill their pockets.

But in their attempts, they were falling into the trap of so many other corporate entities who just pursued profit at the expense of alienating their customer base because they kept making unpopular decisions. In this case, their pursuit of profit by attempting to control her decisions would result in a massive loss of potential profits and expansion.

And while the older members of the board thought they could influence her decisions by threatening her with the removal from the CEO role, in reality, it did not matter at all since she had almost complete control over the company, and those sitting on the board were only there thanks to their ancestor's investment into the Branford group when it first started out.

They had been given seats on the board as advisers and to be kept informed over the progress of the company in exchange for their investments, but they knew fully well that they held no clear power in the company.

Aurora felt a slight surge of excitement in her heart alongside her growing anger as she heard her grandmother’s words, feeling the familiar rush she would get when she was about to enter into a battle of wits with the selfish and decrepit old hag.

Her mother had spoken of how her grandmother had always been self-serving when she was the Lady of the Branford house while her grandfather was still alive. And given everything she had seen from the woman ever since, it had only become worse. Her attitude seemed to have become more bitter and resentful while she tried to control everything around her.

Aurora could see how the woman currently sitting further down the table sneering at her with disdain and disapproval became who she was today. By taking away everything that gave a superficial and materialistic person their supposed superiority, they would become bitter and try to take back whatever they could at every opportunity while getting at those who they perceived had wronged them.

And Aurora fit that description in her grandmother's eyes. Not only had she assumed the role of Lady of the house of Branford, but she had taken on the role of her father and grandfather before him, wielding everything the house had at its disposal. And that was not to mention her beauty she felt her grandmother loathed more than anything else.

After looking directly between the woman's eyes for a deliberately uncomfortable amount of time Aurora finally spoke up, her tone level yet intense as she continued to stare the woman down.

“Oh? Is that so? I am quite impressed that you know my capabilities better than myself. But please do enlighten me, who in your expert opinion do you think is more qualified to take on the role?”

Aurora knew that there was a very high possibility that anyone her grandmother suggested would undoubtedly be within her sphere of influence or tied to that side of the family. And sadly her grandmother's required qualifications to become one of her supporters went no further than to become one of her sycophants. But surely she wouldn’t suggest anyone too absurd, especially in front of the whole board?

“Your uncle Worthred Branford would be the perfect replacement.”

Aurora could not contain the slightly manic cackle that left her lips, her bout of extreme amusement apparently catching everyone in the room off guard who all looked at her like she was crazy. Her grandmother was no exception, but before she had a moment to speak Aurora immediately interrupted her.

“Worthred, are you actually serious? In the past 6 years he has driven 3 businesses into the ground- that I am currently aware of, developed a massive drinking problem, and if what I hear is correct, has been embezzling money from the startup loans you had provided him. You are telling me, with a straight face, that you want to put such a man at the helm of a multi-billion pound conglomerate?”