"If you have something to say to me, then say it. Ryan spoke his mind, and I respect that. Do not just hold your contempt inside you; speak up and prove why you think your point is more valid."
"!"
Frieda was stunned to hear Mark talking to her, and she was completely unprepared for him to suddenly ask her to talk! Frieda immediately stopped glaring at Ryan as she turned to Mark, and Mark leaned back on the couch calmly as he waited for her to start talking.
Frieda tried her best to ignore the intense aura that was coming from Mark as she organized her mind. Frieda knew that she was much older than Mark. She was twenty-six, so she was at least eight years his senior, but she couldn't help but feel so small at that moment. Right now, she felt like a student giving a presentation in front of her school teacher!
"Well, in Mr. Hugo's defense, I think Ryan is being unnecessarily harsh in his analysis. I know that there were times when Mr. Hugo made decisions that I would consider cowardly, but that is only because at that time there was nothing that he could do. Mr. Hugo has the company's best interest at heart, and he has made it his mission to leave behind a legacy that he can be proud of for you to inherit.
Mr. Hugo has helped save the jobs of many employees and has given struggling subsidiaries a lot of opportunities and chances to redeem themselves. As far as I am concerned, Mr. Hugo's method of leading this company is what is best for the people in the company."
Frieda finally finished her own speech, and Mark looked away from them both as he leaned his head back on the couch backrest to stare at the ceiling. There was a heavy debate going on in his heart at the moment, and in a way, Mark already knew which side would win.
Hugo was doing great work here. He was looking out for the employees and making sure that no one was laid off by giving them a chance. That was something that Mark's father was very focused on in his lifetime, so Mark could understand it.
Mark was sure that Hugo was also trying to make sure that the shareholders didn't cut off many of the subsidiaries, and that is the reason why Hugo didn't have much of a say in many of the other decisions in the company.
The man had black hair with white streaks that fell over his left eye. His red eyes were narrowed in a permanent look of contemplation that showed just how much he was always thinking. He wore a pure white suit with a black inner shirt and a red tie that matched his appearance splendidly.
This man was Dante Sinclair, the first son of the Dante Enterprise and one of the major shareholders in the Vanitas enterprise. The Dante family was a very secretive family of moguls.
Their entire family ran a hedge fund company called The Vault that traded multiple billions in the stock market every day, and they were responsible for growing the wealth of more than one-third of the richest men and women in the American Federation.
Dante's family was extremely rich because of the man who founded the Vault and made their family into the global trading entity that they were at that time. Sinclair's grandfather Keith was the one who built the company up from nothing in the early seventies, and he took them even higher when he began to purchase other hedge funds that were going under during the great depression.
This allowed their company to absorb many rich men and women who were a part of those other hedge funds, and they became a household name and powerhouse on Wall Street after the Depression.
The Dante family owned a large portion of every major business in America. Most people didn't know it, but the Dante family was so deeply rooted in the economy of America that they could be considered an essential nervous system that would cripple the economy if they were ever taken out. The Dantes made it their mission to gain as much money and power as possible while staying in the shadows.
They did not involve themselves in the businesses that they invested in. The Dante only invested in top businesses and would go back into hiding after the investment and just allow their money to grow and add to their already enormous wealth while they stayed in the shadow, but the Vanitas franchise was different.
The Dantes invested in the Vanitas business a long time ago when Mark's grandfather was still alive, and back then they were content with just hiding in the shadows and allowing the Vanitas franchise to grow and make them more money. But after the Armageddon attack happened and Mark's grandfather and mother were both killed, the Dantes saw an opportunity.
The Vanitas franchise was the largest company under their portfolio. It had seen significant growth in recent years, and from how things were looking, they knew that the company was only going to keep growing.
And now, the CEO and founder were dead and his son was too young to take over the company. Wasn't this the perfect time for a hostile takeover?