Chapter 32
*Nolan’s POV
I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting my tic. I was starting to wonder if everything that I believed in was a lie and if I was being played all this while. I walked out of the bedroom as soon as I threw my jacket on, and when I walked through the room, Zoe was still there.
She was still sitting in the same spot and had her head down while playing with her fingers. The sound of my footsteps drew her attention and she looked up, I Ignored her, and kept on walking. Everything about her in recent days felt strange. Each conversation I had with her felt like I was walking into a thick mist.
I pushed the door open and stepped out into the cold morning air. I had no time to feel the way I was feeling, and what I needed to do now was to get to work. I turned around and took a quick glance at the house and I could see Zoe staring at me through the window.
There was something about the way she looked at me, something that made me feel deep in my guts that she had something up her sleeves, but I wasn’t going to sit around to find out. I got into my car and drove off.
The drive to the company was quiet and calming. The low hum of the engine seemed to calm me down and it was the strangest feeling ever.
I took a quick turn and the building appeared in front of me, but then I saw the swarm of reporters and photographers, just as I had predicted.
Everything about the company at the moment, was a disaster. The way the news broke, the person who was responsible, all of it was something that was worth hanging my head in shame for, but I wasn’t that guy.
I slowed down as I got closer and just before I could park, they surrounded the car, the cameras flashing and the microphones pressing against the car.
“Alpha Nolan! What do you have to say about the dangerous product from your company?” One of the reporters yelled, fighting his way through a crowd of people who were just like him.
“Are you stepping down as CEO? is it true?” Another own shouted.
“Why haven’t you issued a statement yet? Don’t you think the people deserve an explanation?”
I was beginning to feel the pressure of the moment, but I remained calm. I looked through the crowd and just then, I noticed Xander fighting his way through, screaming instructions for them to give way, and in a short while, he was by the
car.
I opened the door and stepped out. “Thanks for showing up early,” I said to him, he nodded and without uttering a word, he pushed through the crowd. I had other bodyguards around and they created a reasonable amount of space between me and the reporters, but one of the reporters managed to get close.
“Alpha Nolan, are you going to address the claims that your company deliberately distributed those products?”
I stopped and turned to her for a moment. Her eyes widened and I could see that she was clearly surprised that I was giving her the attention.
“I can’t give any Statements yet,” I said calmly. “All of what I’m supposed to say will be released through the proper channels and I’d advise that you refer to our upcoming press releases.”
I smiled at her and continued the short walk into the company and she was too stunned to even think about another question to ask me.
I walked straight to my office and slumped into my chair. I let out a sigh of relief that I was finally away from the noise and
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Chapter 32
all the many flashes from the camera, but I couldn’t push away the thought and the feeling that a huge storm was brewing.
I lifted my eyes and saw Xander standing by the window, looking outside obviously at the crowd.
“Thanks, man,” I said to him again, walking up to him and patting him on his shoulder.
“You don’t have to thank me.” He said with a small smile on his lips. “It’s like thanking me for breathing, it’s my job to make sure you’re not drowning in this mess. You’re trying to fix it and it’s not your fault.”
I smiled and stood with him, looking outside at the crowd which was now slowly dispersing.
Just then, there was a knock on the door and one of my new assistants walked in, holding a stack of documents. She didn’t have any makeup on and I could tell from where I stood that she had been up all night.
“Good morning, Boss.” She greeted me without a smile. “There’s something important I need to show you.” She said, placing the files gently on the table.
“I’m listening,” I said firmly, taking my seat.
“We’ve been trying to control the situation, just like you instructed, but the numbers, it just keeps getting worse,” she said softly.
“We’ve lost over two billion dollars so far… It’s barely been a week” she added.
“What about our new levity?” I asked, trying desperately to keep my voice steady. “We’ve been working on it for quite some time now and it should be doing well.”
But she shook her head negatively. “Apparently, it’s not sir. We’ve tried to assure the public that it’s safe, but nothing seems to be working at this point. Even our partners are breaching the agreement they have with us, it’s only honest to say that the trust in our brand…is almost gone.”
“And the team?” I asked sharply.
“We’ve been working, Boss. Looking for ways to get around it but we couldn’t find anything.”
I couldn’t get angry at her. They were the best people for the job, but at this moment in time, it seemed to be bigger than anything I imagined.
“But there’s something else, a potential solution.” She said suddenly.
I lifted my eyes sharply. “Go on “I instructed, wanting to hear what she had to say.
She hesitated for a while before speaking. “Someone offered to invest in the company, Alpha Nolan. A foreign investor, he offered over two billion dollars- more than what we lost. It could be enough to stabilize things for now.”
I didn’t like the idea of it, but this wasn’t about what I liked or not, because the only reason why the company ea in this mess was because of a woman that I was supposed to be in love with, so feelings didn’t really matter at this point.
“What’s the catch?”
“We don’t know much about them,” she replied.
“Their identity is being kept hidden. The only thing they did was to communicate their intentions through intermediaries. They’re offering a lot, boss. I’ve gone through the proposal.”
“Where is it?” I asked firmly, my mind working overtime to think ahead.
She gestured towards the table and there it was in front of me.
13:14 Tue, Dec 10 B
Cha
