Chapter 185 Conspiracy
Una's apology video had made its way back home. At the end of the video, she specifically mentioned Leopold, expressing sincere praise for his abilities and admiration and appreciation for him as a person. Many of Una's fans who saw Leopold's photo left comments professing their love, and some even said they would support Celestial Waters Hotel just for Leopold's good looks.
For a while, Leopold's face became a living billboard for Celestial Waters Hotel.
What made Erik break out in a cold sweat was one particular comment that mentioned Preston was too old and should hurry up and hand over his position to younger people. All the directors and executives in the conference room turned their eyes to Preston. He looked at the screen with composure and calm, showing no sign of displeasure on his face. But Erik knew well that the comment had touched Preston's biggest taboo, so he quickly ran to the computer, turned off the video, and pulled out the USB drive.
He hadn't edited those comments into the video, so someone must have tampered with his USB drive. Looking around the room, everyone had the opportunity to access his office area, and finding it wouldn't be difficult. But only a few people would dare to do it, and they wouldn't do it themselves. Even if he caught a scapegoat, it wouldn't cause much of a stir.
Today, even the other three directors who rarely attended meetings due to health reasons had shown up.
Sterling Guise said in a deep voice, "The public opinion issue is resolved, but our stock price hasn't gone up. The impact from this is real market value shrinkage."
Wilder Gonzaga raised the document in his hand and echoed, "This is the document I received this morning. Celestial Waters Hotel's stock price dropped 5.58% to $26.25, with a total market value of $26.644 billion. Market value has fallen by over 20%, evaporating $7.5 billion."
Atlas Borgia's deep eyes swept across the room, his expression stern as he said, "Shouldn't someone be held accountable for this whole thing?"
Victor and Idris exchanged glances, both understanding that accountability would be demanded next. But the most important person hadn't spoken yet, so for now they just needed to watch and wait.
Preston said, "Who does Mr. Borgia think should be held accountable?"
Atlas said, "Whoever was responsible should be held accountable."
Idris's lips curved into a barely noticeable smile as he picked up the conversation, saying, "If I remember correctly, it should be Mr. Indigo Talbot."
Preston's expression suddenly darkened as he looked at Idris. "Mr. Richardson has a good memory, remembering even such small matters."
Victor said, "After all, a formal notice was sent through the company's internal OA system. Everyone should have an impression of it."
Xavier's eyes rolled as he raised a different opinion, "The overseas hotel restructuring has always been Leopold's doing. Indigo went there just to wrap things up, so it shouldn't have anything to do with him, right?"
Gemma spoke seriously, "If we're talking about the entire project from planning to execution and later supervision, it was indeed all planned and coordinated by Mr. Leopold Wipere. But the incident happened shortly after he left, so holding Mr. Talbot responsible isn't unreasonable either."
Victor sneered inwardly. What a way to put it—"holding Mr. Talbot responsible isn't unreasonable either." Everyone in this conference room wanted to pin the responsibility on Leopold. If he and Idris weren't here today, the decision on how to deal with Leopold would probably already be made.
He said, "Let's not talk about pinning it on anyone. Responsibility should be clear. Disregarding facts and wronging a good person—that's not Celestial Waters Hotel's corporate culture."
Atlas pointed directly at Victor, "Is Mr. Diaz saying someone has been wronged?"
"I'm not pointing at anyone specifically, just expressing my view."
Atlas withdrew his gaze irritably, secretly mocking him as a cunning old fox. "Now that the stock price has plummeted, someone must take responsibility. Even if I don't care about it, we should at least explain to those shareholders who suffered losses."
Sterling said, "I agree with Mr. Borgia's opinion."
He looked at Wilder, who said, "I agree too. Rewards and punishments should be clear. Anyone who causes losses to the group should come forward and accept disciplinary action."
Atlas asked Xavier beside him, "Does Mr. Anderson have any opinion?"
Xavier replied righteously, "I also support Mr. Borgia's thinking."
Xavier asked Gemma, "What about Ms. Adams?"
Gemma said, "Since everyone has stated their position, I respect the directors' thoughts."
The current situation already reeked of conspiracy. Idris wasn't backing down either, saying, "I agree with Mr. Diaz. Disciplinary action is fine, but the responsible person must be clearly identified."
Atlas, relying on his seniority, always spoke to Preston without reservation. He looked at Preston and asked, "Mr. Preston Wipere, everyone has stated their position on this matter. We'll respect however you handle it, but things need to be seen through to the end. After all, such huge losses are right here in front of us. Don't you agree?"
Looking at these cunning old foxes, knowing full well what they were scheming, he still couldn't tear off the facade in public.
Preston said, "Of course, those who caused huge losses to the company must be held accountable. When the overseas project was launched, it was indeed Mr. Leopold Wipere in charge. In just a few months, the overseas hotels' profits grew steadily. You all should have seen the data on the big screen just now. It can be said that he was called back home by me to complete other work at the project's most mature stage. As for Mr. Talbot, he took over at the project's most mature and stable stage. We've all been doing projects our whole lives. We know who the final person in charge is, who shares glory and disgrace with the project. Since this major mistake happened during Mr. Talbot's management, naturally, Mr. Talbot should bear the responsibility."
Gemma frowned, slowly turning her head to look at Preston in the main seat, her eyes showing surprise and her expression revealing disbelief.
Xavier was even more stunned for half a second before coming to his senses. No, this shouldn't be Preston's reaction.
He was about to speak, but immediately dismissed the thought. Whoever stepped forward now would end up in a bad situation.
Xavier covered his mouth, leaned close to Atlas, and whispered a reminder, "Mr. Borgia, don't say anymore. Mr. Leopold Wipere is his son."
Atlas snorted coldly, acting as if he didn't care about anything. "Mr. Preston Wipere, such an incident happened shortly after Mr. Leopold Wipere left. Having Mr. Talbot take the blame isn't appropriate. This isn't fair to Mr. Talbot either. Indigo has worked at the hotel for many years and can be considered one of Celestial Waters Hotel's first group of contributors since its establishment. Some things—you can't chill others' hearts just for your own people. In everyone's eyes, it's not fair either."
Preston's eyes held no warmth, and his face was frighteningly grim. Condescendingly, he said:
"If I really wanted to favor someone, would I need to listen to your opinions?"
With those words, the conference room fell silent.
He glanced at the people on both sides, stood up and said, "The disciplinary decision will be announced after the investigation. Meeting adjourned."
Erik followed closely behind Preston out of the conference room. After leaving everyone's sight, he secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
At that moment, at Eldoria Airport.
Leopold looked at Preston's characteristically brief message on his phone—just "Well done"—and nothing more.
Due to weather conditions, flights were grounded. Leopold was stranded at the airport, only able to sit in a chair waiting for the flight resumption notice at any time.
His phone showed a WhatsApp message from Caroline asking: [Has the flight been cancelled?]