Chapter 294 Hatred to the Bone
Leopold plans to start a project for the Golden Ember Hotel, and the reason he's keeping it from Caroline is because things aren't certain yet. As there are too many variables involved before it takes shape, he didn't want to paint a rosy picture and dissapoint her.
Basically, he is a man of action who prefers getting things done.
This isn't the first time he's thought about leaving Celestial Waters Group, he just hadn't acted on it because of Quinlan. After all, he wanted to bring her back to the Wipere family in glory. But after all these years, Quinlan has let go of her attachment to the Wipere family and lived comfortably now, so there's no need to drag her back into that painful relationship.
As for why he hasn't left Celestial Waters Group, it wasn't because of a strained relationship between him and his father. His stock options haven't vested yet, and the company's annual salary is generous enough to meet his current needs. After all, people can't live on air alone, he has a family to support.
Allegra once asked him if his decision to leave was because of Caroline but he had denied it, not explaining why.
At breakfast, Caroline served a bowl of porridge and placed it beside Leopold, saying, "With Bodhi leaving the company, they're bound to resent you. Be careful from now on, don't let anyone with bad intentions harm you."
If someone really wanted to harm him, being careful wouldn't help much. However, to put Caroline's mind at ease, he agreed, "Okay, I'll definitely watch out."
Gemma and her daughter had disliked him for a long time, and probably didn't expect him to seize an opportunity to kick Bodhi out of the company. They're probably plotting how to deal with him right now.
Caroline sighed, "The most exhausting thing about the workplace is the scheming in interpersonal relationships. I thought higher-ups wouldn't have these troubles, but turns out it's the same."
Leopold put food in his mouth and chewed slowly. "That shows I'm not standing high enough yet. Only those at the very top of the pyramid don't have those worries."
Caroline worried he wasn't happy at the company. "What does Dad think about this?"
"Him?" Leopold lowered his eyes, his face showing no emotion. To him, there was no affection between father and son, only interests. "What can he think? I'm more valuable to the company than Bodhi. He won't say it out loud, but he's probably blaming me in his heart too."
Looking at it this way, he's fighting alone at the company.
Caroline thought of two people. "You mentioned before that two shareholders support you quite a bit. What's their attitude about this?"
Leopold downed the remaining half bowl of porridge in one gulp, put down his utensils, pulled out a napkin and wiped his hands methodically, saying, "You mean Mr. Diaz and Mr. Richardson?"
"Yes, them."
Leopold said, "I wouldn't call it support. I was just the best choice at the time to keep Mr. Preston Wipere in check. Besides, those two men's ultimate goal isn't as simple as pushing me into power."
Seeing the serious expression on his face, Caroline asked, "They want to seize power?"
Leopold said meaningfully, "When there are many wolves and little meat, no wolf takes its time chewing. They'd love to swallow the whole sheep in one bite."
Compared to Leopold, Caroline felt quite lucky.
"Mr. Diaz and Mr. Richardson get along so well, always on the same page?" Caroline was curious about their relationship - what kind of bond allows them to advance and retreat together with such unified opinions.
Leopold said, "A beggar doesn't envy a rich man, but he'll envy a beggar who gets more than him. They won't show their true colors until the final moment."
Sure enough, when Leopold got to the company, he saw Xiomara, whom he hadn't seen in a while.
She knocked on the door. Leopold looked up. "Come in."
Xiomara walked to his desk, pulled out a chair and sat down. "I heard you've had a tough time while I was away from the company. Is there anything I can do for you?"
He have to hand it to Xiomara for her patience - he kicked her husband out of the company yesterday, and today she shows up in his office all smiles.
Leopold had his own acting skills, too. With concern in his eyes, he asked, "With all those hotels Bodhi has on his hands, you must be busy enough. I don't really have much work right now, and what I do have are trivial things like copying documents. How could I trouble you with such small matters?"
Xiomara remained calm, then said with a smile, "I've been so bored at home taking care of the baby. I want something to do to help with my postpartum depression. Let Bodhi take care of the baby - he's got plenty of time now anyway."
She hid the anger in her eyes well, but Leopold still noticed it. Compared to her impulsive personality before, she now had schemes and could keep her cool better.
Looks like during her time giving birth, she received quite a bit of instruction from Gemma.
Leopold quietly looked at Xiomara across from him. Dealing with these kinds of relationships all day, he was too lazy to play along with their fake niceties. "That's great that you think that way. Who says taking care of kids has to be a woman's job?"
Xiomara choked, unable to find words for a long moment.
This was too infuriating - he clearly knew she was talking about him scheming to drive Bodhi away, yet he was still playing dumb.
Xiomara decided to stop pretending and said coldly, "Even though Bodhi left the company, my mom and I are still here. Don't even think about causing more trouble."
With that, Xiomara got up to leave.
Just as she reached the office door, she heard Leopold say from behind, "Xiomara, getting angry is bad for your health."
Xiomara whipped around, trying to maintain a smile on her face. "Thanks for your concern."
The office door slammed shut, the loud noise like a battle horn declaring war on him.
At the afternoon mid-to-senior level meeting, Xiomara caused trouble again, proposing a project to build a super five-star brand hotel, with the idea of borrowing from foreign five-star hotel brand development plans. She even got support from most shareholders and mid-to-senior management, but Leopold and his team voted against it.
Preston looked around the room and finally fixed his gaze on Leopold, announcing, "This project isn't suitable for development yet. We'll study it when the time is right."
People in the conference room exchanged glances. Leopold essentially had veto power, which meant from now on, any project he didn't approve of had no chance of passing.
Xiomara was about to stand up and demand an explanation when Gemma beside her held her down.
She shook her head slightly, signaling that Xiomara couldn't confront him head-on right now.
Xiomara had to swallow her anger and sit back down.
Preston announced the meeting was over. Leopold followed behind him as he left, already looking like the future successor.
But the more power Leopold gained, the more Xiomara hated him to the bone.
Back in her office, Gemma poured her a glass of water. "Xiomara, have you forgotten everything I told you? No matter how dissatisfied you are, you can't let outsiders see us as a joke. All the mid-to-senior management were there today. If you hadn't controlled your temper and started fighting with him, your dad could send you home, too."
Hearing this, Xiomara opened her mouth, then replied sullenly, "I got it, Mom."