The Lead Investor

The Lead Investor
I kept staring at his face and this got more uncomfortable than I anticipated, he kept looking around, finding a suitable means to escape whatever he thought I had planned out for him. I gently sipped my coffee with my legs crossed, watching him make a fool of himself.

"Mr Conrad, it would be best if you state your business, I'm in a hurry, I have a meeting I must attend to in the next hour" he revealed but merely looking at his eyes, I could tell he was a pathetic liar, lies weren't created to be used by men of his liking.

"And here I was thinking you came all the way to New York City for a vacation, how's the city treating you?" I asked gently but he wasn't interested in any of my questions as he kept checking his time and his phone that kept buzzing.

"Mr Antonio, i don't mean to take much of your time, i just want to know why you turned down an opportunity to invest in my company, you have studied our charts, you have seen how much we have gathered and yet you led other investors against investing in what appears to a hidden gold mine, surely you have other reasons and now that we are together, i would love to hear some of them if you don't mind" i revealed and took another sip from my cup of coffee with our eyes still feasting on each other by the minute.

"The company doesn't belong to you, it belongs to Arabella, it's her inheritance and you have no right to call it yours no matter how sweet the words may sound in your tongue," he said, revealing what appeared to be the bitter truth i have failed to accept and this got me slowly pissed but i pinched myself, reminding my chaotic self that i stood more to gain from a well composed personality. 

"You may be right but..."

"It's not a case of maybe, it's a case of ownership, you don't own the company, Arabella does and if my investors and I must invest then we will invest with the CEO and not the branch manager" 

His words slowly got me pissed by the minute but I fought hard to retain my composure regardless of his hardened words being thrown at my face.

"I'm married to Arabella, I'm her legally wedded husband and her partner, I run the company on her behalf while she focuses on the family. A man is meant to lead while a woman is meant to follow, she's working perfectly in where she always ought to be" I revealed, still faking my smile but he saw through my smile facade like glass.

"That's bullshit, Mr Conrad, I advise you get the real and well-known owner or I can assure you that no other investor would take such a risk when they barely know you," he said as he rose to his feet at once.

I stood up too and gently placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile etched on my face, I wasn't prepared to give up in such a weak manner, that wasn't my trait and wasn't bound to be one.

"Mr Antonio, there surely has to be another way around this, let's forget about the name, let's forget about the "Contech group" brand, i accept that the company belongs to my wife and as such, it would be disrespectful not to have her sign the papers herself," I said, hoping to ease his mind a bit but Mr Antonio wasn't a man to be deceived, his white beard signaled that he was a man of wisdom.

He tapped my shoulders gently like a father advising husband son, I felt angered by this but there was nothing I could do, not if I wanted his team on board.

"Settle whatever issues you have with your wife and get her in the board room, she's the only key to the progress of the company. I'm not an expert at relationships but I know when one is at the verge of collapsing and this path you're trying to take will only make her hate you more, do the right thing, Conrad" Mr Antonio said calmly to me with a smile before he walked out like a man who had dropped beautiful words of wisdom.

I couldn't say a word as I simply watched him walk out on me, he left a $100 note on the table.

"How dare you pay for my coffee, I'm not poor!" I cursed and some girls staring at me from behind laughed like I had said something funny.

"Bruce, where are you?" I asked in anger, Bruce hung up the call and before I could call back, he stepped out of the elevator like he had been in there the whole time.

"Judging from your tone and expression, I take it that the meeting didn't go as planned," he asked but I couldn't find words to explain the way I felt.

"Is my wife back home yet?" I managed to ask as she had become the very thing holding me back from my success, a path of victory that I had carefully mapped out for years, i wasn't going to watch a plan go into flames just like that, not after years of planning and calculating.

"She hasn't arrived yet, should I send word for my boys to be on a lookout?" he asked.

I walked past him to the elevator and on getting to the garage, I waited for him to open the door for me while I took my position in the back seat, waiting for him to drive me the hell out of here.

"Boss, is there anything I can do to make you a little bit happy?" Bruce asked as he kept staring at my face from the rear mirror which was devoid of any emotion.

"None that I can think of" i answered briefly and the silence followed, i took out my phone and watched Arabella’s video and each minute made my blood boil with anger, watching another man satisfy the woman live with hurts more than a thousand words coming from the mouth of Mr Antonio, I couldn't take it anymore, I took screenshots of the stripper and searched out all his pictures, address and entire details.

"I do have a mission for you Bruce," I said, cutting through the silence in the car, I sent him the pictures of the stripper who had a taste of my wife and his reaction changed for a moment.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It was rumored that this exact person died in a car accident, how come he still looks alive and fresh and certainly not one that survived a crash" Bruce confessed and this gave me an idea, there was no point having mercy for a man who had been confirmed dead.

"Perfect" I whispered.

"What should I do boss? Your wish will always be my command" he revealed, his respect for me brought him this close to my inner circle.

"He has been rumored dead, I think it's time you make that rumor a reality without anyone tracing him" I ordered and he smiled, when it came to such jobs, Bruce was more than ready...