Chapter 269

Chapter 269
Alia POV

When Giulio and I entered the conference room, it was completely empty, looking rather desolate.

Giulio pointed to the head seat and said: "Madam, that position belongs to Mr. Vittorio."

"Mm." I nodded, looking up, and for a moment I seemed to see Marco sitting there.

"Madam..." Seeing me spacing out, Giulio spoke up to remind me, "Please take your seat first, and I'll tell you more about the specific situation."

Having a complete outsider like me chair today's meeting was really putting me in a difficult position. Many people probably wouldn't have the courage to step forward.

I walked over to Marco's seat and sat down, quietly taking a breath: "No matter what, we cannot let Andre's conspiracy succeed."

Giulio said: "Mr. Vittorio has helmed Black Eagle for so many years - it's not something they can just take away as they please. Not to mention we won't agree, many of the major directors of Black Eagle won't agree either."

I understood this logic very well, but the fact that Andre dared to call this meeting proved he was absolutely confident.

Most of the major directors had probably already been bought off by him.

At this time, people began entering the conference room one after another. I opened my laptop to look at the materials while Giulio leaned down to whisper introductions about each person in my ear.

Only after everyone had arrived did Andre slowly approach, leaning on his cane.

Because of his considerable prestige, when he arrived, everyone stood up to greet him.

To avoid giving anyone grounds for criticism, I also stood up to greet him, nodding along with everyone else.

Andre's sharp, gloomy gaze fell on me again - cold and chilling, the kind of look that could make someone feel a chill down their spine with just one glance.

I fearlessly met his gaze and even returned a polite smile, though this smile was equally cold.

After everyone was seated, the meeting moderator spoke first: "Because Black Eagle's current head, the Godfather, has suddenly fallen seriously ill and cannot handle Black Eagle affairs, the major shareholders have called an emergency board meeting to vote and select a suitable candidate to temporarily manage Black Eagle's operations."

As soon as the moderator finished speaking, Director A immediately chimed in: "With Mr. Vittorio ill, fortunately Andre is in Portano, so let's ask Andre to temporarily handle Black Eagle affairs."

After the first person spoke, many others echoed, all requesting Andre to come forward and take charge of the overall situation.

Andre waved his hand to signal for quiet, cleared his throat, and began speaking with a kind, benevolent smile: "Thank you all for thinking so highly of me, for still thinking to ask me to help when Black Eagle faces difficulties."

"Marco is Black Eagle's current helmsman. After we elders handed Black Eagle over to him to manage, all decisions have been his to make. By rights, I as an elder shouldn't interfere again. But life is unpredictable. Such a healthy person just collapsed without any warning signs."

"We didn't think it was man-made, but the results from the doctors were quite surprising - someone had poisoned him. His food had been tampered with, and this poison was chronic, accumulated over months, only taking effect when the dosage reached a certain level."

As he spoke, Andre's gaze turned toward me, deliberately directing everyone's suspicions in my direction.

"He was fine before, but his food has been tampered with these past six months. I haven't found evidence yet, but when I do find evidence and identify the culprit, I will definitely seek justice for him."

Hearing Andre's words, everyone's gazes turned toward me in unison, as if I were the poisoner.

Andre continued: "Since everyone hopes for me to temporarily manage Black Eagle, then I shall respectfully comply."

"Everyone hopes for you to temporarily manage Black Eagle - did you ask for my consent?" Under everyone's suspicious gazes, I slowly stood up.

Previously, whether on Andre's instructions or not, many people had automatically ignored me sitting in Marco's position. Only after Andre implied I was the culprit did everyone seem to notice my existence.

But I couldn't remain silent just because I was being ignored and suspected. I couldn't be afraid to speak up just because Andre had bought off most of the people.

Marco couldn't attend today's board meeting, so I appeared on Marco's behalf as his wife. Whatever rights Marco could exercise, I wouldn't miss a single one.

"You?" This time it wasn't Andre speaking, but his assistant Leo who had been by his side: "This is a board meeting. When is it an outsider's turn to speak?"

"Oh, so you know this is a board meeting." I laughed coldly, my clear, bright gaze sweeping over each of the major directors seated around the conference table. "The major directors haven't spoken yet - what qualifies you to speak? Where are you from? What position do you hold at Black Eagle? What qualifies you to appear at this meeting?"

My questions came one after another, giving Leo no chance to interrupt. Leo's face turned red with frustration, and it took him a long time to say: "I'm Andre's assistant."

"Andre stopped managing Black Eagle affairs twenty years ago and holds no position at Black Eagle. If the major directors hadn't invited him back to oversee things, he wouldn't even be qualified to attend this meeting, let alone you." My tone was aggressive but not unreasonable, so none of those present voiced any objections.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at me, this seemingly fragile woman, surprised by my explosive power.

After a long moment, applause suddenly rang out. Everyone looked to see Andre leading the clapping, his face wearing its usual kindly expression, though the sharpness in his eyes couldn't be concealed.

He said: "What a sharp tongue. I haven't even pursued your responsibility for poisoning Marco, yet you dare come here to cause trouble."

"Who exactly poisoned him will become clear when he wakes up." Another case of the thief crying "thief" - couldn't they play some other tricks? I was getting tired of this.

Andre continued: "As long as he's in your hands, can you let him wake up?"

I said: "I came here today on Marco's behalf to let everyone know that Marco is only temporarily unconscious. He'll wake up soon - it's absolutely not as the outside rumors suggest, that he's on death's door. So I earnestly ask all the directors to seriously consider whether to wait for him to return and take charge. As for the poisoning Andre mentioned, who exactly did it - won't it be clear once Marco returns?"

"And who are you? What qualifies you to stand here and speak for Marco?" Andre hadn't expected me to be even more difficult to deal with than when he'd seen me before.

"I'm the mother of his child and his legal wife. Is that qualification enough?"

"How ridiculous. Marco's wife died three years ago - Marco personally buried her. Now you say you're his wife - do you take us all for fools?"

"Of course you're not a fool. You want to replace Marco - do you take everyone here for fools?"

"You..." Bringing up this matter, even the battle-hardened Andre couldn't remain calm. He almost shouted: "You say you're Marco's wife - who can prove it?"

"I can!"