Who Is The Real Boss?

"The French factory?" Rupert asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes." Annabel nodded with certainty.
"The test results show that some of the products produced in the French factory contain some radioactive material. Something is
going on there."
Rubbing his temples, Rupert said in a cold voice, "We haven't been paying much attention to the branch factory in France.It
appears someone took the opportunity to start something shady when we least expected."
Annabel put two and two together.She reasoned that Rupert's words made sense.
Compared to the attention given to the headquarters, the management of the French factory was much more relaxed.It must
have been much easier to infiltrate.
Snapping her fingers, Annabel finally said, "We need to find out how the radioactive material was used in the production.Even
though the French factory is just a branch, I'm sure it wasn't a piece of cake for the culprit to start something shady there.The
way I see it, this is an insider's handwork.One of our employees betrayed us."
"I'll have someone look into it right away."
Rupert agreed, narrowing his eyes.
After pursing her lips for a while, Annabel piped up, "You know what? I want to go to France."
This was a matter of urgency and importance.She felt that if they were to get answers soon enough, she had to go there.
Anyone that could go against Benton Group in such a big way was definitely not a small person.
As the person in charge of the Ice and Fire project, it was Annabel's duty to find out the truth as soon as possible.
"T'll go with you,"
Rupert said without hesitation.
"Isn't your presence needed here?"
Annabel asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Yes, but not as much as it is needed over in France.I have to be there.Not only will my presence communicate to the public that
Benton Group attaches great importance to the matter, but it will also send a warning to whosoever is behind this."
Rupert didn't blink for once as he stared at Annabel.
"Finley can hold the reins for me while I'm away."
All that he mentioned was important, but not as important as his need to protect Annabel.He didn't want her to go there alone.
France was so far away.He felt that Annabel wouldn't be safe alone there since she wasn't even familiar with the place.
Annabel didn't bother dissuading him since he already made up his mind.
Besides, she could do with some help over there; the whole issue might get sorted out faster.
"Now, let's address the other elephant in the room."
Annabel took a seat and said, "We have to recall all the Ice and Fire jewelry produced by the French factory and negotiate with
the affected parties for compensation.
We must satisfy their requests so their complainants won't cause any more damage to Benton Group."
The recent scandal resulted in the fall of Benton Group's stock price for several days in a row.
It was best to count and recoup the losses before it was too late.
Rupert already had that in mind.
"I'll assign someone to do that."
After a pause, he looked at Finley and ordered, "Organize a press conference for this afternoon."
"Yes, sir."
Finley left to do as he was told.
"Since we are done here, I'll return to my desk."
Halfway to the door, Annabel halted.

"Should I book flight tickets for tomorrow?"
"There will be no need for that.We'll fly there in my private jet," Rupert responded, shaking his head.
A private jet? Fine.
With a shrug, Annabel turned around and walked out.
Outside, she bumped into someone who had been walking in a haste.
It was Cody.
"Good day, Mr.Wagner."
Annabel nodded and greeted him.
Cody didn't respond.
Rather, he gave her a cold glance and walked straight into the CEO's office.
Hearing the footsteps, Rupert looked up.
"What's the matter?" he asked, seeing that Cody had worry written all over his face.
"Rupert."
Cody whipped out his phone and put it in front of Rupert.
"The stock price has fallen by ten points within just a few days.Are you aware of that?"
"Yes, I'm aware.I'll handle it," Rupert replied calmly.
"How do you intend to go about it?" Cody looked at him with a frown.
"We all know why the company got into this mess in the first place.It’s pretty easy to solve the problem."
"Oh? Do you have any suggestions?"
Rupert leaned back, keen to hear what this man had in mind.

Cody was Bruce's adopted son.He was two years younger than Jarrett.
They grew up together and had a good relationship.
When they became adults, Cody was of great help to Jarrett in the running of the company.He even became the acting CEO
after Jarrett died.His reign didn't last for long because Bruce handed the company over to Rupert and made Cody the vice
president.
In the past few years, Rupert was respected by all because of how he ran the company.But Cody was relegated to the
background.
"It's simple.Just fire Annabel," Cody said, tapping the desk with his index finger.
"This happened because of Annabel’s negligence as the project director.Once you fire her, everything will die down and our
company can return to its former glory."
"You don't say!"
Rupert folded his arms, his eyes turning cold and his face fierce.
Cody intended to make Annabel the scapegoat.It was the only solution he could think of.However, he didn't realize that her sack
wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.
Rupert wouldn't bother firing the person in charge even if it wasn't Annabel.He knew better than that.
Seeing that Rupert was hesitant, Cody held out a document and said, "Dismiss Annabel immediately.This contains the
agreement signed by the members of the board."
Rupert took it and skimmed through it.
There were several signatures from the shareholders of the company.The first one was that of his mother, Erica.
"This was my mother’s idea, wasn't it?" Rupert asked, frowning deeply.
"Yes, hers and ours, too!"
When he saw the fire brewing in Rupert's eyes, Cody wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"I and the other shareholders want what's best for the company.We want this matter to be solved before the company goes
under."
Rupert tapped the table with his knuckles.His long legs were crossed casually.
Although he was sitting, he gave off a towering sense of oppression.He looked at Cody with a frown and uttered in a sharp and
cold tone, "I agree that we have to solve this problem before things become worse than this.However, I'd like to make it clear that
firing Annabel won't calm the storm.Even if it would, I would never fire her.So, forget about it!"
"Rupert, how—"
Cody was embarrassed by Rupert's straightforward refusal.
Just as he was about to get short with him, Rupert uttered authoritatively, "Leave everything to me.Your help isn't needed here,
so use the door!"