Chapter 352: Overflowing Dominance
Thanks to Damien Vaughn’s recent high-profile appearance on a variety show, and with some maneuvering from his second and third uncles, the news of his car accident in Rivia quickly caused a massive uproar back home.
Overnight, "Vaughn Group President Dies in Rivia Car Accident" became a trending topic.
It wasn’t just netizens speculating that Damien Vaughn was gone; even the company’s senior executives rushed to the president’s office, demanding to know his whereabouts.
Cecelia Archer couldn’t show any sign of grief. Instead, she retorted, asking if they were that eager for something to happen to President Vaughn.
"That’s not it, President Archer. Of course we don’t want anything to happen to President Vaughn, it’s just..."
"President Vaughn took colleagues from the finance and legal departments to negotiate a partnership. Others might not know, but you don’t either?"
"But..."
Cecelia Archer had already instructed the people in the finance and legal departments to guard the secret with their lives. She was determined not to admit a thing.
"They’ll be back in a while, so don’t bring this up again. However, due to his grandfather’s health, President Vaughn will need to stay abroad a bit longer. What? With me holding down the fort, are you worried you’ll go hungry?"
The executives were silenced, but soon, his second and third uncles also arrived at the president’s office.
"Why can’t we get through to Damien’s phone? What exactly happened? Don’t tell me his own uncles don’t even have the right to know, do we?"
’Cecelia Archer had every reason to suspect they were behind Damien Vaughn’s accident, but she had no proof, and right now, she had neither the time nor the energy to find any.’
’Her top priority was to stabilize morale and ensure the company’s operations continued smoothly.’
’Ryan had already left for Rivia. He would investigate everything and bring Damien Vaughn back—whether he was alive or not.’
’It wouldn’t be too late to settle the score with them then.’
"Instead of wasting time here asking where Damien has gone, you two should focus on doing your own jobs. Allow me to remind you, your departments’ current performance is the result of my collaboration with President Vaughn, not your own efforts. Just because the company has orders now doesn’t mean it will in the future. I can’t serve your two departments forever; from now on, you’ll have to rely on yourselves. If you still refuse to make any progress, then we’ll just have to follow company policy—fire who needs to be fired and demote who needs to be demoted."
"You!"
’They hadn’t expected to bring down Damien Vaughn only to have this troublesome woman pop up.’
’She’s so stubborn. Damien Vaughn was blown to smithereens, and she still refuses to admit it!’
"What gives you the right to talk to us like that? This is the Vaughn Group, our Vaughn Family’s company. You’re an outsider, and a woman at that! On what grounds can you boss us around? So what if our business skills aren’t great? Go on, try and fire one of us!"
Cecelia Archer sat coldly in Damien Vaughn’s chair.
"I’m in no mood to bicker with you. In any case, if your performance targets aren’t met by the deadline, the finance department won’t be depositing your salaries. You two are on your own. I won’t see you out."
His second and third uncles were absolutely livid.
"What right do you have to do that? Even if Damien Vaughn promoted you, you’re just a deputy director in the technical department. Stop our salaries? Do you even have the authority?"
’Cecelia Archer indeed didn’t have the authority. Her current position wasn’t high enough.’
"Then let’s call a board meeting. President Vaughn said that I am to act as the Group’s Vice President during his absence. If the board of directors passes this resolution unanimously, then your fates will be in my hands."
"A little slip of a girl like you dares to spew such nonsense in front of us?"
’They refused to believe those board members would be so bold as to vote for a woman right in front of them, especially with Damien Vaughn absent!’
「Ten minutes later.」
The board meeting convened as scheduled.
Cecelia Archer stood at the head of the table, looking at the various directors.
"Rather than calling this a vote to decide if I can serve as Vice President, let’s say I’m nominating myself to compete with Second President Vaughn and Third President Vaughn for this position. I believe that in any company, those who rise to high positions are the ones with outstanding abilities. So, allow me to first talk about my abilities and my advantages."
"First, before I even joined the Vaughn Group, I generated enormous profits for the company through the Windmount project. The specific figures were compiled by the Veridia Daily and various other news magazines at the time. Here are some screenshots I took from their official websites for you to look at."
"Second, I have only been with the Vaughn Group for a month. I’m sure you are all aware of the revenue I brought to the marketing and sales departments from the TV show. Here are the sales department’s statistics and the factory’s data from the last two weeks. Please take a look. The profit generated in just this short time is more than the profit from an entire six-month period in previous years. So, I believe my capabilities should no longer be in question, right?"
"Third, Damien Vaughn and I registered our marriage over a month ago. I am now a member of the Vaughn Family as well. If anyone is worried that I am an outsider trying to climb the ladder for personal gain, you can put those concerns to rest. This is our marriage certificate."
As Cecelia Archer laid out all the evidence before them, the board members were left speechless.
They had all witnessed how the Vaughn Group had been trending lately because of this woman, and the resulting surge in sales was plain to see.
As investors, their sole purpose was to make money, to make more money, to make endless amounts of money.
Whoever could lead the group to make money was a good leader, regardless of whether they were a man or a woman, a Vaughn or not. Therefore, they were all thoroughly convinced by Cecelia Archer.
After she finished speaking, all eyes turned to the second and third uncles.
The second uncle stood up first. "Cut the crap. Even if you have a marriage certificate with Damien Vaughn, you’re not part of the Vaughn Family! To rule the Vaughn Group, you must have Vaughn blood! Do you have it? Besides, there’s never been a precedent for a woman to be in charge at the Vaughn Group. If word got out, people would think the rest of us men are incompetent. We’d be a laughingstock!"
’Cecelia Archer almost had to admire his nerve.’
"I’m afraid the only thing that’s a laughingstock right now is what you just said. What century are we in? Still going on about men versus women, bloodlines or no bloodlines..."
’But his words just proved that he was old, his thinking was outdated, and he couldn’t keep up with the times.’
Cecelia Archer paused for a moment, then continued, "Distinguished board members, when you vote shortly, please be prudent. After all, this is tied to profits, tied to your dividends—not to saving face."
"What do you mean? Are you saying I’m old and can’t keep up? You fucking..."
The eldest board member stepped in, cutting off the second uncle’s crude outburst.
"We are in a meeting. You’re a man in your forties; could you please be more respectful with your language? I think Miss Archer is right. While she may be younger and have less experience than you, this is an age where facts and data speak for themselves. Take the president of that major appliance company, for example. She’s a woman, and isn’t she single-handedly propping up her entire group?"
Another board member chimed in.
"And what about the CFO of that massive tech company? Isn’t she a female leader? I think Miss Archer has what it takes. In any case, she has my vote."