Chapter 288 Was Grandpa Ever Pleased With Me?

After hearing what he said, some of the more influential people in the meeting said— "My schedule happens to be quite empty today. I don’t mind staying a while longer." "I’m sure what Mr. Oscar says in public today will impact the company greatly. I’m all ears." "I have to catch a plane in three hours. I still have time." As for the rest, some of them remained silent, while some others echoed agreeable views. Since most of them had said so, Master Harris had no choice but to sit down again. "You must have put in quite an effort in private to persuade so many of them to cooperate with you, right, Charles?" Justin raised his fox-like eyes slightly. Charles said indifferently, "Birds die in pursuit of food and human beings die in pursuit of wealth. Everyone is just cooperating for their own interests. What does it have anything to do with me?" Justin unscrewed the lid of a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, and whispered, "Charles, you know better than anyone whether this has anything to do with you or not. As brothers, though, I must remind you that grandpa won’t be pleased if you pull too many petty tricks in private." "Was Grandpa ever pleased with me?" Charles asked. Justin smiled. "Of course, Grandpa made you the president, isn't that an affirmation of your ability? It's a pity you messed up." "Oh, so that’s affirmation to you? I don't need that kind of affirmation." There was a hint of irony looming over Charles' face. Justin shook his head. "I thought you were quite clever at first, Charles, but now I just think you’re silly. There are so many women out there in the world, why must you ruin your future for one woman?" After hearing what he said, Charles laughed. "Why do you think Grandpa prefers you then?" Justin's body turned stiff; his complexion paled. "It's all because of a woman." Charles said slowly, "Justin, what do you think would happen if you weren't the offspring of that woman, or if Uncle Ted wasn’t that woman’s offspring?" Master Harris had married three women in total. Among them, his wife gave birth to Oscar and two daughters. His second wife set him up, climbed in bed with him, and gave birth to Mr. Alan Harris. The third wife was Master Harris' favorite. She gave birth to Ted. As for Aunt Jacinda who was now by his side, she had been his lover since she was twenty, but had never become his wife. After hearing what Charles said, Justin’s heart fell with a thump as he asked with a sneer, "What do you mean, Charles?" "Not much, really." Charles patted him on the shoulder. "Grandpa is looking at us. Let’s drop it." Justin raised his head to take a look. Sure enough, Master Harris was looking in their direction with a look of displeasure. "It is obvious that someone is framing Charles using the account book incident this time. I think we need to investigate this properly," Oscar said. Master Harris harrumphed coldly. "Leave the investigation to the police. You don't have to worry about it. Is this what you want to talk to us about after making all of us stay back?" "Of course not." Oscar said, "I’m talking about this because I want to ask you your reason for removing Charles as the president so suddenly. Was it because of the account book? If not, what was it?" One should wash one’s dirty linen at home. Master Harris frowned and answered, “Yes.” "If that’s the case, since Charles was framed, don’t you think you should reinstate him as president?" Oscar asked. Master Harris said, "It won’t be beneficial for Harris Corporation’s development if we keep switching the president all the time. If the media reports this, I’m afraid Harris Corporation's stock will fall!" "Yes. Look." Oscar said, "When Charles was the president, our company's performance rose steadily, even our stock price continued to go up. If you appoint Justin as the president without any warning, then I’m afraid that our stock price will fall." Master Harris glared coldly at him. Oscar pretended as though he did not see and went on saying, “Fortunately, the president handover ceremony hasn’t taken place yet nor have we announced to the public that Justin is our new president. I think that it is better for Charles to continue as president. "That's what you think!" Master Harris said in a sonorous voice. Oscar said no more but turned to look at his eldest sister, Luna Harris, and second sister, Lena Harris. Luna raised her hand and said, "Dad, I, too, think that if Charles continues to serve as the president of our company, it will be beneficial for our company’s development. After all, this is not a family business but a large company with other shareholders. When we make a decision, we must also consider other shareholders’ interests instead of acting solely on our own will." "Yeah." Lena nodded. Mr. Harris put it in a relatively tactful way. "Justin is pretty capable, but Charles has been the president for two years. Comparatively speaking, he is more suitable for this position." "Alan, you said it, Justin is pretty capable too." Ted stood up and said angrily, "Our company will only make better progress if Justin becomes the president!” Luna said sarcastically, "Ted, are you saying that Dad has undiscerning eyes that’s why he chose Charles as the president?" "Don't deliberately misinterpret my words!" Ted glanced at Master Harris quickly, his face flushed. "Justin is younger than Charles, that’s why Dad made Charles the president in the first place. What does this have anything to do with whether Dad has discerning eyes or not?!" Luna crossed her arms around her chest and said with disdain, "Who can compare to Charles’ achievement right now? What happens if your son can’t perform as well as Charles if you let him try out as a president? We’ll be the ones who will end up experiencing direct loss!" "Yes." Lena echoed. Justin stood up and said, "Aunt Luna and Aunt Lena, your worries are completely unnecessary. Charles and I have both served as the chief marketing director. Our performance in this area was similar. You can check the reports if you don’t believe me." "I have read the report, that's why I am confident to say this!" Luna looked askance at him. "Do you know how you got your major clients like AY and Barron?" Justin was taken aback. "Charles signed them on." Luna said sarcastically, "Charles has only served as the chief marketing director for a year and has already signed on two major clients. You have been the marketing director for almost two years now. Can any of the clients that you’ve signed on compare to AY or Barron?" Justin’s face flushed instantly. "How could you be so shameless to claim that your achievement is comparable to Charles’!" Luna said sharply, "You should compare Charles' report that year with the previous year to see how much he has improved, then take yours and compare it to his and see how much you have improved!" She harrumphed heavily. "Charles has led the entire group forward the last few years but he hasn’t even blown his own trumpet. You are merely a chief marketing director who has practically made no headway, but you aren’t even embarrassed to talk about it! You don’t even know what you’re doing!" Justin's expression changed unpredictably. His face heated up and was so embarrassed that he did not know where to put himself. "Luna." Ted cried out, "Charles and Justin are both your nephews, how can you be so biased?" Luna replied coldly, "I am a mere shareholder in this meeting, so I will support anyone who can earn me the most money as president."