Married to the loveless CEO-Chapter 124: Verdict

Leo couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Gabriel took his seat and one of the board members gave some files to Leo. Leo started to go through the files.

"What are all these?" Leo asked after scanning through the files.

"Did you really think you could hide that from us?" one of the major share holders started.

"These are all fabricated!" Leonard responded.

"Fabricated? Those are documents containing all your hidden transactions of money laundering and personal usage of the company’s finances and there are evidences to back it all up," a board member replied.

"Sir, with all due respect sir, multiple hidden accounts with huge funds under your name were discovered and these files are enough evidence to prove that you use the company’s funds for money laundering," another board member added.

"All these are false. Absolute bullsh*t! Don’t tell me you buy this crap? I would never do that, why would I do that, huh? I would never endanger this company- My company’s reputation!" Leonard responded.

"You brought all these forth right?" Leo asked his brother who smirked at him.

"How are you so sure you can trust him?" he then directed to the other people in the meeting room.

"Leonard," started a share holder who also had one of the largest shares in the company, he was much closer to the Yul family- Mr. Felix Gallardo.

"This is a serious issue, but...we will give you a chance to prove that you are not guilty of these accusations-"

"Of course I’m not!" Leo cuts in, he glared at Gabriel. He was trying his best to remain calm but this was so infuriating.

"There are evidences, Leonard. If this gets out it will be more severe, the authorities might get involved and it will be bad for the company’s image.

"So we will settle this quietly. The next meeting will be about you proving that you are not connected with all these and I hope you know what that will mean for you Gabriel?" Mr. Felix told.

"Of course I do and I’m very confident about this. I have always suspected that my brother was linked to money laundering, so I dug deeper. These evidences came from a trusted and legal source and I can prove that anytime," Gabriel smiled.

He has got all these sorted out, he has been planning for this for a long time. If Leonard is unable to prove himself not guilty of this, the shares holders as a unit have the power to remove Leonard from his position as CEO. Why?

Because the company wasn’t directly founded by Leonard, he inherited it and took over his father’s position as CEO. The company is made up of shareholders, who can also make decisions as long as it benefits the company.

A share holder that isn’t a Yul cannot take over the position of CEO, one because the family are the founders of the company and they have the overall highest shares.

But if a share holder was to take over the position, it will be a process whereby the CEO sold out all his or her shares and forsake their position as CEO.

The meeting was adjourned.

Leonard confronted his brother after it.

"I know why you are doing this, because you are hoping to become the CEO," Leo started.

Gabriel scoffed, "I deserve it. It was my birth right from the beginning, but you took it away from me and now...I will do everything to get it back,"

"And you think your incompetent self can handle the position of CEO and the responsibilities that comes with it?! Stop this now before it’s too late," Leo responded.

"I already have the upper hand. Little advice, when the time comes, step down peacefully or else I will get the authorities involved. So be a good boy and I might just give you the position of managing director, huh?" Gabriel grinned.

"Hmmf, keep dreaming. I will find evidence to prove that I’m not guilty of this and you also get yourself ready when the time comes," Leonard replied and started to walk away.

Zane followed his long strides, "What now Leo?"

"I don’t know." Leo responded.

He doesn’t know, how was Gabriel able to plan this all out so well? He guess he had really underestimated him. How is he going to prove that all those evidence against him were fabricated?

Leo got home and Zane had followed him home. They both spent a long time at Leo’s study room, trying to come up with a way they could prove that Gabriel just fabricated those evidences.

"What about the bank accounts?" Leo asked Zane.

"I was able to obtain copies of each evidences presented. The accounts looks legit," Zane replied.

"Can we maybe get to make the owners or managers of the banks to testify that I never opened such accounts with them?" Leo suggested.

"You and I know that Gabriel must have bribed them by now," Zane replied.

"What about the documents? Those are clearly falsified, how can I prove this?" Leo continued.

"The papers also looked genuine," Zane informed.

"What are you trying to say indirectly here? You do know what will happen if I am unable to present any evidence before those people to prove my innocence. You are not helping at all," Leo responded.

"I’m sorry. It’s just...this will be really difficult. Your brother really had everything layed out," Zane expressed and Leo just groaned in frustration. He really didn’t expect Gabriel to pull a stunt like this.

There was a knock on the door.

"Who the hell is that right now?" Leo questioned.

The door opened and Colleen walked into the room.

"What am I hearing? Is it true? They are accusing you of money laundering and Gabriel brought this to their notice with concrete evidence against you, Leo. Why would Gabriel do such a thing?" Colleen questioned Because she knew Leonard wouldn’t be capable of such.

Leonard didn’t respond but he just held his hair as he thought deeply.

"I’m going to have a word with him!" Colleen announced.

Olivia who was just by the corner, heard everything that was discussed.

She didn’t know if she should be sad or happy. She felt neutral, Leonard was a jerk but no one deserves to be falsely accused.

She felt a little bad, she knew about this- Gabriel plan. But she kept it to herself, but keeping it away from him wasn’t entirely her fault. It was his and Colleen’s faults too.

He should find a way to bail himself out of his situation.

***

"I don’t want to go," Leo expressed.

"You know you have to," Zane replied.

"I have no evidence to prove that I’m not guilty. You know my fate if I go in there," Leo responded.

Zane sighed, not knowing what to say to him.

"We will demand for more time to gather more evidence. We will point out some good reasons why Gabriel could be framing you.

"We will also point out reasons why he is not eligible to be the CEO and why you are not capable of doing money laundering," Zane finally suggested.

"But it’s still not enough to prove my innocence and if I aggravate this more and it gets out, it will be bad for both the company and I. I could end up in jail, money laundering is a general crime," Leo mentioned.

"We will just try, we will just have to try," Zane encouraged.

Leonard sighed and finally walked into the meeting room.

Everyone was already waiting as usual and the meeting started soon.

"More time?" a share holder repeated. They were already halfway through the meeting.

"Yes, more time for me to clear my name. This is my father’s company, he built it from the scratch and I too have worked diligently to make this company even more successful.

"I don’t see a reason why I would use my own company’s funds to do money laundering. If I were to be removed today, my brother here will be the one to be appointed as the new CEO," Leo paused.

"Now, don’t you think it’s enough reason for him to frame me-"

"And why would I do that? You have been CEO for years, why would I frame you now?" Gabriel defended.

"You have your reasons," Leo responded and Gabriel scoffed.

"Everyone, I am a more capable CEO than Gabriel can ever be and I have proven this with my many successes in my years as CEO. Gabriel is irresponsible and incompetent-"

"Watch your tongue Leonard. I can also be a very promising CEO and I am very much qualified," Gabriel interrupted Leo again.

"Okay, gentlemen. This is no issue for bickerings. Let’s take a five minutes break and we will return for the verdict of today’s meeting," Mr. Felix suggested.

"If I may speak," Zane requested.

"You may," Mr. Felix replied.

"Mr. and Mrs Yul are currently on a vacation. They are also major share holders and Mr. Yul is after all, still the founder of the company. Shouldn’t they be present in this kind of a crucial meeting?" Zane pointed out.

"Very well noted then but we will still have to come to a decision and conclude this meeting," Mr. Felix responded.

They all took the five minutes break and returned to conclude the meeting.

"Leonard Yul..." started the board member who was put in charge of reading the verdict which the board members and share holders had concluded on.

There was an intense tension in the meeting room.

...