Chapter 53 Punishment
Nathan’s POV
“W… Wh… Why are you here?” He stammered out, trying to regain his composure, but I saw right through him and I know that he is scared.
I love that…
I love seeing this look of fear in his eyes and I love the fact that I am the reason why he is this scared. His eyes keeps straying to the other side of the table and I followed his gaze and saw that my uncle is there as well. This is so perfect, every fucking traitor in the family is right here at this table and I couldn’t have asked for a better audience. I need every one of them to witness what will happen today, it would serve as a lesson to anyone who ever tries to go against me in the future.
“You don’t have to create a scene here son, whatever it is that you want to discuss with your brother, I’m sure you can find him later and have this meeting with him. It doesn’t have to be today and it doesn’t have to be right here in this boardroom. I promise you, son, we would resolve any issues you are having with your brother later. Let’s just leave them to their meeting, this company is not worth fighting for, it’s going down already.” My dad let out calmly, trying desperately to get me to leave. I turned to him with a smile, trying so hard not to throttle him and strangle him right where he stood,
“One more word from you, “DAD”, and I’ll treat you like a fucking traitor that you are. I brought you here as a spectator and also as a warning. I’ll suggest you find a seat in the room and put your fucking ass down, “DAD,” I warned him sternly, emphasizing the dad at the end, eliciting a gasp and a shocked expression from him. I turned back to Travis, who looks a bit confused and nervous at the same time. I gave him my best smile ever, but it was enough to make him relax. If anything, it only made him more nervous as the frown lines on his forehead became more obvious as his face heated up.Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Get your fucking ass off my seat, Travis. Trust me, you don’t want me to repeat myself a third time.” I said in a fierce tone, my eyes fixed on him as I stared him down.
“This is not a board meeting Nathan and it has nothing to do with you. I’ll advise you to go back to partying and flirting around town, nobody wants you here. You can choose to do this the easy way or the hard way, but I won’t let you disrupt this meeting, I won’t allow it.” He retorted, banging his fist hard on the table to make his point. I smirked down at him, admiring his boldness. I unbuttoned my tux and took it off, leveling him a gaze that said “Bring it on asshole.”
“I was stranded on an island for months Travis, I did not return to New York City just so I can do things the easy way. I hate the easy way, DEAR COUSIN.” I told him firmly, taking a step closer to him. I emphasized my words at the end in an attempt to get him to back down. I thought he would finally recall the fact that we are still brothers and I thought that would get him to rethink his decisions, but I was wrong. Travis is way past redemption, he is too far gone and the greed and hatred in his heart are just too much. He beckoned on Robert Schwartz and the two guards standing behind him. I smiled at Travis, then I raised my right hand to stop Raymond and the other guys from coming to assist. I have a score to settle with Robert Schwartz and I want Travis to see that I am not the same Nathan that hides behind a bunch of bodyguards, I can defend myself with or without the help of my bodyguards.
“Wrong choice, Trav. Wrong choice.” I told him mockingly as I took down the two guys that Robert sent forward. One lay on the floor, sporting a broken leg while the other guy lay unconscious.
“I can see you are no longer a pussy, Mr. Trent. Let’s see if you will be able to defeat me this time.” Robert let out mockingly. He had stayed behind all this while but I’m pretty sure that he had his eyes on me. I smiled at his comments, shaking my head to the sides,
“Thanks for reminding me of our first encounter, now everyone would know that I have a reason to do this.” I ran up to him, dodging his blows as I went to his back. I dealt a heavy blow to his neck and spine using a deadly technique that I had learned from a kung-fu expert that the elders had brought to me during my training in the Caribbean. Even Raymond was surprised when Robert fell down to the floor, he came forward and checked his pulse, then he looked up at me and shook his head, confirming that he is dead.
I turned to Travis who is as pale as a ghost, I walked up to him and hit him hard across the face, hearing a gasp from around the room as they all watched on in shock. I grabbed him by his shirt collar and I flung him across the room, dusting the seat dramatically before sitting down on it.
“Alright, gentlemen. I hope you enjoy the show. But the show is over now, it’s time for business. I would like to begin this meeting with a question, What the fuck are you all doing in my company?” I asked with a smile that did nothing to ease the tense atmosphere.
“W… We are here for the bidding, Mr. Trent. We were invited here by your brother, we have no idea that the company has been handed over to you, we just honored his invitation.” One guy spoke out in response to my question while the others nodded in agreement.
“Hmmm, In summary, you are all a bunch of greedy thieves that came into my building to steal my company, did I get that right?” I asked them all with a smile.
“Look man, we don’t want any trouble. This is business and I’m sure you know how it works, we are just here to bid for the company, we didn’t make it go bankrupt and aren’t forcing him to sell. He chose to sell and he invited us here, so deal with your family issues and keep us out of it.” Another one of the bidders chirped in furiously before standing up to leave the room. I smile at his audacity and I made no move to respond to him because he is not my major problem right now. Some of the other bidders stood up to leave as well but they weren’t allowed to walk out the door, my boys blocked the exit, forcing them all back to their seats.
“Now that we are all seated calmly, why don’t you listen carefully to what I have to say. I have a pretty interesting story that I want you to hear. Trust me, it’s so interesting and captivating, you’ll all love it.” I let out excitedly, smiling at them like a fucking clown. They shared a look among themselves, I guess they are wondering if I’ve gone mad or something, but that is none of my business. I have to do this now, I have some high-profile businessmen in this room. If I want the news of my comeback to spread across the business world, then this is the right audience for that. I want to hit Travis where it is going to hurt him more and it all starts right here in this boardroom. By the time I’m done with him, he would never be welcomed into the business world ever again because he would not be trusted by anyone ever again.
“Alright gentlemen, I have to apologize for all the drama. If you had met me five years ago when I used to accompany my dad to this company, you would know that this isn’t really my style. I was pushed to this point by my own family, I was forced to adapt to the harshness of this world. I had to learn to defend myself and fight for what is mine, I had to learn this the hard way and now that I’m back, I have only one thing to say to everyone in this room.
First of all, this company does not belong to Travis or my crazy uncle right there. It belongs to the Trent household and since I’m the new leader in the family, it belongs to me and I can assure you all that this company and every other thing that belongs to the Trent family is not for sale.” I let out firmly.
“Keep telling yourself that and maybe you will finally believe it yourself, Nathan. I guess your father has been too busy with his new family and he has not had time to fill you in on everything that has been happening in the company. The company is going under, there is nothing left to salvage in this damn company. The shares are all gone, all our shareholders sold out their shares and the board of directors has all sold out their stakes in this company. We have no more investors to run to, we had to sell off everything to pay the high bank debt that was incurred over the years. Right now, we still owe the banks some money too, the only way to raise that money and avoid bringing shame into the family is to sell off some properties, including this office building and everything in it. That is what your brother was trying to do, he is trying to save us from shame and embarrassment. We should all be grateful for all he is doing for the family, you should be grateful to him. This is no way to show appreciation Nathan, you have no right to come in here and call him names, you have no right to treat him this way. You are just an ungrateful child and I know you are jealous of your brother because he came up with a solution to our issues while you were busy hiding out in God knows where. If you wanted to save this company, you should have come back sooner, you should have come back home immediately but you greedily chose to go back home and acquire the family seal. Unfortunately, you can’t save this company, even with that seal. I’ll advise you to give up already, you won’t win this war that you are about to start.” My uncle warned me sternly, trying to stare me down. I laughed at his stupid attempt at being brave, he looked so ridiculous. The fact that he actually thinks that he can talk his way out of this is quite amusing.
“You really have no shame, do you?” I asked him sarcastically, looking at him squarely.
“Well, if you must know uncle, I have recovered eighty percent of the company’s shares, and right now as we speak, my tech guy Fred is transferring back the family funds into my account, I have recovered all the funds that you and your son stole. I got them back from the foreign accounts that you and Travis siphoned all the family funds to.
Oh, and guess what Travis, you no longer have a marketing and construction company, I changed the documents already. You acquired that company with the family funds and you stole contracts that should have been handled by our company, so it’s only natural that the company is merged with ours, right.
All the contracts you stole have also been recovered and I have taken everything back from you, so right now, our company is bigger than it used to be because all thanks to you, we have been an to add a new branch in a foreign country.
You have nothing anymore Trav, and as I speak to you right now, you and your father have been banished from the family. Every property in your possession that belongs to the family will be retrieved from you two. In case you don’t understand what I’m talking about, I’ll break it down to your understanding. You two will be thrown out of your houses and all the cars and properties in your possession will be taken away from you. I’m kicking you two out to the streets, let’s see how you survive in the slums.” I spat out in disgust, ignoring the look of shock on their faces.
“Y… Y… You can’t do that. Dad, tell him he can’t do that.” Travis screamed in frustration and at that very moment, their phones started beeping with alerts from all their foreign accounts that they had hidden our money. I smiles as I saw the look of shock and fear on their faces. My uncle was simply speechless and so were Travis and my father.
“You have no idea what you have just done, I’ll get you for this, I’ll make you pay. You have no idea what I’m capable of, I won’t let you get away with this, I won’t let you do this to us.” My uncle barked out in annoyance, making me chuckle at his frustration.
“Actually uncle, I do know what you are capable of. You and your son sabotaged my plane, remember?
But don’t worry dear uncle, you won’t get another chance to play tricks on me again. By the time I’m done with you, you will wish you have never crossed paths with me. You just hold on, dear uncle. I’ve got lots of surprises for you and your son.” I responded with a smile that did nothing to ease his frustration. He seems to be getting more agitated by the second as their phones kept chirping nonstop. I tapped the button under my table and the screen at the back of my chair came on immediately and everything could see the company’s accounts as the money kept coming in. On the other side of the screen, our ongoing projects and contracts were boldly outlined in detail, including our contracts with the government that Travis stole from our company. That company is now mine and everything they stole from me has been retrieved, but I’m still not done with them.
“Alright guys, the sow is over the as you can see over there, we aren’t bankrupt as some people would like you to believe, on the contrary, we at actually expanding and rebranding. Now you can all get the fuck out of this building, I don’t want to see your faces in this building, not unless you want to do good business with us. Thank you all for coming and thank you for being a bunch of greedy assholes, now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.” I ordered fiercely, forcing them out as they ran towards the exit. Travis and my uncle also wanted to leave with the others but they got held back by my boys at the exit. My father and his son looked on in shock, I can see the nervous looks on their faces, but I had no time for them now. I’m still dealing with the bigger traitors.
“Leaving so soon?
Oh come on guys, I’ve been gone for quite a while, didn’t you miss me?” I asked with a smirk, looking up at them with a smug smile on my face.
“What else do you want from us, Nathan?
You have taken everything from us, you even went as far as banishing us from the family and taking everything from us. What else do you want?” Travis yelled furiously as he struggled to break free from the firm grip of my boys.
“Oh come on, dear cousin. I spent months stranded on that island that you and your father put me in. I was chased and hunted like a fucking animal. I had to struggle to survive every damn day, I had to run and fight for months before I got a chance to escape. Do you really think that I’m done with you two, do think that you have been punished enough?
Well, I don’t think so. I need you to experience what it feels like to run for your life, I want you to run and fight and struggle to stay alive, won’t that be fun?” I asked with a smile that only added to their nervousness.