Not to mention that Michael at the head of the table was the Rhodes family's heir apparent. For Andrew, a mere deputy chief, to dare call him incompetent was unthinkable. Marcus kept his mouth firmly shut this time. Though he admired Andrew, he was not about to get dragged down by someone bent on self-destruction. A heavy thud echoed through the room as one of the veteran executives, a burly man, slammed his palm on the table. Edward Hills roared, "Where's security? Get this lawless thug out of here right now! And get the legal team here we're pressing charges for his outrageous slander against Mr. Rhodes. I'll make sure this arrogant punk rots in jail!" Edward was Michael's devoted follower, and no one dared speak up when he exploded. Everyone stared at Andrew with mockery in their eyes. "Anyone who touches my man will regret it," Lauren said icily. The security and legal staff who had rushed to the door hesitated, unsure whose orders to follow. Edward asked grimly, "M

Lauren addressed the executives with conviction. "You all remember how the corporation successfully acquired that large plot of land in West End's development zone." Edward frowned. "Ms. Rhodes, bringing up irrelevant matters won't help. We're discussing how to deal with this man right now." "It's not irrelevant," Lauren snapped. "That land deal was secured through Mr. Lloyd's connections, and in return, the corporation granted him a director position." The executives exchanged uncertain glances. If Lauren was telling the truth, they had no right to touch a corporate director. "Have you found anything?" Michael asked darkly. His secretary shifted uncomfortably. "Mr. Rhodes… it's true." Michael grabbed the laptop to check the corporate website himself, and his expression grew increasingly grim. "He owns 1% of the company shares," Michael gritted out. "Now you have nothing to say, do you?" Lauren said coolly. "Mr. Lloyd isn't just my driver—he's a corporate shareholder,

Lauren explained, "But according to corporate bylaws, shareholders with higher stakes have more authority and priority than you. Since Michael is both CEO and has more shares than you, he technically can take legal action." "I see," Andrew nodded. "So if I had more shares than Michael and Mr. Hills, I could overrule them?" "That's true, but even if we combined our shares, we still wouldn't match them," Lauren replied. "This is getting complicated—maybe we should call Mr. Yates for help." Andrew appreciated Lauren's suggestion but smiled slightly. "No need for that. If it's just about having more shares than these two, I can simply buy more right now." Lauren's beautiful face showed confusion, while Eunice scoffed. "Andrew, stop pretending. You want to buy more shares? Michael and Mr. Hills together own 20% percent, which is worth about three billion dollars. Do you think this is like shopping at a grocery store?" Marcus could not stay silent anymore and moved next to Andrew.

Andrew stood up, and his previously friendly smile had vanished, replaced by an icy demeanor. The shift in his expression sent chills through the boardroom, making everyone uneasy.He stated coldly, "Since my shares now exceed both the CEO's and Mr. Hills', doesn't that give me the greatest authority and priority in today's lunch meeting?"Michael's face twitched. "In principle, yes, that's correct."Edward was not having it, his face contorted with anger. "Kid, I didn't expect you to pull something like this. But five billion in funding—you must have misappropriated it from somewhere. With your position and background, even if your family saved for generations, they couldn't come up with that kind of astronomical sum."Many heads nodded in agreement around the table. Edward's logic seemed sound, as instantly injecting five billion dollars to become the fifth major shareholder was suspicious.However, Andrew could not care less about their suspicions. He slowly walked over to Michael,

Andrew walked back to Lauren's side and sat down with a casual smile. He said, "You're the CEO, it's your call. But please understand, I just joined the Rhodes Corporation today, so I got a bit carried away and gave Mr. Hills quite a shock!" Many people gritted their teeth in silence. Andrew's nonchalant attitude hardly seemed apologetic, and calling it "quite a shock" when Edward had to be rushed to the hospital was a massive understatement. Michael slammed his hand on the table. "Enough! Let's get down to business. Everyone, quiet!" Andrew and Lauren exchanged glances, their expressions innocent. Lauren was secretly delighted, as Andrew's performance deserved full marks. She could only imagine how furious Tiana must have been while watching all of this unfold through the surveillance cameras. "Do we have any updates on the Northern District case?" Michael turned to an executive. "Atlas may be dead, but we haven't recovered a single penny from our two investments in Northern