Still, Carl could hardly contain his excitement as he exclaimed, "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Rothschild! I'm Carl Lucas, CEO of Horizon! Just call me Carl if you like!"

Julien nodded and shook his hand before saying, "Greetings, Carl. I'm sure you understand why I'm here, so let's start a proper discussion in the meeting room."

Carl quickly nodded. "Yes, Mr. Rothschild! Please, come with me."

Julien smiled as he followed Carl with his squad of bodyguards trailing behind him to the board meeting room just one floor down.

When they arrived, two other executives entered—only after the bodyguards searched them.

To avoid chaos and congestion, Carl only brought his CFO and CTO.

As Julien took his seat, he said, "Well then, Carl—please give me a rundown on the current state of Horizon."

Carl nodded respectfully as he began, "Well, for a start, Horizon is currently home to almost eight hundred employees. This building where we sit, which is valued at around seventy million, serves