The Board Meeting

Early the next morning a black Rolls Royce was making its way from the prestigious Arlington Hills District, where only immense influence could allow you to purchase a house rather than money. In the back seat John was reporting some mundane news to Sean when his boss suddenly interrupted him "How are the Humphries doing?" John just looked at his boss who was ignoring the financial standings of subsidiaries and focused on a nothing family. "Well sir they've seen a 14% reduction in income over the past two days as word has passed of Isaacs arrest and Claire has reported that the smuggling operation has been shunned by the European community."

"Very good work indeed." Sean responded coldly while typing on the laptop in front of him. "Prepare Ramirez Construction to acquire shares of Hughes today. I believe we will see a fire sale and the blacklisting from Henson's Inc. today." John looked at his boss in amazement before responding "How can you be so sure sir. Yes Justin is on the board, but he only holds 8%. He can't be foolish enough to go against Dearborn Industries."

"All the shares I hold are in a subsidiary company. They don't know that Dearborn is the owner of that subsidiary. Also Ramirez isn't known to be a subsidiary of ours as well. We play our cards right we can allow Henson to fall into the trap and fall even more when we announce that the company is the newest addition to the Dearborn family." John was silenced by his bosses words and finally responded when the car stopped at a cafe near Hughes Investment offices. "So this entire thing is just to make the Henson stock fall making it easier to acquire?" Sean exited the car before responding "not exactly" before closing the door and entering the cafe.

Meanwhile across Bay City…

Sara shut off her alarm and slowly got ready for the day. As she exited her house she saw Frank there with Claire on one side and another man standing on the other side holding the leash of a black Labrador. She briskly asked Frank "new watchdog?"

"No ma'am. This is Leader Berkowski. He is in charge of your overnight protection detail. We thought it best not to tell you yesterday as you're shock to Claire and me was quite visible. He will hardly see him as he prefers to work in the shadows." Claire visibly glared at Sara while adding "and he hates this assignment just as much as I do."

"Wether you hate it or not, you were trained to follow orders and be an example for your followers, isn't that right Mr. Berkowski?" The man only grunted in response but his respect for the young lady in front of him had grown as she seemed to understand his point-of-view. He quickly left the group with his dog and walked into the neighboring house. Frank perked up in his usual calm and serious tone "He doesn't talk much but is loyal to his job. Anyways ma'am we have 43 minutes till the board meeting and it'll take 29 minutes to arrive. We cannot allow you to be late so may we head off?" Sara only nodded to Frank as she admired the man internally 'always the consummate professional' before entering the car and they headed off.

Shortly after arriving at Hughes a man walked up to the group entering, which Sara immediately recognized as Marcus's assistant. "James what can I do for you?" James glanced at the two people following Sara puzzled but had to shelve his thoughts "the board members are starting to arrive we should get you there quickly. Do you have all the relevant documents that Marcus sent you." As they quickly walked into the building Sara forgot about Frank, who had walked back to the car once the arrived at the doors, and Claire, who was still following behind them like a hawk. As they entered the meeting room James finally spoke to Claire "I'm sorry ma'am but this is a private meeting." Claire ignored James as she walked around the room checking under tables and chairs before walking out and pulling up a chair right next to the door and sitting down.

James was astonished at the ladies action but just shook his head as the board members starting filling in and taking their seats. "Ah Sean is that you? What are you doing here? I heard you were hiding in Europe." The sudden playful and teasing tone silenced the room as people looked at a man in his mid twenties and high end suit teased the man who had just entered. Sara looked up from her document to see Justin Henson, the future heir to the Henson enterprise, teasing someone who just entered. However it wasn't Justin who caught her eye but the man who walked in. She looked at the man with his handsome face perfectly outlined by a trimmed beard, the brown hair full of life and vigor. However these features were quickly overwhelmed by the light brown eyes that showed no emotion and the navy blue sports coat perfectly tailored to fit around the black shirt and dark blue jeans. The man gave off the impression of laidback and collectiveness while also saying 'do-not-approach'. Sara was immediately intrigued at the newest entrant to the room as she watch him coldly glance at Justin and quietly found his seat before he looked at her and she saw a flash of gentleness and adoration in his eyes which made them looked almost golden. However as quickly as the flash came it disappeared causing Sara to believe that she imagined the whole thing. Sara suddenly realized she had been staring at the man before she quickly looked back at her documents cursing herself 'God why did you have to make such a handsome man and he even caught me staring at him.'

Very shortly the exchange between the two men was pushed aside as the meeting went on then Sara handled the meeting with professionalism and managed to stay on track even though every time she looked up she saw that man just staring at her ignoring the documents in front of him. Every time she made eye contact with him, flashes of tenderness would appear in his eyes despite the calm stoic face but were so fast that Sara never noticed them. Finally the meeting was coming to the end and the most critical point, the CEO vote. As the votes were being tallied all but the handsome man voted until suddenly Claire barged into the room causing everyone to turn and stare at her. She quickly walked over to Sara and announced "madam my apologies for interrupting but the chairman's representative has just arrived." As soon as her sentence fell on the entire room John entered the room and immediately placed his briefcase on the other end of the table reserved for the chairman. John ignored the eyes glued on him as he sat down and spoke "madam where were we on the agenda?" The voice was soft but carried with it a hint of command and power that made everyone truly believe he was maybe even the real chairman. Sara quickly snapped out of the daze she was in since Claire had walked in and curtly responded "the tally for CEO is 49% for Isaiah Curtis. 0% for anyone else." John looked around and immediately understood what his boss had told him that morning. Isaiah was VP for Henson and putting him in charge of this would give the Hensons access to the Ramirez contract which was worth billions. John looked around the room landing his eyes on Sean before responding. The chairman puts his 46% for Ms. Sarah Morgan."

Sara immediately dropped the pen she was holding as she realized what John had just said. What was happening. She was just a little director why was the chairman voting her for CEO but before she could say anything the handsome man finally spoke for the first time "my father wishes his 5% to go along with the chairman's nomination." The voice was so cold that it sent a chill down almost everyone's spines. 'How could such a man have such a cold voice.' Sara immediately thought not realizing what the math had just said. John immediately responded to Sean's remark "very well it seems that Ms. Morgan you are now CEO Morgan and the chairman has also instructed the Frank Marquez, which is I, shall become the new special assistant to the CEO. Meeting adjourned." Frank immediately put his documents away that where sitting in his spot from the meeting and then walked out leaving the other shareholders to realize that the man who just entered was John Marquez, the whispers began immediately. 'Wasn't he special assistant to the Dearborn CEO?'

'I heard he was the CEO.'

'I mean anytime the CEO makes an appearance he's there in his place'

Then all the eyes focused on Sara as they realized she had just been made CEO.