Mr. CEO You Are Dumped

Episode 9

Mr. CEO – You’re Dumped

Chapter 9 – See you in Puerto Rico

Richard’s P.O.V

Two weeks have gone by and I haven’t been able to do anything about my company’s financial state. I thought playing hard to get would push Elizabeth to go all the way with her offer, but I still haven’t heard from her representative.

Lillian was doing the best she could in getting us new investors, but who wants to invest in a failing sardine company?

We had already lost all access to our ships and couldn’t get any fresh fish from the ocean. We had to buy from other retailers and that made our products lose value.

“Richie! Your breakfast is getting cold” yelled my mum from the dining room and only then did I notice what the time was.

I was an hour late to work, and Lillian didn’t spend the night with me.

Who am I kidding? Even when she spends the night, she would always sleep in.

Elizabeth always woke me up on time when she was here and I can’t believe I’m actually missing her because of that.

“Richie! I won’t call you again. Get down here and eat with your mum!” my mum called again, and I quickly rushed into the bathroom.

It took me about ten minutes to get dressed and go down to the dining room to meet her.

“You lost track of time again,” she said with a worried voice, and I didn’t know how to answer her.

“Its fine ma. I just had a lot of work to do. That’s why I couldn’t get ready on time,” I mumbled between spoons of my food.

She stared at me for a moment, and she didn’t seem quite happy.

I knew she was about to bring up the issue of Elizabeth leaving, but before she could, my phone rang and it was Elizabeth’s representative.

“Good morning Barrister Stones,” I greeted, but he said nothing for a while.

“Mr. Richard. I’d like to schedule a meeting with you later in the day”

“That would be lovely. Has Mrs. Mondragon had a rethink about the offer she gave me?” I asked with a smirk, but he laughed faintly over the phone.

“She has. I’m very sure you will find this new offer quite mouth-watering,” He stated, and the call ended without further discussion.

My mum looked at me once more and I knew eventually we would have to discuss the issue of Elizabeth leaving.

“Why did you let her go?” mum asked, and her words shocked me.

“You never liked her for me!” I yelled, and she got angry.

I couldn’t believe I raised my voice at my mum and she seemed more stunned about it than I was.

“I’m sorry for yelling, mum. I just… I really miss her,” I sobbed.

She stood from her seat and approached me. Pulled me into a quick embrace and, out of nowhere, she slapped me hard on the cheeks.

“What was that for Ma?” I stared at her, confused, and she smiled at me.

She left the dining room to her room and came out a few minutes later with two plane tickets.

I don’t know how she got hold of that and I really wanted to find out.

“Are those plane tickets ma?” I asked her.

“What do you think, you little baby? Of course they’re plane tickets. I asked someone to help me book them for you and Lillian,” she declared with a sickly smile.

“Ma.. are you feeling alright? You don’t look good”

I noticed she was shaking, and I got worried, but she simply brushed off my words with a laugh.

She handed me the plane tickets, and they were for a flight to Puerto Rico in two days' time.

“How is this possible?” I asked her, surprised that she actually got me plane tickets to Puerto Rico.

“You and Lillian need to get closer to Elizabeth and find out the true story of her newly found wealth. Something doesn’t feel right and yes, I don’t like her, never have and never will,” mum sighed as she took a seat.

I was already running late for work and I still wanted to find out how she got the plane tickets, but I had fixed an appointment with Barrister Stones already and I couldn’t afford to be late for it too.

“We’ll talk when I get home, ma. Be safe” I kissed her forehead, grabbed my car keys and went out of the house.

I got to the office and Lillian was outside with a group of police officers. I could sense the tension among them, so I stepped in to find out what was going on.

“Hello Officers. Is anything the problem?” I asked with a smile and I could Lillian ease up with my presence.

“Love. You’re here, the officers were just…”

“We were waiting for you, Mr. Richard Lim. I believe you’re the CEO of Lim Sardines?” the officer asked, interrupting Lillian and she seemed furious about it.

“Yes, I am. How may I help you?” my eyes darkened with worry, thinking of the endless reasons why the cops came to my company.

“It got to the attention of the Union of Workers that your employees haven’t been paid their salaries for the past three months,” the officer said.

I didn’t know what to respond. It was actually true that I hadn’t paid my workers for the past three months, but I didn’t think the union would find out so soon.

I was planning to pay them as soon as I got some money from selling off some of my properties, but this wasn’t part of the plan.

“Officer, I’m sure this is a mistake of some kind. My employees have never had their salaries withheld. I’ll run this through my finance department. I’m sure they have an explanation for this.” my eyes flickered with fear as I spat out those words.

“Well, you had better do that. And also, we will come for inspection with the health team in two weeks' time. You’re running a sardine company, which simply means everything has to be in order,” the officer added.

He turned his back on me with the rest of his team and they zoomed off in their car.

I felt my heart skip a beat. I had never been under so much pressure before and this was really something.

Lillian wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. Her heart was beating fast and her body was tense.

“Its fine, my love. I’m here now,” I whispered into her ear with a soothing voice.

“Richard. What if they had arrested you? What if they had shut the company down? We can’t afford something like this happening again,” she sobbed.

She had a point. Having the cops pull up to the company every once in a while wasn’t good for our company’s image. It could ruin the little reputation we have left and, worse, send us out of business permanently.

“That will not happen, Lillian. We'll get through this together ok?”

She nodded her head in response to what I said and I saw a smile find its way to her lips.

She looked beautiful, but right now; we had other things to deal with.

“Barrister Stones will be here any moment from now. We should be in the office when he arrives,” I informed her, and we walked side by side to my office.

“What do you think Elizabeth’s new offer is going to be?” Lillian asked

I hadn’t really thought about it, but hopefully, it would be better than what she asked for the first time. I was already under pressure and right now, I could actually take any offer to save my ass from going out of business.

“I don’t know, my love. But let’s just have hope that it will not be like the last one,” I sighed.

Seventy percent of my company was too much of her to ask and I hoped she would have realized that too and made amends to the offer her representative was bringing today.

I and Lillian sat in absolute silence for almost an hour before my secretary walked in to inform us that Barrister Stones was in the building and in not less than five minutes, he walked into my office like a dog with two tails.

“Barrister Stones. It’s a pleasure to see you again” I welcomed him warmly, and we shook hands like every formal business man would.

“I’m happy to be here again, Mr. Richard,” he smiled as he took a seat opposite Lillian.

They sat across the table and a tangled mass of anxiety sweeps in me.

“I can see your lovely wife has come to join us for today’s meeting” he smiled at Lillian and for a moment it felt like he was flirting with her.

“It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Barrister Stones. My name is Lillian, Richard’s girlfriend and legal advisor”

They both stared at each other for a moment too long and I coughed faintly to get back their attention.

“Before we dive into this, I’d like you both to know that this is the very last offer Rose Corps. is offering your company,” Barrister Stones stated.

I didn’t think Elizabeth would play such a move on me and it made me even more determined to find out what this offer of hers was.

“Then in that case I’d like to review the document Barrister Stones, to know how authentic it is before we discuss any further,” Lillian uttered, and I was glad she was there with me.

Barrister Stones handed her the documents to review, but before she could do that, her phone rang and she excused herself to go answer the call.

Barrister Stones seemed uncomfortable with the disturbance, so I decided to simply go through the documents myself and find out what the new offer was.

I stared at the paper in disbelief as I saw the offer Elizabeth had prepared for me.

“As you can see there Mr. Richard, Rose Corp. now wants eighty percent rights for your company and we will offer you a total of five hundred million dollars,” Barrister Stones smiled as I stared at the papers, still in shock.

I didn’t think Elizabeth would go this far with her deal, but it was now obvious more than ever that she was up to something.

Lillian would have advised me against this, but right now, this was the saving grace my company needed and it’s not all the time you find a company willing to invest this big into a falling sardine company.

“We also plan to create three additional branches for Lim Sardines in three different countries. Canada, Texas and Puerto Rico,” Barrister Stones added, and this deal was looking too good to be true.

“What else is my company going to benefit from this partnership, Barrister Stones?” I looked over the papers once more, still having doubts about everything going on.

“Well, we know that you no longer have access to the seaport and you lack a good supplier of fish for your production. We also know that the cops are currently looking into your company”

“So if I accept this offer, you guys get the cops off my tail and get me access to the seaport once more?” I asked him again just to be sure that those were his exact words.

“Yes, Mr. Richard” he smiled brightly and I couldn’t think of anything else to do.

I signed the papers with doubt and fear, but I needed a breakthrough and this was the only one I could find.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Richard. I believe your mother must have given you the tickets for your flight to Puerto Rico in two days' time,” he said, and I was speechless.

“You gave my mum those tickets?” I asked him and he smiled at me.

“See you in Puerto Rico Mr. Richard. I’m looking forward to our next business adventures together”

We shook hands, and he was about leaving when Lillian walked back in.

“Are you going Barrister Stones?” Lillian asked him.

“Ah! Yes, I am. I’m looking forward to working with Lim Sardines,” he replied as he walked out of my office and closed the door gently behind him.

“Eighty percent of our company rights for five hundred million dollars. Plus the opening of three additional company branches in three different countries,” I explained the deal to her before she could ask.

I expected her to be mad at me for taking the deal, but I saw tears form in her eyes as she hugged me tightly

"My hands were tied, Lillian. I didn’t know what else to do,” I sobbed, and she stunned me with a kiss.

This was the biggest decision of my life and I had taken it without consulting her or my mum about it. But my mum had the plane tickets to Puerto Rico, which means she must have known about everything that was going on.

“Let’s go home and relax, love. Everything is going to be fine. I know that,” she smiled, and we both packed up and went home.