Deviant 1995 - Chapter 63.2

Chapter 63.2

The corner office that Grace de Lafayette used to occupy had a new owner.

There was resistance, of course.

There were complaints from both inside and outside the company that the incompetent Chairman Charles de Lafayette was treating the listed company like his private property, appointing a twenty-something former soldier with no work experience to the position of Vice Chairman simply because he was his son.

The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times even published articles that were close to being critical. It was obvious who was leading the charge.

But there was something they overlooked.

André de Lafayette was a human being reincarnated as an armored tank.

Whether criticism poured in or praise poured in, his composure never wavered. He had just turned twenty-nine, but thanks to his long military service, he was surprisingly bold and calm for his age. Seeing him made one wonder if superior bloodlines actually existed.

Every morning, André arrived at work with Chairman Charles de Lafayette, who looked like he was being dragged to a slaughterhouse, and his chief of staff, Cedric Laurent, trailing behind him like tails. As if he never got tired, André was also the last person to leave the company.

He would also attend various departmental meetings, both large and small, without notice, shocking the employees. But even those who didn’t like him acknowledged that having a decision-maker who understood the business and was decisive led to greater efficiency.

It was embarrassing how, contrary to the initial disregard from both inside and outside the company, with people sneering, ‘What does some kid fresh out of the military know?’, André identified the areas that were rotten and needed to be cut out as if he had been with the company for a long time.

When executives, who had spent their entire careers at the company, tried to get by with improvisational excuses as usual in response to his sharp questions, he refuted them point by point with accurate data. When he brought out data from even a decade ago, from who knows where, they had no choice but to shut their mouths with astonished faces.

André never made silly jokes like others his age. When this taciturn man opened his mouth, he delivered a straight punch that knocked people out in one blow, loading his sharp words with a heavy weight, like a bayonet. Perhaps that’s why those who had even one conversation with him could no longer call him a “young punk.”

After finishing his assessment of the work, he summoned the executives to the Vice Chairman’s office one by one.

After their meetings, they clicked their tongues, saying that someone more ruthless than Grace, who had been called the Iron Lady, had arrived. Some left, slamming the door and spewing curses with flushed faces, while others turned pale and cowered.

[It’s not like he’s a Mafia boss who takes oaths of loyalty…]

Some muttered, but judging from the reactions after the meetings, it seemed clear who was destined to survive and who was destined to die.

This was a truly exciting development that no one had anticipated.

When rumors spread that the Lafayette side, which seemed like it would collapse in vain, was preparing a formidable counterattack, a fierce battle of wits broke out among the executives as they tried to gauge which side to align themselves with.

The Lowell side, which had only targeted Charles de Lafayette, not knowing that André de Lafayette was a young lion, was also flustered and had not yet launched any significant counterattacks. This was because André’s actions, which deviated from the existing norms, made it impossible to predict where he would bounce next.

Gordon Lowell was only the Director of the distribution affiliate, and according to the organizational structure, was in a position to report to Lafayette. Therefore, it was not easy to impose sanctions unless André made a major mistake.

However, Gordon Lowell’s influence on the major shareholders was still solid. They said that they were watching the changes André was making in the company with disapproving eyes, saying they were too radical.

Still, such things did not prevent the Vice Chairman’s rapid advancement within the company.

His imposing physique, his poker face, his suffocating stare, and his words that cut through like a well-honed knife.

The symbolism of being an heir to both the Lafayette and Lowell families, the legitimacy of being the group’s largest shareholder, and the combination of a powerful leadership that rivaled that of a Mafia boss caused the organization, which had been loosely scattered like a disjointed organism for the past year, to become taut with tension.

It was like a young, vigorous lion, appearing and biting the neck of an old, balding lion who was dozing off, swatting away flies from his face with his tail, and now fiercely roaring.

A younger, more athletic lion appeared and roared ferociously. It bit the neck of an old, balding lion who was dozing off, swatting away flies from his face with his tail

And so, he quickly took control of the company.
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