Chapter 76
Chapter 76
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Execution
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tokyo *** Hotel Banquet Hall.
The shareholders' meeting proceeded without a hitch.
"Yu, Yuu-san."
"Yes, Kamijo-san."
"What about Harumi...?"
Kamijo seemed anxious about the fact that Harumi still hadn't shown up, even though the meeting had already begun.
Kenji was a different story. His eyes gleamed with ecstasy and hope as he glared madly at the empty seat with only Harumi's nameplate on it.
"It's done... kihihi... th-those guys... d-did it..."
Kenji muttered to himself. He'd clearly pulled some scheme to keep Harumi from attending the meeting.
"Then... the first agenda item: the motion to dismiss CEO Kanemochiru Kenji. I'll put it to a—"
At that moment, Kenji shot his hand up like he was having a seizure.
"Chairman! I request to speak on the agenda!"
Kenji jumped to his feet and bellowed.
His gaze, rippling with ecstasy, remained fixed on Harumi's empty seat.
"We must immediately proceed with the capital increase that was resolved at the last board meeting. Without bolstering our capital, the company is in peril! I'm telling you this straight from the heart, purely for the good of the company—without issuing new shares, we're in dire straits, everyone! I beg for your cooperation!!"
As expected.
Kenji's eyes still burned with unyielding hope. If Harumi was absent from this meeting, my shares would only amount to 31%. That would give Kenji more than enough of an edge to win.
Of course, that was only if his little scheme had actually worked.
"Chairman, I have an agenda item to propose as well."
All eyes turned to me in an instant.
"I propose invalidating the capital increase resolution from the previous board meeting."
Kenji's face flushed beet red.
"Don't throw a tantrum! That board resolution has already been publicly announced!"
I shook my head with a mocking sneer and murmured low.
"You idiot... I told you it was a sandcastle."
"You bastard...! Without that bitch Harumi, what the hell do you think you can do..."
Even without half his allies, my utterly confident demeanor made Kenji hesitate as he sensed something off. In the meantime, voting time arrived.
"Those in favor of this motion, please raise your hands."
Swish—
Hands shot up one after another.
But it still wasn't quite a majority.
"Ha, haha... hahahahaha!! Th-thank you, everyone! Thank you—"
As Kenji offered his insincere thanks, I casually stood up a little from my seat and unbuttoned my coat, opening the front flap.
"Whew! So hot! Sorry, but let me take off this coat and finish the vote."
Kamijo-san, who had been wearing an anxious expression beside me, quietly chided, "Why on earth did you wear a coat in the middle of summer?" But there was a good reason for it.
Pop!
"Puhahaaa!! Hek, hek, ho-hot!"
A petite girl with blonde twintails popped right out of the coat I was wearing.
"Wh-what!?"
What reflected in Kenji's stunned eyes was Harumi's flushed face.
"Sanghyeon, everything ready? I can come out now, right?"
"Yes, miss. Now you can stay in the cool spot."
I'd known Kenji would try to push through the capital increase—it was his one remaining counterattack.
And it was obvious he'd stop at nothing to get that resolution passed.
A lunatic who'd tried to pimp out his comatose sister-in-law after his brother died.
A freak who'd called his own niece "big sis" and tried to sell her off to a brothel.
In a situation where a guy like that was openly gunning for Harumi, did anyone expect me to just leave her in some rundown apartment in a high-risk area?
That would be idiotic.
I had no intention of letting my guard down anymore.
On the day I anticipated would be the most dangerous—the day of the shareholders' meeting—I'd chosen an extreme countermeasure.
Staying fused with Harumi as one body the entire day, literally.
"Fuaaa... I feel alive..."
Harumi wriggled free from my coat and flapped her clothes. Even though we'd only traveled by car with the AC blasting,
being pressed tight against a muscular guy like me with a high basal metabolic rate, all covered by a coat, must have been pure torment.
But the results were worth it.
I'd gotten to inhale plenty of her sweet, sticky sweat scent, cling to her all gooey-like, and protect her to boot.
From my perspective, this was nothing but pure profit.
Later, I could just take Ren, Saki, and Harumi to the beach or a valley for some water fun.
"H-how...?"
Kenji's mouth hung wide open, his jaw trembling uncontrollably.
Swish—
Harumi's pale hand rose into the air, and the overwhelming number of votes shattered his final shred of hope.
"This... can't be..."
Kenji muttered as he slumped down.
"The motion to invalidate the capital increase has passed. All matters resolved by the board are immediately null and void."
Thud...
Kenji's momentum was completely broken.
But the true execution was far from over.
Now that I'd sealed off all escape routes, it was time to drag him to the guillotine and lay his neck on the block.
"Now then... let's return to the main agenda. The motion to dismiss CEO Kanemochiru Kenji—I'll put it to a vote."
As the chairman's voice trailed off, arms began rising slowly, like they were emerging from water.
Splash.
Dozens of hands. The rustle of paper, the faint scrape of chair legs, the light click of nameplate strings. All those noises filtered through a hazy veil into my ears—then into Kenji's eyes, where he sat like a condemned man before the noose.
His eyelids quivered, the tremor spreading across the sclera to the edges of his irises. His pupils contracted, then dilated repeatedly. Textbook fear response. He unconsciously licked his parched lips once, twice—like a wounded pup endlessly lapping at its injury. But that wound would never heal.
I had no plans to give him even a chance at recovery after this meeting.
Scratch, screeech...
Kenji's right index finger scraped at the table's edge. Bluish veins bulged on the delicate, pale back of his hand, untouched by rough labor. His knuckles turned white. With his final card—the capital increase—crushed so pathetically, all he could do now was nervously bite his nails.
"Those in favor—please keep your hands raised."
The chairman confirmed again.
The hands stayed up. A few people glanced at me and Harumi in the VIP seats before belatedly joining the yes votes.
And finally, Harumi and I raised our hands.
"Majority confirmed."
"This... this is...! Outrageous bullshit...! C-conspiracy! Yeah... conspiracy!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs but couldn't even form proper sentences.
"F-fuck... I... I have 38%! I'm... I'm the heir to this company! You fucking bastards! When you were sucking up to me... you trash!!"
"The motion to dismiss CEO Kanemochiru Kenji has passed. I cannot tolerate any further disruptions, not even from a former CEO."
Just before the chairman finished speaking, Kenji half-rose from his chair and slammed his knee into the table's edge.
Bang!
Crash!
"Kuuk..."
A glass tumbled off the table and shattered into pieces below.
He clenched his molars so hard that he must have bitten the inside of his cheek—crimson blood trickled along the edge of his lips.
"This company's owner... heuk... heuk... is me... heuk! You bastards... acting like you own the place... against me!"
His breaths hitched sharply between words. Shallow inhalations barely stirred the upper part of his chest. His collarbones heaved rapidly. His tie knot hung crooked, sweat stains mixing with blood trickles inside his shirt collar.
Messy. Filthy. Utterly pathetic.
That was the face of defeat.
"The law—the law's on my side! In-injunction... injunction or something! I'll fight it somehow!"
Snort.
"No such law exists."
Kamijo, seated beside me, delivered the final blow in a cold tone.
"Th-this! Uwaaaaa!"
At that instant, Kenji lunged from the board table straight at me in the shareholder seats.
"H-hey! Isn't that dangerous!?"
Kamijo had orchestrated the entire seating arrangement, placing the CEO's chair directly facing the rising power bloc—me.
Perfect timing. I'd been itching to lay into him anyway.
"Uwaaaaa!! You son of a—"
I swung at his ribs from an angle the others couldn't see well.
Crack!
His frail bones snapped as expected.
"Ke... heu... uk..."
I hoped this wouldn't unlock some "bone collector" achievement.
I caught Kenji's body as it slumped forward, face turning pitch black, and hoisted him up.
"Aigoo~ Looks like our ex-CEO is heartbroken! Whatever shall we do!!"
Poke, prod!
"Kuaaaak! Uak, kuaaaak!!"
Crunch, squish.
Pretending to support him with a hug, I jammed my fingers into his broken ribs and gave him a "massage." He let out a bloodcurdling shriek. It didn't seem like the bones had pierced any organs, so no big deal.
"Ayu~ There, there. Must be tough, huh? So heartbreaking~ Why don't you have a drink? Come on, this way."
"Kegek... geheo... euk..."
I dragged his limp body out of the banquet hall with the smooth finesse of a snake slithering over a wall. The shareholders could only stare in stunned silence.
But as soon as we stepped outside, two burly guys in black suits came striding toward us.
Thud—thud—
What the hell were these guys?
They didn't look like venue security, and they screamed yakuza at first glance.
Men sent by Ryoma?
To protect Kenji?
No way the cool-headed Ryoma would make that boneheaded move.
As I braced to shove Kenji aside and fight, the guys surprised me by bowing deeply and respectfully—to me.
"Hello, Mr. Yu Sanghyeon."
"Hello."
What the fuck?