What Separates Me and You

Chapter 148 The Shareholders’ Meeting

Lewis held her hand. He was just about to teach her something when they heard Conrad’s voice from

the outside.

“President Alvarez!”

“Mrs. Alvarez!”

Josephine heard his voice and quickly shook off Lewis’ hands and turned to grab her clothes.

Lewis clamped an arm down on her wrists. “It’s wet.”

Josephine trembled slightly.

“Conrad!” Lewis raised his voice and shouted suddenly.

Conrad heard his voice and rushed over. Standing at the mouth of the cave, he shouted back,

President Alvarez, are you in there with Madam?”

“Bring two sets of clothes in.”

“Oh, alright!” Conrad squatted on the ground and passed the clothes in his arms through the gap in the

makeshift screen.

“I took these from the homestead. You’ll have to make do with these first.”

Conrad had the foresight to bring a few sets of clothes before he exited the courtyard, which were then

put to use now.

Lewis took the clothes from Conrad. They evidently belonged to Seth. Lewis had a similar build to

Seth’s, so wearing his clothes did not feel particularly out of place.

As for Josephine, they were loose and oversized on her. The shirt she had been wearing earlier would

have fit her better. At least she could have worn that as a dress.

The two of them finished changing and walked out of the cave. Josephine’s legs buckled under her,

and she tripped every two steps she took.

Lewis scooped her up and carried her bridal style before bending down and walking out.

Conrad released a sigh of relief when he saw the two of them unharmed.

Just then, the sky had begun to turn gray outside. Dawn was swiftly approaching. Conrad started

worrying again.

“President Alvarez, we might not be able to make it to the shareholders’ meeting on time. What should

we do?”

Hearing those words, Josephine jolted in shock. She looked at Lewis subconsciously.

Lewis raised his head and gazed at the sky. Enclosed by mountains on all sides, they found

themselves akin to standing at the very bottom of a well.

“Wait.”

“What?” Conrad glanced at his watch. It was almost seven. What were they waiting for?

Lewis did not answer. Instead, he placed Josephine down and knelt to inspect the metal chain around

her ankles.

The screen was dark, signaling the end of the countdown.

Lewis frowned. He turned the metal chain in his palms, studying it for a long time, his brows

increasingly furrowed.

“President Alvarez, what’s going on?” Conrad asked.

The mountain breeze blew strongly, causing everyone to shiver. The unhurried manner in which Lewis

inspected the chain raised questions among the group. Did he truly have no intention of returning to the

shareholders’ meeting, or had he simply resigned himself to the circumstances?

Lewis stood. “It’s not a bomb.”

“What? We were tricked?” Conrad’s face paled.

“It’s a covert listening device.” Lewis swept a gaze at the chain coldly. “Get a professional to dismantle

it when we get back.”

Josephine’s face darkened as soon as she heard Lewis’ words. If it was a listening device, did it mean

someone had recorded everything that happened in the cave earlier?

As if he’d read her thoughts, Lewis told her, “Don’t worry. There’s no network here. Nothing can be

transmitted yet.”

Josephine exhaled in relief.

“Let’s hurry back then,” Conrad urged.

He’d barely finished when the whirring of helicopter blades could be heard in the sky. All of them raised

their heads in unison and beheld a helicopter hovering over the mountaintop.

Conrad cheered. “So the president had it all arranged! That’s amazing! We could make it back in time

after all!”

Josephine glanced at Lewis in surprise. No wonder he came back for her so easily. He had already

made plans before he returned.

Still, it all made sense. As Conrad had mentioned, if Lewis were to return willingly and miss the

shareholders’ meeting, they would both be left without a home, even if he managed to bring her back.

There would be no point in him coming back for her.

The helicopter descended slowly, the wind whipping past them, making the weeds bend over. The

currents from the helicopter’s blades were so strong that it was hard for Josephine to

open her eyes.

Lewis scooped her up again and boarded the helicopter swiftly.

Meanwhile, in Alvarez Corp, Robert sat on his seat, a dark expression on his face. Seated all around

him were major shareholders of the company. On one side, a young man of about twenty-seven or

eight sat.

If one looked closely enough, his features held some similarities to Robert’s.

Nearly all of the seats in the room were occupied, leaving only the main seat at the very center

unoccupied.

That was Lewis’ seat. He was the current president of the Alvarez Corp, and this meeting’s sole

purpose was to address the company’s current crisis and vote for the next president.

Lewis’ seat stood out to the crowd the most, inviting much attention and scrutiny from the public. As the

board’s chairman, Robert did not wish to sit there at all.

“Why is he not here yet?”

“Is he planning on putting on some kind of a show?”

“I think he has given up. Now that the corporation’s shares have dropped to this degree, he, as the

president, would inevitably be held responsible for it. He must have fled already.”

“Mr. Alvarez, since he’s not coming, let’s start without him!”

Robert surveyed the room and stood. “Since Lewis is not here, let’s discuss the next presidential

candidates. Since Lewis handed me his resignation letter last time, I have been planning to use this

shareholders’ meeting to hold a vote and decide whether it’s suitable to elect a new president of the

corporation.

“Since he’s not here, this vote is no longer necessary.

“But first, let’s elect a new presidential candidate. No matter what plans we collectively come up with to

ameliorate this crisis, we need someone to execute them. Therefore, whoever we elect as the next

president must be outstanding and possess the ability to handle matters to perfection and with grace.

“If anyone has any potential candidates, please voice them. We’ll vote and make a final decision as a

whole.”

Everyone in the crowd looked at one another in bewilderment and unease. After much

hesitation, none of them could come up with a name.

From their reactions, it was clear to Robert that all of them were still partial toward Lewis.

He didn’t know when Lewis had become so closely connected with these people.

“Does anyone have a suitable candidate they would like to recommend?” Robert asked.

One of the white-haired shareholders spoke up. “Mr. Alvarez, do you have anyone you would like to

recommend for this position?”

Robert glanced at the young man sitting across from him and said, “Alright, let me introduce you all to

Kiran Alvarez, head of the overseas holding group of Alvarez Corp.”

The young man stood up cooperatively. “Hello, everyone. My name is Kiran Alvarez, and I’m the head

of the overseas holding group of Alvarez Corp. We have not met formally before, but I hope we can all

get along going forward.”

Alvarez Corp did have an overseas holding group. Still, it had been flying under the radar all this while,

escaping the attention of most since the dealings of the overseas holding group were mainly in service

of the domestic company.

Since it was an independent branch, the shares of the affiliate company were not considered part of the

domestic company’s total.

“Does the appearance of the young Mr. Alvarez at the shareholders’ meeting mean that the shares of

the overseas group would be merged with those of the domestic group?”

Robert nodded. “Precisely. That’s what I thought.

“Compared to the domestic group, the number of shares under the overseas holding group is not that

much, but it could solve the pressing problem we have on our hands for now.”

Robert continued, “After the merger, the shares will still be distributed according to their original

proportions. Since Kiran does not hold any shares within this company, I have decided to transfer all of

my shares to him.”

In other words, he was asking them to pay for all of the shares in the overseas holding group and then

use the funds from the group to fill the current gap.

It was a win-win solution. Even if they didn’t merge the groups, the shareholders would have to pay

before stock prices plummeted too much. No matter how they thought about it, the amount of money

they lost now on a daily basis was enough to buy the shares of the overseas holding group.

“If there are no objections, we will start the vote now.”