Echoes of Vengeance: The Sweet Wife's Perfect Revenge-Chapter 91: Surviving? Conquering it

If Aveline could handle the board so smoothly when she was scared, Damien wondered how amazing she could be if she were confident.

His eyes brushed over the men who were furious just a minute ago. He just couldn’t believe the board not only feared Henry, but they had started getting cautious of Aveline.

Who wouldn’t be when she had just threatened to sell the billions worth of Ashford stocks?

Aveline looked at Damien as she asked, "Am I doing well?" Her voice was uncertain.

Damien forced a smile. Well? She was mind-blowing. He had thought she would be running out of the room, crying her eyes out, begging him to do something about the shares.

Aveline didn’t wait for his response. She turned to the other members. "I know there is a lot of confusion about the sudden ownership transfer process, but trust me, I’m more shocked than you." She lied.

"Some of you here have more experience than my age, whereas I have zero experience with business, not to mention I don’t have any idea about the role. Though I only need ten percent worth of shares support, as a newbie and someone inexperienced, I won’t be electing myself as chairman of Ashford Holdings."

Aveline’s words made most of them breathe in relief. She glanced at Damien and smiled at him as she turned to the others. "I do have a candidate in mind to support."

Damien adjusted his cuff and prepared himself to stand as soon as she announced him as the chairman candidate. He had already planned ahead to be chairman and CEO of Ashford Industries.

’Finally,’ he thought, ’I’m going to get what’s rightfully mine. All this buildup for the obvious choice.’

However, Aveline poured a bucket of ice-cold water over him by saying, "Thus, I hope my intentions are clear to everyone in the room." And she sat back, pushing the microphone away from her face.

Damien: "..."

Was she just clearing the misunderstanding so far?

If she was, then she was successful. Everyone was nodding their heads, accepting Aveline as a board member without feeling threatened by her presence.

However, Damien’s blood was boiling in his veins. How could she just not know the power of the shares she had in her name?

How could she just sit back, not shifting the power to him?

Lawrence was grinning from ear to ear when he saw Aveline and Damien’s actions right in front of him. He couldn’t believe she was willing to sit back when she could have been the chairman and supported Damien in his succession.

He broke the silence. "Ms. Laurent, since you are the largest shareholder, why don’t you openly vote for the candidate? Even if you get two or three supporters, we could decide on the chairman instead of creating another interim position in the company."

Aveline looked at Damien, raising her brows. However, she spoke before he could come up with an idea. "While a few members were arguing, I heard them say women are meant to stay home and serve their husbands. I want Mrs. Linette Rowe to show them what women are capable of."

Damien’s shoulders stiffened. His eyes were wide in disbelief. ’What?’ His mind went blank for a split second. He turned to Aveline. ’Did she just...’

His blood burned from head to toe. ’What the hell is she talking about? How dare she support a stranger instead of family, instead of me? After everything I’ve done, everything I’ve built, she chooses some woman over her husband?’

He felt betrayed. He had trusted her to pick him. ’I trusted her. She just threw it all away. For what? Some misguided feminist statement?’

Mrs. Rowe’s eyes narrowed at Aveline. She didn’t get happy or fall for Aveline’s words. Rather, she had been studying Aveline the whole time.

Aveline continued without meeting Mrs. Rowe’s gaze. "Honestly, I don’t know anything about the shareholders of Ashford Holdings. However, I didn’t choose Mrs. Rowe because she is a woman, or I want to prove that board member wrong."

She clarified, "While talking with Madam Ashford a few days ago, she mentioned the contributions of Mrs. Rowe to Ashford Holdings, and I learned how respected and wise a shareholder she is." She lied.

’Grandmother?’ Damien’s jaw clenched. ’Of course. The old woman’s still pulling strings from her disappearance.’

He began shaking out of pure rage. Everything that seemed at the tips of fingers became a distant dream in a split second. The one who destroyed it was his wife.

The board members began talking among themselves. While a few were happy to go with Aveline’s choice, some of them couldn’t imagine a woman becoming the chairwoman.

Lawrence was hiding his grin while looking at Damien’s red face. He was happy Aveline wasn’t biased enough to support Damien.

"Aveline..." Damien hissed, his voice barely controlled.

Looking at her earlier fear, he had assumed she wouldn’t sit longer than five minutes. He never thought to coach her, never thought to tell her exactly what to say.

’How could I have been so stupid? How could I have underestimated her this badly?’

Aveline was turning to Damien when Mrs. Rowe rose from her seat. "Ms. Laurent, I would like to have a word with you. Right now." Her unyielding voice silenced the room.

Aveline nodded respectfully and stood up. She patted Damien’s shoulder and grabbed her bag to follow the woman, who was in her early fifties.

Damien looked at where she had patted. ’A pat!? Like she didn’t just destroy everything I’ve worked for.’

...

The two women entered the adjacent meeting room, and Linette Rowe pointed at the chair for Aveline to sit as she took her seat. "No beating around the bush or playing games. Aveline Laurent, spill the beans. Why me?"

Henry had told Aveline about Linette Rowe. A smart, tactical woman. Her sin was being in Velmora, where men never let a woman lead. Otherwise, Linette would have been chairman of a conglomerate of her own.

Aveline calmly unzipped her bag and fetched a file from it. She placed it in front of Mrs. Rowe as she spoke. "When I got this, I asked my father. Who should I trust in the Ashford boardroom? He said no men. They could be bought with money."

Linette paused midway through opening the file. She observed Aveline. Aveline was new to business, and it was fair to be guided by her father, but Linette could see through the mask.

Aveline was playing it safe by using her father’s name when she could have played bold without using her father’s name.

And her words? her composure? Those were something even the experienced failed to achieve.

Linette flipped through the file, and her eyes narrowed at the wrong numbers in the finance sheets. She flipped multiple pages, and the blunders in the finance department were becoming more and more clear. And one name stood out.

Charlie Harmon. CFO.

"I was hoping to hand you this. I’m sure you wouldn’t sit quietly when the finance department is swallowing the profits of shareholders and showing wrong numbers." Aveline finished smoothly. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

The numbers weren’t small enough to ignore.

Linette closed the file and looked at Aveline. Her suspicion of Aveline dissolved and was replaced with determination. "You are right. These men can’t be trusted, including your husband."

Aveline hid her smirk. Because the number variations were only in Damien’s projects. She tilted her head in confusion.

Linette snapped, "Quit that act." Aveline could have done the same by picking Damien, but she didn’t. It meant Aveline wasn’t as clueless as she was pretending to be.

Aveline bit back her smile.

Linette decided, "If Madam Ashford chose you, then you will clean up the mess."

Aveline didn’t get the chance to interrupt.

"However, bear in mind, no one is a saint. Damien Ashford might be scheming, but you won’t get a more seasoned businessman than him. Lawrence Ashford might be loyal to the company, but he alone couldn’t bring the company up."

She pointed at the file, "This CFO? He is loyal to money. Neither Damien nor the company. So you should choose wisely. Who to keep, who to drop."

Aveline wanted exactly that. However, she bluntly stated, "I need strings of control, not the chair of attention."

Linette understood in her way that Aveline didn’t want the business to affect her personal life with Damien. So she agreed, "Fine, I’ll take the chair."

When they stood up, Linette tried to warn Aveline, "Aveline Laurent, if you fool me to protect Damien..."

Aveline cut her off, "You will be surprised when I’m done here." And she walked out of the room.

At that moment, Linette realized the rumors could be true. Damien had probably married Aveline for the land for his project.

All these years, she had seen how tyrannical Damien was. Linette had supported it because those actions were beneficial for the company.

Looking at Aveline through the glass wall, "Damien Ashford, you’ve built an empire with fire," she murmured, "but the girl you married? She’s the storm that’ll drown you."

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om