Chapter 20: Chapter 20: CEO
[Third Person's PoV]
Hiroshi and Ayako were in their office discussing their new house guest when they heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Anthony Stark. They told me this is where I would most likely find you," Tony said from the other side of the door.
Ayako and Hiroshi exchanged curious glances.
"Come in," Hiroshi said with a smile, intrigued by what Tony wanted to say.
Tony entered with Melissa, who was carrying a tablet close to her chest and standing a bit behind him. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said, looking at Ayako and then at Hiroshi.
"Nonsense, we were just discussing your arrival. Is there anything you need? Anything you're unsatisfied with?"
"We've just got here. It would seem weird if I was already unsatisfied with something," Tony said with a straight face.
Hiroshi scratched his head and gave an awkward smile. "I suppose you're right."
Ayako covered her mouth and let out a small chuckle.
"Anyways, I want to make a deal with you. I noticed that although you are Japan's main supplier for material, you don't deal with Stark Industries, and I can already guess why."
Hiroshi smiled. "Are you sure you want to discuss business right now? You two just got off a long flight. You should be resting."
"I like efficiency," Tony replied.
Hiroshi nodded. "Well then, yes, I don't deal with Stark Industries. Although I respect Howard and think of him as a great friend, dealing with the Japanese branch of Stark Industries doesn't bring me any profit whatsoever."
"I suspected as much. Melissa?"
Melissa presented her tablet with a stylus and put it on Hiroshi's desk.
Hiroshi took the tablet with a confused look and began to examine its contents. Ayako looked over his shoulder, also studying it.
"What is this?"
"Calculations."
"Calculations?" Ayako repeated.
Tony nodded. "I calculated my future profits based on the economics of this country, the future of the stock market, geopolitical stability, technological advancements, potential regulatory changes, and consumer trends. My analysis also factored in variables such as currency fluctuations, interest rates, inflation projections, and the impact of global trade policies. I also estimated your profits and gains to the last decimal."
Hiroshi studied everything carefully and nodded. "This is really impressive stuff. But what you're asking me is to take a gamble and hope that all of your calculations are correct. How would I know these are correct, and how would I know I would truly be making the right choice by signing with you?"
"First of all, I don't like my competence being questioned, so you can drop your little test. When you looked at it, you already started doing the calculations yourself and know these are right. You're only making a fool out of yourself," Tony said with a straight face.
Melissa and Ayako looked at Tony in surprise. Ayako turned toward Hiroshi, expecting him to be angry at being spoken to like that, but all she saw was a smile on his face.
Hiroshi chuckled and shook his head. "You Starks and your pride," he said, taking the stylus, scrolling to the bottom, and signing the document.
"I'm taking a huge gamble with this, so don't disappoint me," he said, finishing the signature and handing the tablet back to Melissa.
Tony scoffed and started walking away. "If you've truly been a friend of my father, you should know the last thing we Starks do is disappoint."
With that, Tony exited, and Melissa quickly followed behind him.
Ayako and Hiroshi were now alone in the room. Ayako looked at Hiroshi strangely. "Didn't you sign that way too quickly?"
"You didn't realize?" Hiroshi asked with a smile.
"Realize what?"
"That kid doesn't really need us. He's doing us a favor."
"What?" Ayako asked in surprise.
Hiroshi nodded. "If he truly needed suppliers, he would have become one himself and probably overtaken us. He signed a deal with us for two reasons. First, it's like 'rent' for him, a thank you for letting him stay here. And second, he already said it, he likes efficiency. Although he could become a supplier on his own, it's more efficient for him to just sign a deal with us."
"Okay, I understand the second one, but how did you get the first one out of all that?"
"I already said it, it's their Stark pride. They don't like owing debts. Although we're letting them stay here due to our close relationship with Howard, he and I don't have that friendship, so for him, he is practically staying here for free."
"Seriously?" Ayako asked in astonishment.
Hiroshi nodded. "He's one scary kid."
...
"What the hell was that?" Melissa asked.
"What?"
"Why were you being so rude? I know you don't like being tested, but wasn't that a little too much?"
Tony simply rolled his eyes. "Because what he did was a test within a test, which is even more annoying."
Melissa looked at him in confusion. "What was the test?"
"He wanted to get a glimpse of my personality, to see if I'm confident and all that jazz."
"Huh? Why would he do that?"
"Tell me, would you make a bet against someone who is uncertain about themselves or lets others walk all over them?"
"No…?"
"He's the same. He wouldn't have cared if I was my father's son; if he saw that I was unconfident, that would have been a potential loss of profit for him. He's a businessman at heart, which is why he and my father got along. He would have declined to sign the deal if I had answered him otherwise."
Melissa was shocked to hear that. "But he didn't seem that way to me?"
"Like I said, a test behind a test. He used that first question as a cover to hide his intention. This is why I hate dealing with politics, even if it's just in business. You have to listen to their every word, look at their expression, their body language, their single muscle spasm, just to figure out what they truly are thinking and saying. If you misread it or miss anything, it could lead to a loss."
"That… that seems really complicated."
"It's not complicated; it's annoying is what it is."
"Anyways, that's it. You can get some rest now," Tony said, feeling tired himself.
Melissa nodded, and with a goodnight, they both went off to their rooms to rest.
…
The next day in the Board of Directors meeting room...
There were 12 members in total: 5 were female while the other 7 were males. They were all seated at a long table with the main chair in front being empty.
One of the men had an irritated expression. He had black slicked-back hair, black eyes, slanted eyes, and sharp ears, but his irritated expression was just a masquerade for his true feelings—he was furious. 'They demoted me for a fucking child just because of who his daddy is?'
Others, who had different color and shaped hair, looked towards the irritated man with worried expressions.
Just as they were about to question where their new boss was, the door opened. Tony, wearing a black suit, entered with Melissa, wearing her lab coat, glasses, and holding her signature tablet with a stack of paper on top of it.
"Hello everyone," Tony greeted with a happy-go-lucky smile, waving towards them before sitting down in the main chair that faced everyone, with Melissa standing next to him.
"Now that I have your attention…" After Tony said this, his smile dropped as he gained a cold expression, clasping his hands on the table and looking towards everyone.
His sudden demeanor surprised everyone, but before they had a chance to say anything, Tony continued.
"It has come to my attention that some of you have been embezzling money from my company."
Everyone's eyes widened until the slanted-eye man slammed his hands on the table. "You can't just enter here and make such accusations!"
"Melissa," was all Tony said.
Melissa walked around and started handing out the papers she brought.
"In your hands is all the evidence you need. As you can see, it matches with the data from the company, which should tell you I'm not just making accusations."
Tony surveyed the room and noticed some people got nervous while others looked at each other suspiciously, trying to identify the culprits.
"Hiroto Yamato, Takashi Tanaka, and Aiko Takahashi. You three have one day to fully return all of the money you have embezzled, or be prepared to face the consequences. And to that, I swear on my Stark name."
Hiroto, the man with the slanted eyes, had a look of horror as he stared into the unforgiving eyes of Tony, who looked right at him.
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