Chương 18: The Tightly Woven Plan

After Pepper called for a vote, Tony immediately raised his hand.

However, no one else followed suit. Instead, they all stared coldly at Tony and Pepper.

Unfazed, Pepper continued, "We have thirty-nine percent of the votes in favor. According to the rules of the shareholders' meeting, those who oppose may now raise their hands. Abstentions will not be counted as part of the total..."

Just as she was about to encourage others to abstain, she saw all the small shareholders raise their hands, followed by Obadiah and Luna.

This immediately made both Pepper and Tony's faces darken.

Although each small shareholder only held one or two percent of the shares, their combined votes, along with Obadiah's and Luna's, amounted to forty-one percent, two points more than Tony and Pepper.

This clearly demonstrated how much support Obadiah had garnered.

It was evident that even before Umbrella acquired its five percent stake, Obadiah could still rally enough support to remove Tony as chairman. Now, with additional backing, his position was even stronger.

Pepper fell silent, realizing the gravity of the situation.

As someone still relatively young and new to Stark Industries, having only joined three years ago, this was her first time witnessing Obadiah's influence, and it caught her off guard.

After a moment of silence, Obadiah spoke confidently, "Forty-one percent versus thirty-nine. It seems this shareholders' meeting won't go as you hoped."

"Now, let's proceed to the second vote: removing Tony Stark from the board and barring him from further involvement in Stark Industries."

Hearing this, Tony immediately stood up and shook his head.

"No, you can't do this. This is Stark Industries—I am Stark!"

To his dismay, most of the small shareholders raised their hands in agreement.

However, a few company elders, still loyal to Tony's father, abstained from voting.

For a moment, the vote stood at thirty-eight percent, not enough to pass the motion.

Obadiah then turned to the company elders, his expression hardening. "Do you really want to let this child continue destroying Stark Industries?"

"If Howard Stark could see what's happening to the company now, do you think he'd be happy or sad?"

"The only way to save Stark Industries is for me to take control, reopen the weapons division, and resume military contracts!"

Seeing the elders waver, he pressed on, "I promise, within a year, I'll restore Stark Industries' market value to $300 billion—or even higher!"

This promise made the elders' eyes light up, and they began raising their hands.

Although they had watched Tony grow up and had a deep affection for him, sentiment couldn't put food on the table.

Their one percent stakes were once worth $3 billion each, but now had plummeted to just $1 billion.

What sentiment could possibly be worth a $2 billion loss?

Seeing the elders raise their hands, Tony grew desperate.

"Uncle Nunez, Uncle Hidalgo, you can't do this! Stark Industries needs me—I'm the only one who can lead the company to greater heights!"

The two elders, both close friends of Howard Stark and now quite elderly themselves, looked at Tony but kept their hands raised.

"Tony, we know you're a good kid, but we have to make a living too."

"Yeah, Tony. With the stock price falling like this, I can barely keep my household running."

Before Tony could continue pleading, Obadiah spoke with triumph, "Forty percent versus thirty-nine. Tony, you're out. Please leave!"

Even though one elder had abstained from voting, the result was clear.

Tony turned his gaze to the final undecided elder. If he could secure that last one percent, it would be forty to forty—giving him a fighting chance.

But before he could speak, the elder turned away.

The message was clear: out of respect for Howard Stark, he wouldn't vote, but he wouldn't support Tony either.

Just as Tony was losing hope, Pepper suddenly stood up.

"Wait, there's another shareholder who hasn't participated in this meeting."

"Who?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D.!"

At the mention of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony's face lit up, remembering that the agency held five percent of Stark Industries' shares.

If they could secure S.H.I.E.L.D.'s support, they still had a chance.

Pepper quickly said, "I request a recess. Let's reconvene in thirty minutes!"

Now it was Obadiah's turn to look worried.

If S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened, it could change everything. All the promises he'd made to the small shareholders, all the concessions he'd given, would have been for nothing.

Desperate, Obadiah glanced at Luna, hoping she had a solution.

But Luna, still wearing her confident smile, merely nodded at him.

"Miss Potts' request is fair. But if the vote doesn't change after thirty minutes, I'm afraid it's game over."

Pepper shot Luna a glance but said nothing, leaving the room with Tony.

Once outside, Pepper immediately took out her phone to contact Agent Coulson.

"The number you have dialed is currently switched off..."

She was met with the message that the phone was turned off.

"Turned off?"

Pepper's unease grew, and she tried dialing again.

No matter how many times she called, Coulson's number remained unreachable.

Tony, watching Pepper frantically dial, asked, "What's going on?"

"His phone's off..."

"How could it be off at a time like this? Try again."

Just then, Luna walked out of the conference room, smiling at the pair.

"I heard someone filed a formal complaint against S.H.I.E.L.D. with the Security Council last night. If I'm not mistaken, they're probably being questioned right now."

S.H.I.E.L.D. was still in its early stages, far from the fully developed—and eventually compromised—organization it would become.

As such, it was still under strict supervision by the Security Council.

When S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, it was established to protect ordinary people from superhuman threats and advanced technology.

Additionally, S.H.I.E.L.D. was strictly prohibited from interfering in the affairs of ordinary citizens.

The formal complaint lodged the previous night had immediately drawn the attention and scrutiny of the Security Council, who were now questioning S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions.

Hearing this, Tony and Pepper's faces turned pale. Yet Pepper refused to give up and continued trying to reach Coulson.

But even thirty minutes later, she still couldn't get through. The board meeting resumed.

Once again, the vote mirrored the earlier result.

Tony and Pepper, heads bowed, looked like defeated roosters, their earlier confidence completely shattered.

Seeing this, Obadiah wasted no time in having security escort Tony out of the company. Without Tony's support, Pepper was also promptly dismissed from her position.

And so, Stark Industries entered an era under the control of Obadiah Stane.

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