Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 155: What Might Be

Chapter 155: What Might Be

The fall of Olaf Group was swift and devastating. In fact, if Derek had not been there to witness it himself, he would not have believed it. The whole thing’d had a snowball effect.

First, there had come the news of all the deaths that had occurred during the CEO of Olaf Group’s party.

And then after that bombshell, there had come the discovery that some of the attendees at the party had been underage. And not only had they been underage, they had been taking part in adult activities, which was bad enough. But the final nail in the coffin had come when a recording clearly showing the CEO of Olaf Group specifically ordering that there be children at his adult-only party, as per request of one of the attendees had been leaked.

The whole thing had just fallen apart so quick that there was no chance of recovery whatsoever. Even the clients that had been willing to stand the heat of being associated with a company whose CEO had blood on his hands, had not been able to take the additional charges. In just a matter of days, Olaf Group had gone from being a competitor of Haven Group’s to a fossil. Something now spoken of in the past tense. In fact, a fossil was a kind word for what Olaf Group had become.

They were nothing now, and all that it had taken to bring them to that state. Was putting a spoiled rich kid who had never known a day’s work in his life at the helm. Savanté Olaf had literally destroyed his family’s legacy in just a few hours. Over a hundred years of hard work obliterated. It was sad to see, but even though Derek felt bad for them-not for Savanté, but for his predecessors who had worked hard to build Olaf. And for the people who knew nothing about what was going on, the people who had depended on Olaf group for their income. That was who he felt bad for. But even so, he had to do what was best for Haven.

Thanks to Savanté’s awful leadership, and lack of morals, Olaf Group had fallen. But while others were rejoicing, Derek was not. Sure, like any CEO worth his salt, he was leading the charge in winning over as many of Savanté’s former clients as possible. But he was not finding it as funny as the other CEOs were.

While the other CEOs were taking obvious pleasure in the fall of Olaf, Derek was more reserved, because for him he was not just seeing the fall of another company, he was seeing what had the possibility of coming to be at Haven Group.

His uncle and Savanté Olaf had similar personalities, and Derek was under no illusions that had there been a mistake in the past, and his uncle been allowed to take charge of Haven Group, they would have long been turned to dust, bled dry by his uncle’s various scandals.

It was a scary thing to think about.

Despite being passed over thrice for the position of CEO, his uncle still held out hope, and was constantly scheming, trying to get ahead, looking for ways to get Derek ousted from the position so that he could take over.

As though some higher being out there were listening in on Derek’s thoughts about his uncle. He was given even more of a reason just why it would be very bad to have his uncle take over Haven Group. It was Emily who brought him the news. Apparently she had heard his uncle’s PA on the phone.

Sebastian had gotten himself into a situation. It seemed that the man had gone to a club, as he loved doing, and he had gone home with a girl that he met there. And now the girl was alleging rape and telling him to pay up, otherwise she would go to the police and report him.

"Are you sure?" Derek asked Emily. And she sighed. "I wish I was not," She told him. "But Lucas happened to mention her name and I looked the girl up myself. It seems that this is her modus operandi. Do you remember that basketball player a few years ago? The one who got caught up in that whole sex scandal, that ended his career?" Derek nodded.

How could he forget they had been seriously considering bringing the young man over to their basketball team, but they’d had to let it go when the scandal had broken. "The woman that your uncle went home with is associated with the woman who accused the basketball player. They are a network that specifically targets and extorts the rich. They even go as far as stealing sperm from their victims,"

Rubbing at his eyes, Derek gave Emily a look. It was Thursday morning and they had finished wrapping up the Olaf group case. Now it was up to departments like HR, and PR to handle everything else. They had been so close, so close, to finally going to see if being in each other’s presence would allow them to sleep. But his uncle seemed to have some sort of supernatural ability to just ruin Derek’s plans.

" What are the chances that you and I will get to give this sleep thing a try in our lifetime?" He asked, not even shocked by how tired he sounded.

Emily shrugged, giving him a sorrowful look. "So long as your uncle stays alive, slim to none. And given that people with his type of personality live on the misery of others in spite alone, I do not see him kicking the bucket before the age of hundred. Plus even in death, I am sure he would find a way to be a nuisance,"

A sad state of affairs indeed. With a sigh, Derek reached over for his phone and called the company lawyers. On his second call, he summoned his uncle, the man having the nerve to insult Derek over the phone before coming into the office huffing and puffing like he was about to blow the building down.

What followed was hours of tense negotiations, not made difficult because they did not have a way forward, but made nearly impossible because his uncle was refusing to budge on anything.

"I do not need you cleaning up after me," The man said. "I can handle this myself," He bluffed, looking for all the world like a petulant child instead of the adult he claimed to be. Too tired to even yell, Derek looked at his uncle. "And just how do you plan to do that, Uncle Sebastian? Are you going to keep paying her until she goes away? Do you really think people like that ever stop?"

Instead of answering his uncle snarled. As always, he was thinking of himself and not of the company that so many relied on.

His ego was at stake. Ego, that was all it was for him.

The lawyers had a clear, concise plan. They were going to take the girl to court for blackmail, clean her out, and make sure that she never tried it again. But his uncle was refusing because he did not want anyone to know that he had been duped in such a manner. His patience running thin, Derek looked over at Emily, whether it was for moral support or for input, or for supernatural strength, he had no idea. But in the end, that look saved Derek, because Emily spoke up.

"Why do we not go a different route? I am pretty sure that she’s expecting for one of two things to happen, either we take her to court, or your uncle continues paying her. How about we do neither of that? There were pictures taken that night, right?" Emily said, addressing Derek’s uncle directly.

The man looked as though he had stepped on something nasty, unable to comprehend the fact that Emily, somebody whom he regarded as lower than himself, had the gall to look him in the eye and speak her mind. It almost made Derek want to smile, but he was too tired, his head aching from all of the stress that he had been under that week, not to mention the lack of sleep.

In the end, his uncle settled for a nod and Emily pushed forward. "Good. Take those pictures and share them online. Nothing too racy, nothing too suggestive. Just enough information to show that you were with her and you are not ashamed that you were. This way, we build a case in your favor. We get people to see that the two of you were together. It will look better if she does decide to go to court,"

"This way it will not just be her word against yours, it will be the two of you coming with differing accounts of what happened. And if you show that you are not ashamed to have been in her presence, then there will be more people likely to believe your story,"

She was right. Emily was absolutely right. Derek had to resist the urge to get up, hug her and spin her around like he had done at the diner. They had an audience, it would not be professional. Before his uncle could find a reason to complain, Derek took charge.

"Good, we will go with that. Call PR, we are going to make this as squeaky clean as possible," He said. Effectively ending the meeting with his uncle and the lawyers.

To be honest, Derek had expected the meeting to drag on for longer. But it had not. In fact, there were still a few hours left before the end of Thursday’s work hours.

Which meant that, sleeping together that night was still a possibility.