'Unexpected variable'

"If there are no objections, let us begin." Valerie said, her red eyes sharply fixed on every one of them.

They darted their eyes aside subtly and looked rather anxious. From what they had been hearing, Valerie was no different from a puppet chairlady, and Stewart was the actual one running the company.

They probably thought she was a pushover simply because she wasn't taking charge of matters and simply enjoying her blissful married life.

"I believe," Valerie spoke up once more, this time piercing into their desires more sharply. "...I said we could commence this meeting. Or does anyone have a complaint?"

Silence followed and she closed her eyes, signing softly.

Yeah, she was no pushover. She acted the Villainess once; of course, she could act it again.

They finally commenced the meeting, starting with the risk and falling of the company's stocks, the problem with subsidiary companies, and how to handle them.