The Bad Guy's Card

The first ray of morning light lit up the blue sky. Kieran came out of the main door, a set of bodyguards behind him, and they took an elevator to the highest floor.

No one other than him could come here... because the floor is mainly to keep the vault safe. A few days ago, a helicopter had airlifted it and placed it right through an openable ceiling.

The armed soldiers by the vault's door bowed as Kieran walked in. Kieran said a random word through a mic by the wall... and the door hummed open. For security purposes, a voice-recognition AI had been installed there such that only Kieran could gain access inside... just as only Zyn could drive her Pagani.

In the aftermath, Kieran unlocked the smaller safe to take a look at the documents inside. He just grew curious this morning, about how many things he had in his possession, how many buildings.... how many properties.

And would there be a loose end he had to take care of? Curiosity is a dangerous thing, they say.

Just as he unlocked the safe, a hand holding its door open, a beep came from behind. And Kieran spun his head backwards at the intercom... where his spectacled P.A. appeared on.

"Good morning, Mr Holland," Amanda greeted, her tiny voice emanating from the intercom speaker.

"Let her in, Vanta," Kieran mumbled, turning back to the safe.

"Sure, Mr Holland," the artificial intelligence replied.

The door slid wide open, and Amanda's heel hit against the marble floor. She stood behind Kieran, who stepped away from the safe with a bulk of documents in hand.

Amanda bowed, a file held closely to her waist. "Hello, Mr Holland. How was your night, sir?"

"All right," Kieran replied bluntly.

Maybe because of watching his friends' breakdown yesterday, or just getting out of bed, Kieran seemed a little sour. Not as energetic as you randomly see him on a nice afternoon. And Amanda noticed that too.

She reported nonetheless, "Mr Gregory's team sent an email this morning to schedule a call with you. I'm not sure you're free to talk with anyone now... but it seemed quite important."

Kieran looked back at her. "Make a call through."

"Oh, alright. One sec, sir," Amanda quickened to pull out her phone, pressed some buttons, and handed the phone over to Kieran.

The phone beeped for a few seconds before a female voice came on.

"Stanley Reymolds here. Miss Amanda, is that right?"

Kieran politely said, "Please hand over the phone to Mr Gregory. Tell him Mr Holland wants to speak with him..."

"Oh, right on the way, sir!" Stanley replied immediately. Kieran could hear the drumming of heels against the floor, so he knew this lady wasn't just rushing to deliver his message.

She was doing it out of respect and an overwhelming realisation. In a few seconds, she reported that she was handing the phone over to Gregory.

The husky, old man's voice came, "Hey, Mr Holland. Guess you had a nice night."

Kieran chuckled, turning to open the first file – Holland's Car Manufacturing Firm.

"Do you also have to sound so formal when talking to me?" Kieran joked. "I appreciate casualness more."

"Oh no, you're the boss..." Gregory flattered him, "... almost the boss."

Kieran raised his brows.

Gregory cleared his throat, the rustling of his clothes creeping through the speaker as he turned in his seat. "The board of shareholders have concluded to have their first meeting with you on Tuesday. Three days from now."

Kieran's heart pounded momentarily. Where did that sudden panic come from?

"Keep in mind not to do anything out of the way or act not like the man you are. Because, they have the right to reject you as the successor," Gregory warned.

Kieran smirked. "What's there to warn about, Mr Gregory? If they reject me, that turns the ball in your favour."

"Oh no, kid... This old man is already tired," Gregory declared with a chuckle. "In a nutshell, just get yourself prepared for Tuesday. Amanda will guide you through the process."

Kieran sighed. He nodded a couple of times, trying so hard to show he was alright inside... but his reaction was still sluggish. He was nervous. The call ended seconds later... but Kieran's panic was still there. Scared to mess things up, scared to become the unworthy heir.

Amanda opened the file in her hand right away. Clearly, she knew what she was here for, to have brought the file along in the first place.

"Could you please spare me a minute of your time, sir?" she asked, though not looking up from the page. Kieran turned to her. "I will give you a basic briefing of everything.

A company has a set of people who own different parts of the stock... companies like Netbury and so on. By stock, I mean percentages of the organisation's net worth. Those people are called shareholders and the one who owns the biggest shares is the CEO."

Kieran nodded. Amanda handed over the file to him, where there were pictures of men and women who exuded charisma, authority even at first sight. Kieran recognised most of them from the TV - the shareholders of Holland Corporations.

"... But a business empire deviates from a company for two things. One is that multiple companies exist under an empire, up to hundreds, where the empire's leader buys shares in all those companies.

If you can just see it as a bird having many wings, it would be easier to grasp. So, buying shares in the companies gives you the full authority in the whole empire..."

Kieran asked, "... You mean to say the empire is like a combination of many companies? Thus, different products are produced too."

Amanda nodded in agreement.

"That's correct, sir. The Holland Corporations have roughly six hundred shareholders, and that's the number of products produced too. The second largest shareholder is Mr Allan Martinez, with 10% number of shares...

That's two hundred billion dollars out of two trillion total shares of the empire. So, he's influential there as well, and here's why your 30% shares alone might not be enough..."

The vault was silent, save for Amanda's voice.

"If, on Tuesday, you fail to prove to the board of shareholders you're competent enough, they will cast votes... And trust me, whichever side Mr Allan Martinez goes wins. He had the most influence after the formal Mr Holland. More than the new Mr Holland, who's you, sir."

Kieran rubbed his chin in contemplation, stepping closer to Amanda. As the thoughts kicked in, he asked her right away,

"Don't you think the easiest way to win their interest is to build a bond with Alan Martinez?"

Amanda, with the ever-robotic reaction, nodded.

"Yes, Mr Holland," she agreed. "But that is not happening."

Kieran frowned. "Why?"

"It will take more than three days to impress him and not even in the conference room. He would hardly intervene in the discussion, but you for one will know he's controlling everyone," Amanda clarified things.

She let the words sink in before saying,

"There's a better plan, Mr Holland. The bad guy's card."

A silly grin spread across Kieran's face. Then he mumbled, "I'm not sure, but I once watched a reel. Playing the bad guy in a corporation... could be like getting the blueprints of some of the investors' products. Um?"

"Exactly, sir."

Kieran chuckled with a sense of accomplishment. He might not be as educated as those who graduated from college, but he for one knew the world isn't an easy place. The shareholders fight for their profits and also form alliances. Playing the bad guy's card is quite a safe move then.