Chapter 12 One Condition

• If Mrs. Brigham, Mitchel, or anyone else had called, Austin would have deliberately made things difficult by having them personally come and drive him over to the office.
• However, since Deborah was the one who had made the call, naturally, he would not make matters awkward for her.
• He changed and called for a cab, then departed straight away for the Brigham Corporation headquarters.
• From Venom Snake, he had learned who Mr. Sawyer was.
• The esteemed secretary whom the Brigham family respected so highly was none other than Cheetah from the Southern Continent, who had doggedly followed Austin and idolized him.
• In order to deter the new city from making too much of a mess of things, the upper management had sent some experienced individuals over from the Southern Continent and strategically stationed them in various departments.
• Would any of these individuals from the Southern Continent fail to respect the King?
• Even if Austin had decided to take his time coming to the office, leaving Cheetah waiting for an entire day, Cheetah would not dare to complain.
• Half an hour later, Austin arrived at the Brigham Corporation headquarters and made his way to the conference room.
• When the junior members of the Brigham family saw Austin, the displeasure and disgust on their faces was evident.
• They still thought that Austin was a useless good-for-nothing who was simply riding on Richard's success in establishing the Brigham Corporation. That had to be why Mr. Sawyer asked for him by name.
• If not, why would such a prominent secretary specifically ask for him to be present to discuss collaboration between the two parties and sign the agreement?
• Mr. Sawyer was literally handing Austin an enormous piece of good fortune.
• "Hey Austin, your ego must really be over-inflated, making Mr. Sawyer and Grandma wait such a long time for you," Mitchel sneered. In his eyes, Austin was less than nothing. He never missed a chance to discredit Austin whenever he saw an opportunity to do so.
• "This good-for-nothing’s learned how to put on airs and graces at crucial points, it seems. He really thinks he’s somebody," Leah commented with a snide smile.
• "He can still procrastinate at such an important event; he really can’t distinguish between urgent matters and ordinary ones. He’s certainly not going to be somebody with that sort of attitude."
• "He’s all puffed up in his own esteem, making Mr. Sawyer wait for so long."
• Deborah felt indignant on Austin’s behalf when she heard all these catty remarks.
• She was well aware that it was no small feat to arrive at the office in merely half an hour if one were coming from the Wright residence, especially if there was traffic on the way.
• "Since you’re finally here, Austin, go ahead and discuss the project with Mr. Sawyer, then sign the agreement as soon as possible," Mrs. Brigham remarked expressionlessly after giving Austin a mere passing glance.
• At this crucial point, she just wanted Austin to sign the agreement with Mr. Sawyer as quickly as he could without complicating matters further.
• Once the agreement was signed and the Brigham Corporation had landed the project, Mitchel and the others could humiliate Austin however they chose. She would not bother to intervene.
• As far as she was concerned, Austin was not fit to be part of the Brigham Corporation.
• When Cheetah saw that the King of the Southern Continent had arrived, his gaze kindled slightly, but he did not say anything. After all, he had once been this man’s faithful follower.
• If these people had not been the King’s family, Cheetah would have lost his temper long ago.
• How dare they humiliate the King of the Southern Continent!
• "This current collaborative project involves demolition and relocation, as well as rebuilding. You can look over the agreement first; if there are no issues, you can just sign your name, and we'll consider it done." Cheetah stood up and pushed the documents on the conference table toward Austin.
• Everyone present, including Mrs. Brigham, stared at the agreement, their eyes burning with greed.
• As far as they were concerned, this agreement was akin to a gold mine.
• They could not wait for it to be signed.
• Austin, however, was not in a hurry. Calmly, he picked up the documents and rapidly scanned through them.
• There was nothing problematic that he could see; in fact, the Brigham Corporation would benefit considerably.
• This had to be the work of the upper management. They had added in those benefits for his sake.
• If this had been another firm, there would certainly be significantly fewer benefits.
• "Austin, if there’s nothing problematic about the agreement, you can just go ahead and sign it," Mrs. Brigham prodded.
• She could hardly wait. If she had been in Austin’s shoes, she would not have bothered to go through all the documents; she would have signed on the dotted line immediately.
• The Brigham Corporation would flourish after this.
• "Grandma, I can certainly sign the agreement, but only on one condition," Austin replied with calm determination, looking over at Mrs. Brigham.
• "What is it?" Mrs. Brigham inquired, frowning.
• The Brigham Corporation had been Richard's brainchild. Since Austin was Richard's illegitimate son, the old woman had already anticipated that he might make some demands.
• However, this caused her a certain amount of displeasure.
• Austin was taking advantage of the situation to try and control the family!
• "So that’s it, he has ulterior motives!" Leah gave a mocking laugh.
• "I want forty percent of the Brigham Corporation’s shares," Austin stated calmly.
• Mrs. Brigham was utterly taken aback at this.
• She had expected Austin to set some very high demands, but she never dreamed he would ask for the lion's share like this.
• "Grandma, I am completely opposed to this!" Mitchel was the first to object, having immediately been thrown into a panic.
• In just a few days, he was certain to inherit the Brigham Corporation. However, Austin's demand for forty percent of the company's shares, together with the shares that Richard had left him, meant that Austin would practically control the firm!
• Naturally, Mitchel was the first to find this unacceptable.
• Only now did he realize that he had seriously underestimated Austin. All along, he had thought Austin was merely a useless good-for-nothing when, in reality, the man had been waiting for the right moment to strike.
• He was truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
• "Austin's far too ambitious. We can't agree to his demands, no matter what," Daniel snapped.
• "I object as well!"
• …
• In an instant, all the junior members of the Brigham family began objecting to Austin’s proposal.
• As far as they were concerned, it was completely unacceptable for someone outside the Brigham family to gain the majority of the company’s shares.
• If Austin did get the shares he asked for and became the head of the Brigham Corporation, their comfortable existence in the company would come to an abrupt end. They would no longer be able to skim off funds from the Corporation.
• The Corporation’s executives, however, did not raise any objections.
• Given what they had seen of Mitchel, he did not have the ability to lead the Brigham Corporation at all.
• Rather than let Mitchel ruin the company, they would rather put their trust in Austin.
• No matter what, Austin was still Richard’s illegitimate son. It was inconceivable that he would conduct himself as brainlessly as Mitchel.
• Meanwhile, Deborah stood quietly in the conference room, watching Austin. He was utterly calm and unruffled, and she felt a frisson of delight.
• You stood firm when everyone else humiliated you, bullied you, scolded you, and laughed at you. It turns out you’d already made plans and thought them through thoroughly.
• The truth was that Austin had continuously monitored the Brigham Corporation’s development over the last four years, despite being stationed in the Southern Continent.
• After Richard's death, the firm had continued to progress, but at a much slower pace. In fact, it had come to where it was now stagnant.
• Not only that, the internal structure of the Corporation was exceedingly corrupt.
• The parasites in the Brigham family had found every way possible to skim funds from the company’s finances. They would not bother at all if any problems arose in the Brigham Corporation.
• If these individuals continued to control the company, the Brigham Corporation would not progress very far even if they did land this major project, and the entire company would experience a decline in the future.
• Richard’s dream had been for the Brigham Corporation to become a leading enterprise in the field.
• Austin would not allow these parasitical individuals in the Brigham family to destroy his father’s legacy.
• Therefore, even if he was not acknowledged as part of the Brigham family, he still wanted control of the Brigham Corporation so it could soar to greater heights.
• As for the Brigham Corporation, if they wished to land this major project, they would have to agree to Austin’s demands whether they liked it or not. They had no choice in the matter.
• Mrs. Brigham was an extremely shrewd woman who considered everything carefully. She would not have been able to steer the Brigham Corporation to its current standing if she were incompetent.
• She gave the matter some consideration, then replied, "I can agree to give you forty percent of the shares just like you asked, but I won't give you your father's thirty percent yet. You've only just come back and you haven't had any experience with business. Once you've undergone a period of training and can stand on your own, I’ll surrender the remaining shares to you."
• Mrs. Brigham’s voice rang through the room. No one spoke; instead, they all turned to look at Austin.
• Everybody knew that the length of the training period Mrs. Brigham had mentioned was entirely up to her discretion.
• However, agreeing to hand over forty percent of the company’s shares was already a compromise. Everything else was non-negotiable.