Chapter 1055: Voting commence!

"With all the ballots now in this box, we’ll start the counting," Benjamin announced as he stood in the middle of the roundtable. "I, together with the chosen representative of the shareholders and from the board, will do the counting."

Benjamin briefly cast his eyes over everyone before continuing, "Let’s begin."

And just like that, the air quickly turned still and heavy. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, either leaning back or bending forward with their arms on the table. Their eyes never left the three people who would be reading the votes, not wanting anything to escape their notice.

This vote was crucial and could change a lot of things for Pierson Corporation.

"Nervous?" Zoren asked under his breath, sliding his eyes sideways to where Atlas was seated.

Atlas snapped his eyes up and cast him a sidelong glance. "Why would I?"

"I’m just worried. If this doesn’t go in our favor, you might be washing dishes at the restaurant."

"Mama needs a stricter system so they don’t always feel short-staffed."

"You’re going to wash dishes."

"That’s what they’re going to pay me for, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do more."

Zoren couldn’t help but chuckle. "Now that I can see you, it’s more amusing when you say things like this."

"Like... what, this?" Atlas turned his head fully to face Zoren this time, but the latter had already looked away. "I don’t like how you worded that."

Zoren decided not to speak anymore. He just kept smiling, a look that some of the people around the table were baffled to catch. Atlas, on the other hand, frowned and looked away.

"It’s going to turn out in our favor," Atlas said after a moment, earning a quick glance from his brother-in-law. "I don’t believe this board is foolish enough to miss this opportunity."

"You’d be surprised how greed can turn smart men foolish." Still smiling, Zoren set his eyes on Benjamin and the two others with him. "Even so... after everything that’s happened, a part of me still wants to believe in people."

That was all thanks to his wife and her family.

Atlas rocked his head and didn’t say anything further. Both men kept their attention on Benjamin as the latter took out the first ballot, announcing:

"The first vote... is a yes," Benjamin smiled and showed everyone the paper in his hand, turning around so everyone could see. "One vote for Mr. Atlas Bennet as Pierson Corporation’s Chief Operating Officer."

After placing the first ballot down, he picked the next one. As usual, the two others with him checked it first before Benjamin announced,

"A second yes for Mr. Atlas Bennet." Benjamin sighed with relief, repeating the process: turning around to show the proof before handing it to the board member and picking another.

"Third yes for Mr. Atlas Bennet..."

"... Fourth yes..."

"Fifth yes..."

As Benjamin took his time, making sure everyone saw what he was doing to avoid accusations of cheating, William’s lackeys grew nervous.

"Director William, this is the fifth yes — what’s going on?" a man whispered in panic, leaning toward William. "A few more, and it’s sealed the deal."

"Director William, we can’t let this continue...!"

"Sixth yes for Mister Atlas Bennet..."

Upon hearing that, William’s face hardened. He grasped his hands tightly in his lap, looking over at where Jonathan was seated. Since Jonathan wasn’t part of the board or shareholders, he was only allowed to sit on the sideline. Normally, Jonathan shouldn’t even be in the meeting room, as it was an important meeting and no outsider should be present. However, Zoren allowed him to stay to "experience" how such meetings unfold.

’Jonathan...’ William hissed internally, his eyes glowing red. ’You said you were going to do something about this! What’s going on? Why is everyone voting for Atlas taking the seat of the president?!’

Jonathan, seated on the sidelines, watched Benjamin slowly turn around to show everyone the ballot. He could sense William’s glares but didn’t return them. He simply acted as though he wasn’t aware, continuing his observation.

’What that lackey said earlier is true. Zoren Pierson must have been preparing for this,’he thought. ’Otherwise, how could he have gained such huge favor from both the board and the shareholders?’

A glint flickered in Jonathan’s eyes as he observed both Zoren and Atlas watching the situation unfold. His jaw tightened, secretly wondering why this wasn’t going according to his plan. Shifting his gaze to William and then the directors seated next to him, Jonathan exhaled heavily.

’In this lifetime, I focused on gaining the trust and favor of Zoren’s and Dean’s strongest supporters on the board in our first lives. Yet, surprisingly, Dean hasn’t made a move when he should have solidified his footing in the family,’he thought, his expression growing darker. ’And Zoren Pierson... he’s doing a lot more things than before.’

For a moment, Jonathan heard Benjamin announce another vote for Atlas. Silence followed quickly, making the air even more tense. Jonathan hung his head low, his face now shadowed.

Slowly, the corners of his mouth curled into a diabolical smirk, and his eyes gleamed with amusement.

’Amazing...’ he thought, biting his tongue to stop himself from bursting into laughter. ’Really... this is amazing!’

His shoulders trembled as he tried to suppress his laughter, running his fingers through his hair. When Jonathan pulled his head back, his eyelids drooped dangerously. His eyes slid to William, causing the latter to furrow his brows.

’I knew it,’ Jonathan thought, shifting his eyes back to Benjamin. He watched as Benjamin slowly took out another ballot, then smirked. ’All this time, I’ve been getting bored because everything feels like a repeat. Even if things happen differently because of one intervention, the result is always almost the same.’

But now...

The thought of uncertainty, the genuine curiosity about the hows and whys, mixed with a contradiction of anxiety and excitement, filled him with nothing but adrenaline. His heart raced, forcing him to take deep breaths.

Benjamin took out another ballot, his expression the same, or perhaps sharper. He raised it for everyone to see, just as he had with the last seven ballots.

"It seems... we’ve got our first no."