Is this destiny?

~ Reno, Cox Industries, 17th floor conference room~

Eventually, even the most stubborn directors left, and besides Jeff and Oscar, in conference room was Timothy Cox and four other people.

Jeff analyzed internally. 'I have 81%, and it takes at least 3% ownership in order to join the board meetings. So, these people own at anywhere from 15% to 19% of the company.'

All five people looked at Jeff, expecting to hear what he will say next. They are shareholders. He can't just fire them. They invested their own money here!

Jeff took a seat and looked at them for some time before speaking. "I will assume that you are shareholders, and that each of you has at least 3% worth of stocks." He saw all of them nod, confirming his assumption. All of them, except for Timothy Cox who didn't move a muscle.

"You have two options. I can pay you off in the amount your stocks were worth yesterday at closing."

None of the people liked it. The stock value was at a lifetime low yesterday. If they accept this, they will lose a lot of money.

"What is the second option?" One of the four men asked.

"You walk away." Jeff's gaze settled on Timothy who didn't dare to look at him.

The man refused to acknowledge the obvious. He blinked few times hoping that he didn't hear Jeff right. "What does that mean?"

"You get up and walk away. Forget that you ever owned any shares of Cox Industries." Jeff observed all people looking at him as if he is growing horns and wings right in front of them. He stood up and smirked. "You have until noon. If I don't hear back from you, I will assume you are walking away." Jeff walked out in even and large strides; Oscar followed him.

"Where can we find you?" Another man asked with panic in his voice when Jeff was at the door.

"I will be in CEO's office." Jeff responded without slowing his steps.

The five men were left in silence. Four shareholders looked at Timothy Cox with a mix of hatred and maybe hope that he has some solution to their predicament. Their options seem to be reduced between a big loss and a complete loss. Of course, that they will not select a complete loss.

"What happened, Timothy?!" A shareholder who observed all this in silence asked. "Just what happened that in few days from millionaires we became nobodies? What did you do? How did you anger Jeffrey White?"

"Why do you think I did something?" Timothy spat back. He was angry. Angry that he is so helpless. Angry that all these people are complaining that they lost something, while he lost everything. That company was his, all of them just enjoyed in his shadow. And now Jeffrey came, and his shadow was gone.

"Only a fool will miss to see that this is personal." Man continued. "Jeffrey White destroys others for two reasons. One is profit and other is that you crossed him. Cox Industries is not big enough to attract him because of money. And we never did business with White corp. So, it must be the second reason."

Timothy didn't respond. He thought how his daughters made fools of themselves two nights ago and also dragged the whole family with them. 'Could that be the reason? Can he orchestrate all this in only two days? Or, to be more accurate, one business day?' That didn't make sense. Stock values are plummeting for days. Then he remembered that Lindsay targeted Jeffrey's fiancé in Country Club few weeks ago. He was not there, but he heard about the incident and then Lindsay confessed on that stage that she organized it… And he remembered numerous occasions when his wife staged opportunities for Lindsay and Scarlet to meet with White sons.

Man saw that Timothy is in thoughts and shook his head in disapproval. He stood up and faced other three shareholders. "I'm going to meet with Jeffrey White. I want to get at least some of my money back. You have under one hour to decide for yourself." He threw a condemning glance at Timothy and left.

It didn't take long for other three men to head to CEO office and do their best to cut their losses. Timothy was left in the conference room, zoned out.

Security came in the conference room and gave him a warning to go to his office and get his things. Timothy looked at the time, it was 12:15. If he wanted to get any money from Jeff, it was too late. But he had a suspicion that even if he went on time, he would just suffer humiliation and not get his money back.

Timothy looked at two security guards. They greeted him at the entrance with smiles many times before. Now they were stern. 'To get my things from my office… CEO office… that is where Jeffrey is!!!' He didn't want to meet with Jeff. And in that office was nothing so important that he wants to risk meeting Jeffrey. He stood up and left the building.

~ Reno, Cox family villa ~

Shortly after, Timothy reached home. A grand villa on a generous lot, meticulously landscaped. But he didn't see any beauty as he dragged himself into the living room. He poured himself a glass of whiskey from the wet bar and downed it in one go.

His wife, Stacey entered the room when he was pouring himself a second glass. She was anxious. She does not know much about the business, but she heard that for last few days stock values of their company are going down and that shareholders are selling them like they are hot potato. Even they put most of their stocks for sale. And that can't be good.

"How was it?" She asked after he downed a second glass.

Timothy shook his head in defeat. "We lost the company."

"Company is gone?!" She screamed in disbelief. "How about the money? We have the money, right?"

Timothy frowned. "Yes, yes… all the money is in the offshore account." There was a small smirk on is face when he thought that even though Jeff targeted him, he can't touch this account. Even government can't touch that money.

Lindsay and Scarlet heard their parents and came to take a look. They didn't have much to do anyway. Since that party two nights ago, they didn't leave their house. And it didn't seem that they will leave the house anytime soon. They found their parents in the living room.

"Are you sure you didn't put the money somewhere else?" Stacey squinted.

"What does that mean?" Timothy was frowning.

"It means that I checked balance on that account, and the money was transferred last night." Stacey looked at Timothy who was staring at her, frozen. "Why are you not reacting? Pretending you don't know? If you don't, check for yourself. But I expect answers!"

Timothy got his phone, and frantically typed on it for some time while his face was losing color. He made a phone call to the offshore bank and walked away to his study.