Chapter 395: His Appreciation To Everyone

The applause continued as Gray stared at the stage.

"BOSS!"

"Speech!"

"Speech!"

"Speech!"

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose before finally standing up. The moment he did that, the cheering became even louder.

"WOOOO!"

"There he is!"

"Boss!"

Mara, who was left on the table was also laughing at him now and was joining the cheers too.

"Good luck," she whispered in the air before smiling widely at Gray.

Gray just shook his head as he walked right up to the stage. The emcee greeted him with a smile as she handed over the microphone.

Another round of applause followed as Gray stepped to the center. Under the bright lights, he looked out at the crowd.

There were hundreds of people looking back at him. For a brief moment, Gray became quiet as he thought of what to say. Then he smiled.

"Good evening, everyone."

"GOOD EVENING!" The response came back immediately.

Gray laughed at it, "That’s much louder than when I greeted you at work."

Because of it, the crowd burst into laughter.

"I should probably start every morning meeting on a stage from now on."

"No!"

"Please don’t!"

"Have mercy, Boss!"

More laughter followed as he joked around with the crowd. Even the executives at the front tables were smiling. Because of it, the atmosphere immediately became relaxed.

Gray shook his head before continuing.

"First of all... thank you all for coming tonight." His voice became a little more sincere so the employees were silent for a moment to let him speak.

"Honestly, when I first got this store, I never imagined we’d be having a celebration like this."

"A lot has happened this year."

"There were problems... Many problems, actually."

A few employees immediately laughed.

"Some of them gave me headaches while most of them gave Mara headaches," Gray muttered, which caused a wave of laughter again.

"But despite everything, we made it." His gaze slowly swept across the room.

"The store grew and the second branch opened too. We also welcomed new employees, and we met new partners."

"Somehow, every challenge that came our way was overcome." He paused briefly to show a big smile at everyone.

"It was not because of me, but because of all of you."

As Gray’s speech turned serious, the room became quiet again. The employees’ hearts swelled at his speech. It may start with joking and teasing them, but the words were something they didn’t expect to hear.

The employees felt much appreciated because of it.

"To every employee who worked early mornings, to every cashier who dealt with difficult customers, to every stock clerk who carried boxes until their backs hurt, to the managers who stayed to guide the employees, to Joel, to Mara, and to every person who contributed to this company..."

"Thank you."

A wave of applause spread throughout the venue. Some employees even stood up and cheered.

Gray smiled before looking toward the front of the tables.

"And to our suppliers and partner brands, thank you for believing in us. Some of you took chances on a small store that was still finding its footing."

"Without your support, many of our successes wouldn’t have been possible."

The suppliers and representatives applauded as well because of that.

Gray then turned toward Conrad’s table.

"And I’d also like to thank Mr. Conrad and his family."

Conrad immediately waved a hand, and the employees applauded again because of that.

"Without the opportunities and trust you’ve given me, our 2nd store wouldn’t be possibly." Conrad simply smiled proudly.

Gray looked around one final time. He invited 1 more family to come today, but they unfortunately had a prior engagement already. He felt as if this was already long overdue, but he just had to say it.

Gray looked at the camera before lowering his head for a moment. The venue gradually quieted as Gray took a minute.

"Actually, there is one more group of people I want to thank tonight."

The employees listened attentively at that. Their brows furrowed when they realized that their boss had gone serious this time.

Gray glanced toward the massive screen behind him before continuing.

"Some of you might not know this, but when I first became the owner of Riverside Grocery, I didn’t build this." Gray smiled faintly.

"In fact, the store wasn’t originally mine at all."

Confused murmurs spread through the crowd, it was only the executives who didn’t look surprised. At one of the tables, Joel could also be seen frowning, "Huh?"

"The original owner of Riverside Grocery was the Lancaster Family."

For a second, the entire venue became silent. The employees stared at him because of that. Many of the newer employees had absolutely no idea about that part of the company’s history.

"Looks like a lot of you didn’t know." Gray laughed softly at their reactions.

"You never told us!"

"Boss, what?!"

"Seriously?"

The surprised reaction of the people only grew stronger.

"Back then, I wasn’t a businessman. I wasn’t even rich. It was the Lancaster Family that gave me an opportunity that changed my life."

"So even though they couldn’t attend tonight, I still want to thank them."

For a moment, the venue remained quiet, then to break the silence, someone from a distance started clapping. The others quickly followed too. Soon the entire venue hall erupted into applause.

Because of it, the serious atmosphere instantly broke apart.

Looking at everyone cheering, Gray felt a warmth spread through his chest.

"Congratulations on an incredible year, everyone. Let’s make the next one even better." He lowered his head for a moment before returning the mic to the host, who quickly took it from him.

"It seemed like the employees here liked Mr. Gray so much!" He enthusiastically announced as he looked around.

The employees around made a few sounds as an answer that made everyone laugh.

"So now, are you guys ready to party?" The host asked out loud to set up the atmosphere AS Gray went down the stage. He made eye contact with a few executives. They exchanged a few smiles before he arrived back at his seat.

Mara was already waiting for him there with a huge grin on her face.

"Nice speech, boss." She teasingly muttered, which made her and Gray laugh.

Just like that, it was really the start of the event now.