Chapter 77 No More Pretending 3

Chapter 77 Dropping the Act 3

77 Chapter Seventy-Seven

Dropping the Act 3

"...You make it sound like I've been abandoned by the whole damn world." Chu Mo snorted, breaking the slightly melancholic atmosphere, his voice firm and calm. "Besides, do you really think you can take on the whole damn world?"

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo, his gaze unwavering:

"I put every penny I had into stocks."

Chu Mo froze. "Every penny?"

Xie Songchen nodded. "Every penny we could invest from the company went in too."

For a newly appointed CEO like Xie Songchen, this was undoubtedly a reckless move.

What's more, Xie Songchen had missed Chu Mo's actual announcement at the press conference while focusing on stock market operations.

For him, buying those stocks was a total gamble.

Chu Mo felt a sudden dread.

Only now did he realize that this move was no different from tying Xie Songchen and himself to the same boat.

If the boat capsized, they'd both go down with it.

Yet Xie Songchen had jumped on board without a second thought.

Seeing Xie Songchen's smug, eager-for-praise look, Chu Mo shoved him away:

"Are you insane? I never told you to go all in! If you lose, I'll be paying you back till the next century!"

Xie Songchen immediately replied, "You don't have to pay me back. If I lose, I'll handle it myself."

At this, Chu Mo couldn’t help but say in surprise, "(laughs) When did you become such a gambler?"

Fortunately, the investment didn't fail—instead, it made Xie Songchen and his company a killing.

Xie Songchen looked at Chu Mo in silence.

After a pause, he said, "I'm not a gambler. I just want to stand by your side unconditionally."

Chu Mo collected himself and said to Xie Songchen, "I don’t need you to go to war with the world for me, nor do I need you to put so much on the line. I appreciate that you’re willing to help me."

Yet Xie Songchen looked downright crestfallen at this.

Clearly, the words "I don’t need" had cut deep.

Chu Mo's conscience pricked him.

The tall, handsome, impeccably suited CEO now resembled an eager golden retriever that had been rejected by its would-be owner.

"You don’t have to go to war with the world," Chu Mo said with a smirk as he looked at Xie Songchen. "Just help me take on the shareholders of Chu Group."

Xie Songchen snapped to attention. "How can I help?"

Chu Mo paused, then said, "Accompany me to meet Chu Yansheng—as my secretary and bodyguard."

Xie Songchen couldn’t help grinning when he heard he could be Chu Mo's secretary again.

"I can help you," Xie Songchen said, composing himself and speaking seriously. "But... I hope I can continue being your secretary in the future."

"What crazy talk is this?" Chu Mo asked in surprise. "You're a company owner now. How can you be my secretary?"

Xie Songchen fidgeted with his hair, hesitating for a moment before saying, "Why not? I just... I just want... want..."

Chu Mo frowned. "Want what?"

"Ahem," Xie Songchen coughed twice to cover his embarrassment. "I want to be someone who is always at your beck and call, centered around you, and able to help you."

"That doesn’t sound like a secretary. More like..."

Boyfriend.

The word was lodged in Chu Mo's throat. He suddenly realized the atmosphere between them had grown far too ambiguous.

So, Chu Mo quickly backtracked:

"Fine, then keep being my secretary."

Just like that, Chu Mo ignored the word "boyfriend" that had popped into his mind.

Xie Songchen was overjoyed and immediately went to the car, opening the door for Chu Mo:

"After you, President Chu."

Chu Mo chuckled.

He hadn’t expected Xie Songchen to be genuinely happy to serve as his secretary.

Twenty minutes later.

At the Chu Group's ouster meeting.

While all the shareholders were at each other’s throats over Chu Mo's actions, throwing the room into chaos, Chu Yansheng said darkly to the shareholders:

"It seems that brat may not hand over the pharmaceutical group to Chu Group. In that case, I suggest you vote in favor of dismissing Chu Mo first—use it as leverage to force him to compromise."

Chu Yun hadn’t expected Chu Yansheng to still try to stab his brother in the back, even after things had come to this point.

"You’ve got some nerve," Chu Yun snapped, unable to hold back. "Shouldn’t you have some sense of your place? The initiative has fallen to my brother now."

Of course, Chu Yansheng knew the initiative had completely fallen to Chu Mo.

But if he capitulated now, he would only lose his clout and standing in the board.

He couldn’t accept that.

"Chu Yun, I just want to respect all shareholders' opinions," Chu Yansheng said with a sanctimonious excuse. "Whether the shareholders allow Chu Mo to stay is their decision. We must respect democracy."

Chu Yun wasn’t so sure anymore.

Though Chu Mo had made an earth-shattering power play, the shareholders present were still Chu Yansheng’s people.

If they really listened to Chu Yansheng and voted to dismiss Chu Mo, all his efforts over the years would go down the drain.

The crowd below began casting their votes.

Just as Chu Yun grew anxious and pulled out his phone to text Chu Mo—

"Bang—"

A leather-shoed foot forcefully kicked open the conference room door.

A tall, imposing male alpha wearing sunglasses loomed in the doorway.

Chu Yansheng jumped and barked, "Who dares storm the conference room? Security, where are the guards?!"

Before he finished speaking, the figure behind the bodyguard slowly stepped forward.

Chu Mo strode into the conference room with calm composure, not one guard moved to stop him.

Chu Yansheng went rigid.

The entire room fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Then, Chu Mo's composed voice cut through the silence:

"Is the voting over?"

Chu Yansheng's face twisted.

But he stiffened his spine and said, "Chu Mo, storming in here—aren't you afraid the vote will be to remove you? You'll be the one left humiliated."

Few had ever challenged Chu Yansheng’s authority like this.

But after publicly revealing his research, Chu Mo seemed like a different person.

He glanced around the room, raised an eyebrow, and gave a mocking snort loud enough for all to hear:

"Then I’ll patiently await your voting results."

The only sound left in the room was the scratch of pens on paper.

After Chu Yansheng’s secretary tallied the votes, the notary announced the results for all to hear—

"Regarding the vote to remove Mr. Chu Mo from his positions as CEO and others... the results are as follows: 72 votes against, 1 in favor, and 3 abstentions."

The lone 'yes' vote came from Chu Yansheng himself.

Chu Yansheng's already unpleasant expression went purple with rage.

The thought that he had lost so much money setting up this scheme, only to fail in ousting Chu Mo and instead push the entire board to switch sides, made him see red.

But Chu Yansheng knew this wasn’t the time for an outburst.

The shareholders weren’t stupid—they all knew Chu Mo, with Original Track Pharma, was the golden ticket.

Whatever company landed Chu Mo would hit the big leagues.

Who would vote to remove such a CEO?

Chu Yansheng swallowed his pride. He said to Chu Mo, "I originally intended to adjourn the meeting, but we had to see this through. It seems everyone here backs you."

Chu Mo looked at Chairman Chu Yansheng with a blank expression.

There was no emotion in his eyes, only a knowing calm that saw through everything.

Under such a gaze, Chairman Chu Yansheng couldn’t keep up the charade.

His expression stiffened for a moment before he adopted a gentle tone and said,

"Xiao Mo, everyone hopes you’ll come back and continue serving as president of Chu Group."

Chairman Chu Yansheng wasn't lying.

Judging by the reactions in the room, most people wanted Chu Mo to return as president of Chu Group.

Hearing this, Chu Mo lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile.

But there was no joy in it.

Under everyone’s gaze, Chu Mo slowly spoke:

"Come back? When did I ever leave?"

Chairman Chu Yansheng immediately perked up and said, "Xiao Mo, I knew it! You must still care about Chu Group. After all, it’s your life's work..."

The shareholders were also overjoyed, whispering excitedly among themselves:

"I told you, President Chu could never walk away from Chu Group."

"With this, Original Track Pharma will belong to Chu Group. Our company is about to become the largest in the world."

"President Chu is, after all, Chairman Chu’s family. Family sticks together."

Xie Songchen stood to the side, puzzled by Chu Mo’s words.

Had Chu Mo really forgiven Chairman Chu Yansheng just like that?

Chu Yun was getting antsy. "Brother, are you really coming back just like this? Are you going to hand the company over to them?"

"What would you know, punk?!" Chairman Chu Yansheng glared at Chu Yun.

"What I mean is," Chu Mo stood before Chairman Chu Yansheng, a mocking smile playing on his lips, "I was never removed, so how can you say 'come back'? I’ve always been the president of Chu Group from the very beginning."

Chairman Chu Yansheng was struck speechless.

Theoretically, Chu Mo had indeed never left Chu Group.

Chairman Chu Yansheng gulped and slowly asked,

"Then... when will your Original Track Pharma be merged into Chu Group?"

Since Chu Mo still saw himself as president, Chairman Chu Yansheng assumed he must be willing to integrate Original Track into Chu Group.

"Well," Chu Mo paused, his voice dripping with implication, "I’ll have to discuss that with my team later."

Chairman Chu Yansheng went still.

Suddenly, he seemed to understand something but still had to ask, "So... why you're really here is..."

"That’s right," Chu Mo cut straight to the point, seeing that Chairman Chu Yansheng had guessed his intentions, "I came here today to see the results of the ouster vote. Of course, regardless of the result, my priorities going forward will be on the development of new drugs."

Chu Yansheng immediately became like a cat on a hot tin roof:

"Chu Mo, have you lost your mind? We're family! Besides Chu Group, which company would wholeheartedly wish Original Track Pharma well? They're all wolves and vultures, eager to carve up Original Track's profits, seize its control, and make their mark in history!"

"What they desire," Chu Mo stared into Chu Yansheng's eyes, measuring each word, "isn't that exactly what you desire too?"

Chu Yansheng was struck speechless.

He felt exposed.

But Chu Yansheng quickly masked his unease, using a sincere tone: "Chu Mo, the new drug is critically important. Everyone's watching you. You must make a cautious choice."

The shareholders were equally agitated.

With such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right before their eyes, how could they let it slip away?

All thought Chu Mo was merely acting out of spite.

Many had already jumped up angrily, beginning to berate Chu Yansheng:

"Chairman Chu, with all due respect—you owe Chairman Chu an apology."

"Such important business shouldn't be derailed by gender politics. It benefits no one."

"Only by securing control of Original Track Pharma can Chu Group achieve its greatest advantage."

Chu Yansheng, too, thought Chu Mo was acting out of anger. At this point, no matter how unpleasant his expression, he had no choice but to swallow his pride for the sake of Original Track Pharma's control.

"Xiao Mo, I was wrong." The typically proud and unyielding Chu Yansheng, for the first time ever, apologized to his son. "I shouldn't have tried to oust you over your gender, nor should I have done anything to hurt you."

Chu Yansheng looked at Chu Mo, took a deep breath, and slowly uttered three words:

"I'm sorry."

Even though Chu Yansheng had mentally prepared himself, apologizing to his son in front of so many people was still unbearable, making his voice thick with emotion.

Chu Mo had to respect Chu Yansheng.

In just one short hour, Chu Yansheng had changed his tune so completely.

Truly the man who had founded Chu Group all those years ago.

Chu Mo had underestimated Chu Yansheng's ability to stoop to conquer.

"I accept your apology," Chu Mo said calmly, looking at Chu Yansheng. "However, control of Original Track Pharma won't be transferred to Chu Group—at least not for now."

Chu Yansheng clenched his fingers, frowning. "What else do you want me to do? I'll make it up to you."

"You're mistaken. I don't need your compensation," Chu Mo replied unhurriedly. "Compared to a new drug that could change the course of humanity, nothing else matters."

With that single sentence, he silenced Chu Yansheng completely.

Beside the magnitude of Chu Mo's grand endeavor, Chu Yansheng's apology now seemed utterly laughable.

Before leaving, Chu Mo turned back to glance at Chu Yansheng, leaving behind just one sentence:

"From today onward, I am Chu Mo, the omega CEO of Chu Group."