Chapter 323 - The Arrogant Subordinate
Lucas looked at him sympathetically and sighed without saying a single word.
In fact, Lucas was in awe of William's ability to tolerate Karen's detestable character for so many years.
If he were in William's shoes, he would have long left Karen because he couldn't stand her at all. He would rather live alone than continue living with a horrid woman like her.
But no matter what, Karen was still Cheyenne and Charlotte's biological mother, so Lucas naturally wouldn't persuade William to divorce her.
"Ah, forget it. Let's stop talking about her. The mention of that woman makes me feel terrible. I'm going to go to the office to take a look," William said.
The company he was referring to was naturally the Orange County branch of the Solar Corporation, which Lucas had him manage some time ago.
The Orange County branch of the Solar Corporation originally belonged to the Brookes from LA. But Aston and Andrew had previously transferred 49% of the shares of the Orange County branch to Lucas in order to gain his support while feigning allegiance to him. In exchange, they wanted an opportunity to expand their family business in Orange County.
Later on, the Brookes repeatedly committed acts of betrayal against Lucas, which ultimately led to their fall. Lucas then acquired all of the businesses formerly owned by the Brookes at market price, which naturally included the Orange County branch of the Solar Corporation.
But after Lucas acquired this company, he didn't have enough manpower to spare for managing it, so he had no choice but to let William take on the role of the general manager and be fully in charge of all affairs related to the company in Orange County. Lucas hadn't even gone to the company to take a look yet, not even once.
Hearing that William wanted to go and take a look at the office, Lucas thought about it and decided to go with him.
On the one hand, he wanted to send William there. On the other hand, he also wanted to see for himself the current operation and situation of the company.
After all, William had just taken over the responsibility of managing the company a few days ago, and most of the current employees had been working there even before Lucas acquired it. He wondered if they would have any dissatisfaction or refusal to obey William's orders.
The Solar Corporation office building was only a short distance away from Golden Garden Estate, so it only took them a ten-minute drive to get there.
Lucas followed William into the office building, which had rather grand and presentable decor.
"Hey, aren't you the new general manager of our company, Mr. Carter? You're actually at the office today. Pigs can fly! I heard that you fell sick and were hospitalized, right? You recovered so soon!"
Just as the two of them stepped into the office, they heard a sarcastic remark.
Lucas turned around and saw a middle-aged man in his forties with a huge beer belly speaking to William with contempt and derision.
"Hah, Mr. Carter has someone powerful backing him up. Even if he continues being on medical leave for a long time, he'd still be our general manager. Such treatment isn't something we hardworking employees can enjoy!" Another middle-aged man with a gaunt and long face was standing beside the man with the beer belly.
Lucas had sharp eyesight, and he saw at a glance the metal nameplates on both of their chests. The words 'Deputy General Manager: Adrian Hill' were on the nameplate of the middle-aged man with the beer belly. While on the thin middle-aged man with a long face were the words 'Directory of the Business Department: Jimmy Brown'.
Lucas immediately frowned.
Both of them were obviously senior executives of the Solar Corporation branch in Orange County. But they were both very sarcastic and snide when speaking to William, even though he was the general manager. They didn't show him the slightest respect and even displayed a lot of animosity toward him.
Their voices were rather loud when they were mocking William, so many people in the office area suddenly turned over to look at them.
William's face turned sullen.
Lucas had given him full authority to manage the company. But when Lucas came to inspect the operations of the office for the first time, he was greeted with this distasteful scene of William being publicly humiliated by his subordinates.
It not only meant that William didn't hold any significant authority in the company, but it also reflected the disorderly management of the company. Strictly speaking, it was considered William's dereliction of duty.
William took a glance at Adrian Hill and Jimmy Brown before looking at the other employees in the office, who were looking at them with peculiar gazes. He ordered sternly, "All of you, stop what you're doing immediately and gather in the conference hall on the first floor! I have something to say!"
After hearing William's order, all the employees didn't get up immediately as ordered. But instead, they subconsciously turned to look at the deputy general manager, Adrian, to see what he intended for them to do.
Adrian said nonchalantly with a smug expression, "Mr. Carter, it's unfortunate that I happen to have an appointment with a client at this time. I'll give your meeting a pass! In addition, I advise you to give notice at least a few days in advance when you decide to hold a meeting again. Who has the time to attend your impromptu meeting?"
Then he scanned his surroundings.
"Mr. Carter, I'm sorry, but I have an errand to run, so I have to be out of the office. I'll have to miss your meeting!" Jimmy, the director of the business department, said with a smile on his long face.
"That's right! The next time you want to hold a meeting, please inform all of us in advance. Such an impromptu meeting is really disrupting our work rhythm!"
"Haha, Mr. Carter doesn't even care about the situation of the company. He obviously doesn't give a hoot about whether your work rhythm is disrupted or not! Our lives are so hard. We get so overwrought and caught up with working every day, but we still have to attend some nonsensical meeting! Who has time for that?!"
"Exactly! I happen to have an important project to follow up on. I won't be attending the meeting either."
...
All of a sudden, several senior executives of the company declined to attend the meeting and even wanted to leave the office altogether. The remaining employees looked around to observe the situation and stayed silent while feigning ignorance.
"All of you, shut up!" William suddenly hollered and immediately told all of them to stop in their tracks. Everyone turned to look at him.
William was so enraged that his face was flushed. Although he knew that many of the long-tenured employees of the company ostracized him and would obey his instructions perfunctorily without actually putting them into action, he didn't expect them to be so disrespectful to him. It was a blatant insult to him!
If he couldn't find a way to subdue them today, he wouldn't have the cheek to call himself the general manager again from now on, for he had no power or authority and was getting trampled on by everyone. What a huge joke he would become!
"Haha, what's the matter? Mr. Carter, are you going to put on airs as the general manager in front of us?" Adrian sneered. What he meant was that he didn't take William seriously at all, even though he was the general manager.