She wasn't wrong that I managed over a dozen major enterprises. But those operations had long since stabilized. Aside from a handful of critical decisions that still required my involvement, they practically ran themselves.
It was this company, the smallest one in my portfolio, that had been underperforming for years despite every effort.
That was exactly why I'd been showing up here almost every day, inspecting the factory floor, studying market conditions, trying to figure out where the problem was.
Now I finally knew.
The rot was coming from the inside.
"Are you coming or not?"
"Let me spell it out for you. Once my family gets into this company, every single one of them will outrank you. If you don't start kissing up to me now, you'll regret it later."
I listened to Maureen Fox's threats and bribes from the other end of the line, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"What a coincidence. I've never been the type to kiss up to anyone. Since your family is so well-connected, figure out your own ride home."
I hung up.
Maureen must have been seething, because a string of messages came through almost instantly:
"You're a factory floor grunt and you have the nerve to talk back to me?"
"Just wait."
"I'm not just going to have my cousin fire you. I'm going to have you blacklisted from the entire industry!"
I stared at the messages and was genuinely speechless.
I ran over a dozen companies. My net worth cleared ten billion dollars. And here I was, being threatened with career destruction by an intern.
If word of this ever got out, my friends in the business world would laugh at me for a solid year.
But Maureen's arrogance wasn't what actually concerned me.
It was her cousin.
A single HR director shouldn't have had that kind of reach. Which meant the rot inside the company had already spread to the upper ranks.
With that thought, I sent a message to Vice President Gallagher:
"Send out a notice. Tomorrow morning at nine, I'm holding a company-wide meeting. All employees must attend. No exceptions, no leave requests."
The message barely went through before Desmond replied:
"Understood, Mr. Henson."
The next morning, I drove to the office as usual.
The moment I stepped out of my car, I spotted Maureen standing at the front gate with her arms crossed over her chest.