MTLNOVEL Chapter 216: Gasoline to Fire
After he was done with that, Darren set out a time for his luxurious shopping. He made a list of high end boutiques, real estate agencies and vehicle dealerships. He sent a list to Rachel for her to compile a pricing and options draft.
Then, he headed to the meeting room to meet with her and the rest of his employees who he had given various objectives to complete.
Today, they were to submit their reports.
Inside the meeting room, there was a buzz of low conversation as the executive team assembled, each of them with a portfolio or laptop before them, their faces sharp with focus. The air, cooled by a seamless ventilation system, hummed faintly under the white office lights.
Shortly after, before they could start conversing, Darren entered the room, walked straight and sat at the head of the table, his charcoal suit impeccable, silver cufflinks glinting.
They all quietly acknowledged the new record he had just set that morning with over 3 million Bitcoin sold and almost 30 million dollars profited.
Darren wasn't here for celebration. His fingers steepled under his chin as his cold gaze swept across the room. It didn't matter that he'd gotten a little less stern over the last few days because of Rachel and Olivia, he was still the captain of this ship and he expected them to execute his orders impeccably.
"Last time we gathered here I gave all of you an extra day to finish up on your reports and give me good news on the separate orders I had given you. Now, we've arrived at today and now I want your submissions. One after the other."
He adjusted himself, like someone getting ready for the start of a movie.
One by one, the team gave their updates.
Sandy went first. Her glasses sat low on her nose, her data projected onto the white wall behind her. "Under your orders, the Finance Team, led by me, implemented performance-based liquidity across all departments. Output margins have increased an average of 17.3%. Marketing surged to 22.6%, and Logistics 19.8%. We've added weekend rotation bonuses, and you were right. Because of this, there was a spike in morale."
Darren nodded once. "What about the Reserve Pool bonuses?"
"They've already been distributed to qualifying teams. Payroll adjustments were cleared by the Legal Team."
"Good job, Sandy." Darren almost smiled.
She blushed. "Thank you... Sir."
Kara leaned back in her chair, her boots propped up for just a second before she swung them back under. "My turn!" she declared. "We crossed 29,100 BTC yesterday."
"29 thousand, one hundred already?"
"Yup," Kara beamed. "We reassigned GPUs from Phase B and brought in offshore coolants with the extra funds. There was a spike in rig temps, but Rico stabilized the readings. Full performance audit is complete, and I've flagged eight units for retirement."
Darren arched a brow. "You did all this ahead of projection. You aiming to impress me?"
She smirked. "Or maybe, I'm just aiming for those bonuses."
"Then keep at it," Darren said simply.
"Yes, boss."
"Awesome work, Kara."
"Thank you!"
Amelia was next. After placing her slot in the projector, it displayed the warehouse blueprints as she spoke, having a tone of pride in the amount of time she'd taken to perfect this draft.
"SteelDrone One is now fully mapped and cleared."
"SteelDrone One?" Darren asked with a taunting raised brow.
"It's a... work in progress, sir."
He smirked. "Go on."
"Local contractors have started groundwork on Bay A and Bay B simultaneously. We're employing thirty new night workers. Surveillance drones have arrived. We'll begin installing thermal nodes by Friday."
Darren raised an eyebrow. "What's the timeline for that?"
"Five weeks. I trimmed all the excess windows."
"Double their night pay as promised. No delays."
Amelia nodded, tapping a command into her tablet.
"That warehouse is very important for us, Amelia. You're the one who captured it and you've done an excellent job preparing it for work. Keep it up."
She tilted her head and smiled softly. "Will do, sir."
Rachel followed. Her tone was a touch quieter, but her words were precise. "Trendteller+ (VISTA-5) has been encoded with multilingual mod engines. We're testing lite licenses in Peru, Vietnam, and Brisbane. Modular ad packages are underway, and B2B onboarding begins Monday."
"Distribution is?"
"Staggered... unfortunately. Even though we're watching the numbers before scaling, Lila is overseeing the expansion and she might have updates on that."
Darren turned to the young CEO of Trendteller. "Are there any updates?"
She shook her head, sharing a glance with Sandy. "Nope. It's going smoothly."
Darren offered a rare glimmer of approval to her and Rachel. "Keep the metrics tight."
Simon was last. His fingers trembled slightly with excitement. "Mr. Steele, your demands have been met to its full extent. Led by me, the portfolio team started with the clean-brand proxy and now it has been structured: Nomina Analytics. Website and dashboard are ready for trial clients. We've layered in auto-gen visual reporting and added adaptive AI support for Trendteller+ and Delverate. And..."
"And?" Darren prompted.
Simon's eyes twinkled. "Steele Tech's core schema is mapped. R&D layout begins next week."
Darren allowed himself a slow nod. "That is good. TSubmit all reports for Phase 1 review by midnight."
Everyone nodded.
Darren didn't need to offer thanks. But he did. He thanked all of them for a perfect execution of everything he had asked, crowning them as the pioneers for this empire.
Results were the currency needed to grow it. And they had given him results.
Later, when he got into his office, Darren sat in solitude, going through everything that had been submitted to him. His empire was expanding, and it was at times like this that it would be the most fragile.
Archibald Mooney... Once again his thoughts went to that man. He couldn't allow him to take it all from him.
A knock broke into his thoughts.
"Come in," he said without turning.
The door opened and Miranda Sloane stepped in, clutching her laptop tightly against her chest. Her blond hair was pinned neatly, her glasses slightly crooked from her rush. She walked in slowly, almost hesitantly.
"Mr. Steele, do you have a moment?"
Darren turned. "Miranda. You're a rare sight. What is it?"
She crossed to the desk, setting her laptop down and pulling up the files with trembling fingers. "I found something, sir. It's... concerning."
He watched the screen as she navigated.
"So... uhm... Three Holloway vendors. Their ownership changed suddenly, and the trail ends in holdings owned by Richard Morrison's front companies. It's buried, but not completely invisible. I thought it was odd so I checked again. And it seems like he's acquiring our medical pipeline quietly."
Darren's face went still, expression unreadable. He leaned closer.
"Let me see that."
Miranda stepped aside and let Darren review the data.
"He's trying to cut Leonard at the knees." Darren said, his eyes speeding through letter after letter. "If one controls the pipeline, they control the product. He could crash Holloway stock or force a buyout."
He picked up his phone. "I have to call Leonard."
Miranda stood back and watched with her hands clasped.
-----
Back in the conference room, Rachel narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched Sandy and Lila pack up.
"You two didn't say why our product wasn't confirmed at the Gate. You told me something held you back. What was it?"
Lila and Sandy exchanged a glance.
Sandy sighed. "It was Tyler. Mooney."
Rachel blinked. "You mean the Tyler Mooney? Archibald Mooney's son."
Sandy shrugged. "Who else would we mean?"
"He delayed our entry." Lila chipped. "But we didn't want to tell Darren. Not yet."
Rachel crossed her arms, her only visible eye turning stern. "Why not?"
"Because Miranda already has something serious to tell him today," Lila said. "And we didn't want to add gasoline to fire."
Rachel looked away, exhaling.
"So what's the plan? You want us to deal with ourselves?"
Sandy looked at Lila and smiled, then they both looked at Rachel. "I mean... What could go wrong?"