Page 123 of King of Ruin

Xavier leaned back in his chair, studying him for a long moment before letting out a quiet, humorless laugh.

“So you're telling me you looked at these numbers, believed they were acceptable, and still thought they were worthy of putting in front of me?”

“No, Mr. Chen—I mean... yes... I—”

“Redo it.”

The executive's face turned pale.

“Yes, sir.”

As the meeting continued, the interruptions became more frequent. Sometimes Xavier stopped someone halfway through a sentence. Sometimes he questioned figures that seemed perfectly reasonable to everyone else. Other times he would suddenly slam his palm against the conference table, the sharp crack echoing through the room and making several executives visibly jump.

Each outburst left the atmosphere tighter than before.

No one knew what they had done wrong.

No one knew what had put him in such a foul mood.

They only knew that nothing seemed good enough.

Outside the conference room, the tension was just as noticeable. Employees walked through the executive floor with lowered voices, instinctively avoiding the closed doors as though getting too close might draw unwanted attention.

“What on earth is wrong with Mr. Chen today?” one manager whispered.

“I've never seen him like this.”

“Did one of the projects fail?”

“How could it? We just posted record numbers.”

“Exactly,” another employee muttered, glancing nervously toward the conference room. “That's what makes it even scarier.”

A few people exchanged uneasy looks before quickly returning to their desks.

Everyone had reached the same conclusion.

If this was Xavier's mood after the most successful quarter in company history, no one wanted to imagine what the next few weeks were going to be like.

Inside the conference room, another presentation came to an abrupt end under Xavier's merciless scrutiny. The oppressive silence stretched for several long seconds before he finally lifted his eyes from the documents in front of him.

His gaze settled on Benjamin, who was standing beside the projector preparing the next presentation.

“Benjamin.”

Benjamin straightened immediately.

“Yes, Mr. Chen?”

Xavier held his gaze for a beat.

“Come here.”

Benjamin had already been on edge for the past several hours.

The moment Xavier called his name, his heart sank.

He quickly set the presentation remote aside and walked toward the head of the conference table, every step feeling heavier than the last. By the time he stopped beside Xavier's chair, he could practically feel the icy pressure radiating from his boss.