The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

Chapter 104

Twenty Five years in prison

Frowning Bryan rubbed his temple with his index and middle finger, and then let out in anger at Joey‘s remarks, “Get out.”

A look of disbelief fell over Joey, who started to laugh hysterically at the request. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Out?? What the hell is wrong with you?… You are seriously choosing that… over me!” Joey shouted, pointing at him accusingly. “This is bullshit man!!! I trusted you!!”

“Fuck off, Joey!!” Bryan screamed back at him.

“That will not be necessary.” Elijah casually said, making everyone turn to look at him, stunned by his comment

Calmly, Elijah walked past the two, sat down on the black leather couch, and crossed his legs over the other, looking Joey directly in the eyes and adding, “You are desperate for money, ain‘t you?… The ego of one can be very blinding. So you can either sit and let‘s talk or walk out. Your choice.”

A look of reluctance covered Joey‘s face as he clenched his jaw shut tight, and then he scoffed, mumbling, ‘What can you offer me?”

“Nah, it doesn‘t work that way… Try the other way around.” Elijah said calmly, staring at him with a blank look

“What can I offer you?!”

“Good. You are getting the hang of it.”

As a sense of arrogance and pride took hold of Joey‘s face, he puffed his chest and said, “Delphi Oil Co. is one of the top three companies in the state, and our products sell well and fast. And our company also has some pretty damn decent sales internationally…”

“Okay, so if you are that successful, then why are you so desperate for my money?” Elijah asked plainly, folding his arms over his chest.

A scoff escaped Joey‘s lips as he raised an eyebrow at Elijah and mumbled beneath his breath, “What money…”

Then he suppressed his sense of frustration with Elijah and continued, “We suffered a huge loss by investing in bad products recently, and the penalty was high. So, naturally, we‘re trying to get more cash from an investor. Someone who‘s willing to…”

“Drown their money with your sinking company?” Elijah interrupted, a small smirk playing on his lips.” Take your mind out of the past… the glory that lasts there, and talk to me from the present… Because right now, you are just a man with a stupid debt problem.”

Immediately, the pride that once clouded Joey‘s face disappeared, replaced by a mixture of calmness and embarrassment, as he muttered, “I know where I stand.”

“No, you don‘t. If you did, you wouldn‘t have sat on a Pedestal in the ruins of your company, acting high and mighty with me when you barely knew shit about me, past all the rumors and gossip. Now climb down from your cloud and let‘s talk business.”

Never in his life had Joey been humble so quickly by someone who didn‘t raise his voice or fist, and he found himself nodding his head obediently as he said, “I agree. I shouldn‘t have judged the book by other‘s reviews, and get to understand it for myself… but can you really help my company?”

“If I couldn‘t, Bryan wouldn‘t have thought to call me.” Elijah said, glancing towards Bryan. “So, I will lend

the three of you my time, and if your business is something I can profit off of in the end, I can invest. Deal?”

Taking his time to think it over, Joey looked around, seeing the other dudes nodding, and then he looked back at Elijah and said, “Deal!”

“Good… Now, convince me why your companies are worth my money.” Elijah calmly said, resting back in his seat, crossing his leg over the other, and Bryan just stood there, amazed at how Elijah got Joey in the grip of his thumb.

Watching Peach from where he sat, Ryan crossed his arms over his chest, seeing her sitting across the table from him as she continued writing down her transaction.

Then he eyed his watch, seeing that hours had passed, and she was still going over one document after the others, and all he could do was watch, wondering if he should tell her that it was past three o‘clock.

“How‘re things going?” Ryan called out, interrupting her writing.

“What?” Peach asked, lifting her head.

“The documents…”

“There‘s a lot of indication that a foe play was done in these documents and the more journal entries are worked through, I think Elmer and the board of directors have been doing some dirty work since the very beginning.”

For a moment, the silence dragged on for a while, and then Ryan‘s phone buzzed, making him reach into his pocket to pull it out.

Silently, he glanced at the text, reading Elijah‘s words, “If Peach is still sitting at that table, convince her to get something from the hotel restaurant, so she wouldn‘t exhaust herself.”

Raising his gaze, Ryan watched Peach for a second, noticing that she was engrossed in the document, her brows furrowed, deep in concentration. After a long pause, he leaned back in his seat and then yawned so loud that she forced her eyes to raise from the papers to him and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

“Is everything okay?” Peach asked with a slight frown on her face.

“Yeah, fine,” Ryan answered, shrugging his shoulders and rubbing his chin lazily. “Just hungry… You know what?! We should get something from the hotel restaurant. Umm… We can do room service, but I can never decide until the menu is in front of me.”

Studying his sudden drowsy eyes, she gave a faint smile and then said, “Sure. We can grab something to eat and then I can finish this up.”

As Elijah calmly watched Curtis execute his presentation of Eco Gas Co. his attention was still divided as he tapped his phone against his palm, waiting anxiously.

After a while, his phone buzzed, causing him to immediately check his inbox, staring at Ryan‘s text, “We are at the hotel restaurant.”

“What did she get?” Elijah texted back with a smile.

“Do you have any questions… Umm… Mr. Darius.” Curtis asked, his tone humble.

Hesitantly, Elijah looked up with a calm expression, and said, “No, just as I am down with working with Bryan, you three seemed to have a solid standing in the Oil, gas, and Insurance fields and my only demand is that I will have fifty–one percent of the shares.”

“Making you the highest shareholder in each company.” Joey commented, surprised that Elijah would

make such a strong demand. “And a primary person among us, and a majority shareholder.”

“Well, if you want my money… That‘s my offer, and if my demand is met, I am willing to be ar most of the financial crisis of the business, then you all.” Elijah calmly stated, smiling faintly at Joey. “As long as it‘s a natural crisis, free of corruption or foreplay.”

‘I was a fool… You are nothing like what the rumors said. This guy really is a smart ass…‘ Joey thought, staring at Elijah with a shocked look. ‘He knows what he is talking about.‘

Looking over at Curtis, then at Bryan before eyeing Hosah, Joey could see that they were not giving their decisions a second thought, and then William proved him right by saying, “I think that‘s a reasonable deal.”

Silently, Elijah watched the others nod in agreement, before turning his glance back to Joey.

“The deal is perfect.” Joey finally agreed, his eyes sparkling with hope and determination. “If you can provide the money to save my company, I am fine with you having higher shares than me.”

When his phone buzzed, Elijah drew his attention off Joey and read the words on his screen, “She‘s having chocolate muffins with a glass of pineapple juice.”

A smile graced Elijah‘s lips before he looked up at the faces in the room and said, “Good. My lawyer and I will meet you all on a later day and then we can finalize everything and move on from there.”

Taking a big bite of her muffins, Peach looked at Ryan, not breaking her eye contact, with a confused look plastered on her face until he asked, “What is it?”

“What‘s the penalty of accounting fraud in your opinion?” Peach asked in a hushed voice, taking a sip of her juice.

“For those that commit it?” Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“Yes, for the people involved.” “Well… it depends on what kind of accounting fraud they are committing.”

Hesitating, Peach stared into her half-full glass, deep in thought, and then let out a moment later, “I think Elmer had the company underreporting line costs by capitalizing instead of expensing them and had inflated its revenues by making false entries…. because… from the records I have so far, I have found almost hundred million in fraudulent accounts, and that‘s just two briefcases.”

“That kind of fraud has a penalty of twenty–five years in prison if proving to be fraudulent.” Ryan pointed out, earning an approving nod from Peach.

Holding back her tongue for a second, Peach twirled the tip of her finger around in a circle at the mouth of the glass, and then said, “It can be proved… I think all those briefcases are documents that expose this… even though I am not through with them yet.”

‘Elmer Hayes is fuck if Elijah knows this!‘ Ryan thought, a half–smirk growing on his lips.