The Marvelous Elijah's Return

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.

“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. 1

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