Though everyone was sweating upon witnessing the banter between the two, the reasons behind them were different.

You could say that there were two groups, or camps, in the board room right now.

One group was sweating because, at that moment, they could see the working dynamics between the current CEO and the Heir.

They were calm, unperturbed and managed to counter every single point raised by Philip so far. Worse, their answers showed that they were beyond ordinary and did things out of the box.

Kyle, top scorer of all times?

Kyle, testing the elite security team of Smith Industries?

The Elite Security team, that were well known for their skills, couldn't fulfill the mission of locating Kyle?

What he had done was unbelievable and impressive.

The other group was sweating because, at that moment, they truly regretted being swayed by Philip.

It had sounded so good and convincing then, but seeing Kyle in action right now made them realise how blind they had been.

How easily swayed they had been.

It was only now that some began to suspect that Philip hadn't exactly told them the truth. Like, what the Smith Heir Test was like.

If Kyle, who Philip had said was not tested properly and would have most likely failed it big-time if he had been - could shoot down the points raised by one who claims lost by default …

It was a no-brainer that there was no way the Smith Heir test was faulty.

The one that was faulty, was them, for believing Philip.

Right now, they could see how Philip was the one that appeared incompetent and slowly losing his temper while the current CEO and Heir displayed skill and ability while remaining calm despite the provocative words Philip threw at them.

"It doesn't matter!!" Philip was now standing up, staring at the two with bloodshot eyes, "Even if you don't accept the reasons, one thing cannot be denied! The majority vote!!"

It was true.

One only needed to give the reasons, but the reasons did not necessarily have to be valid. The reasons were needed to convince the board members when they gave a vote.

The fact that Philip didn't care that his reasons were invalid and weak, and that he was confident the vote would be in his favour, could only mean one thing.

He had 'bought' the board members.

The board members, upon hearing Philip's screeching, had a sour taste in their mouth. Did he have to say it so?

Why must he push them all under the bus?

Why did he make it seem like all of them were in on it to oust Kyle?

Kyle turned to look at all the board members there, saying, "All of the board members here comprise of the Smiths most trusted members, and together, we hold the controlling shares."

"In this way, although the CEO does not control everything, the Smiths do," Kyle continued saying, while looking at his fingers.

"We are strong, for the Smiths are strong together. Never did I think that one day, the Smith Line would allow outsiders to enter our sacred den and break things from within."

"Our ancestors must be rolling about in their graves right now," Kyle said with a sigh.

Philip laughed gleefully.

"What's the point of thinking of dead people anyway?" he asked with a sneer, "They even came up with the stupidly flawed Smith Heir Test."

Kyle gave a languid smile to Philip, tilting his head to one side, "Oh, really? Flawed?"

He looked at Philip and gave a soft chuckle, "Only one who failed it would say such a thing. You never did understand what the test was about, did you?"

"But, enough about that," Kyle said, waving his hand in front of his face, "It's beyond your limited cranial ability to comprehend something intricately deep and profound."

"So, shall we vote then?" Kyle asked.

In the Smith Industries, shares of common stock were sold and held by members of the public. The shares allow them the right to dividend payments and one vote per share - but what they can vote on, are only on small issues and nothing related to what the board members can do.

The board members comprise of the founding members (ie the ones who passed the Smith Heir Test) and the trusted allies and branch families. They are the ones who hold the preferred shares and can vote on things such as the CEO.

Though it is understood that one would vote according to the results of the Smith Heir test. Also, no one would ever dream of voting to oust the CEO - or its heir - once the test has been done.

This was the first time in history of the forming of the Smith Industries, was it being done.

In order to protect the company from being taken over, only those that were fully trusted were allowed to have the preferred shares.

No one was crazy enough to sell off their shares, or give them up, as it gave them continued income that they would not find anywhere else. Such shares could not be sold openly as well, as once it is found out, those who try to sell their shares would have their power stipped and the shares absorbed back into the company.

In short, if any of the board members did sell their shares, they would have done it through dubious and devious means.

Only the brave - and stupid - would dare to do so.

From the sounds of it, there were those who were brave and stupid.

Philip couldn't help the grin that was on his face.

Just as the vote was about to begin, there was a knock on the door.

Quentin walked in, his normally stoic face looking rather worried. He went over to Patrick silently and quickly.

Leaning down, he whispered a few things to Patrick, which only made the latter frown.

Philip's grin got wider.

The real show was about to begin.