Originally translated from the Thai language.
The atmosphere within the boardroom plummeted to a sub-zero chill, as if the first frost of winter had breached the steel and glass sanctuary. Even the building's climate control seemed to falter as Lu Rong's voice echoed through the vacuum of silence, sharp and jagged.
"Mr. Gawin, as the CEO of Wonder Package..." Lu Rong looked up, his gaze through his spectacles simmering with a disdain he no longer bothered to mask. "I cannot help but wonder if your credibility holds enough mass to anchor a global initiative of this magnitude."
It was a masterfully crafted insult, designed to surgically dismantle his opponent's dignity before the highest power brokers in the region.
"I have a dossier here confirming that your executive experience... spans less than five years," Lu Rong emphasized each syllable with a slow, agonizing weight. "And more importantly, that experience was garnered within a medium-sized firm in Thailand."
He intentionally lingered on the word "medium," spitting it out like a bitter seed, using the perceived scale of the foreign firm to cut into Gawin's perceived weakness.
"This Hydrogen Project carries the weight of a billion-dollar future and the hopes of an entire region. Is it truly a risk the CK Group should bear—entrusting our destiny to a novice still learning to walk on the stage of international politics?" Lu Rong leaned forward, his aggressive stare boring into Gawin's eyes. "Or is this merely the groundless fantasy of a man desperate to play a big man's game?"
The ripple effect was immediate. Several directors shifted in their seats, their expressions hardening into masks of doubt. The credibility Gawin had painstakingly built moments ago began to show microscopic fractures.
Gawin narrowed his eyes. Amidst the brewing emotional storm, he remained as still as a lightless sea. Beside him, Tum sensed the toxicity radiating from Lu Rong—a murky, ashen aura of charred remains, ready to reduce everything to cinders. The secretary reached up, subtly brushing the inner seam of his sleeve—a silent code known only to the two of them. His gaze locked with Gawin's, confirming a singular truth: the man before them had no intention of a fair fight.
Gawin caught the signal instantly. With a nod so slight it was nearly invisible, he allowed a confident, razor-thin smile to emerge.
"I thank you for your candor, Mr. CFO," Gawin replied, his voice dropping into a resonant, commanding register. "It is vital that we achieve absolute clarity before I assume my role as a major investor."
He struck the words "major investor" with heavy percussion, a tactical reminder to every soul in the room of exactly who was bringing the life-saving capital to their crumbling crisis.
"I admit without shame that my tenure may not be as storied as yours, Mr. CFO." Gawin paused, his stare challenging Lu Rong's authority. "But I am certain I possess something more valuable than a long calendar... I possess the experience of navigating failures that those dwelling in ivory towers for too long have never had to touch."
The tension spiked to a breaking point as Gawin took a measured step forward. He lowered his tone, letting a heavy, suffocating silence settle over the room.
"However, if the CFO is so concerned with 'executive experience'..." Gawin's eyes flashed with a predatory brilliance. "I believe your concern should be directed elsewhere. You should wonder how the decades of 'vast experience' held by certain executives in this very room managed to lead the CK Group into the mouth of this financial abyss."
Lu Rong recoiled as if he had been physically struck. His face went ashen, his mask of superiority ripped away in a single, brutal motion. The momentary tremor in his eyes confirmed the kill; Gawin wasn't just firing back—he was skinning Lu Rong alive, exposing the festering wounds the CFO had spent years trying to hide from the light.