Joining the Board

Before Roy could answer, waves of astonished cries rose from the crowd as everyone turned to look in the same direction.

Roy and Norman turned to follow their gazes.

Why was he here?

Roy frowned slightly.

The person drawing everyone's attention and surprise was one man.

More precisely, a billionaire playboy known to everyone.

Tony!

Wearing brown sunglasses and an expensive custom-tailored suit, Tony walked straight toward Roy under everyone's watchful eyes.

His personal secretary and girlfriend, Pepper, and his bodyguard, Happy, followed closely behind.

"I didn't expect you to know him too."

Norman continued.

After saying that, he headed toward Harry.

Before long, Tony arrived in front of Roy.

Removing his sunglasses, Tony said casually, "Your girlfriend graduated, but you don't look very happy?"

"Why are you here?"

Roy asked.

"Why can't I be here?"

"We're friends. Your girlfriend graduated, so I came to show my support."

Tony replied with a smile.

Just as Roy was about to say something, Gwen came over and said to Tony, "Hello, Mr. Stark. I'm Gwen Stacy, Roy's girlfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Roy has mentioned you quite a lot in front of me. He kept bragging about finding a girlfriend who was both beautiful and smart."

"Now that I've met you, it seems he wasn't exaggerating."

Tony said with a serious expression.

At his words, an uncontrollable look of delight appeared on Gwen's fair, delicate face.

She had often been praised for being pretty and smart.

But receiving praise from Tony still made her very happy.

"I have something to discuss with him privately. Would you mind lending me your boyfriend for a while?"

Tony continued.

"Of course."

"Take your time."

Gwen quickly replied.

"Thank you."

Tony nodded, then gave Roy a look, signaling for him to follow him somewhere else.

"I'll be back soon. Wait here with your uncle and aunt."

Roy said to Gwen.

"Okay."

Gwen replied softly.

After following Tony off the lawn, Roy asked, "What do you want with me?"

"Can't I come see you without a reason?"

"We're not just friends. We're comrades who fought side by side."

Tony replied with a smile.

"Stop beating around the bush. What exactly do you want?"

Roy rolled his eyes at Tony.

Tony deliberately put on a wounded expression and continued, "I turned down other work and came all the way from Los Angeles to see you, yet you're being so cold."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'm going back."

Roy said with a frown.

"Fine, no more jokes."

"I did come specifically to see you."

"Half a month ago, Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.—the guy with one eye—showed up at my house late at night. He said there were many people in the world like me, only I didn't know it, and he wanted to talk to me about forming the Avengers."

"Then he criticized my personality, saying I was erratic, self-centered, and lacked team spirit."

"Oh, and he said you were on the invitation list too, but you turned him down. I wanted to know if he really did approach you."

Even though half a month had passed, Tony still looked annoyed whenever Nick Fury was mentioned.

"That's right. He came to me, and I turned him down."

Roy replied.

"Why did you refuse?"

Tony looked at him curiously.

"I never work for people for free, and I don't want to be bound by pointless rules."

"More importantly, I don't want to follow someone else's orders and put some so-called superior over my head."

Roy said unhurriedly.

"Didn't he say your personality was bad?"

Tony quickly asked.

"No."

"He wouldn't dare criticize my personality to my face."

Roy replied.

Uh...

Tony was even more annoyed with Nick Fury now.

"Anything else? If not, I'm going back."

Roy said slowly.

"Gwen is beautiful, but you don't need to rush back to see her this badly."

Tony teased him first, then continued, "I finished the Mark 3 you wanted. You can come pick it up whenever you like."

"Also, I bought a new building in Manhattan, near the Empire State Building."

"Once the renovations are complete, it'll become Stark Industries' new headquarters."

"If you're willing, I'd like to hire you as Stark Industries' head of security, with an annual salary of one hundred million and additional yearly dividends."

"You won't need to go to work every day. You only need to fulfill your duties when necessary."

"If you want to buy in, I can also transfer some shares to you and arrange for you to join the board."

Head of security?

Join the board?

After thinking for only a few seconds, Roy made his decision and said slowly, "Forget the head of security position. I don't take long-term commissions."

"As for joining the board, I do have quite a bit of liquid capital, but at Stark Industries' current stock price, I can't buy many shares."

Ever since Tony announced that he was Iron Man, Stark Industries' stock price had soared all the way to an all-time high and continued trending upward.

"You don't need to worry about that. I won't make you buy at market price. I'll give you a transfer price far below market value."

"Of course, the shares being transferred will come with certain sale restrictions."

"For example, if you want to sell them, I'll have the right of first refusal, and I'll purchase them at the original transfer price."

"As for voting rights and dividends, there won't be any restrictions."

Tony said unhurriedly.

Although he did not care much about money, he was not about to casually give away his shares at a low price.

He was generous, but he was not an idiot.

"You're Stark Industries' largest shareholder and have absolute control. Whether I join the board or not won't affect your control over the company. Why do you want me on the board?"

Roy asked.

"If you're on the board too, the company will be much more secure."

"For one thing, you can solve many problems ordinary people can't."

"Oh, and once you become a Stark Industries director, you'll have a much easier time dealing with your girlfriend's family."

Tony said with a smile.

"Even without being a Stark Industries director, I can handle Gwen's family."

"But since you're so eager to invite me onto the board, I suppose I'll grant your wish."

Roy said casually.

"You're not granting my wish. You just can't refuse the gift I'm giving you."

Tony turned to Happy and snapped his fingers.

Without any hesitation, Happy immediately came over, opened a briefcase, and took out two transfer contracts.

Tony had already signed them.

"You had the contracts ready. Are you that confident I'd agree?"

Taking the contracts Happy handed over, Roy said slowly.

"I told you, you can't refuse my gift."

Tony said with a serious expression.