Since his mentor Mr Cyrus was currently unavailable to train him, Ellis had to continue on his own. He didn’t have much knowledge on cultivation apart from what his father had taught him, so he was limited. He still didn’t give up though. He continued meditating everyday, and trying to find more information on spells he could use. But he had issues that were distracting him. Just like George had planned, the speculations on who tried to kill Mr Cyrus by poisoning had been narrowed down to Ellis. Now, everyone was adding their own theories and concluded that it had to be the heir apparent of the Royale Company and family wealth. Some people were spreading it just because they liked to gossip about rich people’s misfortunes in order to make their pitiful lives seem more interesting. Whispers began to fly around, and people began to give Ellis funny looks, all of which he was oblivious to because he was too focused on his schedule daily. Ellis went to school, but the energy at school
"Young man, what are you doing here?" One of the board members asked, annoyed by the insolence that came with Ellis's attitude. "I said what the fuck is going on?!""Hey," Mr Rogers called. "Language, young man. What is the matter?""For how long has this been going on?" Ellis asked again, not minding the puzzled and surprised looks of the face of the board members. "What are you even talking about?" Mr Clark asked, rolling his eyes at Ellis. Youths and their unchecked exuberances, the man thought. "Oh, don't pretend not to know, old man. So, this is what it has come to! ‘Ellis is the one who must have poisoned the CEO’, ‘Ellis tried to kill Mr Cyrus so that he can take over from him’. Isn't that it? I have been going about my activities innocently, not knowing what has been said about me. All of a sudden, the interrogations stopped for others but continued for me. Why? Because you all think that I poisoned the very person who picked my life up and gave it a meaning!""Enough of th
And as if to add salt to injury, Ellis was suspended from the Royale Company. The next day when he went to work, he was summoned by the board members to the board room and was scolded there for the scandal and social media uproar that his unchecked anger had caused. That was ironic when it was one of them that had taken a video of him and uploaded it online. What were they expecting when they did that?"Mr Ellis, given as you are the heir to the Royale Company, we are very disappointed in your way of handling matters. You were upset yesterday about a matter and decided to take laws into your own hands by being violent at your place of work, and even going as far as insulting the board of directors of the company." A senior board member said to Ellis when he had settled in at the board room that day. Mr Clark shook his head in a self righteous manner that was meant to portray Ellis in a bad, disrespectful light. "Youths nowadays think that being disrespectful is a cool thing. If you
And so, Ellis swung to action the very next day. Before sleeping the night before, Ellis looked up technicians who could help him with the CCTV footage. Luckily for him, he found a small organization of five men whose reviews were good, and Ellis thought of giving them a try. The next morning, as he usually did, he got his breakfast ready by himself and made to leave the mansion for the technicians'. He had not been out of the Royale mansion ever since he was suspended from the Royale Company, so it came as quite a shock to the staff when Ellis donned on a good looking attire to leave the apartment. And as expected, the staff whispered their concerns and wondered about where their young boss was headed. Ellis made his way to the technicians' by driving alone.He would need the help of experts to be able to review the large amount of footage he planned to check. They would also be able to pinpoint if the system was ever tampered with. Soon, he was there, as it was not a long drive away
Sleep evaded Ellis like a phantom. He tossed and turned in his large, lonely room in the Royale mansion. The revelation from the technicians still hung heavy in the air – someone had been keeping tabs on Mr Cyrus, yes. But who? Ever since he got there, Ellis had viewed the Royale household as an impenetrable sanctuary. Escaping the harsh realities of poverty only months ago, to be welcomed by the kind-hearted Mr Cyrus, Ellis thought the Royale household to be a place devoid of malice — excepting the understandable malicious treatment given to him by his elder half siblings. Suspicion gnawed at Ellis like a persistent rat. Who could be up to something like this? There were many people in the Royale household; the staff making the majority of them. There was Mr Billy, the ever-present, watchful butler who was silent and only spoke when he was spoken to. Could he be the one? His stoic demeanor and unwavering loyalty to Mr Cyrus seemed genuine, yet Ellis thought he could see a flicker o
What he found was somewhat underwhelming. Mr Cyrus led an almost monastically cleared routine in his privacy. He would wake at 7am, meditate, read a paper or two, then wait for breakfast which was usually served by Yelena. Only briefly after his breakfast would he depart for work. Ellis seemed to notice that Mr Cyrus did not have a problem with being served only by Yelena, whereas it was an anomaly to be served only by her every morning. It was a minor anomaly but an anomaly still. He would customarily return around seven in the evening, at which point his routine would revert to an endless cycle of pacing the confines of his large room, speaking in hushed tones over encrypted video conferences, and perusing data on a halo of displays arrayed around a large marble desk. And as though his room was not enough for him, the man would then go to his study to continue his work. The hours between eleven in the night and seven in the morning were the only period when Mr Cyrus consistently ap
Ellis arrived at Zoey's apartment as planned. In her parking lot, he found her just coming down from a taxi. Ellis smiled and took the small bag which contained the chocolates he got for her, and came down from the car. "Hey, Zo," he called on her. A surprised Zoey turned to look at Ellis. A delightful smile played at her lips, and Ellis was relieved that what he had been fearing had not happened. He thought that she would still be mad at him from their last encounter. Zoey walked up to him and gave Ellis a tight hug. "Come on in, I just went out to get a few things. I was hoping to arrive before you.." She said. "You arrived only a few seconds after I had, so it's okay. Here, I got you something." He handed her the small bag. Zoey looked at the bag and smiled thankfully. "Thank you. I haven't had these in a while. You always used to buy these, and I can't afford it on my own. Even if I could, I would have to have lost my mind to buy chocolates that are worth some people's month
“Why did you stop talking?” Zoey asked as she noticed that Ellis was lost in thought.He sighed. “To be honest, I’m just having an internal argument on the pros and cons of telling you this next part. I don’t know if you’ll see me as crazy for saying this.”“If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t push you. I understand that this is your personal family issue, and you need to sort it out, so I won’t get angry for not being told the whole story.” She reassured him.“This is the reason why I want to tell you, Zoey. I trust you. I just don’t know if you’ll believe me. What I want to say sounds ridiculous. Magic exists, and I cannot explain further unless you believe it.” He said to her, and her brows scrunched in confusion.“You need to explain it a bit more to me in order for me to form an opinion. What do you mean by magic exists? Do you mean like fantasy creatures, maybe vampires?” She asked.“Not really. Have you ever heard of cultivation? It’s a technique that can grant anyone great