Dennis Kingsley had been nursing a growing hatred for Ellis ever since the day at the Royale Company that he was humiliated, and decided to do something about Ellis today. He had totally hated having to kneel in front of little Ellis to plead for being rude to him before his introduction. It was such an insolent and belittling thing for Dennis who was a vain control freak, and he badly wanted to teach Ellis a lesson for making him embarrass himself in public like that. His hatred grew when the humiliation happened a second time, and this time it was in front of all the board members.Dennis slammed the door behind him as he entered his office, his face flushed with anger and humiliation. How dare that little punk Ellis make him kneel and beg for forgiveness like some kind of court jester? This whole thing was getting unbearable for him. He and Ellis never got along, he knew, but he did not think it would come to this. He did not think it would come to Mr Cyrus asking him to apologise
His buzzing phone interrupted his musings. Glancing at the caller ID, Dennis saw it was the chief director from accounting calling. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to push aside his churning emotions and slip back into the charming yet professional demeanour he typically wore when relating to his superiors. "Isabelle, hi! What can I do for you?" he answered in an affable tone."Am I on to Mr Kingsley?" The voice asked. "Yes, you are.""Oh," she relaxed, "you sounded quite different there, so I had to confirm. The auditor general would like to have a view of the net worths of our competitors right away. Please make your way to his desk with the information.""Okay. Thank you, Isabelle." Dennis maintained his sweet voice."Also, make a duplicate copy for my desk. I will be needing the information as well.""Yes, ma'am.""Thank you."There would be plenty of time to torment Ellis Royale in the days and weeks ahead. For now, he had a role to play — the perfect, model employee and
Dennis's next plan to sabotage Ellis was to make him make a fool of himself in the upcoming marketing presentation to the board. The marketing department were to present their new marketing ideas to the board members for approval, every year. As it turned out, this year, Ellis had joined them, and as a part of his training in the department, he was given a topic to make a presentation on. Ellis began his preparations, ranging from research to statistical analyses, and practising public speaking. He did these diligently, so as to make a good impression on the board, and be granted approval to move on to another department for his internship. Ellis felt his face flush with embarrassment as confused looks spread across the board members' faces. This was clearly not the presentation they had been expecting from the soon to be CEO. His shoulders slumped as he realised with dawning horror that Mr Dennis Kingsley must have made a mistake with the topic, or intentionally misled him about it
Mr. Cyrus did as he said and began to look into Dennis's files. He wanted to know how Dennis managed the department, and to find out how he could mix up Ellis's presentation topic without anyone noticing. This began the next day after the presentation, and in less than a week after that, Mr Cyrus found more than he was looking for. Mr Cyrus slammed the file down on his desk with a resounding thud. His face was flushed with anger, and his eyes burned with a fury that only a few had ever witnessed. The documents before him painted a picture of betrayal and malice that shook him to his core.Dennis Kingsley, the manager of the marketing department, had been stealing the company's proprietary ideas and selling them to a rival firm. Not only that, but there was enough proof apart from the presentation mix up that he had been actively sabotaging the work of Ellis. The audacity to do that to Mr Cyrus's own son and heir apparent to the Royale empire was just too appalling to think about. Mr
The news of Denis trying to sabotage Ellis went round the whole company. Every department was aware. and it was always the topic of discussion. They also knew that Dennis was investigated, and discovered to be a traitor. News of him being arrested had also spread around the company. Some employees were shocked that Dennis would dare try to harm the future CEO of their company when everyone else was desperate to gain Ellis’ favour. Some of them who secretly hated that Ellis just became rich overnight were speculating that it was really Ellis’ fault, and they just made up crimes against Dennis to cover up for him because he was the heir. They would never dare say this to Ellis’ face though, they weren’t stupid enough to put their jobs on the line. As for the board members who were on Marcus’ side, and were trying to bring Ellis down, they knew they had to be more careful now. None of them wanted Mr Cyrus to start investigating them, because most of them had skeletons in their own clos
Ellis stared dubiously at the gift basket sitting proudly on his study desk. It was a lavish arrangement of gourmet snacks, fine wine, and an assortment of expensive sweets. A note was attached, written in Marcus’ daughter’s writing. Though he wasn’t close with his new niece, so he didn’t identify her writing, he only knew it was her because she wrote her full name underneath the note.‘Dear Uncle Ellis,This is a token from my brother and I. We hope you enjoy these tokens of our affection. We want to put the past behind us and start anew as a family. We know that none of us have really been welcoming, but it is only due to the circumstance by which you were added to our family. We wish to make amends for our previous behaviour towards you. Please accept our invitation to an outdoor dinner this Saturday evening. Jackie and Sean.’Ellis frowned deeply. Marcus's children had never shown the slightest interest in him before. In fact, their disdain for him had transferred from their fath
Soon, the questions were over just like Ellis had wanted. The awkward moment then came, when Marcus tried to start up a conversation with Ellis. Firstly, Ellis wondered why they had not had this dinner at home with everyone. It was a bit suspicious, but they could just say they wanted to eat out. Then Marcus began a conversation that struck his suspicion even more."So Ellis, I hear that you disgraced yourself in front of the board?" Marcus began, a smirking forming on his face. Ellis hesitated. This was not news anymore. Everyone now knew the reason for the said disgrace before the board was Dennis' fault, so why was Marcus asking this question now, and in this manner? "Yes, I did. But of course you must have also heard why it happened?" Ellis asked. "Oh, yes. I did. Poor Dennis, now he will have to stay in jail for not being smart enough to cover his tracks." Marcus raised his glass of wine to his lips after he had said that, one eye steady on Ellis's expression. "He will be in
"What is going on here?" Marcus roared. "I said, what is happening here?"Ellis was surprised at Marcus’ sudden presence. Why was Marcus shouting? His yelling made his wife and son come to investigate what was going on since they were seated close to the bathroom hallway. Marcus's wife was a bit surprised too. She also did not understand why her daughter and Ellis were in the restroom together. "Ellis, what are you doing with my daughter in a restroom alone?" Marcus asked. Ellis opened his mouth, but there were no words coming forth. How would he sound if he said that he entered the ladies' restroom just because he was too pressed to check the inscriptions properly? What excuse would he make for standing there and chatting with Jackie when he could very much have left the restroom upon her arrival? "I — I, Jackie," Ellis stuttered, "Jackie met me here.""That's because you are in the female restroom." Marcus's wife said, a frown beginning to form on her face."Ellis, are you having