MARCUS WILL BE DISOWNED

Mr. Cyrus sat back in the luxurious leather chair of his study, a grim satisfaction written all over his old-man like features. For days, he had been tormented by the accusation that his beloved son Ellis had committed such a heinous act as rape against his own niece, Jackie. The thought had been unconscionable to the family patriarch.

Ellis had been the shining star of the Royale dynasty — his own heir. How could the intelligent, driven young man who was also imbued with an impeccable moral code do such a thing? To hear that he had violated Jackie in such a way had caused Mr. Cyrus's world to come crashing down around him. He hated that Ellis was being defamed for a crime he would never commit.

Marcus did not like Ellis, and it was understandable. While their relationship was undoubtedly bad over questions of inheriting the Royale corporate empire one day, Mr. Cyrus could scarcely fathom that it could get to this level of depravity — false accusations of rape, from one against the o