Chris Bolton's Unexpected Rise To Wealth And Fame

CHAPTER 5

On Monday morning, as early as 8 a.m. Chris was already seated outside the office of the CEO of NEXON CORPORATIONS, Arthur McDoyle. Over the weekend, he had the chance to browse through the internet for more details about the company, and he had found out that the multi million dollar company was mainly involved in the production of jewelry. 

Chris stared in awe at the magnificent building and the sight of each well furnished office when a door opened amazed him. Was all this really his? Or was life playing some kind of sick joke on him as usual? Chris felt his confidence dwindle over time as well dressed employees began trooping in more. It was already close to an hour later than resumption time, and some of the offices were still locked, meaning that those who worked there had not shown up yet. Chris quickly concluded that Arthur was doing a terrible job.

He waited on patiently, and sometime around 9, a woman sauntered over to where he sat.

"Arthur in?" She asked, without even sparing him a second glance. She walked up to his door and when she tried to push it open, she found out that it was locked. As though it had just registered in her brain that Chris didn't reply her, she turned around slowly to face him.

"Hey, I asked you a question," She said. 

"Oh," Chris stood to his feet. "I'm not sure. You can decide to wait for him like me?"

The lady's eyes ran down his body and he thanked God that he had been able to do a quick change of his wardrobe before coming there. Suddenly, her eyes sparked with a familiar glint and she snapped a finger.

"I know you..." She muttered. "Mabel's ex, Chris."

"Great!" Chris muttered to himself. So now Mabel had already started spreading the news that they had divorced. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" She queried further. "And who the hell did you have to steal from to be able to afford this?"

Despite the fact that she was berating him, Chris had a smile on his face. His fortunes had changed overnight, and he was not going to allow a spoilt little brat like her to get on his nerves. 

"You should be an acquaintance of Mabel?" Chris asked, staring intently at her.

He tried his best to pick the face but he couldn't quite recognize her. She was not one of Mabel's friends that paid her visits regularly. 

"The Lord forbids that I make friends with such a vile creature like Mabel Sanders," the lady spat angrily. "And my brother has refused to see the signs that the bitch is just using him!"

It was then that Chris realized who she was. Suddenly, the resemblance became clearer to him - the flowing blonde hair that fell over her shoulders, the sea green eyes, her tall figure.

"You must be Arthur's sister," Chris said.

She walked closer to where he sat, and stared him dead in the eyes.

"And you are Mabel's ex which means you are not welcome here," She snarled. "Get out now before I call the security to throw you out!"

Chris could barely stifle his chuckle. The security? To throw him out of his own company? That was the most hilarious thing he had heard all his life.

"You think it's funny?" She ranted on. "Just wait here and see."

Chris watched as she started towards a security guard close to the entrance door and he sighed. He wished he could tell her that he hated Mabel as much as she did, but he couldn't. Her brother was going to be Mabel's wife very soon, and he didn't want Mabel to find out - at least not yet.

A minute later, she was marching towards him, with the burly guard following her closely. She stopped in front of him and pointed.

"That's him. Get him out of here."

Chris and the guard maintained a steady eye contact for about a minute before he finally spoke up.

"If you would kindly follow me, sir," the guard started.

"I wouldn't," Chris replied firmly. "I'm here to see my good friend, Arthur McDoyle."

The guard took a step back as Chris mentioned that Arthur was his friend.

"Do you have an invite?" The guard asked.

Chris provided a card his father had given him the previous night and flashed it in his face.

"My apologies, sir," The guard muttered and scrambled away without turning back.

Arthur's sister remained transfixed as she had not expected Chris to command such respect. She stared up at him, with fear in her eyes and just then the sound of a nearby elevator sliding open jolted her. She spun around to see her brother, Arthur. He was dressed in a coffee brown suit and he held a large briefcase in his right hand. 

"Any problems, Layla honey?" Arthur grunted. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Layla did not say a word in response. She only pointed to Chris who was standing some distance away from them. On seeing Chris, Arthur's eyes lit up immediately. He walked up to Chris with a wide grin on his face.

"You came," He said, his voice laced with mockery. "I thought you'd reject my offer."

"A smart man never rejects a chance at wealth," Chris replied, turning around and throwing his arms in the air dramatically.

"Now you act like you own the place," Arthur said and chuckled. "I love your energy - Oh, and those new shoes too. Seems you've had time to do some shopping over the weekend?"

"I did," Chris smiled. "So badly wanted to impress you."

"Interesting," Arthur smiled. "That means you're ready for your job interview."

"Job interview?" Layla was having none of it.

"Do you really want to hire Mabel's ex to work here with us?"

"I'm trying to be a better person," Arthur shrugged. "I shouldn't be adding to his misery."

Arthur turned his attention to Chris and in a low tone, he added:

"About Mabel, I hope you understand. Sometimes, what you think is yours isn't really yours."

"You have no idea how true those words are," Chris laughed. "Anyways, let's begin the interview."

Chris leaned back on a glass pillar and slid his hands in his pocket.

"How long have you been in charge here?"

Arthur frowned, visibly angered by Chris' attitude.

"I'm the one asking the questions, not you."

"Oh, you'd prefer the tougher questions first?" Chris asked. "How did you spend the 30 million dollars that was allocated for the importation of some pounds of gold?"

The color drained from Arthur's face at once and he rushed up to Chris, grabbing him by the neck.

"You fucking bastard!" He squealed.

"Arthur!"

The sound of his name jolted him and he released his grip on Chris' neck before turning around. Arthur saw his father, Bryan standing behind him, with a man who had an uncanny resemblance to Chris. 

"You..." Arthur pointed a finger at the man. "look so much like this loser here."

"That's my son," Michael nodded and smiled. 

"Well, sorry to inform you but he's such a loser," Arthur ranted on. "A broke loser!"

"That's enough, son!" Bryan growled. "This is - "

"I even fucked his wife and made him watch," Arthur cut in and chuckled. "Isn't that hilarious?"

Bryan sighed finally shook his head in the negative.

"I'm so disappointed in you, Arthur. I told you we were expecting a special guest!"

"It's the board as usual," Arthur sighed. "And let me guess? They want to check the financial status of NEXON. I've got them covered, dad."

Arthur opened the briefcase in his hand, displaying the carefully stacked dollar bills in it.

"I think you've said enough, McDoyle," Michael spoke up. 

"Yes sir," Bryan muttered.

Arthur was shocked to the bone when he heard his father address Michael with the title of "sir." Almost immediately, he began to feel uncomfortable in his fancy suit. Who was this man and how powerful was he that his own father revered him so much?

"Michael Bolton," Michael announced. "And this is my son, Chris Bolton, the new head of the Bolton Empire, which includes NEXUS and a host of other smaller companies under it. Now, what were you saying about fucking someone's wife?"

Arthur froze. He could not believe what was happening right before his eyes. He turned to his father, hoping that he would laugh, and say it was all a joke or something, but Bryan shook his head pitifully.

"I - I - I'm so sorry, sir," Arthur stuttered. "I didn't know that you - that Chris was - "

"I have more pressing business to attend to," Michael said and turned on his heels. "Your new boss would love to have a closed door meeting with you."

Arthur blinked twice and when his eyes met with Chris, the smile on the latter's face was enough for him to conclude on one thing.

He was fucked.