The Return of Forsaken Heir

Chapter 8. Eclipse Enterprises Tour

***

The next day.

Today, Ethan had no classes scheduled. However, his activities were quite busy today. He was already waiting for Finnley's arrival in neat clothes on the first floor. Ethan planned to participate in a seminar related to corporate leadership at Eclipse Enterprises.

He disguised himself as an ordinary student with the name tag provided by Finnley. Ethan certainly didn't want people to know that he was the CEO of Kingsley Enterprises. It would only cause his learning to be disrupted.

Ethan occasionally turned his head to the third floor. That morning, he had yet to meet any of Sara's family. He worried that his relationship with them would worsen due to last night's dispute.

As the front door opened, Astrid arrived with Finnley at her side. The woman smiled as she invited Ethan to go immediately.

"You came as a student, not the Kingsley heir," Astrid said, handing Ethan a name tag to wear.

"How many people are attending the event?" Ethan asked.

"It's about 20 people; they are students, businessmen, and freelancers," said Finnley.

The three of them walked over to the black sedan parked in front of the Kingsley residence. Ethan used only one car, and the man did not see any other convoy cars there.

"One of them is me," Astrid said, pulling out a name tag with the same shape and design as Ethan's.

Seeing this suddenly made Ethan shocked and confused. If so, that meant Astrid would be accompanying Ethan at the seminar.

"You're joining? But why?" asked Ethan, curious.

"As a preventative measure to protect you. I don't want David to humiliate you there," Astrid said, smiling broadly as they got into the car.

"David? How do you know about David?" asked Ethan, growing shocked and frightened by Astrid's intelligence skills.

The sedan car carrying Ethan, Finnley, and Astrid began to leave the Kingsley residence. Ethan sat in the passenger seat in the back with Astrid, while Finnley sat in the front near the driver's seat.

"Hannah told me. When you came home in your dirty, shabby clothes, I immediately asked Hannah, who went to college with you," Astrid said.

"You know, you have to start fighting them. You're our boss, the most influential person in the city. If anyone finds out your identity and sees you being humiliated like that, they won't respect you anymore," Astrid continued, turning her body to look at Ethan, who was sitting next to her.

Astrid's eyes stared hard, she sensed a kind soul in Ethan's heart, but his kindness had gone too far and would only harm himself.

"I know you're pretty skinny and don't have good combat skills. If you want, I can teach you and build you up to become the idol of many women," Astrid said.

The woman held Ethan's hand tightly. She wanted to train Ethan because she thought martial arts and fitness were important for youth his age.

So that Ethan could protect himself when Astrid wasn't around, at least he could fight off David's group that always bullied him. Ethan fell silent; Astrid's idea wasn't entirely wrong. In fact, the man thought it would be good and beneficial for him.

"That's a great idea, Ethan. You'll be the desire of women all over the city if you've got a good physique and martial arts skills," Finnley explained, laughing softly as he turned his head to look at Ethan.

"Okay. I'll give it a try; just make a regular training schedule for me, Astrid," Ethan pleaded.

Hearing Ethan's agreement, Astrid smiled broadly and nodded several times. She was so happy to be able to train her boss in martial arts, she couldn't even wait to start their first practice.

The black sedan stopped just below the Eclipse Enterprises corporate building. Not only was Ethan's car parked there, but many other cars worth billions were also neatly parked in the company's basement parking lot.

"I'll be waiting in my friend's office. You two go upstairs," Finnley said, getting out of the car as he put his black suit back on.

Ethan and Astrid began to walk out of the basement parking lot to get to the company lobby. Although Eclipse Enterprises was a branch company of Kingsley Enterprises, the building was larger than Ethan had imagined.

Upon arriving at the company lobby, the two saw the seminar participants gathered at one point. They were dressed neatly and formally, some in shirts, others in full suits.

"Are you two also seminar participants?" asked one of the organizers in a black suit, pointing at Ethan and Astrid, who had just arrived.

"Yes. Please apologize for our lateness," Astrid said, smiling.

"It's okay; we're just about to start. You'd better get in line with them," the woman pleaded, smiling broadly back at Astrid as she indicated the line she was referring to.

Ethan walked along the line with Astrid. He watched as the seminar guide explained the rooms of Eclipse Enterprises and the job titles. Astrid and Ethan walked to the back of the line, the woman telling Ethan to keep his attention on the seminar guide's explanation.

"To your right, there is a workspace that is always taken up by the IT division. They are in charge of developing software applications used by the company or offered for sale to consumers," the seminar guide explained with a friendly smile.

Not just one, but many positions were introduced by him, along with their duties and authority in running the company's business. Ethan took notes one by one of the explanations and read back as he followed the line.

"That's for the staff. We'll continue to the next floor for the more important jobs, managers and heads of departments," the seminar guide said.

He told everyone to take the elevator to the fifth floor of the company, where the managers and heads of departments worked to implement the CEO's vision. Ethan split into the second elevator along with the remaining ten people.

As Ethan and Astrid were about to enter, he saw Eleanor in line just as she entered the elevator. She seemed to be in it with Marc.

Ethan widened his eyes and immediately pulled Astrid's body from the elevator. His sudden gesture left Astrid shocked and confused as if Ethan had seen David in the elevator.

"What's wrong? Is David in the elevator?" asked Astrid, curious.

"Worse than that," Ethan replied.

The elevator doors closed, and it began to rise to the fifth floor. Hearing Ethan's words made Astrid wary. She didn't know what was much worse than David.

"You don't have to worry. I won't let him bully you!" said Astrid.

"It's not about bullying. It's about the identity of that person," Ethan said. Astrid tilted her head, trying to understand what Ethan was saying.

While the two were talking between the two elevator doors, a group of people was walking from the lobby to the front of the elevator doors. The people walking ahead looked middle-aged with white hair all over.

They were dressed in neat suits, carrying briefcases and looked very busy with their phones and tablets. Astrid whispered something in Ethan's ear just as the woman saw who the man standing at the front of the group was.

"He's Wilfred Mcallister, CEO of Eclipse Enterprises and David's father," Astrid whispered to Ethan.

Ethan nodded as his mouth formed an 'O'. The man hadn't expected the company leader to arrive at the office later than the employees.

Realizing that he was being watched, Wilfred immediately shifted his eyes from the phone he was holding to Ethan. The two shared a glance for a moment, but it didn't look like Wilfred threw the same smile that Ethan did.

The elevator doors opened on two sides. Wilfred's group immediately entered the left elevator while Ethan entered on the right. Now, the two of them aimed to catch up with the line of seminar participants so as not to be left far behind.

"He came later than his employees. Is that what you call a company leader?" Ethan asked, turning to Astrid.

He said so because the elevator Ethan was on only carried them, so they could talk freely about anything without fear of being caught.

"Not only this company, but many company leaders do that. You'll realize it later."