The Undercover Billionaire

Chapter 2: The Acquisition

I nervously swallowed my food and slid my finger across the screen before I hurriedly raised the phone to my ear. The sound of my father’s husky voice filled my ears while I silently questioned the purpose of his sudden call.

Michael: “Daniel, where are you?! Why aren’t you at the office?!”

Daniel: “Hi, Dad. I’m just about to leave for the office. Why? Is there something wrong?”

Michael: “Come and see me as soon as you arrive. And boy? Be hasty, I haven’t got all day!”

Daniel: “Is ther—”

Before I could finish my sentence, the call ended abruptly. All I was left with was my father’s domineering words and voice echoing in my head hauntingly.

What was I thinking? Of course, he called to summon me. But oddly, he did it personally this time instead of instructing someone else to do it.

I stared down at my food, unamused and my appetite slowly disappeared until it was replaced with the feeling of anger boiling within me. I pushed away the innocent plate in front of me in disgust and got up from my chair in a huff.

“Tell the driver to bring the car around! Now!” I yelled out as I walked out of the dining hall and towards the front door.

Once again, I watched the servants hide away frightfully, desperately trying to avoid my wrath. My angry frenzies were legendary and feared, even though it wasn’t very often that I lost my temper. However, when I did, it was bad. But after that call, I was furious at my father. I hated being summoned by him like I was his puppet, and he was my puppeteer.

“Master Daniel, good morning,” Lance, my driver, greeted me, nodding his head at me respectfully.

I acknowledged his nod silently before moving to sit down on the shiny leather back seat of my elegant black Rolls-Royce. Deep down, I always assumed that the other servants must have been fuming at the gentle way I treated Lance. I’ve always had a little soft spot for dear old Lance, so I rarely displayed my anger in front of him. He was always more like a friend to me than a driver ever since I met him when I was a teenager. I’ll never forget how Lance would always oblige my requests, whether it be sudden detours or crazy adventures.

“Any detours this morning before the office?” Lance looked at me through the rear-view mirror.

“No, Lance. Not today. My father has summoned me,” I replied briefly.

“Very well, sir.” He raised the black partition, separating us before he slowly guided the car out of Carter Grounds.

The car glided silently, and I watched as the luscious and green forest ended as soon as we passed the giant metal gates that imprisoned me. Soon, we were driving through the busy streets of London as we headed to Carter Industries. The majestic, towering building shimmered in the sunlight from a distance as we approached it. I looked up at its mighty architecture before my loyal driver pulled up in front of the entrance.

“I’ll be here when you’re done, Master Daniel. Have a great day!” Lance lowered the partition to flash me a warm smile.

“Thank you, Lance,” I replied before someone opened my door from the outside.

“Master Daniel, good morning. Your father is waiting for you in his office,” the doorman announced, holding the car door open for me.

I nodded at him respectfully before rolling my eyes to myself as I made my way to the elevator. As if it wasn’t already enough that he summoned me, he made sure everyone reminded me too. I swallowed my frustration before exiting the elevator on the 70th floor.

“Good morning, Daniel!” my father’s personal assistant shouted out peppily the minute I appeared before her.

“Good morning, Moira. You’re looking exceptionally stunning today,” I mentioned with a little wink, leaning my arm on her desk.

Moira playfully slapped my arm, “Oh, stop it, you.”

“So, any idea why I’m being called in today?” I peered towards my father’s office.

“Unfortunately, no. But I know Mr. Carter instructed me to let you in as soon as you arrive,” Moira answered.

“Oh. Is there any way we can go out and grab a cup of coffee first before I go in, love?” I invited her enticingly, eager to delay my meeting with my father as long as I could.

“Nice try. But I’m afraid I can’t do that. Raincheck?”

“Fine! You’re such a goody-two-shoes, you know?”

Moira’s lips curled into a sweet smile before she picked up the phone and informed my father of my arrival in a hushed whisper.

“Alright. You can go right in now!” she said as she returned the receiver to the base.

“Don’t miss me too much!” I flirted before I pushed through the big mahogany doors leading to the office of the legendary Michael Carter.

The minute I stepped into his office, my playful nature disappeared and instead a stone-cold, serious Daniel appeared. It was as if I had a complete 180-degree personality change.

My eyes fell on my father seated behind his giant desk. He had the back of his chair turned towards me as he faced the glass windows overlooking London city. I took a quick glance around the room and realized my uncle, Stuart Bloom, was standing next to my father as they whispered among themselves.

“Good morning, Dad. Good morning, Uncle Stuart,” I greeted formally, slowly approaching them with a sense of uncertainty.

“Ah, good morning, Daniel!” my uncle replied with a kind smile.

His smile never fails to remind me of mum, every single time.

My father, on the other hand, responded by merely nodding his head at me before taking a swift glance at my uncle and back at me again.

“So, you may have heard that we have acquired an average-sized business consulting company in New York,” he explained without delay, eager to get straight to business.

Classic Michael Carter!

“Yes. I read about the negotiations in the paper this morning,” I mentioned excitedly, hoping that he would commend me for my initiative and effort in keeping up-to-date with everything going on with Carter Industries.

“Ugh! These darn media people will get their hands on everything without bothering to know the full story. Anyway, it’s good that you’re reading the paper instead of wasting your time on social media, as per usual,” my dad snapped, once again turning a compliment into an insult.

I took a deep breath to control my temper, counting down the seconds until I could walk out of his claustrophobic office.

“Anyway, before we process the acquisition and break the news to the public, we want to scout out the company and its employees, to see how they perform. Plus, it’ll make it easier to decide when it comes to the retrenching process,” my father explained to me in his professional tone, the only tone I have ever known from him.

“Okay? But what does that have to do with me?” I asked inquisitively, in bafflement of where all these explanations were leading to.

“Daniel, I’m sending you to America to do it,” my dad ordered, dropping a bomb with his sudden, surprising words.

“Wait, what?!”