Chapter 3: Game On
1395 Words
Six years later
Louis' POV
The moment I walked into the boardroom, I knew something was wrong. Actually, I'd had a bad, uneasy feeling lately... of doom.
My uncle, Richard Everard, sat his heavy ass at the head of the table. His chunky palms clasped together, and his golden rings reflected the light from the room.
His younger brother, my late father, had been more athletic. He had kept fit with jogging, golf and a bit of sport once in a while. Unlike my uncle here, whose hobby was eating, splurging, eating and eating. It was a miracle the company hadn't gone down after dad died ten years ago.
His son, Nathan, lounged beside him, scrolling lazily through his phone as if the entire meeting bored him. It should though.
I noticed some board members avoided my eyes.
Interesting.
I pulled out a chair and sat down slowly.
“Well,” I said, leaning back slightly. “This looks ominous.”
Nathan snorted.
Richard didn’t smile.
“Louis,” he began in that calm diplomatic voice he used whenever he was about to stab someone in the back, or front, “we’ve been reviewing the company’s current structure."
Here we go.
I folded my arms.
“And?” I asked.
“We believe it would be beneficial for you to oversee one of our expanding regional branches.”
I almost laughed.
I could tell where he was heading.
“Which branch?” I asked.
Nathan finally looked up from his phone, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“The Riverdale branch.”
Ah. That was it.
Riverdale. A small city and new branch with low influence.
In other words, I've been exiled away from the very headquarters my own dad had sweated over.
I leaned forward slightly, resting my elbows on the table.
“And who exactly made this brilliant decision?”
My uncle didn’t hesitate.
“The board.”
Nathan chuckled under his breath.
Coward. He always liked letting other people deliver the blows.
I tapped my finger slowly against the table.
“Interesting,” I said. “Because the Riverdale branch is barely five months old.”
“Yes,” Richard replied, now rubbing his palms together. “Which makes it perfect for someone with your... er... capabilities.”
I smiled.
"If it is about capability, I thought you had always insinuated that Nathan was more capable than I am. Why confer this 'honour' to me then, and not him?"
Nathan couldn’t hold his laugh this time.
I looked at him.
My cousin had always been arrogant, but these last few years, the arrogance had brought out different ugly sides of him.
And lately, he had been acting like the company already belonged to him. Like my father’s name meant nothing. And like I didn’t exist.
“Congratulations, Nathan,” I said calmly. “You must be thrilled.”
He leaned back in his chair.
“Why would I be thrilled?”
“Because this smells a lot like promotion for you.”
He grinned, “Maybe the board just thinks I’m better suited for leadership.”
Richard cleared his throat.
“Gentlemen.”
I folded my arms. I had endured enough with them in this company. It was high time I took actions. I wouldn't let this slide this time around. No way was I going to go there.
“Fine,” I said. “When do I leave?” I'd tread cautiously and take them unawares.
Nathan raised a brow. Clearly, he expected more of a fight.
“Next week,” Richard replied.
I nodded slowly.
“Sure.”
The meeting ended five minutes later.
An hour later, I was in my office staring at a folder spread across my desk.
Nathan Everard.
For the past three months, I had been quietly digging into everything my cousin had been doing inside the company, with the right kind of help. I always knew there was more to the fake smiles he presented to the public.
At first, it was just business irregularities, suspicious investments, unapproved spending, but then the pattern shifted.
And I started seeing something else.
Women.
Assistants who suddenly resigned, models who mysteriously vanished from contracts, actresses whose careers collapsed overnight.
It was just a slow, ugly trail of ruined reputations. Even after he left the entertainment group to take a position here at the headquarters.
But Nathan always walked away clean.
I tapped my fingers against the folder as I flipped through another document.
One case caught my attention again.
Nora Finnian. A fast-rising actress and model who had fallen as fast as she had risen, six years ago.
There had been a scandal, drugs issue, and leaked photos which had ended her career in less than twenty-four hours.
Unlike others who had back and forth with the media peddling the scandal, there had been nothing from this girl, Nora.
She had just disappeared overnight. There had been rumors of suicide and the usuals but nothing from her, nor her manager, with whom she was rumored to have also had an affair. No public appearance since after the scandal.
And Nathan, had been her manager at the time.
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling and thinking hard.
I pressed the intercom button on my desk and summoned my secretary.
A moment later, she knocked and stepped inside carrying her tablet.
She paused when she saw the file spread across my desk.
“What do you need?”
I slid the folder toward her.
“This information is incomplete. I want more on her current location.”
She glanced down at the folder.
“Ok. I'll do more digging.”
“I'll need it before the end of today."
She opened her mouth to protest, but read my face and shut her mouth. Everyone must have heard of my imminent transfer.
As soon as she left, I opened my laptop and typed Nora Finnian's name into the search bar.
Old headlines flooded the screen. I clicked through article after article. Every single one of them told tales that didn't even align at times. None of them actually proved anything, except the photos. And then, it wasn't impossible to edit and Photoshop some pictures.
It was obvious that the story had been written for the media, not discovered by it.
Two hours later, my phone buzzed. I answered immediately.
“You found something?”
“Possibly,” my secretary replied.
I sat up straighter.
“Go on.”
“There’s no record of Nora Finnian after the scandal. But I found a woman who fits her profile.”
“Where?”
“Riverdale.”
My fingers went still on the desk.
"I just sent you an email," she added.
I opened the new email that had appeared on my screen. There was a photo attached.
“Are you certain it's her?” I asked.
“Not yet,” she admitted. “But the facial recognition comparison shows a strong possibility.”
I stared at the screen, still studying and comparing the picture of the woman busy at a café. The former Nora was a blonde; this one had a different hair colour.
Riverdale. Of all places.
I leaned back slowly in my chair.
The very place the board had just decided to send me. Very interesting.
Nathan thought today’s meeting had been a victory. My uncle probably believed the same thing.
Send me away, keep me out of the real decisions, then slowly and quietly remove me from the company my father had built.
I chuckled as I closed the email and shut my laptop.
They thought Riverdale was punishment.
But if Nora Finnian had suffered from Nathan's maltreatment, then she might also be the one person capable of bringing him down.
And now I knew exactly where she was.
That made my transfer a lot more interesting.
I pushed back my chair and stood. For the first time since the board meeting, a wide grin played on my lips.
I grabbed my car keys as I put on my coat.
My uncle hadn’t exiled me after all. He had accidentally handed me the one piece I needed.
Funny how things worked out, because now I really had a reason to go.
Nathan thought he was winning.
He had no idea the real game had just started.
- Writer
