I carefully scanned through the notice. It stated that from today onwards, Andrew Byron would become the new President of the Hall Corporation and would oversee all affairs.
The private group chat I was in was bombarded with messages. Everyone was guessing what had happened to the previous President.
I remember that the previous President’s name was Ryan Byron. He sounded like he was from the same family as Andrew.
A colleague in the group said, “According to our past rules, when the former President leaves his job and the new President takes over, the former President will definitely bring the new President around to make him familiarize himself with the environment and do a good handover. But now, this new President just appeared out of nowhere. The former President is probably doomed.”
“This is such a big corporation. There must be a lot of unglamorous things. Perhaps the former President has already been sent to prison.. The new President is obviously seizing power.”
“Looks like this President is not a simple person. Everyone, be careful.”
“He’s the President, we won’t see him more than twice a year so we don’t have to be careful. This has nothing to do with us.”
Looking at the discussion in the group, I asked, “When was the last time the old President appeared in the company?”
Bonnie replied in the private group chat. “I remember seeing him last month.”
“Which day?”
“About a month ago.”
It was very close to the time when Monde was avoiding Carlisle.
Just as I was still wondering, another notification was sent in the group chat. I clicked it open and my eyes widened. It was a notification of the removal of Vice-President Monde, and someone named Giala Wallis was going to take over his place.
I tightened my grip on the mouse. Although I didn’t have concrete evidence, I could deduce that Monde Duff and the old President had gone missing together. It seemed like they had gone missing a few days earlier than Abraham and the others. However, Monde Duff and the old President’s whereabouts weren’t mostly unknown and they were hardly in the office, they might have all gone missing together!
In other words, Abraham and the others’ disappearance might be related to the change of management of the Hall Corporation! In that case, it was very likely that Andrew knew the inside story.
Was Andrew behind it? Or was it the Byron family?
“Emma!”
I was pulled out of my thoughts by a sharp scream. I shivered and looked at the person in front of me.
Bessy handed me a hard disk expressionlessly. “We’re holding a new wine tasting launch in two weeks’ time. This is the workflow and some information drafted by the marketing department. Familiarize yourself with it. If the client has any questions, you’ll have to answer them.”
“Okay.” I smiled and took the hard drive.
The way Bessy looked at me, for some reason, was filled with disgust. “There’s a list of names in there too. Draft the invitation and send it to me before you print them out and send it to their door.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t just stand there in a daze.” Bessy rolled her eyes at me. “Give me the draft by this afternoon. I want the printed invitations by today. This is the contact of the printing company.”
Bessy handed me a business card and I nodded. “Okay.”
Bessy probably felt out of sorts talking to me, so she turned and left. I covered my forehead, my mind filled with Andrew’s voice and smile that morning. He seemed like a nice guy, but now he was involved with Abraham’s disappearance.
Next, I had to look into Andrew and the Byron family and get to the bottom of this. And of course, before that, I had to confirm whether Monde and the old President were really missing.
After lunch, I finished liaising with the printing company about the invitations and got them to send it over to the office. I then sent Selina a message telling her that I had to work overtime tonight.
At that moment, the phone on the table rang. It was Edwin’s voice. “Come over.”
“Okay.”
I arrived at Edwin’s office. Although his eyes lit up when he saw me, his face was still clouded with worry.
He handed me a document. “This is the application for the new product launch of the Craftsman series wine. Take it to the 18th floor and get the President to sign it.”
I felt that something was wrong. “Didn’t we already start preparing for the press conference a month ago?”
“Yes, but that was approved by the previous President. Now that the new President is in office, I have to seek his opinion again. The press conference is in two weeks’ time. Time is tight, so I have to get this signed today.”
From the way Edwin was frowning and looking very helpless, I could tell that something was wrong. The company had just informed everyone about Andrew’s appointment, and Edwin was pushed to get Andrew to sign a document. It was clear that the various branches were pushing him to test the temper of the new President.
Everyone guessed that Andrew took over the position through power play. He wasn’t a simple person, so no one wanted to go.
Of course, Edwin didn’t want to go either. So he made me do it.
I swallowed my saliva when I looked at the sum written on the application. They were requesting an additional one million dollars on top of the original sum.
If I were to face the person who gave me breakfast, I wouldn’t feel a thing. At most, I would be scolded for raising the budget. However, it was very likely that he was the one who planned the shocking conspiracy that caused many people to go missing.
“Emma, the President is in his office now. You should go now.” Edwin smiled warmly. He hid his intent behind that smile.
I took the application, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the 18th floor.