Kyle walked through the doors of BH Industries.
His steps were hard as his sharp eyes lost their focus. A wave of thoughts was clouding Kyle's mind.
'How will Dave react?'
'Does he have to introduce the deal in front of everyone?'
'How will everyone react?'
'Will they think he betrayed the family or company.'
Kyle marched towards the reception area. The receptionist's eyes enlarged as she tried to stand up in respect.
"Sir,"
"I am here to represent IL Group. Where should I go?"
"In the meeting room or the President's cabin," Kyle asked.
The receptionist was confused for a second, but soon her mind came back to her as she checked her calendar.
'Kyle Black was here to represent some other company.'
"The meeting is scheduled with the CEO," The receptionist raised her chin, "Sir is waiting for you in his cabin."
Kyle nodded. He buried his hands in his hair. Kyle was relieved to see that he avoided meeting the other members.
"I will inform sir that you are on your way up." The receptionist said with a smile. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
Seeing Kyle in the company was a rare occurrence. The young brother of the CEO was a sight to behold.
Kyle walked in the direction of Dave's office. Before entering the room. Kyle took a deep breath to control his unstable mind.
Kyle knocked on the door before entering. As soon as he entered the room, his eyes wandered around. The room was spacious and contained a mini library at one corner.
The door opened a room for long-lost memories for Kyle.
Kyle could feel his father's presence here. Drinking on the table facing the books in the library. His unfocused eyes staring at a distance. Kyle never understood what his father was looking at or what he was searching for.
The images flew of Dave and Kyle running around the room, stumbling and falling at times. The little scratch was visible on the knees. The cries filled the room. Their expected eyes searching for their father.
Even in this situation, their father had no expression change. Kyle's mind started wondering, ' from when did their father start ignoring their feelings.'
At some point, the eyes that used to look at them with awe and love started looking at them with orders and expectations. Soon the carefree nature of the brothers was turned to become calculative and manipulative.
"Till when are you going to stay there?" Dave's voice brought Kyle back from his thoughts.
Some memories are meant to stay in the past.
Kyle's face was devoid of any expression. His cold eyes used to be the only way to identify any emotions, but now Kyle's orbs were blank.
Still, Dave understood the meaning embedded into it. Dave's lips were raised.
"I am here to represent the IL Group."
"I heard you will accompany them today," Dave said as he lifted his chin.
Dave turned his face to see if someone else was following Kyle. He expected to see at least Mason, but to Dave's surprise, there was none.
Dave's raised his eyebrows in question. A line appeared between his brows.
"You are here alone?" Dave asked as his nostrils flared.
"Yes," Kyle walked towards the chair, "I am the only one here today."
Dave gave a half-smile, "Interesting."
Kyle sat in front of Dave and leaned back in his chair. "Should we start the negotiation?"
Dave nodded as he tapped his foot. Seeing Kyle all worked up was an exceptional feeling.
'I feel like a proud father.' His younger brother has grown up to be able to handle business meetings.
"Why is no one accompanying you?" Dave asked. He rested his hands on the table.
"I don't know. I was just informed, to seal the deal."
What Kyle said was true. He had no idea why Mason made such a decision. Mason was angry. Was sending Kyle to negotiate such an important deal when he was inexperienced was an unexpected move.
"So what do we have here?" Dave looked at the file resting near Kyle. He had some idea what this might be, but Dave was still confused due to the hurried meeting arrangements.
Kyle followed Dave's sight and gave the file to him.
Dave's eyes read the pages word after word. As the paragraph on the page changed, so did Dave's expression.
"This is an unaccepted deal," Dave's anger spiked, "You should have known, I can never accept this."
"I am just a spokesperson," Kyle's voice lowered.
"But you are still a Black," Dave's voice turned annoyed, "Never forget that."
"Trust me, I can never forget that even if I wanted to, but it doesn't matter now," Kyle's lashes dropped down, "After all, you are the one who sent me there to work."
"So what? Are you trying to oppose me now?" Dave asked, "Is this some type of revenge? One of your backlashes?"
"I don't think it is one of them." Kyle drew in a long breath, "Let's get back to negotiate."
Dave wanted to say a few words more, but Kyle's voice cut through, "Our purpose is to recover the money which had been invested."
"Your CEO decided to remove the funding on her own," Dave huffed, "Are we responsible for the loss that she brought upon herself?"
"That might be true," Kyle added. The time that Mason gave Kyle to go through the contact was not a waste.
"But the contract which you signed had clearly mentioned that any disrespect of our CEO from the members of the BH family will lead to the cancellation of the deal." Kyle exhaled.
"And the money that IL Group had invested throughout the deals should be returned with interest as given in the contract."
Fury overcame Dave. The contracts drawn by the lawyer at the IL Group was biased. But Dave's mouth was sealed as he was the one who signed such an unreasonable contract.
"It is an unfair condition." Dave folded his hands over his chest.
"A condition you signed up for, Mr. Black." Kyle softly replied.
Kyle knew he was opposing his brother, but it was a responsibility given on his shoulder.
Dave was quivering with anger. If Dave had known prior that Evelyn was the CEO of IL Group, one of the prime investors in their company, he would have been extra nice to her. Remembering the past now, Dave had never said anything to Evelyn that would be disrespectful.
"I have never said anything disrespectful to her." Dave challenged.
"Yes, you haven't, but your family members have," Kyle said with full of guilt.
Seeing Kyle's slight reaction, Dave understood his hidden meaning. But according to Dave, the thing with Kyle was not a reason for their deal breakage.
'Wasn't it after the reception party?'
'Was it due to Olivia?'
Dave's mind started moving at a high speed.
"Apart from this, then what?" Dave said. He may not know IL's CEO way of thinking, but he knew Evelyn's way of dealing with work. She will give options, making others accept one which will be beneficial to her.
"You can keep the money but pay 25% royalty after each unit."
Dave sighed. He knew something unexpected will happen. It was as simple as giving hundreds of millions if not billions now, or over the years.
Dave chucked, "We will not go with 25%, after all, we have to pay for our employees as well."
"That will be a problem," Kyle said with doubt. He was instructed by Mason not to go below 15%.
"I will be calling my lawyers first," Dave picked up his phone and took deep breaths.
Kyle waited patiently. His future was based on how today's things go.
Dave was confident Kyle could not handle it. Kyle was a crawling child, but Dave was an experienced Master.
Soon the room was filled with lawyers who were trying their best to find a way out.
"Sir, I think you should start negotiating the royalty deal," One of the lawyers said with a trembling voice.
Dave was fuming with rage. He had underestimated Evelyn.
"Repeat that again," Dave's every muscle tensed.
"There is no way out. The contract does not violate anything." Small sweat droplets formed on the lawyer's forehead.
"So you all are telling me, you did not cross-check the contract prior to signing." Dave's tone rose. His body was quivering with rage.
"N-No, W-We did C-Checked, It's J-Just." Cold sweat formed at the backs of the lawyer. "W-We j-j-just never thought i-it w-w--ould be b-broke-ken."
A burst of sarcastic laughter left Dave's mouth. 'Evelyn was prepared for so long.'
The realization made Dave's eyes sharpen.
"I should hire Evelyn's team of lawyers. They look to consider all the possibilities."
Kyle was sitting silently at a corner. Kyle was confused if he was even needed here. Kyle looked at Dave, who was ranting with his team.
Dave glanced at Kyle in anger, "Your CEO had planned everything."