The next day, in Washington, D.C., the sun rose over the peaceful Drake mansion.
Reginald Drake had dealt with the impact of David's failed wedding, and everything had returned to normal.
They knew Alex was the eldest son of the Ambrose family, and Debbie was the granddaughter of Jessop Clifton. They were both from important families, so even though Alex had stolen his bride, David had to treat him with respect.
Since David had returned from overseas, he had been busy arranging his doomed marriage, but now it was time to get back to work. Reginald had decided to allow David to get more involved with the family business, the Fidelity Group.
Reginald was starting David off as an assistant manager, where he could gradually rise through the ranks. Once David had developed a thorough understanding of the business and had established his credentials, Reginald would hand over the Fidelity Group to him.
Reginald had devoted much of his life to the business, but now he could retire. He planned to travel around the world, catch up on his reading, and do charity work in the most impoverished parts of the world. He was looking forward to it.
But first, he had to ensure that his son's transition to leadership was as smooth as possible.
"Remember, David," he said, as they travelled in the car. "Although you are my son, many of the others have been with me for over thirty years, helping to build up the business. You should treat them with respect."
David listened attentively. The Fidelity Group was enormous and highly influential. Running it would be a massive undertaking, and David was feeling the pressure.
The car arrived at the company headquarters, and Reginald and David got out. On the way to the conference room, all the employees stopped to speak to them.
Inside the room, all the department heads were already sitting around the table, waiting for them.
As soon as Reginald and David came in, everyone greeted them.
"Good morning," Reginald said, sitting down at the head of the table, leaving David still standing.
"There's not a lot to discuss today," Reginald said. "I just wanted to inform you that my son, David, will be joining us as the new assistant manager of the marketing department. Mr. Rice, will you help him get settled?"
"Yes, of course," Victor Rice said. "I'm sure it won't take David long to learn the job."
"Good," Reginald said. He leaned back in his chair and looked around at everyone. "Let's start with the usual progress reports."
Then he whispered to David, "Listen carefully." He wanted David to understand how the business operated.
The Fidelity Group consisted of a number of different businesses, including construction, hospitality, and healthcare. Their private hospitals had been increasing their profits for the last three months.
"Fidelity Construction has begun work on the freeway expansion, and everything is running smoothly," said the person in charge of that project.
"Fidelity Pharmaceuticals has just signed a contract worth thirty million dollars to provide drugs and medical devices to four hospitals," reported another manager. "At present, we are still negotiating with two other hospitals, but we're confident of success."
The managers continued to report on their departments' progress. It took some time to get around everyone. The Fidelity Group seemed to have a hand in everything.
The amounts of money being discussed were staggering, and they were only reporting on the last few months. How much more would they make over an entire year?
David had always known his family had money, but he hadn't known how much. Now he knew the Drake family was far wealthier than he would ever have guessed. Once the managers had finished their reports, Reginald turned to David and whispered, "Do you understand now? Will you work hard to earn your place here?"
"Yes, Dad," David said. "I get it, and I'll make sure I learn quickly."
"Very good," Reginald said, nodding with satisfaction. He looked at the others, ready to end the meeting.
The phone of the head of Fidelity Pharmaceuticals had vibrated three times during the meeting. His assistant had been calling him, but he hadn't answered.
Now his phone buzzed with a message. He looked at it and gaped in shock, beginning to panic.
"Mr. Drake!" he said.
"What's the matter?" Reginald asked. "Why are you so flustered?"
"I've just been told that those two hospitals have suspended negotiations with us," he said. "And even worse, the four hospitals that had already reached an agreement with us have broken their contracts. They're refusing to accept any of our medical devices!"
"What?" Reginald yelled. Something strange was going on. "Talk to them. Use every means necessary to get them back on side."
"Yes, sir." The person in charge of the pharmaceutical company called his assistant to find out what was going on.
Several other phones vibrated, and the managers of the Fidelity Group's subsidiary companies received calls from their assistants.
"Answer them!" Reginald said, growing concerned.
The managers answered their phones. As they spoke with their assistants, they grew extremely anxious. None of the calls was good news.
Everyone reported their problems to Reginald.
"Mr. Drake, the government has opened an investigation on the freeway project. There were claims we used bribery to win the contract. The project cannot continue until the investigation is complete, and the delay will cost us a lot of money!"
"One of our hospitals has failed a health inspection! The report says that the standard of hygiene was not acceptable and several of the staff did not have the appropriate qualifications. Fidelity Healthcare has been given a large fine, and the hospital has been forced to close! Word has spread, and our clients have lost confidence in us."
"Fidelity Fitness has been accused of selling performance-enhancing drugs out of our gyms. Our fitness centers have had to close, and our members are asking for refunds."
"Our top movie star wants to terminate her contract with Fidelity Entertainment."
Almost all the subsidiary companies were experiencing similar problems, and each disaster would cost them a lot of money.
The managers were all confused and anxious. How could all their companies be in trouble at the same time?
"Dad, what's going on?" David asked, confused. This was all too strange. "Is someone deliberately targeting us?"
Reginald remained silent. He frowned as he thought it over. Who could have done this? he wondered. Who wants to hurt my family?
But he couldn't think of a single person who held such a grudge. He had always thought he had treated people fairly.
So, how on earth had he managed to offend someone with the ability to damage all his companies at once?
"Each of you go and deal with your own companies," he ordered the executives. "Do whatever you can to limit the damage and repair the company's reputation. And keep me updated!"
"Yes, sir." The managers filed out.
As they left, one of them sneaked a look at Reginald and sneered.
Noah Freeman had joined the company more than thirty years ago, but he was jealous of Reginald. They had both put in the same amount of time and effort, but Reginald was one of the richest men in Washington, D.C., while Noah was merely one of his employees. A few days ago, Colin Patterson had invited Noah out for a drink and had encouraged him to act against the Drake family.
Now, Noah's allegiance was to the Patterson family, and he planned to help them destroy the Drakes when the time was right.
Noah walked out of the Fidelity Group headquarters and made his way to the Pattersons' villa.
When he got there, he walked inside and was taken to Colin's room. He could hear moaning and groaning, and when he pushed the door open, his eyes opened wide, and his mouth dropped open.