Smash!
Smash!
Crash!
Bang!
A series of heart-weakening sounds rampaged in a large office. With the curtains pulled together and the lights turned off, only the leaking light coming from the windows allowed one to see what was transpiring within the office walls.
Like Sling and Shade who reported back to Ian, two middle-aged men groveling on the ground were also making a report to their master.
They were the CEO and CFO of EVL Ward, Inc.
Trembling in fear, they begged for their master to show them mercy as they awaited their punishment.
The violent sounds of valuables being thrown to the ground in unvoiced anger made them sweat buckets as their hearts clenched as tight as a dead-knot.
Recently, through their underworld organization's face company, they lost an astronomical amount of money.
The thing was, the other party wasn't even the one who approached them first. They were the ones who willingly stepped into the other side's trap after seeing the impressive portfolios of theirs by chance.
Originally, they were tasked with the important objective of amassing funds for the organization's next operation. But now thanks to this incident, not to mention amassing funds, they lost all their capital, and now they were on the verge of losing their head!
"Boss, he-he must've been a swindler! A professional swindler and conman! Otherwise, there's no way we would've fallen into his trap!"
"R-right! Boss, if he knew who he actually messed with, I bet he'd be scared to death!"
The man who was thrashing the entire room suddenly stretched out his arm and swept everything on his desk to the floor. The continuous sounds of crashing and glass shattering shut up the two on the ground.
Slowly turning his body, a suffocating and aggressive aura full of tyranny filled the room as the boss glared at the two sweaty men.
A deep, low voice like a ferocious beast's growl sounded.
"…I."
He breathed, suppressing his anger temporarily.
"I must have been out of my mind leaving the management of EVL Ward, Inc. to you buffoons!"
He picked up the ashtray and threw it at the CFO.
"Do you have any idea, Mr. CFO, how much you lost in your little investment plan which you promised me will return 1,000 folds of what we invested? I recall somebody saying that if it fails, I can take their head?"
The CFO shivered as cold sweat again broke out all over his body. He dared not dodge the ashtray his master threw at him. It hit him squarely in the face, smashing his nose bridge with the click sound of a bone breaking. Blood streamed down.
He could only mechanically kowtow over and over again, his forehead knocking harshly against the icy, smooth tiles.
Soon enough, a patch of red appeared on his forehead and a red pool formed on the floor. As if not knowing pain, the man relentlessly knocked as if wanting to kill himself.
Seemingly satisfied with the repentant attitude of the CFO, the man left him alone for now. He turned to the CEO, the middle-aged man with balding hair, who he assigned to act as the president of his organization's surface company.
The boss slowly shook his head. The CEO's heart clenched.
Sitting back on his legs, his body went limp as his head hung down. His eyes were soulless.
Although he did not suffer from physical pain, the blow to his mind was strong enough to render him incapacitated.
Bored, the man called for the bodyguards at the door to come in and gestured for them to drag out the two men who were very displeasing to his eyes.
'They need to be changed.' The man thought as he narrowed his dark eyes at the two cowardly and weak men. Although they dared not rebel against him or birth any disobedience, it was really not ideal for them to be so incapable and incompetent considering the positions he bestowed upon them.
He was having a headache.
Although this hidden big underworld boss had a lot of men under him, 90% of them were minions who were all brawn and no brains. On the other hand, nearly all of his smart, capable men were sent out by him to complete other important tasks that cannot be delayed, so there was a lack of capable people he could use as of the moment.
While pondering over the issue of who to make his face company's new CEO, the man seemed to have thought of something as a trace of a gratified smile came to his face.
'It almost slipped my mind. My son is coming home from abroad in a few weeks. He will be the perfect candidate to take over my aboveboard corporation.'
*****
In the blink of an eye, the day has arrived.
All the trainees nervously practiced one last time before it was their turn on stage.
Chase calmly exited from the stage to the backstage area after his cooking show performance.
He signaled for the applicant after him to go up.
"Good luck," Chase wished them good luck. The other party nervously said his thanks.
"You were great, Chase!" Rip jumped out from the side and shouted in a restrained voice, making sure he wouldn't be heard from the judges' seat.
"I know!" Chase was smug with self-confidence for this test. Cooking was his specialty! His little brother had always praised his cooking every time he ate it, saying that there was nothing else in the world more delicious than his cooking.
Recalling his little brother and his hospital situation, a hint of sadness and helplessness flashed in his eyes.
It went as quickly as it came.
Rip did not notice the abnormal mood of his friend. He went all out praising Chase's spectacular live-cooking performance and taste-test.
"…I even saw young master Ian nodding his head!"
Chase chuckled. He didn't take any of this to heart. Instead, he reminded Rip.
"Don't just think about my performance, you still have your own performance to think about," Chase teased.
"I know! I know!" Rip quickly said.
All the remaining trainees from the special training had been given a number, which was the random order they were to go on stage in.
Chase, Rip, and Blake were all placed at the end part of the list.
Of the initial over a hundred trainees who passed the resume portion of the hiring process, only forty-two remained.
After hours of watching each applicant perform their respective talent, some of which were the same as others, it was almost Rip's turn.
As the minutes turned to seconds, Rip took in a shaky breath. He wasn't sure if he had stage fright or if it's just because this talent show test was too important to him.
His body was shaking and his palms were sweaty, however, the stars in his eyes twinkled like stardust.
Seeing Rip in this state, Chase took his time to recall the talent Rip wanted to show.
Chase had been very surprised when he was first informed of Rip's choice.
He never would've thought that out of everything, Rip would choose that to show off, especially not as his talent.
Let it be known that Chase has never once seen Rip doing anything remotely close to that 'talent'.
In spite of this, there was actually a lot of anticipation inside Chase's heart which he held back from speaking out. Whether Rip makes a fool of himself or steals all the spotlight tonight, Chase will laugh.
And he will support him because he was Rip's friend.