Rumors were fast spreading about Carlen's sexuality after pictures of himself and Max hugging in the car were published . The Company stocks went down , which gave his competitors, The SHAW Groups an upper hand
There were reporters everywhere around the company and so many media houses had been calling him for an interview.
Carmen could care less about them, all he cared about was Max reputation and the Company's Reputation . The Company was not just his but the whole family.
Carlen was the head of the Adams family and all members of the family relied on him.
If anything goes wrong with the Company, it will affect the entire Adams family. The Adams Family is a big one.
His great grandfather father had a son out of wedlock whose grandchild has an eye on the company also.
Carlen is the rightful heir to the Adams Family. But there were so many uncles and step uncles who were older than him and wanted to inherit the company but Grandfather Adams handed it to the Company.
They all felt cheated, They had all worked for the company and when it was time for grandfather to retire , he handed it over to Carlen who wasn't even in the country at the time . They all felt grandfather was being partial all because their great grandmother was a concubine.
When Great grandfather Adams was young, he slept with a lady who got pregnant for him without his knowledge. Years later when he had gotten married and had two children, a boy who was grandfather and a girl who got married to a rich heir.
The woman came with a son implying that he had impregnated her. He couldn't deny it because he could recognize her and the young boy looked so much like him.
The incident almost cost him his marriage but he loved Great grandmother and refused to divorce her for anything.
He got a house for the woman and her son and kept providing for the boy.
When he was about to die he willed the Adams Family to his son from great grandmother who was grandfather and only gave his older son who was born out of wedlock money and properties.
This got the son and his mother angry but they couldn't do anything. Even when they tried, they didn't succeed.
Grandpa knew they were bitter, so he tried to appease his older step brother by making him the vice president of the company then.
His step brother collided with his enemies to bring him down and destroy the Adams family. Grandfather found on time and sacked him.
Years later after they had gotten married and given birth, His step brother who was now a grandpa himself had so many children and grandchildren unlike Grandfather who had just one child and one grandchild. His step brother had told all his children and grandchildren that he was the rightful heir to the Adams Company and would instigate them to get back what was theirs .
There was so much internal struggle in the Adams Family unknown to the Public and as so Carlen couldn't make a mistake, any small mistake he might lose the company to step brothers who were working with his rival.
The pressures were so much on the shoulders of a 32 year old man and so Carlen was always stressed. His parents knew this and they tried all they could to help him unknown to them he had some involvement with the Mafia, only grandfather was aware of this.
All the time he was in the states he was trained as a skilled Martial artist.
The possibility of the Company stocks going down more than it was , was quite high and this put Carlen in work mode.
Times like this , he acted like a robot. Even his Assistant Dan, felt so much for him .
They worked together all night long to prevent the stocks from falling.
Mrs Adams couldn't take it anymore as the rumors that her only child was gay, some of her friends called her to confirm, she told them it was a lie. They did not believe her no one had ever seen her son with a female. She herself was bothered and found herself believing the news even after her son had told her he was straight.
She came over to the Company to look for her son . Where is he , she asked Dan.
Good afternoon ma, The CEO is in the office but it's locked from behind and he's quite busy in there.
Call him and tell him to open the door now. I have to see him, it's very urgent she said to him.
Minutes later Carlen opened the door looking exhausted as his mother saw his tired face ,she hugged him and started crying . He wondered why she was crying.
He just hugged her and was rubbing her back. Who made you cry he asked softly.
They are all saying you are not straight and that they have never seen you with a female, nor do you work with one.
Most of your staffs are male and you assigned all your female staffs to work on the second and last floors while the male works on the first t floor
As she spoke, Carlen wondered how this information got out, there must be an informant in the company he thought.
Mom, who do you trust ? I told you I am straight, forget about all these hearsay just be like dad. Ignore them .
No I won't, you have to prove it to me and them. Find a woman to date or should I look around for you.
My friends all have beautiful girls and there's Maya who you liked when you were younger.
Mom, you know those ladies have nothing in their head, they only know how to wear makeup and talk all day. I am not interested in any of them .
Alright, how about Maya? She graduated with an upper credit from a prestigious university in the states. She studied management. She is beautiful, smart and comes from a good family.
What more do you want Son.
Alright mom , I would ask her out to dinner later this week. Is that fine?
Mrs Adams who came in crying was smiling broadly . Carlen was wondering how quick his mom was at changing expression
He decided to give Maya a try , even though he felt nothing for her at least to get the media off his back . He hopes the symptoms don't appear when he's next to her.
He sent a message to Maya, which she responded to immediately.
They agreed to meet at Berkeley Restaurant at weekend.