Rise Of The Disgraced Heir

An uneventful Sunday was exactly what Ian needed. 

He was finally able to relax and unwind, he felt like a completely different person as they went back to the office.

A day of doing barely anything was exactly what the doctor ordered.

They came back to the office on Monday, fully refreshed as Ian attacked his remaining work before they needed to head down to Krisanta Land's office.

"Feeling better?" Marco asked Ian as he passed by the younger assistant's office.

"Yeah, much." Ian replied with a nod. "I just needed to relax and watch some shows over the weekend and I feel like a whole different person!" 

"Are you ready?" Marco asked. "The real work begins today.."

"It's just acting." Ian said with a shrug. "I can manage, don't worry." 

"Good, good." Marco commented. "We will be here with the team, watching and tracing everything."

"Are we sure that the Juan family will stick to their end of the bargain?" Ian asked.

"They fear the Reyes Group and the Reyes family too much." Marco told Ian. "As it stands, even just using Jake will scare them. So I doubt they would dare betray us. Did something happen to make you think they might turn on us?"

"No, it's just I have a lot of trust issues right now." Ian confessed to Marco.

"Ah, yes." Marco said with a nod as he took a step into Ian's office. "The key is not to let your guard down, but to learn how to tell who is truthful from who is not. This job will attract people who want to use you. The sooner you realize that, the better."

Ian simply nodded as he thought about the advice Marco had just given him.

"Well, last ten minutes before you and Camilla need to head down, better finish all of that." Marco said with a laugh as he pointed at the stack of documents on Ian's desk and left.

Ian shook his head and smiled. He knew that the older assistant had almost ten times the workload he and Camilla were handed. 

Right now their only task was to learn and help with matters like that of Mike and Armand.

Ian couldn't help but wonder what life would be like under his future boss. He had met a lot of young rich future heirs, and in all honesty they were all huge disappointments.

They were boys that became men without truly appreciating what they were about to inherit. They were so out of touch from reality that Ian was sure that if their companies didn't fold in their generation, it would in the next.

Ian focused on work while he waited for time to pass. He was thankful that he had his own office and that there were no outside disturbances. 

"Ready?" Camilla asked as she carried her bag on one shoulder and held her laptop in the other.

"Yeah." Ian said with a nod. 

He was glad that he had made friends like Camilla, John, and Leon. 

By some miracle Leon had nothing to do on Sunday night, so the three of them decided to keep Ian company while he tried to cope with what Jas had done.

It was nice being around people that weren't constantly asking how he was. They were just there, having fun with him.

"Yeah, I just need to put everything aside." Ian said with a nod as he filed all the documents left on his table in the correct folders and closed his laptop, stashing it away.

Today they would be using a different one. It had been set up to record if anyone opened the laptop while he was away from his desk, as well as to trace all deleted emails, sending all the information over to Marco and the others.

All he needed to do was to provide Mike with an opportunity to send the email with his laptop, without making it seem too easy.

"So you are meeting with Jas tonight?" Camilla asked as they made their way down the hall of the CEO's floor towards the elevator.

"If we settle this whole Mike issue, yes." Ian said with a nod.

"A big part of me is hoping that she didn't have a choice, that Mike made her do this." Camilla told Ian.

"Even if he did, I can't believe that she would choose to help him and betray me." Ian said as he shook his head. "What she did was inexcusable."

"You're right." Camilla said with a sigh as she nodded. 

A huge part of her wanted to remain hopeful for Ian. Her family that had betrayed her, had betrayed her completely. 

She simply wasn't their favorite child so they left her, abandoned her, willingly let a child almost die.

The end that they met was sad, but it was what they deserved and nothing less.

When they finally made it to the floor of Krisanta Land's office, Mike was the first person to greet them when they entered the hall.

"So, how was your weekend?" Mike asked with a grin as they were soon joined by Seth who gave the pair a silent knowing smile.

He had arranged for someone to become an excuse for the police to search both Mike and Armand's homes respectively. They were all simply waiting for Ian's signal before they could act.

"Relaxing." Camilla responded with a smile. She knew that Ian was not in the mood to respond.

"Yeah." Ian said, giving his curt reply. 

"Well, Armand wanted to start the meeting as soon as possible, he's been waiting for everyone to arrive." Mike told them as their group approached their assigned desks. 

"Right, I guess everyone should be here soon." Camilla commented with a smile.

"I don't think I've ever asked you guys where you grew up." Mike said, making Ian steal a glance at Camilla.

They knew that there was a possibility that Mike would try to trick Ian into giving him the answers to Ian's security questions. They had no plans on giving it up so easily, it would be way too obvious.

"Why the sudden interest in our personal lives?" Ian asked in an annoyed tone. 

"I just thought since we are all friends we should get to know each other. Like I am capital born and bred." Mike proudly told them.

"Same." Ian said with a nod. 

"I grew up on the outskirts of the capital, but I was born in one of the provinces up north." Camilla shared. 

"See, we are getting to know each other better." Mike said proudly.

He proceeded to ask them several questions, some of which Ian refused to answer. 

"I need to send some emails." Ian commented as he set up the laptop while Camilla and Seth continued to speak to Mike.

Camilla noticed that Mike kept glancing at Ian, clearly trying to figure out how to access Ian's laptop.

"Meeting time!" Jake announced as he approached his team, waving them over. 

Ian promptly got up, not even locking his laptop. Most employees didn't lock their laptops anyway.

He caught the smile on Mike's face as the other man realized how easy it would be to send a fake email using Ian's unattended laptop.