Rise Of The Disgraced Heir

Friday came faster than Ian had anticipated. 

He had been anxiously waiting since he knew that things would be much more different after they were announced.

The day before Marco had sent out invites to all of the employees of the Reyes Group for a company wide town hall. 

It was set to happen at the famous Maharlika hotel closeby. 

Most employees could simply walk to the hotel from their office, others had opted to hold their meetings with clients earlier in the day there as well in order to avoid being late.

On the CEO's floor Ian and Camilla were actually drowning in paperwork as they hurried to finish what had already piled up over the past few days.

"Well this is a good way to get rid of any anxiety or worry." Camilla joked as she scanned the document in her hand.

"Most employees are taking today easy while we are drowning in work." Ian grumbled.

"It's better than you pacing in your office." Seth said as he stood at the doorway of Ian's office.

"Shouldn't you be at the hotel by now?" Ian asked his friend. 

"Just came up to say hi and good luck. I told my teammates to meet me at the lobby. We all planned to go there together." Seth explained.

"Thanks." Ian said with a smile. He may have pretended to be annoyed by his friend, but in fact he was glad that Seth had passed by to say good luck. He truly appreciated it.

"Are you still hanging out with Mike's friends, your old group?" Camila asked as she lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at Seth. 

"Of course not." Seth told her as he shook his head. "I never wanted to be friends with them in the first place. Mike's arrest helped me finally distance myself from them. But I won't lie, they've been trying to get me to spend time with them, which is just annoying." He grumbled.

"Just keep using work and your family as an excuse." Ian suggested.

"That's the plan." Seth winked as he looked at the watch on his wrist. "Well I should go. See you later, good luck, and I'll be cheering in the audience."

"Thanks Seth!" Ian and Camilla both called out as they waved goodbye.

"Do you think Seth will still hang out with us publicly when the other employees know who we are and what our role is in the company?" Camilla asked as she placed down the documents on the table.

"I honestly don't know." Ian shook his head as he focused his attention on his friend. "But I'm sure that he will want to be as low profile as possible, or at least I think that's what Seth wants."

"I guess it's also possible that his family will push for him to be seen publicly with us. It would help legitimize their wealth and reputation, even though the Deans don't really need it." Camilla thought out loud.

"Whatever his choice will be, it will be fine with me." Ian said as he returned his attention back to the overwhelming amount of work in front of him. "He has been there for us even if we've only known each other for a short time. I'm sure we can trust him."

"Of course I trust him. I just wanted to know what the plans were." Camilla said as she too returned to work.

An hour later, Macro came knocking on the door of Ian's office, he knew he would find the two younger assistants there. 

He was sure that both were anxious and nervous about the new future that they both faced. 

The older assistant couldn't help but be amused at the sight of his two juniors hard at work. They were about to become the most popular employees of the Reyes group in the next few minutes.

"We're going soon. You don't need to bring anything." Marco said as he finally interrupted their work.

"Already?" Ian asked as he looked at his watch.

"Time flies when you're having fun." Marco teased. "Or stressing out too." He said with a chuckle.

Ian and Camilla shook their heads as they began to pack up their belongings. 

"Once the two of you are ready we can inform the CEO and we will all head down to the parking lot." Marco told them. "John will drive you in Ian's car. By the time we arrive all of the employees will be inside the hall but there will be media outside of the hotel."

"What? Media?" Ian asked in surprise. "This is a company event, why is the media involved?"

"We told them that there will be big news coming from this townhall." Marco explained. "It will get out eventually so might as well get ahead of the gossipers. The might end up calling you guys illegitimate children of the CEO."

"That's crazy and stupid." Ian said as he rolled his eyes at Marco.

"Let's go, I'm ready." Camilla said as she gave Ian a nudge on the shoulder. "Slow poke." She teased.

"I didn't need to prepare anything." Ian said with a shrug.

"Alright you two, let's go." Marco said as he laughed at the pair.

They quickly informed the CEO that it was time to head to the hotel. 

Emilio Reyes seemed to be prepared to go, because he quickly stood up and picked up his coat.

"Wait, before we go." He called out to his assistants, who quickly stopped and turned to face him thinking that there was still some work he wanted done before they left.

"Here." Emilio Reyes said as he handed Camilla and Ian a leather box. "A gift from my son."

Ian and Camilla looked at each other before finally taking the box in the hand in front of them.

"He wanted to be here to wish you luck and to hand these, but unfortunately, he can't." The CEO said with a frown. It didn't seem to be a small matter based off of his reaction. It seemed like he was genuinely heartbroken about wherever his son was.

Ian and Camilla both slowly opened the small boxes, they were shocked to find two extremely expensive watches inside as well as a pair of cufflinks for each of them. 

"Sir, this is too much." Ian said in a shaky voice as he looked up at the CEO.

"No, no." The CEO said as he shook his head. "I think this is actually too little. You are both about to embark on one of the most tiring and stressful journeys in your lives. Being the CEO's assistant is not easy, it's a tough job."

"Yup." Marco said loudly from behind the two, making Emilio Reyes laugh. 

"See, even Marco agrees." He said as he shook his head. "Take the gift." He urged.

"Thank you." Ian and Camilla both said as they took the watches out of the box and replaced the ones they were wearing with the gift.

"Let's go." The CEO said with a nod as he marched out of his office ahead of them.

The drive to the hotel was quick, in all honesty Ian and Camilla would both have preferred to walk, but according to both Marco and John they needed to make an impression. 

So their car trailed loosely behind the CEO's Maserati as it moved through the city, surrounded by armor plated security vehicles.

"Do they really need this much security or is it all just for show?" Ian asked John.

"The Reyes Group and the Reyes family are both very old fixtures in the country." John began to explain. "They have gathered so many enemies over the years that it isn't exactly safe for them."

"But the Reyeses are kind and fair, or at least they are based on what we have seen." Camilla commented.

"The reason they have enemies is because they rarely do corrupted things. They would rather do things the right way rather than break the law. Although, of course, they aren't saints, they have crossed the line a few times as well." John told the pair as the car slowed down when they approached the hotel.

From his car's window, Ian could see the flood of journalists that stood outside, waiting, as they snapped photos of the CEOs car as well as it's convoy.

"Well, now everyone will know this car." John teased. "Use Camilla's car if you want to travel unnoticed."

"Finally, my car will get to see daylight." Camilla laughed, making the two men shake their heads. 

"The sales of this model will increase for sure." John pointed out. "Anything associated with the Reyes Group and it's inner circle usually sells like crazy. Everyone wants to be like them, well not them, us." 

Ian and Camilla shook their heads to John's comments. Unlike them, John was an inner circle employee that remained unknown. 

"Are you guys ready?" John asked as the CEO's car stopped in front of the hotel entrance.

"Is anyone ever ready?" Ian asked as he pushed open his car door to a barrage of camera flashes.