Chapter 4 Power play

The death of Ryan's father made him devastated, he was angry at himself for not coming earlier to be with his dad. For days he couldn't eat properly, he didn't entertain anyone's call and didn't go to work either. Everyone quite understood the pains of losing a loved one so everyone left him to heal and hopefully, come back better. In a month time, Ryan was back in business, stronger and better. He was the authority figure, whatever he said stood. No one dared to give him coffee if he asked for tea and Vice versa. He didn't tolerate a minuscule of misbehavior and ruled with iron fist.

One day, the Arthesian fashion industry were supposed to have a conference so Ryan issued a command that everyone should wear a hint of red and gold but Sandra, one of the company's textile designers did contrary to what he said. As they stood in a line, Ryan's eyes scanned the lineup until they landed on Sandra, the company's textile designer. He walked down the aisle, his gaze fixed on her. The air seemed to become toxic and thick as he approached her. Finally, he stood in front of her, his eyes blazed with a mixture of anger and irritation. "What's going on here?" He asked, his voice low but still demanding. "I don't quite understand you sir." She responded. "I'm sure I was clear with my instructions:" before letting her speak, he gave her a very hot slap. The slap was so loud it echoed through the hall. "Security!" He called out. In no time a group of bodied security men dashed out and immediately knew it was Sandra to be taken care of. The chief security officer told the rest he would handle the young lady and told his colleagues to step aside. He started by pulling Sandra by her hair, round the floors of the company. Then, he ripped her clothes off which revealed her victoria secret underwear. "You had the audacity to disobey my boss!" He screamed out aggressively and angrily. One part of the hall was filled with gasp and concern for Sandra while the other part was filled with laughter and mockery. Sandra didn't quite have many friends in her place of work. Some underestimated her because of her low status. Ryan walked to her and stopped the chaos that was happening. "I would ask you once miss Sandra, why didn't you follow my instructions." He squatted down, his voice firm. " I didn't have enough money to buy the clothes sir." Her voice trembled as she spoke. "I see." "Take her out of this place and drop her far away from the vicinity of this company." He commanded. "Yes sir!" Four security said in accord and they lifted Sandra home. ********** Not feeling up to work, Ryan decided to stay home and enjoy the environment of his luxurious mansion. He moved around, admiring the laughing fountain, the beautiful garden, the well sculptured statue of his beautiful mother and the well manicured lawns. Sitting on the gazebo, he picked up his phone and went straight to instagram. The first post that popped up on his screen was a popular gossip page in Nexarville. The page made a post of Kayla and Marvin making out in an air balloon and captioned it '#Kayvin #bestcoupleoftheyear #loveintheair'. Ryan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth angrily. Without hesitation, he picked up his other phone and called the owner of a corporate headquarters. In less than a minute Owen Robert answered the call and excitedly said, "Hey Young master, it's nice to hear from you again." "I didn't call you for pleasantries old man. Do you have any business collaborations with any Bryce family?" "I don't think I...... oh yes i do, they even submitted a business proposal few days ago and I'm yet to approve the proposal. what's the matter young master?" "I need you to terminate any ongoing deals with the family right away, tell them you do not need incompetent people like them in your company, do it right now!" Ryan commanded authoritatively. "Okay young master, but would you be willing to tell me the reason why I should that?" "I'm not disposed to tell you the reason just do as I have said." Ryan hung up the phone. Meanwhile in Rivetown, Marvin was in a jacuzzi with his lover Kayla when his dad called him. "You bastard! What have you done." Mr Bryce yelled. "What do you mean dad?" "The corporate head quarters just terminated all contracts and collaborations with us." Mr Bryce said, infuriated. "What? That's not possible, Mr Owen called me yesterday and said he was going to approve the last business proposal soon, you must be joking dad. Have you taken your medications today?" Marvin sardonically said. "You must be out of your senses young man, call Mr Owen and apologize for whatever the f*ck you did to him or his company, unless, don't ever come back to this house." Mr Bryce ended the call abruptly. "What's the matter darling?" Kayla asked "It's nothing that serious, it's just my dad being him as usual." Marvin said nervously. "Are you sure? He didn't quite sound happy tho." "It's fine babe, it's not that serious. Could you hold on a second, I'll be right back." Marvin climbed out of the jacuzzi. He went to a secluded place and called Mr Owen, after seven dials, Mr Owen finally picked. "Good evening Mr Owen, it's Marvin Bryce." "How may I be of help to you." Mr Owen pretended not to know the reason for the call. "My dad called me, he said you terminated all deals with us I would like to know why sir." His tone was desperate. Mr Owen didn't respond to Marvin until twenty minutes of complete silence between the two of them. "Well, you are correct, I terminated all contract between my Corporate headquarters and your family and this is because, my team and I went through your last proposal and it wasn't qualified to continue business with the company." "Sir, please my family and I would make it up to you, please give us the contract again, give us another chance to redeem ourselves." Marvin desperately begged. "I'm sorry but once a decision like this is taken, it cannot be reversed." "You don't understand sir, I'm supposed to get married next week. The last proposal payment was intended for the wedding expenses." "My family depends on this company, please sir, forgive us for anything wrong that might have been in our document, just one last chance is what we need." Marvin begged, tears gathering in his eyes: "I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do to help you, have a nice night Mr Marvin." Mr Owen dropped the line. "What!?" Kayla screamed from the back. Fear gripped Marvin as a slowly turned to Kayla. "Hope what I just heard isn't what I'm thinking?" Kayla asked. "Look babe I can fix it, just go in and let's continue our chill time." Marvin tried to convince her. "Chill time you say, our wedding is next week and you say chill time." Kayla yelled. Marvin moved to Kayla to calm her down, seemed like it was working. "I have some more business deal with other big companies, they would pay soon and as for the wedding, we could shift it to next month, it's the unending love that matters babe not the wedding day." Marvin lied. Kayla looked convinced and calm but didn't want to show her emotions. "Fine! Meet me on the bed, I have a body that needs to be massaged." Keeping a sassy face, she turned and walked away, hips swaying. Marvin heaved a sigh of relief and said cheerfully, "right behind you my lady!"