Chapter 115 Place of Shame Becomes Place of Glory
"What happened?" Devon asked.
"Bryce called all the employees and informed them that the news about our relationship is fake," Susan whined.
"Calm down. I will take care of that," Devon consoled.
"It's not even that. He turned me into a laughing stock in the company. This is so humiliating," Susan continued to whine.
"I am coming over," Devon said. "I will have this resolved immediately," he added.
"Thank you," Susan appreciated and ended the call.
"So what now?" Eva anxiously asked after the call had ended.
"He is coming over to correct things," Susan said, smiling.
"This old man does like you a lot," Eva commented.
"Yes, since my parents died, he has been like a father to me," Susan said and frowned. "I must say, he has been attentive to my needs more than my parents ever were as far back as I can remember," she added.
"Well, you told me it was Bryce's fault that your parents died. So he might just be making up for it. Which is good," Eva said.
"Yes, well. It does work to my advantage. I get everything I want," Susan said, smiling. "Let's wait here until he arrives. The place I was shamed will be my place of glory," she added, and they both smiled.
On the eighth floor, Bryce had just returned to his office, and Marcus followed him in. He sat behind his desk, and Marcus stood in front of the desk.
"What happened last night?" Bryce went straight to the point, and Marcus was surprised by the question.
He thought Bryce had forgotten about what happened the night before, since he asked about the report from the investigation on Angela.
"Sir," Marcus said, trying to find an explanation that made sense.
"I won't repeat myself," Bryce said sternly, his expression very serious.
"Sir, you fell sick last night, and Ms Susan tried to help," Marcus replied, almost stammering.
"Do you take orders from me or do you take your orders from Susan?" Bryce asked. "While you are at it, explain to me when you started taking orders from others," he added.
"My sincerest apologies, sir. Everything happened so fast, and I also thought Ms Susan was your wife-to-be. I couldn't disrespect her," Marcus replied.
"I see, but it's okay to disobey Angela, who is my wife?" Bryce questioned, leaning forward.
"Sir, I don't mean it that way," Marcus replied.
"Marcus, starting today, you are no longer head of the guards. If you mess up again, you can consider your contract terminated. Get out of my office and send Martin in," Bryce said, and Marcus just nodded.
Marcus knew there was no point in pleading. He knew Bryce was just being merciful by demoting him. He was also aware that Bryce did not trust anything from him again. What this means is he would not be able to do what Susan tasked him to do. Marcus went to his office on the ground floor and started packing his stuff. He would have to move to join the company security. He found Martin and informed him that Bryce wanted to see him.
Bryce was in his office when Martin knocked and entered.
"Martin, starting today, you are head of the guards. Now listen carefully. You have a month to prove you are trustworthy. I am giving you your first task. I need you to dig everything you can find on my wife, Angela Anderson. You have three days," Bryce instructed.
"Thank you, sir, I will do as requested," Martin said, but he was sad that Marcus had been demoted.
Knowing Bryce, Martin was sure Marcus had done something very terrible for Bryce to demote him like that.
"I am giving you another important task," Bryce said. "Keep an eye on Marcus and also get me everything you can get on his dealings for the past six months," he added.
"Yes, Sir," Martin replied.
"Good, you can leave," Bryce said.
Once Martin left, Bryce dialled Britney's extension.
"Hello, Britney, kindly come over to my office," Bryce said and ended the call.
Three minutes went by, and Bryce heard a knock on the door. He requested the person to come in, and Britney entered.
"Mr President, you wanted to see me," Britney said as soon as she was inside Bryce's office.
"You have seen the news trending on social media," Bryce began.
"Yes, Mr President," Britney replied.
"I want it pulled down, and I find he started that nonsense. Once you do, sue the person or the media that did that," Bryce said.
"Yes, Mr President," Britney acknowledged and left to carry out Bryce's orders.
As soon as Britney left, Bernard walked in.
"Mr President, your father is here, and he is meeting all the employees at the auditorium," Bernard reported, and Bryce frowned.
"Thank you for letting me know," Bryce said, and Bernard left.
Bryce was already aware of why his father was there. He was sure Susan called him. He stood up from behind his desk and went down to the auditorium. He entered the hall but stood at the back watching his father standing behind the podium.
"I know my son addressed you this morning concerning the trending news. I will say he did the right thing, following the rules of the company," Devon said. "I came here today to clarify things and let you know of the changes that have been made," he went on. "This company has many rules, and one of them forbids employees from having intimate relationships among themselves," he said.
Bernard, who was standing at the back, just a distance away from Bryce, recalled the resignation letter he had typed and was looking for the right time to send it to Bryce because he was going to marry Eva.
"I recently reviewed the rules of this company and made some changes after engaging a few employees," Devon said. "You spend your entire day here except for weekends. So I made some changes. The rules forbidding employees from having a relationship with one another have been cancelled," Devon said. "Starting today, employees are now free to date one another and even get married," he said. "I will also use this opportunity to invite well-wishers to my apartment this weekend for Bryce's and Susan's engagement party," he added and stretched his hand towards Susan.
Susan smiled and stood up from her seat. She walked towards Devon on the stage, smiling. Devon held Susan's hand and presented her to the employees.
"Starting today, I want you all here to respect Ms Susan here as a Moore," Devon said, and some people cheered while a few murmured.
"As a way of celebrating that, the company is doing a half-day today," Devon announced, and Bryce exited the auditorium looking very angry.
Susan stood on the stage and saw Bryce leave the auditorium.
"My place of shame becomes my place of glory. Bryce, we are getting married, whether you like it or not," Susan thought as she smiled ear to ear, standing next to Devon on stage.