Chapter 172 Bryce Returns to Diamond Corporation
Angela's phone rang, and the name that flashed on the screen was Elorm. She looked at it and frowned. She knew who Elorm was, but why was he calling her?
"Who is it?" Bryce asked, seeing Angela's smile turn into a frown.
"Zora's friend. He is called Elorm. They were very close, but he suddenly abandoned her," Angela replied, staring at her phone.
By the time she decided to answer and find out what he wanted, the call dropped. She was about to put the phone back down under the watchful gaze of Bryce when it started ringing again. She quickly pressed the answer button with her thumb and raised the phone to her ears.
"Hello?" Angela said, and Bryce stared at her, waiting to know why Zora's friend had called Angela instead of Zora.
"Hello Angela, it's me, Elorm," Elorm introduced.
"I know," Angela replied, sounding a bit unwelcoming.
"I know you and Zora might be mad at me right now for abandoning Zora. I didn't do it deliberately. My life was threatened," Elorm explained.
"You know I am not the one you should be explaining this to, right?" Angela said to him, sounding a little stern.
"I know, but Zora has blacklisted my number. My calls don't go through to her," Elorm said, sounding very sad.
"So what do you want me to do?" Angela asked, sounding very hostile.
"Can you help me see Zora? I need to talk to her. I need to explain things to her," Elorm said.
"And what do you hope to achieve by doing that? A comeback?" Angela asked, sounding like she was the one who hurt Elorm.
Bryce rested his hand on Angela's shoulders, drawing her attention to him. He rubbed her shoulders gently and signalled to her with his eyes that she should calm down.
"I just want to explain things to her and ask for her forgiveness," Elorm said, sounding regretful.
"I can't promise anything, but I will see what I can do," Angela softened up with Bryce, calming her down.
"Thank you," Elorm appreciated, and the call ended.
"Hey, are you alright?" Bryce asked, and Angela nodded, resting her head on Bryce's shoulder.
Bryce wrapped his hand around her and gently rubbed her shoulders.
"I think you should let Zora know and let her decide what she wants to do with him. The closure would help her a lot," Bryce suggested.
"She moved on. She has someone now, and she is happy. Why mess it up with the past? The past is best left in the past," Angela said.
"Maybe, but sometimes knowing why something happened also helps you move on better," Bryce said, and Angela turned her head slightly to stare at him.
"Are you saying that because I gave you a second chance?" Angela asked, staring at Bryce for an answer.
"Not in that sense. Ours was different. Just tell Zora and let her decide. Don't hide this from her," Bryce was convinced.
"How about Martin?" Angela asked. "I hate to see people hurt," she added.
"Was Zora in love with this guy called Elorm?" Bryce asked.
"Kind of," Angela replied.
"Another reason why you should let Zora talk to him. If not, Zora's relationship with Martin is not real. Martin is only a replacement, and if Zora sees this guy anywhere, she might leave Martin. That will be very painful because Martin will be too deep into her," Bryce explained.
"Okay," Angela agreed, realising it made sense.
There was a knock on the door, and Bryce got down from the bed to answer it. When he opened the door, it was one of the servants.
"Sir, dinner is ready," she informed him.
"Okay," Bryce answered and closed the door. "Dinner is ready," he said to Angela.
"It's about time. I am hungry," Angela said and got down from the bed.
They were all soon seated around the dining table and enjoyed their evening meal. Once dinner was over and other things taken care of, they said good night to each other and retired to their various room. Martin and Zora went into their separate rooms but kept chatting on the phone till 3 am. While in Bryce's room, Angela fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
The next day, at 6 am, Bryce was already dressed up and ready for work. Martin didn't get enough sleep because he was chatting with Zora, but he knew he needed to be ready. The two gentlemen met in the living room, leaving their ladies sleeping in.
"Didn't get enough rest?" Bryce asked, seeing Martin didn't look bright and sharp like he usually does in the morning.
"New environment. I will be fine after a day or two," Martin quickly replied, and Bryce smiled.
"I see," Bryce said and walked towards the door.
They soon left the apartment and headed for Diamond Corporation with four guards accompanying them.
At Diamond Corporation, Bryce realised nothing had changed since Bryce left. His car was parked at his usual place, and he headed for his office upstairs on the eighth floor. The two guards followed him together with Martin. Two guards were left to guard the parked car.
Upstairs on the eighth floor, Bryce stopped and stared at what used to be Angela's office briefly before walking into his office. The two guards stood at each side of the door while Martin walked into the office with Bryce.
Bryce got behind his desk, and Martin sat down on the couch. The first thing Bryce did was to invite Bernard, Ariana, the head of security, Britney, the head of the PR team and Evans, the finance manager, into his office.
There was a lot of murmuring going around the company when they spotted Bryce coming in. The war between father and son and everything that happened with Angela, as the topic and later, Eva and Susan's names coming up, with Bryce joining the Davis family, and the current situation, was no news to the people in Diamond Corporation. However, they didn't expect Bryce to come back to Diamond Corporation.
Inside Bryce's office, Bernard, Ariana, Britney and Evans sat together behind a round table. Earlier, Bryce asked his bodyguards and Martin to bring the round table and the chairs into his office, placing them in the space he had created.
Now, Bryce had a couch, a dining area and a meeting area in his office.
"I know you are asking yourself multiple questions, with one of them being, ' Why am I here?" Bryce began, and they only stared at him with confused expressions and surprise registered on their faces.
"I know it's not in the news. I left the company because I believed I was not a Moore but a Davis. However, in the Davis family, I found out the truth about who I am. I am Bryce Moore, son of the late Mathew Moore and the late Josephine Brown. I am the only son of my late father and also the only heir of his inheritance. This company is my inheritance. I have come to take care of what is mine," Bryce said to them, and they were surprised but also happy because the once-known powerful company that everyone yearned to work in was now on the verge of bankruptcy.
"I am here to protect what my father left me," Bryce repeated. "I am here to rebuild the company by rebranding it. A new name and a new development strategy," he added.
"What does that mean for us all here?" Ariana asked as she feared there would be termination of contracts, as that was normal when it comes to reviving a dying company.
"I know what you are thinking, Ms Ariana, and the answer is no," Bryce said. "I called you here because I have automatically elected you to be part of the rebranding team," he said. "I worked with all of you, and together we made Diamond Corporation what it used to be in the past. We are going to do that all over again. Diamond Corporation will be reborn. Bigger and better," he added.
"Bernard, your position as head of IT is very significant in this rebranding. We are going to build new systems. Britney, get ready for massive advertisements and lots of public engagement. Ariana, I want improved security measures. You will work with Bernard on that. Evans, don't worry, you are with me. I will provide the money, and you will do what you know how to do best. We are bringing this company back to life. New salary structure. I am bringing an HR manager and an assistant on board. Together, we will rebuild this company," Bryce informed them, and they were happy about it.
"Just like what we did at Don Entertainment, we will have an appraisal for all the current employees to find those who don't qualify to be here. They will have to leave the company after three months," Bryce said, and they all frowned.
"What do you mean by they will leave the company after three months?" Bernard asked, wondering what such employees would be doing in the company for three months.
"We will have what we call the P.I.P. Performance Improvement Programme. It will be a three-month programme that will help an employee who is poorly performing to improve themselves. If after three months the employee is still underperforming, the contract will be terminated," Bryce explained, and it made sense to them.
"Are you ready?" Bryce asked.
"Yes," they replied in unison, happy about the idea.
"Okay, let's start with meeting all the employees in the auditorium," Bryce said. "Martin, get the receptionist to arrange that," he said, and Martin left immediately to do as Bryce had requested.
Soon, all the employees were in the auditorium, and Bryce went to meet them. Bryce mounted the stage and began to address the employees.
Outside, across the street, a man sat in a parked car on the phone with someone.
"Bryce returns to Diamond Corporation. Elorm, I need you to join them," he said on the call.
"Yes, boss. I know what to do," Elorm said, sitting on a bed inside his apartment.
Once he was done with the call, he called Angela again.
"Hello Angela, hope you are doing well. Please, help me speak with Zora. I don't have much time left," Elorm said, sounding very sad and creating an impression of dying.