Richest Man: It All Started With My Rebate System-Chapter 56: Inescapable Public Humiliation

A series of loud noises echoed from inside the Managing Director’s office of Red Sapphire REIT, Houston Branch.

A lady seated behind a desk close to the office, who was pretending to work but actually having a casual chat with another staff online, smiled happily and in satisfaction when she heard the noise.

Her boss being angry wasn’t a pleasant sight to see. He was someone who liked to find problems with everything, make life difficult for others and work them to death if he could.

Staff of every level dreaded going into his office because it always ended with them getting yelled at.

She always felt bad when this happened but she was all smiles today. And the reason for this was because the person her boss was yelling at and giving an earful was his own son.

Her smile widened when the sound of something breaking and a begging voice echoed from the office.

She was really living in the moment. But it couldn’t be helped, especially with the kind of person her boss’ son was.

He was a perfect and worst replica of his father, taking after his father’s terrible attributes but being worse as a person.

A few minutes later, the door opened and a young man walked out with a face red with anger and pain, and hand clenched so tightly into fists that his nails were almost digging into his palm that was almost pale white.

He heard a sharp snicker and his head snapped to the direction where it came from. He saw his dad’s secretary looking down at her monitor but doing her best to hold back her laugh.

His fists clenched harder as his anger stoked but there was unfortunately nothing he could do to her. He had to go find Lena, publicly apologise to her and make sure that she didn’t quit her job or things were going to become worse than they already were for him.

He walked towards the main office space, making his way to Lena.

Drew’s anger grew even more when he thought of publicly apologising to someone of lower status than him but there was unfortunately nothing he could do, but only grit his teeth in anger and swallow the coming humiliation.

He had never expected Lena to report him to HR first thing after she had come to work. Maybe he had expected it a bit but the thought of the humiliation he suffered at the hands of the societal newcomer that was with her, and how he was going to get his face back had occupied his mind more.

The first thing he had done when he got to the office this morning was to go explain what had happened to his father, in a bid to receive his support, but what greeted him wasn’t the support he had wanted but a ruthless slap that still stung his face even after minutes of him receiving it.

It was then he had learnt what Lena had done and he was livid. He had understood where his father’s reaction came from and especially why he had instructed him to publicly apologise to Lena, or his life would be made a living hell.

Lena had always been a very valuable member of staff. She had worked at the company branch for just four years and had achieved a lot, even though she was the youngest among the acquisitors, being just twenty four years of age.

Drew was aware that one of the many reasons why his dad was able to greatly solidify his position as the company’s Houston Branch Managing Director was also because of Lena’s performance, among other things like taking credit for his staff’s work including Lena’s performance in his reports to the board.

He also understood that another major reason his dad had been furious was because his dad had always been the one burying the former cases of workplace harassment that had been reported to HR in the past.

Those girls had been punished severely, as they were either fired with due compensation after something was legally and falsely found wrong with their work, or they were demoted to a less visible position. All these among others just to protect his son.

But Drew knew that his dad hadn’t covered up those cases to protect him, but had covered them to protect himself.

As someone that held the top position at the branch, the politics of the company would never allow the son’s misdemeanours to not affect his position.

Drew knew that the workplace harassment cases reported to HR in the past were essentially a file of evidence that could be used against his dad by his rivals or people that simply wanted him out of his position, for whatever reasons, and Lena’s report had made those buried cases visible.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that his father might potentially suffer his own round of humiliation in the future at the hands of the board. Only that way would things be fair between them.

Drew reached the main office space and walked to Lena’s desk.

The entire staff in the office space watched him with rapt attention, not taking their eyes off him even for a second, as they curiously waited to see what would happen.

The secretary had already given some of the female staff the gist of the series of noises that had been echoing from the boss’ office and the information had been spread by word of mouth. The fact that Drew hadn’t said anything or done anything even when he heard the secretary snicker was enough to tell them how bad things were for him.

Now, they were all curious to see what the almighty Drew, who could do whatever he wanted at the office and get away with it, would do.

Drew reached Lena’s desk, casting a light shadow over it. He looked at her as she was busy working, hoping that she would look up but she didn’t even glance at him, as she was more focused on what she was doing.

He opened his mouth to say something but his brain was blank on what he was going to say. Instead, he got even angrier and bit his lips hard in frustration.

He thought of what to say to her to start the apology but he still couldn’t think of anything even after a full minute, making him increasingly frustrated. Things were made even worse by the piercing gazes on him.

He thought hard about what to do and say, and he finally made a decision in his mind. He knocked on Lena’s desk, forcing her to look up and acknowledge his presence.

"I want to see you in a corner," he said.

Lena looked at him for a moment, wondering what the fool wanted. Then she lowered her head and continued what she was doing.

"The Managing Director said that I would get a public apology from you. If you’re not going to publicly apologise, then please leave my presence. I’m sure you can see that I’m busy and you’re causing a commotion," she said, without bothering to look up, her gaze fixed on her monitor and her fingers typing on the keyboard.

Drew bit his lips hard and his fists clenched even harder at Lena’s words. He felt that she was trying to rile him up and she was succeeding at it.

But he knew that he had to control his emotions or things would only get worse if he gave into his anger. He had to force himself to do the public apology.

But the thought of that apology wasn’t on his mind. What filled his mind were the vile and terrible things he wanted to do to Lena and also how he was going to take revenge on the newcomer.

A sinister smile bloomed on his face as what he felt to be a wonderful idea clicked in his mind.

He stepped back, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He looked at Lena and bowed his head.

Drew raised his head and looked at Lena directly.

"Lena," he said.

His voice came out steadier than he had expected, which was the only thing working in his favour at the moment.

He knew that if he was going to do this, even forcefully, he had to do it once and do it cleanly. Dragging it out would only make it worse.

The office had gone completely silent as everyone had stopped pretending to work entirely. Every pair of eyes was on Drew and he could feel them without looking.

"I want to formally apologise for my behaviour last night," he said. "What I did was inappropriate and unacceptable. I approached you in a social setting in a manner that was disrespectful, and I said things that had no place being said. I also created a situation that put you in an uncomfortable position through no fault of your own." He paused briefly. "I apologise for that, without condition."

Lena had stopped typing.

She didn’t look up immediately. She let his words land and settle before she gave them the acknowledgement of her attention. When she finally raised her head and looked at him, her expression was composed and entirely unreadable.

She held his gaze for a moment.

"I heard you," she said.

It wasn’t an acceptance, neither was it a dismissal. It was exactly what it sounded like — an acknowledgement that the words had been spoken and received, nothing more and nothing less.

Drew understood exactly what she meant by it and there was nothing he could say in response that wouldn’t make his position worse.

He gave a single nod, turned, and walked back across the office floor.

The silence held for another two or three seconds after he had passed. Then, slowly, the sound of keyboards and quiet conversation resumed, and the office returned to its surface appearance of a normal working morning.

Meanwhile, as Drew walked to the restroom, the sinister smile returned and it was more elaborate this time. He took out his phone and dialled a number.

"Hey, I need you to do something for me," he said.