3 years later Eden sat in her chair, fidgeting with her sweaty fingers as she waited for her name to be called. She was both excited and nervous for the new chapter of her life that was about to begin. "Eden Brown," the Vice Chancellor of her University announced. Eden stood up, fixed her clothes, put on a confident smile and walked over to the stage to collect her degree. She was now graduating from college and she knew what this meant. She would finally be eligible enough to take over her father's business and act as its CEO. After Alfred died, there was chaos in his company. It was so sudden that no one knew what to do. Eden was bombarded with letters, e-mails and calls, asking what to do next. When Bennett saw that it was too overwhelming for Eden, he asked her to step down until she completes her education and not worry about it at all. Eden trusted him so she backed down and let him handle it. Bennett hired a trusted member from the board of directors to act as the interim C
"Okay but listen to me." "Alright, go on." "Maybe it's all going just fine. Maybe they don't really need me." "Mhm." "Yes, and I know because I saw the charts and it's been going alright. Profits are good, reputation is back on track and I'm getting my cut of the profits. There's really no need to change anything," Eden said breathlessly as Bennett listened to her calmly. "Mhm." "And the current CEO is doing a good job, I don't understand why I'm really needed there to be honest," said Eden, her voice shaking with fake optimism. "Mhm. Keep talking," Bennett replied as he pretended that he agreed with Eden's argument. Eden noticed his sarcasm and groaned in response. "So do you suggest we go back and burn your degree? Can't lie I enjoy burning things, it'll be fun." Eden sighed and leaned back on the car seat and looked outside the window to see a huge skyscraper in front of her with the name "Brown Industries." It was supposed to be Eden's first day at work as the CEO of her f
Mr. Madden led Eden down to the huge main hall where everyone was waiting. Eden's eyes scanned the room to find the man she encountered that morning. She just wanted to see the look on his face when he found out who she was. Mr. Madden cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention. The chattering in the crowd quieted down and a few whispers traveled the room. On a normal day, Eden would be nerve wrecked to have so much attention on her, but she realized how less it mattered to her after learning how to perform in front of a crowd. Another reason why Eden was not worried about the eyes on her was because she had another motive on her mind. She was still looking for that man. "As you all know, the sudden passing of Mr. Brown has affected us all deeply. Before he left, he handed the future of this company in his daughter's hand, who had worked hard to become worthy of this position. Let's all please welcome Miss Eden Brown as the new CEO of this company," Mr. Madden announced l
"Listen, Miss Brown, I had no idea that it was you-" Steve tried to explain himself to Eden but he was cut short by her. "It doesn't matter who it was you harassed," said Eden. Steve looked around to see if anyone was overhearing their conversation. Lucky for him no one was around. "If it wasn't the owner of this company, and maybe just a cleaning lady, you would have done the same and not felt as guilty as you feel now." Steve looked positively horrified. He knew what was coming, he thought his days at the company were going to be over. "Miss Brown, please understand, I've been working at the company for 7 years, I've proven to be a good employee and-" Eden cut him off again. "So you've been terrorizing women here for 7 years?" "That's not true-" "Do you have a wife, Mr. Madden?" Eden asked. "I do." "Kids?" "Yes, two daughters." "I should fire you right now. You know I'm perfectly capable of doing that right?" Eden asked with a threatening tone while she turned away from him
Eden was devastated. She knew it wouldn't be easy to fit in at the company so easily, but this was something she had not expected. The three most important members of the board of directors had not so subtly shown their dislike for her on the first day of her job. She didn't know she would have to deal with so many new villains in her life. All she knew was that she needed to show them that she was worthy. The only problem was she didn't know how. She was ready to do her job and give all of herself to make things work, but it seemed like it would not be enough to change their minds. Her father was a very influential man, he clearly had an image at the company that no one thought Eden could ever live up to. The pressure was pulling her down. "It's been going so well, I was worried about nothing," Eden chuckled a fake laugh while talking to Bennett on call. "See, I told you it was all going to work out," Bennett replied. Eden didn't want to lie to Bennett about what was going on. S
Bennett closed the door behind him and locked it. Eden threw her bag down on the floor and hastily embraced Bennett, kissing him with a passionate lust. All she wanted to do was think about nothing but Bennett. She kept kissing him deeply, thrusting her tongue in and out of his mouth, teasing him with her hands roaming all around his body. "Looks like we have the place to ourselves," Eden whispered into Bennett's ear. Suddenly she was picked up into the air by a pair of strong arms and thrown on the couch. "Do you know how sexy you look in this suit?" Bennett said as he climbed over her and started kissing her neck while unbuttoning her shirt. One button. "Would be better if you take it off," said Eden in between moans. Two buttons. Bennett sat her up and took off her coat and laid her back down, working on her buttons again. Three buttons. Eden felt his hot breath on her neck as he trailed his kisses from there to her collarbone. Four buttons. Eden intertwined her hands
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Nicholas Humphrey piped in, with a smug look on his face. "This may sound unconventional, but maybe we need to focus on the morals and ethics of the employees to boost productivity. When I first arrived here, it seemed like a very hostile work environment," Eden replied. "That's going to do nothing for the profits," Nicholas retorted. "Say, Mr. Humphrey, was it always like this or did the passing of my father change the company?" "Alfred was a very disciplined man, he always imposed strict rules and proper work principles here," Nicholas Humphrey replied, his tone suggesting that he was offended. "I see you knew my father well. So you agree that this environment was created after he died," Eden said as she intertwined her fingers and rested her arms on the table. "I had my differences with my father but I'm still his daughter. I want the same rules and principles to be followed by everyone here that my father promoted. We don't want employees
After the conference room was emptied out, Eden, Mr. Madden and Amanda stayed back. Eden felt horrible for how things had to happen but she knew that it was necessary. If she was going to have people in the company who openly opposed her, it would create an environment for the other employees that supported Harvey's opinions, and that was something she could not allow. Eden looked at Amanda, whom she had asked to stay back. "Amanda, thank you for backing me. I need to know how exactly Harvey has been a nuisance to the employees. He may file a suit against us for illegal termination, I need to understand what exactly he has been doing." Amanda scoffed in disbelief and said, "Do you really think that I care about you? I'm just as opposed to you being the CEO as everyone on the board. We're just not stupid enough to display it and get fired, seeing how you have the majority shares and you truly control the company now." Eden took a deep breath and said, "I just need to know what I can