Chapter 12

The escort service didn't have anything to say anymore. They went after her while Joe remained within the event hall.

After some minutes, they came back to escort Joe. Joe followed them until he was taken to his office.

"This is your new office sir." Joe never thought this marvelous thing would happen in his life at all. The door was opened and when Joe walked in, he was surprised at how spacious his office was.

Joe gently examined the room. His hand beautifully graced his chair and he swallowed the saliva in his mouth. 

"Sir. We will be taking our leave now." Joe nodded his head-bidding him to take his leave. 

Joe went further to check throughout his office until he came across a shelf. He slowly went to the shelf to examine it. Getting to see what was on the shelf, his eyes caught up with a book.

Joe picked it out of the shelf and written on it was [Data of the company staffs] 

Joe was surprised that in the 21st century data was still kept in a book. That intrigued him to check what was in it. While he flipped through the pages of the book, his eyes caught up with a person's data.

His eyes bulged wide as he took his time to read through. Written on it [Mathew's Profile]

Flashback of what the secretary said came hitting his head. He discovered that Mathew was the head of the welfare team. A lot of achievement heights he did for the company was listed under his name.

'He must be a big shot. So much recognition for one man.' Joe mumbled to himself.

But his heart was filled with questions. Especially with the revelation made by his secretary. 'Could he be an enemy?' As those thoughts plummet his mind, he heard his doorbell ring.

Joe walked back to his desk with the data in his hand. While seated, the door was opened by his bodyguard for the man, who turned out to be a security man. 

Getting in front of Joe, he opened his mouth to speak. "That woman; I mean your ex-secretary has refused to leave the company. She is outside crying and pleading. What should I do?"

Joe saw that as an avenue to ask more questions about Mathew. "Bring her to my office." 

The security man bowed before him before he took his leave. After he had left, Joe wondered why a man with such recognition would do what he was accused of.

By chance, if Joe discovers that the secretary was only trying to pull a stunt. He was ready to put her behind bars for a long time. 

It took a few minutes before the secretary was brought in by the security men.

Immediately she got in front of Joe. She started pleading. "Please forgive me, sir. I know I deserve a sentence for not scrutinizing the speech before bringing it to you. It is my fault. I can accept any punishment you deem fit. Please don't take away my job." 

Joe looked at her for a while. "Who is Mr Mathew and why did you allege that he was the one that gave you the speech?" 

With a tensed voice, she replied with the truth. "Mr Mathew is the head of the welfare department. He gave me the speech stating you might not know what to say since it's your first time and that is why I rushed to bring it to you when I saw you find it difficult to say anything. I am deeply sorry sir."

Joe finds it hard to believe anything coming from her mouth. "Why didn't you go through the content of the speech? How do you want to convince me that you didn't plan this with him?"

"Please believe me. I know nothing about this."

Joe straightened his head. "In that case. I am going to call Mathew right now. If I find out this whole thing is a lie, I will put you behind bars for a long time."

Fear gripped her heart. With Mathew's presence, it would be difficult for her to prove her innocence.

"Sir…" Joe didn't let her talk. He shushed her and he placed a call across to Mathew immediately.

When Mathew saw Joe's call, his heart almost left its place. He found it hard to pick his call after what he had done. All he wanted was for Joe to spew rubbish out of his mouth because he doesn't want him to be the new CEO.

Now, the table turned against him. His eyes bulged out as his phone continued to ring. He took a deep breath and picked it up.

"Hello. Sir."

"Get yourself here in five minutes. If you don't get here, consider bidding your job goodbye."

Before Mathew could speak, Joe ended the call.

That only angered Mathew. 'How dare that good for nothing boy order me around? He's got some nerves.' He murmured to himself not knowing the horror that he was about to face. 

He stood on his feet as he quickly paced out of his office. He went directly to the office of the CEO.

Getting inside, he saw the horror on Joe's face. But that didn't thrill him until he saw the secretary on the ground.

Mathew concluded that Joe had known everything about the speech. Immediately, he formed a line of defense with a plan B.

"Sir. You sent for me." Joe fixed his eyes on him.

"With this woman here, I know you know what you have done. Start explaining yourself." Joe fixed his eyes on his face.

Mathew emptied his breath. He arched his brows. "Explain myself? I have done nothing wrong sir." His voice was cold and innocent. 

Joe looked at the secretary who found it shocking that he acted that way. "Sir. He handed over the paper to me. Please believe me." The secretary became restless. And when she saw Joe was not responding to her, she faced Mathew.

"Tell him. Didn't you give me the paper? Didn't I collect it from you? Say something, Mathew. Say something!" The secretary held his shirt as she sought for explanation with desperation. 

"Which paper are you talking about? I don't know anything about what you are saying. Leave my shirt already!"