The Genius' First Love 397 Their Hope

Today was the day L Empire dreaded to happen. It was the day of the conference, the day where L Empire was to declare its bankruptcy.

Manuel stood at the podium with his usual business demeanour in front of the media. Unlike before, only few media personnel came to cater them as L Empire had lost their significance for the last six years. Nevertheless, Manuel stood there with much pride and dignity knowing that he had given L Empire a good fight as their president and yet here he was right now, counting the time, savouring his last minute of being the last L Empire's president. After this, there will be no more L Empire and their employees will go home, jobless. It was an emotional moment for everyone in the media hall and it was all crowded with people. Only few media men came, but employees of L Empire—the higher operations and the rank-and-file flocked in to give their last support to the company that had brought meals to their families for decades.

"First I want to thank all of you for coming, especially the media who came to cover the conference we requested. I also wanted to acknowledge and thank the employees who came here to give their support" Manuel started by giving off greetings and acknowledgements. By so, he especially fixated his eyes to the employees and looked at them meaningfully before he continued, "As all of you are aware, L Empire was in the midst of crisis for the past six years and this greatly affected our operations as well as our profit. I, together with all the people that comprises the L Empire, we had doubled our effort and fought hard to survive the crisis we encountered. And for that, I am very grateful for everyone."

Manuel paused for a bit to gather some strength for his heart-breaking announcement. Last night, he managed to convince himself fully that he can perfectly deliver to the announcement without hesitation, yet standing before all the L Empire's employees whose faces flushed nothing but sadness and regret, he was losing some strength. It was already hard for him to admit that in his hands, L Empire fell from glory and standing in front of the people who put all their hopes and efforts for L Empire for many years, made his goodbyes hard.

Manuel held a deep silent sighed before he continued, tackling the sole reason for the conference, "Today, I stood here to announce that we all did a great job but I'm sad to announce that all our efforts had failed and for that we have to—"

Manuel's speech halted when he noticed that the employees and media before him turned frantic as if they had heard the bankruptcy details before he even spoke it. However, a few seconds after, Manuel realized it wasn't his words that turned the crowd into chaos but rather something else.  Immediately, Manuel turned at his back to check whatever was going on and the view of his own son sent him some wild shock.

Darryl stood there, with a well shaven face and perfectly combed hair. Manuel blinked a couple of times to see whether he was dreaming or not but then, he also noticed that the board of members who were standing at his back shared the same reactions as he. They were all surprised to see Darryl today especially that he wore a business suit which thought they would never see on him again.

"Lemmuel," Manuel's eyes were still bulging when he called him. Darryl's appearance today was a huge shock to everyone as Darryl had long abandoned his obligations when his son and wife died. Manuel himself went back a thousand times to Hamps.h.i.+re over the last six years to wrestle with Darryl and make him come back to the capital yet all his efforts and threats proved futile. Tired and frustrated, he woke up one day accepting the fact that L Empire had already lost their successor.

"Let me speak," Darryl's voice was all different this time when Manuel heard him, as if the past six years had given him much maturity. Right then Manuel felt some intimidating presence standing in front of his own son which he never once felt before.

Manuel's shock left him with no words so instead of responding, he stepped out of the podium to give way for Darryl and when Darryl stepped forward, the once calmed media crowd became aggressive and seeking. Too many flashes of cameras was thrown, almost blinding everyone on the stage and suddenly, the conference was given a live special coverage announcing Darryl's comeback and everyone were fervently waiting for whatever he was about to say.

The employees too who were there all looked at each other with hope as if their long lost saviour had been found. The once grieving crowd suddenly had a big relief even before Darryl managed to utter a word.

"L Empire brought this conference to announce that I, Darryl Lemmeul Lagdameo, the only Lagdameo heir will stepped into Presidency effective today. I hope that the entire business industry will welcome me warmly as how they welcomed and respected the previous presidents of L Empire,"

A loud cheer erupted from amongst the employees while the media attempted to rummage the stage to throw questions at Darryl. The Lagdameo heir had been gone for so long and too many controversies were attached to his disappearance from the limelight. The media were so hungry for him and they all wanted answers to all their questions right away. Good thing that L Empire's employees were there, so they all blocked the staged to stop the media.

"As the new president of L Empire, I would like everyone to expect many changes from L Empire's management and operations. I will strive and work hard to keep the company my forefather's built and will bring L Empire again to its former glory. Thank you."

Darryl stepped down the stage and turned to the board members—who were his uncles—to give them his bow of greetings. It was obvious from their faces that were all shocked and confused, yet Darryl was in no time to handle their reactions.

"Dannah," Darryl called for his sister who was standing at the corner. They both agreed Dannah was to be his personal a.s.sistant for the meantime until he can find someone to trust. "Schedule a board meeting tomorrow after all our uncles have rested well,"

"Yes, President D." Dannah obliged and as soon as he heard his sister, Darryl left the building immediately leaving everyone either hope or some huge surprise.