บท 51: Chapter 51 (reuploaded)

The 21-year old man, Reynold Gwane, was sat at his table, but the people who had joined him whilst the guests were mingling were a handful of other young men and women who seemed friendly with the him. The remainder was filled with young ladies that seemed to be present purely to gaze at Reynold's somewhat attractive features.

By normal standards, he could be considered the cream of the crop, but this generation had both the fortune and misfortune of growing up with not just one but two male beauties. It raised the standards amongst them to a ridiculous height.

He spoke with a magnetic voice, calm and clear, yet the words that left his mouth was horrific slander. The kind that made Joshua's blood boil in an instance.

"I had a chance to talk with one of the men who were fired earlier this week. Reyes went off at him and his colleagues when hearing them raise concern for Joshua Lore. No real reason at all. Going off about how they were insulting him and that everything was fine as long as Joshua belonged to him. He almost went as far as trying to get physical, the Lore heir intervening in time to stop it. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard what happened next.

He said that within the hour he had been called to the HR department and told he had been let off and was kicked out of the building. Just like that, same with his colleagues. No warning, no niceties, no severance pay. The man was the head of PR for the Lore Inc. and he was removed just like that. Purely because Henry Reyes was acting neurotic and possessive.

"According to him, it was all because Reyes was the one who pushed for the engagement so the youngest son could capture Joshua Lore. Apparently all the achievements the Reyes talk about are only due to him being their son, otherwise it makes no sense of someone who has done nothing publicly to be so well decorated. The men were just worried about how Joshua deserved more than that and how he could be trapped due in the relationship due to the merger. And that got them fired."

He had said enough that now the rest of the table were speculating themselves with what they had seen earlier that night: acting awkwardly, quietly arguing.

Joshua was overcome by a strong urge to grab Reynold Gwane by the collar and drag him out. Maybe even call the triad boss and take him up on the 'clean up' offer. Although, he also felt like doing the 'clean up' with his own hands.

The man was not sure where the bubbling rage had suddenly come from, but if Henry had not grabbed his wrist the second his face filled with exponential fury, he really might have killed the slanderer on spot. Even now he was barely able to keep his breathing normal.

Henry was more surprised by the unexpected anger that could barely be contained by Joshua far more than the utter lies he had just heard about himself. Joshua's translucent skin was tinted red, his eyes narrow yet wild with fury, his gaze almost murderous. His slightly parted lips only emphasised how hard his jaw was clenched. The man was even shaking, Henry feeling it himself from the hand he had hurriedly put on the other's wrist to hold him back.

It was not the first time he had seen Joshua angry, but the times before he had been composed or still in control; this time he was bursting at the seams. Henry could not understand why his temper had blown up like so, in the end putting it to the stress of their failing acting.

Joshua's immense anger had changed the atmosphere completely, attracting people's attention despite neither of the men having made a sound. The only ones who seemed unaware were the recipients of the fiery glare.

Knowing that they could not make a scene that would give them a negative impression, Henry decided to go with a different route of calling out the man and venting his own anger.

He was still not over how everyone's problem was how Joshua was too good for him.

"Wow, looks like people are still talking about the scum employees you fired last week. Who would have thought?" Sarcasm dripped in excess from the blond man's words, him looking up at Joshua with mischievous eyes and blackened smirk.

The expression was enough for the other man to understand, quickly reining in his emotions and joining along. "Perhaps the ongoing investigation and defamation lawsuit wasn't enough for them to hide their faces."

"I know, how brave of them to continue spreading baseless slander even after you had them kicked out yourself."

"Clearly they did not learn their lesson, maybe I should get HR involved again. And to think they are still spreading those rumours even after they had been fired from the company."

"No, none of them would believe it. I mean, it is near impossible to be fired from Lore Inc., who would believe a word out of their mouths. That kind of malice to someone who is still just an intern is nonsensical itself."

"You are too kind, clearly you are yet to know there are far too many people in the world who would believe nonsense at the bat of an eye."

Both them sent a sly glance to the table who were mostly gawking at their shameless 'private' conversation. No one could have expected to see such cold smiles and petty words from the Lore-Reyes duo, even if they only had a small net experience with the two.

Meanwhile, those of who had gone to school with the two had to physically hold in their laughter; they had never thought they would see this childish, black-bellied side from either of the hailed-perfect men.

Only three of those on the table were able to keep a straight face, aside from Reynold Gwane there was Melissa Kwon, another smart elite of their generation who was using Gwain to be recognised by the Q Group, and Daniel Gwane, Reynold's not-so-clever paternal cousin. It was the latter of the three that opened their mouth, not thinking of either men as a threat.

"You're saying the three of them were fairly fired without severance? It had nothing to do with Henry Reyes getting rid of them out of anger?" Even though the question sounded like it was directed at Joshua, the young man's sleazy eyes were clearly directed at Henry.

In response to the comment, Henry let out a bar of laughter. "Hah! What? Me? I'm an intern, I spent the last week as a secretary. Forgot executive power, I have no personnel power whatsoever. I don't want people fired; I want a raise."

"Or so you say…"

"And what does your fiancé have to say about this? His face does not look so good." Melissa Kwon was a little smarter with her words, not saying anything outright, but enough to make thoughts wander. And she was telling the truth because when Henry turned to look at the other man, his face was set in stone.

Luckily, there was not much time for people to come to false conclusions. Ditching the undeniably fun act he had run through with Henry, Joshua narrowed his eyes on Daniel.

"What exactly are you trying to imply?"

Everyone was shaken by the burning cold rage behind the scarily calm voice. Whether they knew Joshua or not, everyone alike was momentarily terrified.