Exclusive new novel: The Billionaire’s Scandal

Joshua sat at the head of the boardroom table looking disgusted as he glanced around the room. He couldn’t believe what had happened to his own company in such a short amount of time. What was the matter with the people he employed? How could such a disaster go unnoticed until it practically blew up in their faces in the news of all places? It was enough to make him blow his top, and he did just that.

“Shut up all of you! I’m sick of listening to this blathering mess. Why don’t you tell me who is responsible for this disaster!” roared Joshua as all heads turned to him in alarm. They were terrified of him and had every reason to be. He may be a young billionaire, but he ran a tight ship and wasn’t about to have anyone employed by him running around creating scandals at his company.

There was silence all around the room. He looked at each and every one of his advisors and saw the fear reflected back to him. A bunch of cowards that’s all they were. His company’s reputation was being dragged through the mud, and they had nothing to say about the matter.

“I’m waiting.”

They all stared at him in awe. They knew darn well that he wasn’t the kind of boss that anyone messed with, and he knew they were all wondering if they would be fired that day. He may just let them all go and start with a fresh team the next day, he was that fed up with them. He needed the best people on his team, and they had fallen short lately. He wasn’t sure how he was going to handle the situation, but he had to figure out a way to get his company out of the mess it was in before it was destroyed forever.

The company had recently been charged with criminal … and my God federal charges for dumping industrial waste into the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean! Just thinking about that mess brought a rage in him that was barely contained. What was worse was he had no idea these practices were going on behind his back. That was some moron’s solution to get rid of company waste, to pollute an ocean instead. It sickened him just thinking about the matter. Joshua had to admit he was madder at himself than at anyone else. He wasn’t sure how something so massive could possibly get past him. How had he not known what was going on behind the scenes? Maybe he had been playing a little too much in life and not spending enough time getting dirty at his own company. That had to be it right? He just wasn’t paying attention, and now the company, HIS Company was paying the price.

He looked around the room again trying to summon up some clarity on the whole situation. Could that be found?

“Imagine my surprise, ladies and gentlemen, when I return from a lovely vacation only to find out from my lawyers that I have a meeting with the prosecutor’s office. When I get there, I find out that the company I have built from the ground up, my life’s work is being charged with a crime that is unfathomable to me. The company is supposed to be humanitarian you buffoons, and yet we are filling the ocean with garbage? That’s what I heard.” Joshua was screaming now and could tell that his message would be heard in his employees’ nightmares for weeks. Joshua’s face was beet red, and yet he didn’t care. He couldn’t believe what had happened all while he was on vacation enjoying champagne and women. It was too terrible to even consider. He needed a moment to compose himself before he lost his mind completely on them. He needed a moment to assess their worth anyways and see if they were even worthy of continuing their employ with him.

“I need to know who did this. I pray to God it’s not one of my right-hand men or women here. I would hate to think it was my very own front runners that thought it was appropriate to dump waste into the ocean. I have one hell of a mess to clean up here. Get out of my sight, and I expect you to submit hourly reports about how you all think we should resolve this situation. I want further suggestions on where the waste should go from this day forward since we now know that the ocean isn’t quite the place to dump it.” His voice dripped with sarcasm as he glared at his team.

They hurried off and out of the office as quickly as they could. Joshua watched his team filter out of the room hoping that his point had been made. The only other man left in the room with him was his right-hand man, Kyle, the CEO.

Joshua stared at him a moment, and he stared back meeting his gaze unwaveringly. He had to have known something like this was going on, how could he not? But then again, Joshua owned the whole thing, and yet he still didn’t know. But wasn’t it Kyle’s job to know the ins and outs of the company while he was away playing? That was what he was hired for after all. Though Joshua didn’t think he would ever be betrayed in that way.

“Kyle, please tell me you had nothing to do with this. That you didn’t know it was happening.”

Kyle was one tough sonofabitch. Joshua had only known him to be loyal in the many years he worked for his company. It was hard to fathom he would do something so unbelievably stupid and immoral.

“Joshua, I’m shocked that you even have to ask me such a thing. We have been a team for quite some time. I assure you that I had nothing to do with dumping waste into the ocean. I’m as shocked as you are about the whole thing. It’s surely a minion that pulled something like that, and I promise you we will find out who did it. That person will be punished, of course.”

“I’ve always appreciated your loyalty Kyle; you have been a great asset to me as well as the company for some time. But how is it that the CEO, the guy who is supposed to have my back when I’m away, how is it he doesn’t know something so substantial is being done? It’s madness to me that industrial waste could be dumped into the ocean, and no one in the higher division has an explanation for it.”

“Joshua, it wasn’t me. There are other people in charge of saving the company money, and this was obviously a decision that someone else made to do so.”

Joshua looked at him baffled. Was he serious? “Oh yeah, of course, Kyle. What a smart idea. Of course no one would know that waste was dropped into the ocean. Have I hired all morons? How would we not have been caught doing something like that? We would have been better to bury it in the ground; it would have been harder to discover. No, instead, we have to throw the shit in the ocean and kill every living thing. They have the damn vessel numbers Kyle, it’s obvious it was us, so how did we not know?” Joshua put his head in his hands unable to understand what was going on with the people around him.

“Look Joshua, I don’t know any more about it than you do right now. But the prosecutor’s office will be conducting an investigation into the matter so we will know soon enough who was behind the whole thing.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” I shouted. “I’m being charged Kyle, are you not understanding this? Do you know why? Because they think that I knew the whole time, that it was my own orders.”

Kyle sighed. “Yes, I am aware. But I know you had nothing to do with the whole thing and neither did I. They are going to discover that. You weren’t even in the country for God’s sake. You will prove yourself in court, and this will all go away. They can’t pin something on you when you are an innocent man.”

“Right, but how convenient that I was out of town when all this was going on. It’s as if my alibi was planned.”

Joshua got up from the table and went to the window, staring out at the grand view that the boardroom held. Not quite as great as his office view but stunning nonetheless. He needed a drink, that much he did know. He walked to the side table where a decanter stood and poured a brandy for both him and Kyle. Joshua returned to the table and handed Kyle the drink. He sat down beside him and sipped at the brandy letting the heat burn down his throat, almost cleansing it.

“Kyle, as you well know, I built this damn company because I believed in something. I had a dream, and this company represented that dream above anything else. Now that dream has been dragged through the mud, the reputation smeared and ruined completely. I don’t know how we are going to turn it around. Here I am off doing charity work and fundraisers and someone is throwing poison into the very oceans that I am trying to save. It’s a bloody joke.”

“Joshua, it’s your obligation to do these works. By doing all the good that you have done, you raise the money needed to make the difference. You are not expected to be around here, that’s my job, and I’m sorry that something like this happened on my watch. It will be handled, I promise, and I assure you that something like this will never happen again.”

“I sure hope not because I don’t think we would survive another public outcry like this one. People want my head on a chopping block.”

“It will be over soon, I promise.”

“What if it isn’t?”

“They can’t hang an innocent man Joshua; we just need to do damage control.”

Joshua held up his glass and clinked it against Kyle’s. They both took another sip, Joshua lost in his own dark thoughts.

“How would you suggest we clean up this mess? What damage control do you have in mind?”

Joshua could tell that Kyle was deep in thought, and he wondered if that was a good or a bad thing. He would do anything he could to save the reputation of his company, but he wondered at what extent he would have to go through to do so. Kyle was now glancing out the window, and Joshua knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. Kyle took another sip of the brandy and Joshua followed suit. When Kyle turned to Joshua, he only said one word, “Africa.”

Confused, Joshua chuckled. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

“Well, I’ve already done some research on what kind of damage control we would need at this point to salvage the reputation of not only the company but yourself included. We need major PR points to get through this mess as you well know. Right now, Africa is in desperate need of people to come in and build a school and a hospital. They need as many workers and supplies as possible. This is where you need to be right now Joshua, helping others and showing the world that you are the same man you were before this mess.”

“Going to Africa is going to do that? It’s going to fix the problem?”

“Most definitely. No one can argue all the work you have done over the years, and they can say it’s an act until they see you with hammer and nails out doing it yourself. You’re a billionaire, the last place they expect you to be is in Africa. We are going to send a ton of money to the job site, give them all the supplies they need, and then you will fly there and work your ass off. This will really send a message to the world as to what kind of company we are, not to mention to your strength of character in the midst of a disaster.”

Joshua mulled what Kyle said in his head, it made sense, of course. The last thing he had expected upon his return from vacation was to head off to Africa to work, but it was important that people not forget that he was a humanitarian at heart. He had no idea how the waste got dumped in his name, but he would never be part of such a thing. It sickened him that anyone would do such a thing. The amount of money that would have to be spent to salvage the ocean would far outweigh any profit made by the dump. Not to mention the corral and all the sea life. The thought of it all almost brought Joshua to his knees. Going to Africa was the least that he could do to make amends for what his company did, even if he was unaware of it all. Besides, getting his hands dirty would do his own soul some good. It had been awhile since he had done anything quite like that, and it would help relieve the stress of what was going on. It was probably best he stay away from the company for a short while; otherwise, he might strangle someone.

Joshua looked to Kyle and nodded. “Okay, I’m in. How do we go about doing this?”

“You leave Monday Joshua, leave the rest up to me.”