Chapter 54 - 54

There were a total of ten people and families that Ayanna needed help in getting insight about, and Ian was apparently the perfect source.

He knew things that others didn't and since they were too afraid of the Reyes Family, they usually placed their best foot forward around them. This meant, there were many major faults and flaws that the Reyes missed out on.

"You are a godsend!" Ayanna praised as they finished the list. "If you didn't know these things we would have had to reject them after the full investigation."

"Won't your dad verify what I told you?" Ian asked Ayanna. He was quite surprised at the level of trust the Reyeses had placed on him. He had only known them a week and had been working for them for only a few days.

"Why?" Ayanna asked as she tilted her head to the side, giving Ian a confused expression. "Is there any reason you would lie to us?"

"What if I wanted revenge for your father not helping mine in our time of need?" Ian asked as he thought of a reason for them to be wary of him.

"Do you want revenge?" Ayanna asked as he gave him another confused look, making Camilla laugh.

"Of course not, but you guys shouldn't be so trusting!" Ian pointed out as he tried to explain why he had asked those questions.

"Well, for one, dad did a very detailed background check on you." Ayanna pointed out. "Secondly, you have no reason to lie, and even if you did or if you made a mistake, it won't cause the Reyes Group to crash and burn."

Ian looked at Ayanna, she made a very good point. There was no way that Emilio Reyes would have offered him that job if he didn't know about Ian and his past.

They would have done an intensive background check on people that would work with the present CEO and the future CEO. It wasn't something they would take lightly.

"Look, your questions are making us waste time." Ayanna said as she got up and took the list that had cross marks and checkmarks from the table. "Dad needs this list now."

With that Ayanna led them out of the room and across the hall again.

As they entered Emilio Reyes' office they could hear the people inside laughing and chatting casually.

"Ah you are back, do you have my list?" Emilio Reyes asked his daughter and the two young assistants.

"Yup dad!" Ayanna said proudly as she handed the paper to Emilio Reyes. "Ian and Camilla were a big help. They saved us a lot of time and effort." She said proudly.

"It was mostly Ian, sir." Camilla said in a shy voice. "I only ran the numbers."

"And the location assessment, don't sell yourself short Camilla. You were as much help as Ian." Ayanna pointed out.

Emilio Reyes nodded as he agreed with his daughter.

"You were both hired because you each have a unique set of skills that put you above the rest." Emilio Reyes explained. "I am basically entrusting the future of the Reyes Group to you and my son, I wouldn't go about that lightly."

"Thank you, uncle." Ian said with a slight smile as he was flattered by Emilio's praise.

"Emilio." Priscila Reyes said as she looked her husband in the eyes as if trying to say something.

"Oh right." Emilio Reyes said as he sat up from his seat. "Ian, you won't be acting as my assistant tonight."

"I won't?" Ian asked as he scratched his head. "But don't you need my help?"

"Oh, you'll help." Hank said with a laugh. "Uncle has a plan for you."

"Ian, you will be attending as a guest." Emilio Reyes revealed, catching Ian by surprise. "Don't worry, Marco and Camilla can handle everything else. In the past only Marco would help out, so having Camilla there is already a big deal."

"Sir, I mean, uncle." Ian said as he panicked and corrected himself multiple times. "The Lims aren't invited."

"They aren't invited because someone sabotaged the invitations." Marco hissed. "I swear I sent them out."

"It's alright, Marco." Emilio told his assistant. "Ian, we only realized that the invitation did not make it when you never mentioned your father or anyone from your family attending tonight. We found it oddly suspicious."

"People have always been trying to get the Lims more and more embarrassed." Priscilla said with a frown. "They keep thinking that if your family keeps missing events you would be looked down upon as being rude."

"Is this-" Ian said as he tried to form the words he wanted to ask, but right now he was too mad. "Is this-" He tried again.

Ian took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"Is this the first time this has happened?" Ian asked the people in the room.

"Unfortunately, no." Emilio Reyes told Ian. "This has happened multiple times in the past. As a matter of fact it was one of the reasons we hesitated in hiring you."

"We thought you and your family had decided to give it all up and just ignore our world." Priscilla Reyes explained. "That is actually how we had come to learn about what had happened to your family."

"Someone was trying to curry favor with Auntie, that's when she told them that you guys had lost everything." Marie explained.

"Of course we were shocked." Priscilla Reyes told Ian. "We had just seen your parents at the last party and they seemed fine. No one gossiped about them."

"They were probably afraid to say anything since the Lims were there." Hank scoffed. "They think the Lims are poor and weak and yet they can't even gossip about them when they are in the room."

"Older families carry a different air to them, they have a different level of influence." Emilio explained.

"So I'm just supposed to be there, like sit around?" Ian asked as he was confused by what Emilio Reyes wanted him to do.

"Sit, talk, I'm sure Hank and Jake will speak to you." Emilio Reyes said with a shrug.

"Yes, and after you turn your back, the gossips will jump in." Priscilla Reyes said with a smile. "They don't fear you like they fear your parents, fortunately. Eventually we will find out who was behind all the missing invitations."

"Why are you doing this for me?" Ian asked as he gave Emilio Reyes a lost and confused look.

"Oh, there is something you will need to listen for as well." Emilio said with a grin. "Listen to the gossip. Learn what you can, because what you did today with me and my daughter, the way we analyzed these people, I will need you to do it in the future."

"Also the more you know about people now, the better." Marco added. "When word gets out that you and Camilla work for the Reyes Heir, people will stop talking around you. They will watch your words, and it will be quite difficult to find things out."

"Ian, when I hired you, I promised that you would get your family's name back up there." Emilio Reyes told the young man as he looked at Ian. "I plan to honor that promise. You are a great asset to the Reyes Group, I know that helping you out is something that I won't regret."

Ian smiled and thanked the Reyes Family. He never expected to receive such kindness from strangers.

"Well, if you will be acting like you are a guest you should go." Marco pointed out. "Your car is waiting out back, a maid will take you to the back entrance where John is waiting."

"People will find it odd that I have a car and a driver." Ian told Marco. I'll ask John to stay back and hand my keys to a valet when I arrive."

"Good." Emilio Reyes said with a nod.

"We'll see you later then." Camilla said with a smile as Ian stepped out of the CEOs office.

As he had been told, a maid was already waiting for him outside.

She greeted him and led him to the househelp's entrance outback.

"Good luck." John said with a wink as he tossed Ian's keys over.

"Thanks, I'll need it." Ian said with a smile as he hopped into the car and took a deep breath before driving out of the compound.