During the period of his training, Reuben and Aloysius were not in contact with anyone from their family.
Only when they returned, they realized the tragedy that had taken place in their family.
The two branches which resided in harmony had been broken apart with no chances of ever returning to what they were before.
People left the Main House behind, bonds were broken, trust earned for ages was destroyed with no chances of returning and the family was no a longer family.
Why did any of this happen?
Because one man decided that his right was being snatched away from him.
The schemes that ensued during Reuben's absence was something that he learned about upon his return.
Even when the brothers did not see eye to eye or live under the same roof, they worked together to exceed the limits that they knew Ming Enterprises was capable of doing.
Fredrick supported the CEO and even worked hard to improve his status in the company all while trying his best to find a chance to take over the reins.
Years passed but he was still stuck with the same responsibilities, the same prestige, never growing any further.
During this time, the young protege began working at the company to gain experience and guidance from his father.
Threatened at the pace with which Reuben was rising through the ranks in the office, the uncle schemed to hinder him but was unsuccessful as the patriarch was keeping a watch over his grandson.
Finally, the chance had come for Fredrick to take over the reins of the company when his cousin met with an accident and was hospitalized.
The shares dropped after the news of the CEO's accident spread in the business circles.
Fredrick sat in wait for the Patriarch to call him and inform him of the new position that he would hold.
However, he never received that call. Instead, he heard the news of the young man taking over the company after his father's injury.
The city praised the young man who was competent enough to rule over the company at such a young age and even named him Emperor in place of his father.
Furious and insulted with this blatant slap in the face that he had received, Fredrick marched over to the Main House to confront his uncle.
He had given the best years of his life to that company while the newcomer was given the position on a silver platter.
This injustice was not something that he was going to take lying down.
The entire family was over at the hospital as they waited for the injured man to gain consciousness and here, Fredrick had barged into the house with the intention of giving the people a piece of his mind.
Aloysius Ming was sure that this would happen and therefore, he stayed behind for his arrival.
Just as he had thought, Fredrick appeared and the pair had a good talk.
A talk which ended with the uncle quitting his job that very evening.
However, he was a shareholder at the company which still gave him the right to have a say in the decisions made for the good of the company.
The next day, news of Reuben becoming the CEO and Fredrick quitting his job to start his own company took the city by storm.
Fredrick used the money that his father had saved as his inheritance to build a new company from scratch.
The insiders who knew the story were waiting to see what the Mings might do next while the clueless public celebrated the emergence of the new Emperor.
"Now I understand why that rat Lin passes all of our prized projects over to that company." Mathew Kim sneered as he was enlightened about the hidden conspiracies.
The company that gained the profits of their hard works was the same company that Fredrick Ming had set up.
Mathew had now connected the link between the loss of their company and the profit of Fredrick Ming's company, FM Enterprises.
"Did Master Mason ask that rat to work in our company to spy on our projects and leak it to FM?" He muttered to himself but soon regretted his words.
Reuben's vicious glare made the man gulp in fear as he feared what might happen to him now that he had managed to anger the Emperor.
"Mason would never do anything to hinder the company and my hard work. Get that into your head!" He snarled at his assistant who was thinking about things that were impossible to be true.
Mathew nodded his head immediately to appease the anger of the man who was causing him to feel goosebumps all over his body.
Reuben trusted his little brother enough to be sure that he was not a part of this scheme against the Ming Enterprise.
"It must be uncle who put her to work here…" He whispered as he tried to find a logical explanation for the doubt in Mathew's head.
However, the fact that it was Mason who had requested him to hire Priscilla in the planning department was an undeniable truth.
Now whether his trust in his brother and their bond was strong enough or the relationship between the father and son of the side branch was stronger, this was something he had no idea about.
'Emperor always had a soft spot for his little brother so he will not see Master Mason's fault in this matter even when it is right in front of his eyes.' Mathew sighed and decided to not mention this any further.
'I need to speak to Mason about what that woman said before she left!' Reuben had thoughts of his own as he sat in silence.
There was no way that he would allow his little brother to fall any deeper into the traps of that vicious woman who reeked of greed and malice whenever he had seen her.
His brother was naive enough to have fallen for her charms but he had long been aware of her greedy motives.
Now, all he had to do was talk some sense into Mason's mind before he made the grave mistake of marrying that woman as it was clear to him that she had gotten close to him only for his name and money.
'Will he listen to what I have to say?' A disheartening thought emerged in his mind, resulting in a sigh escaping his lips.
The last time that they had crossed paths was after LY's auction, at the restaurant where he had gone to dine with his family.
They had met by fate's orders but their interaction was cold and alienated as Mason did not want anything to do with the Main branch of the family.
'No! Even if I have to drag him away and knock some sense into his head… I will do it! There is no chance in hell that I will accept her as my sister-in-law!" He vowed and was bent on working towards it.
A ping of a notification arriving at Mathew's phone dragged them back from their thoughts.
"Boss, the representative from Zheng Group has arrived." He informed the Emperor about the information the front desk had sent.