Violet wore a white dress with a red suit jacket to the meeting.  When she arrived at Tate Inc with Lyle Barlow, her lawyer, there was no one there to receive her.  

Was it an oversight on their part or was it a power play?  Raine thought as she and Lyle walked up to the reception desk.  

“Hello, Miss.  Welcome to Tate Inc.  How can I help you?” One of the receptionist asked as she quickly looked at Violet.  

“I have a meeting with York Woods at 11 AM.”  

“Sure, may I have your name?”  

“Violet Tate.”  

Both of the receptionist looks up from the computer screen at the same time.  Their faces shined with a look of surprise then it quickly changed to disbelief.

“Right, if you’re Violet Tate, then I’m Lizzie Cobb.”  The other receptionist said. “Everyone here knows that Violet Tate and Mr. Tate do not get along and that is why she left 8 years ago and hasn’t come back.  You’re not welcome here and you need to leave, or I’ll call security.”

“Okay, I’ll leave.”  Violet said as she pulled out her cell phone and pressed one number.  The phone on the the other line quickly picked up as Violet placed the call to speaker.  “York, I’m downstairs and the receptionist doesn’t believe I’m who I say I am. They also said that I’m not welcome here and that I need to leave.  If this is how you and my Father do business, then it’s no wonder that Luna Corp. surpassed Tate Inc. in 8 years. Since the contract between us has not been signed yet, you can just forget about it.  Don’t bother me with your nonsense again.”

“Wait, Violet…”  

Beep…. beep… beep… York looked at his cell phone and quickly picked up his office phone.  He directly connected to the receptionist at the entrance of the building.

“This is York Woods.  Whatever it takes, stop Violet Tate from leaving the building.  Apologize profusely for not recognizing her. Tell her I’m on my way down.”  

York slammed the phone down and quickly went out of his office.  His 3rd secretary, Yumi, still sat at her desk working and quickly looked up from her computer screen when she saw York.  

“Mr. Woods!”  Yumi said as she stood.  

“You’re fired.”  York said as he stormed towards the elevators.  

Yumi’s face was frozen with surprise and confusion.  Why was she fired?

Dennis, York’s personal assistant, was already by his side as the elevator door opens.  

“I should have sent you to greet Violet.”  York growled through his clenched jaws.

Dennis quickly opened his cell phone and made a call.  He quickly made quiet inquiries before closing the cell phone and giving York bad news.  

“It’s too late.  Miss Violet Tate is gone.”  Dennis told an angry York. “After apologizing to Miss Tate, she still insisted that since she wasn’t wanted, she would leave.  The receptionist even ordered a security guard to stop her. When the security guard tried to forcefully detain her, Miss Tate flipped the security guard on to his back and left with the man she brought with her.”  

“Did anyone else follow her.”  

“No.”  Dennis told him with a heavy heart.  He knew they failed York Woods.

When the elevator reached the lobby, they could see the end of the scene, as the crowd parted ways.  Dennis had a bad feeling as he walked behind York. He could practically feel York’s angry aura and knew heads were going to roll.  

York walked up to the two receptionist with their heads bowed down, they were not able to look York in the eyes.  

“Tell me exactly, word for word what you said to Violet Tate.”  

The two receptionist looked at one another before they begin to tell York the truth.  When they ended their explanation, York turned around to look at the security guard that stood a few feet away from him.  

“Are you hurt?”  York asked.

“No. Sir.”  

“Go back and train harder.”  York ordered the security guard.  “As for you two. You’re fired.”

“Please, Mr. Woods…” They began to cry and plead for their job, however York had already left.  

York and Dennis went inside of the elevator and with increased tension and silence they arrived to his office once more.

A crying Yumi was packing up her desk, when she saw York and Dennis again, she immediately knelt on the ground and begged for her job.  

“Please, Mr. Woods, don’t fire me.”  

York had passed Yumi without care, however when he reached his office doors he stopped.  

“You had one job to do this morning.  One job. Who told you not to recieve her?”

Yumi looked conflicted, before confessing.  

“Vice President did.”  

“Are you my secretary or are you the Vice President’s secretary?”  

“Yours.”  Yumi cried out softly.  

“And yet, you betray me.  Dennis, make sure she leaves the premise in 5 minutes and get security to escort her out.”  

“Anything else, Mr. Woods.”  

“Delay all of her projects.”  York said as he entered his office and closed the door.  

“Her” meaning Vice President Carrie Mener.  Dennis shook his head and knew that the rest of the day, people would be working more diligently however they would be more cautious.  

The Vice President was the youngest Vice President to take over the position.  Her father was the previous VP of Tate Inc. and she took over the position 5 years ago.  Ever since York began shadowing Tyler, Carrie had her eyes on him. Only being 5 years older than him, she thought she could mentor him and treat him like a little brother.  Little did she know that she had slowly fallen in love with York.

With years of Carrie’s family working at Tate Inc. they have their own  people who aligned themselves with the Mener family.

Carrie had thought that what she did that day was her way to help York keep his position as the next President of Tate Inc.  However it was the beginning of her downfall.

She should not have messed with York’s life, especially when it involves Violet Tate.  

York called Violet’s cell phone several times, however each time it went to voicemail.  With a quick swipe of his hands, all of the work on his desk and the phone fell down.

In that very moment, Tyler entered the office to see the mess York made.  Tyler had heard what happened with his daughter, York and the employees who failed to recognize Violet.  He even heard about how Violet shoulder flipped one of the security guards so she could leave.

At first he was angry that his daughter was stopped at the entrance of her own company, then he felt a sense of pride knowing that his daughter could handle a grown man.  

Now seeing his step-son lose his composure, he didn’t know how he should react.  York was always mature and steady with his words and his actions. The past 8 years, he had been training York to take over for his position only because Violet was not there.  He had always intended to give his position to Violet, because she was his flesh and blood.

“She didn’t answer your calls?”  Tyler asked as he called Dennis in to help clean up the mess and close the door behind him.  

Dennis began picking up the files and paper without a word.  

“No.”  York said as he sighed heavily and helped Dennis pick up the mess he made.  

“Do you know where she is staying?”  

“The condo downtown is under renovation.  She doesn’t have any other homes under her name, so I can only guess that she is staying at one of her many hotels here in the city.”  

“Place people outside of every hotel.  I want her whereabouts to be found as soon as possible.”  Tyler said as he sat down on one of the couches in York’s office.  

“Damn girl doesn’t even know how to come home.”  Tyler grumbled lowly to himself, however York heard every word of it.  

Last night, he had a long talk with Tyler about Violet.  He told Tyler of Violet’s insistence on not being the next President of Tate Inc.  and how he got Violet to stay for at least 3 months by paying her an astronomical amount of money to be a part time consultant.  

It was only then that Tyler had calm down enough from his anger when he found out that Violet didn’t want to have anything to do with Tate Inc.  He could settle with giving Violet more shares of Tate Inc and more inheritance money when he dies. That way Violet would always be taken care of, even if she didn’t need the money.

But now that Violet was turned away at her own front doors due to the schemes of others, they might of lost the chance to bring her home.  

“Who?”  Tyler finally said after York and Dennis fixed the files on his desk.  

“Carrie.”  York told Tyler truthfully.  

“She’s good at her job, however she needs to keep her eyes on someone else’s son instead of mine.”  Tyler said more to himself than to them.

“I’ll take care of it.”  York told Tyler. “You just make sure to reconcile with mom.”

Tyler sighed loudly and closed his eyes.   

“And with Violet.”  York added, he wasn’t going to let Tyler off for treating Violet like trash.  “Especially Violet. If you want her to stay, you have to make up for 25 years of not being a father to her.  All she’s ever wanted from you was your love and acceptance. She only left because she lost any hope or expectation of your love and acceptance. You have to make it right, Tyler.”  

“I’m trying.”  

“Try harder.” York curtly said.  The feeling of losing Violet when she was within his grasps made him feel such a deep lost. He wanted to rip out the throat of everyone who failed him that morning, especially the annoying woman who interfered with his life.  

“You’re right, I need to try harder.”  Tyler said before getting up to stare at the skyline of the city.  “Use all of our resources. This city is large, but it belongs to Tate Inc.  Violet’s been gone for 8 years and doesn’t understand just how much it has changed over the years.  I want to know her every move by the end of the day.”