Chaebol: Prince (COMPLETED - 2nd EDITING)

Chapter 15: Mystery Man (AMBW)

For the first time in a long time, Kiah was on top of her game. The opening day of the convention was amazing. She met with a few of her graduating class members. They were all interested to know what she had been doing since they last saw her.

At first, she felt as if she was inadequate next to the CEOs and entrepreneurs in her group. When they congratulated her on becoming a professor and raising her son, their congratulations were genuine. Many of them insisted they wanted to get married or start a family, but they were far too busy and couldn't see juggling a new family and work.

Other classmates wondered why she and Joon-Woo weren't married. She explained his commitments to his family and that if it's meant to happen it will. Kiah felt no reason to lie. Life always seemed more convoluted if she attempted to start and maintain a lie. She settled for speaking her truth and not apologizing to anyone regardless of their opinions.

When she was called to speak, she provided the business owners and management teams with a view of the type of people in the business degree programs and their concerns for the future of business professions which actually hired people who sought the degree. The cost of education and the responsibilities and stress placed on the workforce was also highlighted. She made recommendations that companies should consider absorbing so of the cost of education by hiring people for higher level positions within the company who were currently enrolled in a business degree program.

"Something to consider when hiring and promoting employees is how well will they fit with the company's culture. If you have employees on your team who have proven themselves and they know the company, you only gain from training the unqualified employee to fill higher level positions because the learning curve is often quickly overcome. That employee knows the company as well as what is expected of them." Kiah held the audience as she broke down the downfalls of not bilaterally educating and promoting from within the company.

"A brand-new employee who meets the educational requirements for a position has no working knowledge of the company and therefore may not understand the needs of the company. These people are unaware of the spoken and unspoken rules. When you train the new person, you run the risk that they won't assimilate to the culture and environment of your company. When you or the person decides that there is a mismatch and they leave, all of your training and time walks out the door with them. Often your training will benefit another company who may very well be your competitor. So, you just poured a lot of training and time into someone to aid your competitor." The room followed her every point of logic and agreed with the dots and lines she connected.

"Effective businesses must learn to bridge the gaps of employment by encouraging and supporting their employees to seek education options which benefit the company." Kiah was on a roll. Her Q&A session at the end of her speech was charged up with tremendous engagement as many of the company representatives asked her a mountain of follow-up questions.

Kiah was elated as she took her seat. She listened to the speaker who followed her. The person expressed their apologies if they couldn't supply as much energy and contingencies after such a provocative speech. His statement had her blushing from head to toe as they headed into the next segment. She tried to remain humble in the midst of so many compliments.

Her eyes scanned the crowd as she had done multiple times throughout her speech. She didn't want to acknowledge in the beginning, but Kiah knew she was looking for him. Not one speech in the past took place without her lucky charm leaning up against a wall somewhere watching her every move. As she thought about that one fact, she realized she was looking in the wrong place.

There. Right there. Her eyes landed on him. He stood in the back of the room perched next to a wall. The breathing stopped. Without a thought, she froze as she realized his eyes were locked on her. His face was motionless. He didn't smile or frown. It was as if he weren't breathing at all. The intensity in his eyes held her in its grasp and would not let go.

He moved and disappeared. What the hell was that? She heard the question surface in her mind. Where was he? Kiah sat quietly and feigned interest in the speaker who was currently at the podium. It was a professional courtesy to pay attention in case questions were asked later. With her focus redirected to the crowd and the speech, she forced her mind to resist all thoughts of Joon.

Once the speech was over, she and many of the people their shared their business information in case they wanted her to come and speak at their companies. They were falling over themselves to ask more questions and pick her brain regarding some industry-specific problems.

The conference turned out to be a huge confidence booster. Kiah hadn't possessed as much energy and unique ideas in some time. She was totally charged up when a few of her classmates invited her to dinner. She agreed to join them without hesitation. They left the resort to and arrived at a local fine dining restaurant inside another inn. After the chilly air ran her and her group inside, she was pleasantly surprised by the beautifully bright decorum. The rustic wood furnishings and complete with mounted animals and a comfy homestyle environment blew her away.

The group was escorted to their table. They sat and placed their orders for wine and other spirits. Lively conversation was exchanged as the group discussed everything from their college days up to the convention and the fact that they never expected it to be so informative and applicable. Many of the members thanked Kiah for lighting a fire that forced other speakers to make their presentations more dynamic.

All orders were submitted when a familiar face walked over to the table to join them. Kiah smiled and shook her head as she realized it was her personal stalker. She laughed to herself at the idea of calling him a stalker.

"Mr. Larson, what are you doing here?" Several of her classmates addressed Jon formally. They invited him to take a seat and join them. He walked over to Kiah to take the seat near her. She attempted to without success to hide the redness on her face and neck which accompanied his decision to be near her. The rest of the group was unaware of the fact that they had already spent time together as they took the time to formally introduce him.

"Kiah, this is our boss Jön Larson-Rothe. He is the CEO of JLR Financial Management." With the introduction made, she turned in time to catch him attempting to stop his Senior Human Resource Manager Monica Paige from introducing him. Kiah met his eyes with a smirk. The look on her face told him exactly what she thought of him hiding who he truly was.

As a business finance professor, she would be negligent in her ability to instruct students if she didn't know the company portfolio of JLR. Everyone knew of the majority owner, but most people also knew him to extremely reclusive. His management style was prized among business professionals.

He stayed out of the media and focused on his company and little else. He was known to be a genius and that was all which could be verified. Most people were left to speculate about who he truly was and what he looked like. Those in the business world believed him to be a 90'ish old man who possessed supernatural powers. He downplayed who he was and now he was caught. As he sat next to her, the smile on Kiah's face told him that she was on to him.

"Hello, Mr. Larson. It's my pleasure to meet you?" She addressed him in her most professional business-like voice. With an outstretched hand, she awaited his handshake.

"Just so all of you know, Kiah and I are old friends." He stated as he gently held her hand and placed the softest kiss on her knuckles as he held her gaze while sitting down close to her. Everyone in the group ceased all chatter. Even the people who didn't work for his company assessed her and him with new eyes. The questions written on their faces were those of total shock and disbelief.

For her to duck out of the business world to pursue a career in education was fine but to also have what appeared to be an intimate relationship with one of the wealthiest men in the world, that was something everyone was dying to know about in detail. They lingered as on his every word and their eyes spoke of the disbelief associated with how a professor at a junior college would be on a first name basis with Mr. Jön Larson-Rothe.

*****