Episode 3

The oil industry encompasses global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation typically by oil tankers and pipelines, and the marketing of petroleum products. The highest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline. Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics.

There are typically three main divisions within the oil industry:

\Upstream: Exploration, extraction, and production.

\Midstream: Transportation, processing, and storage.

\Downstream: Refining, selling, and distribution.

Oil is an essential commodity for many industries, and it is vitally important for the sustenance of industrialized civilization, making it a critical industry in most nations. Maiston spent a lot of time drilling these facts into his mind. From an early age, he had watched his grandfather and later his father handle great responsibilities. Both had discussed with him what their work meant, including its advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, they always clung to the benefits, disregarding the drawbacks because they avoided them at all costs.

Their industry never faced downturns; it just kept soaring upward, raking in significant profits. Its distributions were on a grand scale, and sales were shooting higher every day.

The three phases were the first things he learned at the age of ten, and he delighted in them. He always enjoyed learning everything because he admired his grandfather and father. He had been a kind and decent boy for most of his life. Elementary school, high school, and college were a breeze for an alpha like him because he'd never had to repeat a year and always secured top marks.

For him, everything was simple and boiled down to the well-being of his family, power, and wealth. In a nutshell, he was the type of person who believed that money equated to happiness and that with money, one could have anything without much trouble.

He knew many things because knowledge was paramount to him. Having a mind brimming with information about even the smallest details was of the utmost importance. An intelligent person meant everything to him, someone who could hold their ground with sound arguments and didn't need to resort to insulting others to win was someone who would undoubtedly earn his respect.

However, there came a point where being smart and wealthy lost its importance. He had been used to obtaining everything with money, but one day that changed. Upon meeting a particular omega with brown hair, green eyes, and pale skin, his life became more complicated than ever. The omega was beautiful and vain. Controlling and seductive. Intelligent and sweet.

It wasn't necessary to impress him with expensive gifts, as he could afford anything on his own. For the first time, he had met someone who wasn't dazzled by wealth because they had their own substantial fortune, albeit slightly less than his. Winning over Prince had taken months of effort, five months to be exact, whereas others Omegas would have been in his bed within a week.

He couldn't quite recall all he had done for him, but what he did remember left him tired and exhausted. He had been convinced that he loved him, which was why he went through with the marriage. As time went on, he realized things weren't as he had imagined.

Prince wasn't simple and didn't behave like all the other omegas because he demanded respect, equality, freedom of speech, and everything to be in control, orderly, and extremely clean.

While reading a newspaper, which included an article about a parade scheduled for the end of the month, he sighed.

Just reading his name or seeing his face gave him a headache. He ran his hands through his hair, feeling free after such a long time. He had always thought the omega exerted too much control over him, sending him around like a mere dog, or at least that's how he saw it. There was a meeting in a few minutes, but he found it strange that for months now, he hadn't been featured in any photos or interviews. Just his name and some old photos. It had been five months since the divorce, and it seemed even more peculiar that he had never called or sent any messages to annoy him.

He looked up as the door opened.

"Come on, Maiston, you've got the meeting with the people from France. Don't dawdle because then they'll start insulting us in French, and I'll get the urge to insult them back. Get your ass up quickly."

He nodded, aware of this, but didn't immediately rise to his feet as he was intensely focused on something else.

"What's the matter? You look odd," the Alpha inquired.

They had been friends from childhood, attended the same elementary and high school, and university, so they knew each other's darkest and most embarrassing secrets. They were the same age, but his friend had fairer skin. Theirs was a childhood marked by numerous pranks played together and rescuing each other from trouble.

"Nothing, Jim, just looking at a magazine featuring the richest celebrities of late. And when they mention Prince, there's an old photograph."

His friend chuckled.

"Who cares?"

Maiston knew it mattered little whether it was an old photo or a new one, yet the issue arose because he knew the omega well enough to understand his aversion to repetitive photos being published. It was something that irked him and soured his mood.

"It seems you're still worried when all you wanted was to be free to be with the omega you found. What are you going to buy him today? A helicopter so he can't get away?"

"I don't know what you're referring to," he said, standing up.

"You'll learn the hard way that people can't be bought with money or material things."

He ignored his friend and they left the main office to head to the conference room. It wasn't a long walk, just down the hall. The automatic doors swayed open, and they entered, adjusting their ties.

There weren't many people; with the two of them, there were six. They had been discussing investments and more for some time and were only two meetings away from finalizing a deal that would yield greater expansion and more profits. Maiston took the head of the table, his friend to his right, while the others were silent after exchanging greetings.

They waited as the brunette looked over some papers that had been distributed to everyone. These included some expenditure reports, documents for signature, and other items he set aside to review later as there was no urgency.

"Alors commençons la reunion," he announced, looking ahead, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Comme stipule, ces secteurs de vente," one of the men said, rising to walk to the projection screen.

The presentation was educational and straightforward to grasp, so they each nodded in acknowledgment of both the positive aspects and the few negatives. Maiston nodded, passing some papers to his friend to look at meanwhile.

"La chute de ces secteurs ne nous concerne pas," Jim stated with an authoritative voice; he was the enterprise's vice president and in Maiston's absence, often took charge — "C'etait un pour cent, ce qui n'est rien pour nous, messieurs. Nous gagnons un milliard de pesos chaque mois, un million de pesos perdus est quelque chose d'insignifiant pour l'entreprise."

"We do not wish to lose a single peso," one of them warned, looking at Maiston sternly.

The man merely nodded, accepting some papers handed to him.

"Sur cette feuille, que je veux que tout le monde voie, vous pouvez verifier les gains de cette semaine. Les niveaux ne font que monter. Ne pensez pas que nous faisons affaire avec n'importe qui. Je prends toujours le temps de voir combien vaut l'entreprise avant tout et combien d'actions elle possede," he explained calmly, being quite used to striking deals with various parties.

A hush fell as the men inspected the documents and conferred among themselves. Jim and Maiston shared a knowing smile, confident of securing a new contract that would only increase their wealth.

After verifying everything, the men stood up at the meeting's conclusion, scheduling another for the following week. They shook hands and departed. The alphas exchanged a high-five and headed back to Maiston's office to relax, appearing as if they carried not a single care on their shoulders and had their whole lives sorted out.

"Did you see the looks on their faces? I'm sure they've never seen so many zeros in their damned lives," Jim remarked with a laugh.

"Don't get too excited; we still have two meetings to go."

"Maiston, those guys aren't fools, they won't say no, not even in their dreams."

He remained silent, seating himself in his chair, looking over a few more documents before passing them to his secretary to be sorted.

Minutes later, Jim headed to his office to carry on with his duties and Maiston was left alone. He was reviewing some matters on the computer, his neck aching, but it was the last task before moving on to other issues that demanded his presence. Glancing at the corner of his desk, he saw the magazine he had been perusing hours earlier.

His gaze settled on Prince's old photograph, recognizing it from a year ago. He involuntarily picked up the magazine once more, examining Prince's visage.

Narrowing his eyes, something didn't add up for him. It was incomprehensible that the omega would consent to the use of an outdated image when he knew how much that irked him. He swallowed hard and his phone began to vibrate, displaying the name of the new omega with whom he had engaged post-divorce. Smiling, he picked up the phone, believing this one to be his ideal match.

They agreed to have dinner that night, which pleased him. He couldn't remember the last time he had dined with Prince, but he knew most of their dinners had ended dismally.

Being as renowned as him, paparazzi were always lurking, never allowing them any peace. Sometimes he wondered if that had also contributed to his exhaustion, their near absence of privacy.

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***