Death Do Us Part

A Suspicion

She had noticed these advertisements for years now. Every other month they appear on different newspapers. They are quite low key in appearance yet, the space that they take up and the fonts and design used for them are considerably expensive. They have interested her for long, never as a potential employment opportunity, until recently, but as a subject for investigation. She knew that the locations listed for the interviews were all that of different IT farms but never the same ones as before, not even the franchises of the same farm. The interviews would always be scheduled on off days, which means that the employer did not want anyone other than the interviewees to be present in the venue during the interviews.

The words used to form the advertisements do not conform to any specific business type while the qualification asked for could be applicable for a number of different industries. The font and the style used for the advertisement is similar to the simple and objectively styled logo of an upcoming talent management firm but the advertisements had been featuring the papers since way before the launch of the firm. The only explanation is that the Individual behind these advertisements is somehow involved with the talent management company. And if that’s the case then, given the precautions taken for concealing any information concerning it, Rhea had an inkling about who could be hosting the interview.

***

Korlin Group officially has been in business for over seven decades; however, only for a little more than a decade has it actually taken up doing business. Before that, it was a means to white wash the huge sum of money that the infamous Korlin family had made from its multifarious criminal undertakings. The sudden death of the last generation patriarch Edward Korlin triggered a tectonic shift in the way the family conducted its operations. His son and the new leader of the family, Aron Korlin transformed the way Korlins did their business. He truly “organized” the family business. Invested the money that so far was only being legalized in pretext of the business into different business ventures of the company and spat out more money than imaginable.

Currently, Korlin Group’s operations span from telecommunication, hardware manufacturing, steel, energy and aviation to entertainment, apparel and hospitality industry. It also co-owns half a dozen other companies that support the operations of its main businesses.

The name Korlin is still heavily associated with organized criminal activities in the country and in countries surrounding, but now its vast business operations attach a sense of legality to it that the family had lacked for all these years. Only smaller branches of the family, led by older generation can still be linked with crime that also is usually concealed in plain sight.

The lineage of Edward Korlin, however, seems to have taken completely to the new direction that Aron Korlin has given to the Korlin Group. They frequently attend national and international business events, partake in philanthropic activities and throw lavish and extravagant parties in every given opportunity. The only exception is the new leader of the pack. No one seems to have any clue about the young leader. Even Rhea’s sources could not extract so much as a picture let alone any useful information about him in all these years.

All people can do is speculate about the kind of man he might be from the direction he takes the company towards and if it is any indication he must be quite a businessman. If the ground breaking work that the company has done in the field of renewable energy is any indication he must be extremely focused on removing the malign from his family’s name as the Korlin Group came to existence in the dark time of coal smuggling. And for the longest time it was suspected of being the sole benefactor of infamous coal mine scam of the 50s.

***

From the sight of it, it looks like that the interview has been organized for one of the companies of the Korlin Group. However, what does not match up is that the company generally holds extremely public and extensive recruitment sessions. From campus recruitment to extravagant 4-5 stage recruitment sessions, the company prides itself over how only the cream of the crop gets a chance to work for it. Its yearly recruitment seasons are annual event for the young ambitious aspirants. Then why does a company like this run discreet walk-in recruitment sessions every other month!

Is it really for the business that the Korlins so publicly boast about, or is it for some underhanded business that the family still participates in? Or, maybe it’s a completely different company or a hoax, that has nothing to do with the Korlins?

These questions tormented Rhea for the next two days, during which she had changed her mind about whether to attend the walk-in-interview for at least ten times yet on the day of the interview she pulled herself up, dressed herself in the most formal of her clothes, took her CV and documents and reached the venue.

A few months ago, she would not have even considered joining Korlin Group, let alone being ready to be recruited by a company that might as well be owned by one of the more sinister Korlins. But now she is desperate, and in this desperation of hers she told herself that she’d do anything to survive, to not go back to the old house.