THE BANQUET

At the Walter’s family banquet, two generations of descendants gathered. The table was filled with delicacies from land and seas. Everyone looking glamourous, dressed in expensive designer clothes.

Deborah Walter, wore an eighty thousand Dollars Dolce and Gabbana latest season’s strapless gown. On her neck was a diamond necklace worth thousands of dollars. And also a diamond earring. Her wrist watch is a custom made Apple wrist watch. Talk about class, that’s the definition of Deborah Walter.

The atmosphere was very joyous. And everyone raised their glasses to drink and enjoy the happy atmosphere.

However, in the mist of the enjoyment on the other side of the table, was a destitute young woman with her three year old girl by the side. She was neatly dressed just like every other person except that her clothes and that of her daughter was nothing of class. She was dressed in a red floral gown. A gown she got from a second hand market. She had no earrings on, she matched the clothes with obviously her mother’s old red bag that has hanged in the wall of their house for the longest time.

The little girl looked at the barbecue on the table, drooling with anticipation in her big eye, she reached out her hand to grab the chicken, but before she could touch it, Deborah her mean aunt hit her with a chopstick.

The pain made the little girl’s eye fill with tears, but she dared not cry, instead she let the tears roll in her eyes.

‘’Khloe is this the child you have raised? She has no manners!’’ Deborah scolded. Deborah is Khloe’s step sister.

Vincent Deborah’s husband sneered, ‘’what good child could can be born to someone like Quincy Stone. A retard who collapsed on his wedding day, and currently leaving off his wife?’’

Khloe’s face flashed with anger, her fist tightly clenched. But she did not utter a word. She simply swallowed saliva in her already very dry mouth.

‘’Do you want to eat the chicken? Here take it,’’ Deborah immediately grabbed the chicken leg from the table and threw it to the little girl. The little girl with tears said, ‘’Auntie, this is a chicken bone.’’

‘’Deborah, this is your niece how can you treat her like this?’’ Kimberly Walter Khloe’s mother cautioned. Deborah sneered, ‘’Niece? When did I admit that she is my niece?’’ with that, Deborah grabbed the chicken bone from the table and threw it to the dog beside her. ‘’If you want to eat go fight for it with the dog,’’ Deborah said mockingly.

Khloe’s face turned red with anger, while Kimberly clenched her fists instantly. Anger filled her chest.

Khloe took a deep breath and bent down to wipe away the tears that were about to fall from her daughter Ashley’s eyes. ‘’Ashley, be good when mum earns money and dad recovers, I will make chicken for you every day okay? Khloe said with a hint of heartache.’’

Ashley said obediently, ‘’Ashley won’t eat chicken leg anymore, Ashley isn’t greedy.’’

This sentence made Khloe want to cry. She felt as if her heart was being cut by knife, overwhelmed with grief.

All of this was because of her husband’s sickness. It was his sickness that made the Walter family look down on Quincy her husband, herself even mean to their daughter Khloe.

Three years ago, Quincy married Khloe but on their wedding day, in the middle of the night Quincy left her, just after making love to her, a night that their only child was conceived. Only for him to return after three years, very sick. As good as dead. The news of his sickness spread like wildfire and the Walter family became a laughing stock of the entire Gatto Republic.

Khloe’s grandfather, Lord Walter told her to get a divorce but she insisted on helping Quincy recover. She believed there must be a reason for his sudden sickness and was ready to go extra miles, pay extra bills for his recovery.

Enraged Lord Walter, stripped her and her family off their wealth and position. Expelling them from the company’s management.

Khloe was devastated. Her husband drooled uncontrollably. But she never gave up on Quincy. She keeps taking him to the hospital every day hoping for a recovery. She exhausted her savings on his health.

When she got pregnant. She actually kept the baby, incase anything happens to her husband.

  As she was still wallowing in her thoughts, she was brought back to the live party when the butler started announcing the gifts presented.

‘’Granddaughter Deborah Walter, an antique teapot worth six hundred thousand dollars,’’ the young ones were presenting their presents to Lord Walter, while the butler announced the value of the present.

‘’Grandson Samus Walter, a golden antique statue worth four hundred thousand dollars.’’ Sitting in the master’s seat, Lord Walter looked delighted by his grandchildren’s generosity.

‘’Granddaughter Khloe Walter, a cake worth fifty…!’’ everyone looked at Khloe with the cake in her hand, surprised.

‘’Embarrassment! Are you seriously giving me a cake?!’’ Lord Walter bellowed and his expression turned grim. He looked around and asked, where is your husband?

Khloe stood up from the chair, gathered courage and said, ‘’Grandfather, Quincy has being sick for sometime now we all know that, but just recently he fell into coma and he is currently at the hospital, so he couldn’t come. But most importantly I need to borrow money from you, I’ve exhausted all…..’’

Lord Walter cut her shot, ‘’Borrow money from me?’’ He put down his chop stick and sneered, ‘’Why should I lend you money? You cut ties with me just to remain married to that useless dead vegetable. Now you have the nerve to come and ask for help from me. It still baffles me that you choose to remain with that retard.

‘’Grandfather, i……..’’ Khloe wanted to explain but Deborah, scoffed and stopped her. ‘’Khloe this is grandfather’s seventieth birthday. All of us prepared thousands worth of presents for him and you are giving him a cake? Aren’t you a little too cheap?’’  Deborah was never close to Khloe because she was jealous of Khloe’s looks.

Khloe was consumed by bitterness, she explained timidly.

‘’Debora, it’s not that I don’t want to, but my husband is sick and I’ve exhausted all my savings on him.’’

‘’What’s wrong? Blaming poverty now? You have no money so it becomes an excuse for you to present a cheap cake to grandfather?’’

Deborah scoffed and slammed the cake to the ground. ‘’Not even a dog will eat this cake. I don’t know what gave you the nerves to bring this here to embarrass yourself and grandfather.’’

Then Deborah’s brother Samus, approached with a contemptuous gaze, ‘’Khloe, are you trying to brush us off with a cheap cake and feast on the food later. Remember your daughter already bounced on the chicken?’’ Everyone laughed.

‘’Samus is right, I believe Khloe and her family are here for the food. They are in no position to eat the food grandfather prepared. Tell the kitchen to make them instant Ramen.’’

‘’You over estimated them, just give them leftovers from yesterday, it’s already a blessing for them.’’ Even Lord Walter was amused by the terrible jokes.

Khloe ignored them and continued asking Grandfather for help. ‘’ Grandfather, I beg you, Quincy might not make it, Khloe wiped her face looking desperate and pitiful.

But Lord Walter remained unmoved. He sneered. ‘’What does it have to do with me if your retard husband lives or dies? Can you pay me back if I lend you the money?’’

Deborah sneered, ‘’is this how to beg someone? You have no sincerity. If you do, you should know that you should kneel down on your knees to beg.''

Upon hearing this, Khloe instantly turned pale. She had always been strong-willed had never begged anyone before. No matter how hard life had been for her over the years, she had gritted her teeth and preserve, believing that as long as she was willing to endure hardship she would eventually have a good life.

‘’Khloe we need to continue with the celebration, just don’t ruin the happy moment with this your sorry situation. The thing I regret most is letting you marry a useless person, let alone had a child for him.’’ Lord Walter snorted. ‘’Deborah, arrange everyone to be seated.’’ He instructed.

Lord Walter did not care about Khloe’s reaction. With Lord Walter’s order, Deborah stepped up and made the announcement.

‘’For family members who contributed more ten million, the main table. For family members who contributed more than five million, the first row. For family members who contributed more than one million, the second row.’’

All the Walters got seated, except for Khloe and her family. The four of them were left standing in awkwardness. Embarrassed Khloe asked, ‘’Deborah, where are we sitting?’’

Deborah scoffed. ‘’You guys? You see that folded table in the corner? That’s yours. Sit down let the make you some instant Ramen.’’

It was pure insult, Khloe held her tears back and said, ‘’we are family, why are you doing this to us?’’

Deborah rudely screamed at her, ‘’what is wrong? Not happy with the decision? The seats are prepared for those who made a contribution, the bigger the contribution the better the seat and vice versa.

Then a rich voice came from outside saying, ‘’Then where is the seat for those who contributed ten billion?’’

Who spoke with such audacity? Everyone looked at the entrance and saw Quincy. They laughed as if they saw a clown. ‘’And here I thought it was someone else. It’s Quincy the retard. I bet he doesn’t know how much ten billion is.  I guess the zeros are enough to confuse him.