2024-09-27 22:31:55Benjamin sharply turned around, sure that he wasn't the one being referred to. But there was no one behind him.
The old man hurried to his side and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly as he inspected Benjamin's face. “You look just like him. God, you look just like my son.” The man whispered, entranced by Benjamin's presence. Benjamin felt a bit creeped out and tried to extricate his hand from the man's. “Excuse me… I don't understand what's going on here. If you don't mind explaining?” Benjamin kept trying to put some distance between them. The old man cleared his throat, regaining his composure as he saw Benjamin's uncomfortable state. He smiled at him and then turned to return to his seat. “You are my grandson, Benjamin. ” The man stated proudly to the whole room. Benjamin's eyebrows raised and he looked round the room at the other individuals present— Herbert and the guards — and how they didn't look entirely surprised by the statement. Ben couldn't help but give a mocking laugh,“Is this some sort of prank?
“Not at all, my boy.” “What do you mean I'm your grandson? You can't just pick a random stranger from the street and decide that he's your grandson. I know nothing about you and I'm a hundred percent sure I'm not in any way related to you.” The man chuckled.“Never say never, young man. Listen, I'm Hunter Whiteridge and I've got very reliable intel that you're my long lost grandson.”
"What?!"
Benjamin was in shock at the name he just heard. The Whiteridge family was well known as the most powerful family in the country. He couldn't believe he was in their presence. There was just no way. Hunter signalled to Herbert. “Show him the papers.” Herbert bowed. “Right away, Sir.” Benjamin watched the man who brought him here walk out of the room only to return less than a minute later, handing over a document to him. He cautiously read through this document and he was shocked to find that it was a DNA result, with him being one of the samples being matched. “Wait…I don't…..” Benjamin was rightfully lost for words. “Allow me to explain, my boy.” Hunter was expecting this reaction from his grandson. “Your identity has been known to me for a while, along with some other people around your age who we assumed could be my grandchild, so I had DNA samples secretly extracted from all of you.” He then pointed at William. “And out of everyone, yours was the undeniable match. So yes, Benjamin, you really are my grandson.” “But my parents! How….my grandma told me that my parents died in an accident, at a time where I was too young to even remember. She had to raise me all by myself, and I never got to meet them.” Hunter nodded with a slight frown. “That's true. Your parents did die in an unfortunate accident. Following that, we lost you, unable to find you no matter where we searched. It's been years since I've been searching for you, Benjamin. Your mother lost her life after giving birth to you. As for your father, my son, he was inflicted with a heart attack after hearing the news of his wife.” The sadness in his eyes was very evident. “He didn't make it.” Benjamin felt his whole body racing at this point, as he struggled to calm himself. “Sir, I don't…. How is this possible? None of this makes any sense.” The old man refused to leave him though. This is the sole person he had been looking for forever. “It's alright. I'll help you understand. Right now, you need to know your heritage. Who you truly are.” A few minutes later, the group found themselves in Hunter's private office. Benjamin is seated on the only two chairs facing Hunter across the wide office desk. Hunter Whiteridge seemed to now be glowing as he sat up straight with a radiant smile as he stared at his newfound grandson. “Benjamin, as the grandson of this family, you are not aware of how deep our wealth and influence runs, so I will fill you in.” He allowed a moment to pass as he nodded at Herbert, who then walked towards the old man. Herbert began typing away at the laptop on the office desk before turning the screen towards Benjamin. Benjamin was confused for a moment as he read through the information being displayed on the screen. Within seconds though, he realised what he was looking at and his eyes widened in shock. “This?! It says that the Whiteridge family owns two hundred of the top five hundred companies in the world. Each of these companies range in net worths between $300 billion to $1.9 trillion.” Benjamin gasped, placing a hand over his chest. He had always known this family was incredibly wealthy, but knowing the exact value provided an extra layer of clarity that understandably leaves the mind astounded. “That's not all though.” Hunter proudly brought Benjamin's attention back to the laptop. “Keep reading.” Benjamin did just this and he was still left in awe. “The Whiteridge also owns the major shares in other two hundred companies. This….this is absolutely insane!” He looked back up at his grandfather. “These assets span across many conglomerates in the country. This family basically controls the stock of the country!” Hunter's smile dwindled slightly at the dazed expression on his grandson's face. “Benjamin, I understand that this is all a bit much right now. But seeing as I don't have very much time left on this earth, I have yearned to have you back so you can take over this empire for me.”
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Hunter stretched his hands into one of the compartments beneath his desk top, retrieving something from it. He turned to the still shocked Benjamin across from him and handed it to him. It was a black card. “This is a tax free card to a private account. It's yours from now on. This should eliminate any financial issues you've had and may have in the future. It holds a maximum of $3 billion. It's my welcome gift to you.” Benjamin could hardly believe his ears. He stared at the sleek black card being handed to him, the amount he'd just heard swirling in his head. "$3 billion?” Benjamin seemed in a daze. “Sir, that… that's more money than I'll ever need." He was reeling from the surrealism of the situation. Hunter smiled, clearly amused by his reaction. "This is just the beginning, Benjamin. As the newfound heir of the Whiteridge family’s business empire, you’ll be taking over the entire consortium after your graduation. Herbert, my assistant, will guide you every step of the wa
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“Grandma, don't!” Everyone at the school's main gate, including Alexa and Andrew, were shocked at the voice, and they looked up to find Benjamin rushing over. “Benjy?” The old woman felt a wave of relief wash through her at the sight of her grandson. “Oh, my Benjy!” “Grandma, are you alright?!” Benjamin gently held up his grandmother's body. He then shifted an angry gaze up at Andrew. “You're a piece of trash, you know that? How dare you ask my grandmother to kneel before you?! Even if you hated me so much, you should at least give some respect for her age!” Andrew scoffed. “Her age? Why the heck should I show her any care? She's not my grandmother.” He then suddenly covered his nose. “Ugh! Now that both the boy and his grandmother are together, I can really smell the stench of wretchedness.” Alexa giggled as she lightly punched her nose. “Unfortunately, I can smell it as well.” Benjamin was furious as he gently moved his grandmother backwards, away from the two. “Grandma,
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“Benjamin, have you lost your mind?!” The director rushed over. “Are you really trying to kill Mr. Tyrone?!” Benjamin loosened his hand and turned around, looking at the director in the eye, finally giving Max the chance to escape. At this point, there was now a crowd watching the scene. The whole situation was unfolding at the main gate after all. There was no way it wouldn't attract a large audience. “Oh my goodness!” Alexa exclaimed as approached Andrew. She had actually called the director earlier in case this idiot Benjamin would do anything crazy. Turned out she was right.“Oh, baby, you look a mess.” She then glared at Benjamin before turning a pitiful expression in the director's way. “Sir, thank the great goodness that you came on time! You saw it yourself! This madman was about to start another fight!”“Sir” Andrew didn't waste time taking full advantage of this situation. “He suddenly came after me, assaulting me for no reason. "It must be because he had been suspend
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It was safe to say that the director, Andrew, Alexa, Max, and Benjamin's grandmother weren't the only ones shocked by Benjamin's claim.The crowd that had been watching the commotion ever since Benjamin had punched Andrew in the face. They burst into heavy bouts of laughter as soon as they heard those words as well.“Wait! Is he for real? I know that guy. He's so freaking poor, and now he's suddenly claiming that he can pay ten times the annual donation this school gets from the Tyrone family.”“Oh my goodness, this guy must have lost his mind. He's definitely gone crazy. The Tyrone family donates $1 million annually, which means that guy would have to be able to pay $10 million at once. Isn't that too pretentious?!”Another student quickly pulled out her phone. “Oh, I will be damned if I don't live stream this for my fans! They're gonna eat this up.”The crowd was bustling at this point, wanting to see how Benjamin would dig himself out of this ‘grave’ he created for himself.Benjami
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Benjamin was shocked when he saw this. How is this possible? His grandfather had personally handed this black card to him, promising that it held up to $3 billion, so what was going on? Why was the payment declined? Did Hunter Whiteridge lie to him? Benjamin immediately threw that thought out of his head. There was absolutely no way a man like that would lie to him about money of all things. First of all, the man is a Trillionaire, so it would be a very shameful act on his part to fool his newly found grandson, something that had been proven with a DNA test to confirm it. Also, the payment had been declined rather than the black details being incorrect. This means that the black card is indeed legit. There was also no mention of ‘insufficient balance’, so the issue had to be something else. Unfortunately, the audiences watching this weren't interested in thinking this through.As soon as the director saw the confusion on Benjamin's face, he snatched the phone from his hands to get a
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Director James Thorpe felt his heart racing furiously as he stared down at the content on his phone screen. He kept reading it over and over again, ignoring the surrounding noises. “Could it really be him?” He felt stupid for even asking this question, as Benjamin's name was evident on the generated receipt. None of this made any sense to him. This same young man had been called out for being extremely poor yesterday, so why does he suddenly have a black card under his name?Director Thorpe turned to find Benjamin staring at him with a victorious but annoying smirk, and he felt his blood boil. “Here! Give me that card. I want to see something.”Benjamin realised what must have happened, so he gladly gave the director his black card.Once Andrew, Alexa, Max, and Mrs. Knox saw this, they felt something had changed. It was even more obvious in the director's body language that something had happened.Director Thorpe compared the card details with the ones on the receipt. “They match.” He
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The crowd was silent for a moment as they kept their shocked gaze on the scene. Some of them couldn't believe they had actually seen this with their own two eyes, while some were even starting to doubt if they were in a dream or not. The wave of internal reaction this one exchange between the director and the principal had caused in everyone was contrary to the dead silence on the outside.“Holy shit, what did I just witness happen. Could this be real?”“Bro, I'm thinking the same thing. The principal really slapped the director right I'm the face. Lord! I really hope someone captured it, or else, I'll be really forced to believe it was all in my head.”“Look around you then.”The students in the crowd having this whispered exchange glanced around to find that there were quite a few other students who still had their cameras out, recording everything. Meanwhile, Benjamin was also surprised at the slap he had witnessed the principal give the director. Why did this much older man sud
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Andrew had boldly pointed out Benjamin, framing him as the main culprit of this current situation while belittling him as well in front of the principal because he was confident that the principal would treat him with more respect, considering his background. Unfortunately for him, the principal was well aware of the Tyrone family and how powerful they are, including the amount they've been donating annually for about half a decade now. Yet, he knew none of those things could stand a significance when compared to the family Benjamin allegedly belongs to. The fact that Benjamin alone donated an amount one time, and it was more than the combined amount that the Tyrone family had ever donated was telling of the disparity between the two families. Not to mention that the influence that The Whiteridge family has in this university was far more than The Tyrone family could ever possess. This was why the principal had no problem putting Andrew in his place.“You're from the Tyrone family,
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“April, let her in.”April did not expect that Benjamin would say these words with such a calm demeanor. She wanted to ask if Benjamin was sure but he quickly reminded herself that this was Benjamin Knox, an incredibly smart man. He didn't even see the person standing outside yet he could tell that it was a female.This meant one thing: Benjamin knew who was coming and he must consider them harmless.Therefore, April allowed Olivia Hearts into her new home.The first thing the two heard was a whistle tone of awe before Olivia appeared past the corridor.“Oh my goodness! This place is amazing!” Olivia glanced around the penthouse before stopping in front of April with a calm smile.“I'm really jealous of you.”She then whispered into April's war.“I wish Benjamin had made me his fake girlfriend instead. I would have definitely drugged him right here and now. Then I would gladly fuck him as much as I desire…..which would be all night long. I mean, look at the package hidden beneath tho
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“Benjamin is…..is this for me?!” April was left in utter shock as he looked at the penthouse Benjamin had gotten for her.She turned to him with wide eyes and mouth agar.“Tell me you're joking before I really start to take all these in.”Benjamin shook his head with an easy smile. “I'm not joking with you, April. This penthouse really is yours.”“But why?” April was confused. “Why are you giving me such an expensive gift? Though I agreed that we should be in a relationship, we are both aware that it's….fake, for my protection. You don't have to give me such a gift.”After agreeing to become a fake couple, April returned to the apartment that Principal Dice had lent her. But then she was surprised to find Benjamin waiting in front of the apartment building early the next day.She wondered out loud how Benjamin had figured out where she was hiding out and Benjamin easily let her know that it was Principal Dice himself who entrusted him with the location.Then Benjamin urged April to ge
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“Not any more. Something very important just came up. I'm sorry, but I've gotta attend to it right now.”Alexa couldn't believe what she was hearing. More so, she could tell that something was off with the way her boyfriend was acting.Before she knew, the car reached the nearest bus stop and Andrew remotely opened the door on Alexa's side.“You can leave. I'll call you tonight, okay?”“No!” Alexa stared down at Andrew before spreading forth her left palm. “Hand me your phone. I want to see who sent you a text message just now.”“Alexa, what are you saying?” Andrew was definitely caught off guard by the request.Exactly what you just heard. Hand me your phone! I want to see who sent you that text message!”Alexa reached out to take the phone but Andrew suddenly grabbed onto her wrist, fighting it within a pressuring grip.“Alexa, behave. Have you lost your mind?!”Alexa winced at the pain shooting through her wrist.“Ouch! Babe, let go of my hand! You're hurting me!”Andrew glared dar
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“Hello, this is August Dice speaking. How may I help you?” Principal Dice tried to hide the nervousness in his voice.“Principal Dice, this is Herbert, the Head Butler of the Whiteridge family's Prime Estate. I'm calling you on behalf of my Master, Hunter Whiteridge.”Principal Dice felt a bit surprised by this. He didn't expect that the call was an order directly from the Whiteridge family's patriarch.“Head Butler Herbert, how may I be of service to you?”Herbert went straight to the point. “Principal Dice, my master instructs me to pass on some word of advice…… or caution. You can call it whatever you want.”Principal Dice could immediately tell that this had to do with what had transpired in his office with Andrew Tyrone, Angela, and Professor Blanca.He cleared his throat. “I'm listening, Sir.”Herbert sounded as calm as ever.“Keep a low-key profile from now on, especially with the Tyrone family. We are very aware of Simon's new position within the endorsers organization. We p
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Professor Blanca smirked coldly. “Principal, don't think too hard. I'm worried that your aging brain circuit might shorten out from thinking too much.”Seeing the angry state her words had left the old man in, Professor Blanca pushed further.“Look, you simply didn't get any notification about Mr. Tyrone's new status because he ordered that you not be notified.” Principal Dice didn't know what to say to this. He knew that this was a possibility from Andrew's father. But still….“And why would Mr. Tyrone keep me out of the loop on things like this?” He glared up at the woman who came bearing the heavy news Professor Blanca boldly stared with disdain.“Oh, come now, old man. Are you seriously telling me that you don't know your offenses?”She rubbed soothing hands over Andrew's shoulders. “Your ability to protect Mr. Tyrone’s beloved son has begun to irritate him deeply. His orders to keep you out of the loop of information is to send you a definitive warning.”Principal Dice let out
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After the humiliating encounter with Olivia Hearts, April Scott, and, most annoyingly, Benjamin Knox, Alexa was not in the mood to entertain another interaction where someone would berate her for all the terrible things that had come to light.Yet, there was nothing she could do as she was summoned to Principal Dice's office, right along with her boyfriend, Andrew.“Miss Dove, I have to say that your actions are a blatant disregard and disrespect to the pillars of the laws that hold up this university. You bullied two of your fellows into doing your dirty work. Then you tried to physically and psychologically destroy one of them.”“And so what?!” Alexa let out in anger all of a sudden.“Those two ladies aren't shit! They're a bunch of tools I had access to, and I simply used them!”Andrew did not like the words coming out of his girlfriend's mouth so he quickly placed a firm grip on Alexa's hand, silently telling her to shut up.It was too late though. The words were already out.“Wha
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She kept staring at Benjamin’s back, trying hard to tell herself that this was an illusion. Was Benjamin really serious?Back when she had decided to confess everything, BenJamin never gave any hint that he would protect her from the consequences. It left the girl wondering if Benjamin had always had this intention or if it was just something that occurred in the heart of the moment.Ever since the incident that made them cross paths more than a decade ago, April had always kept an eye on Benjamin for the longest time.Through those times, she always felt like there was no way a strong young man like that would ever want to be associated with a pushover like her.Therefore, she kept her distance.Now, things unfolded in the most mysterious way, and April can't help but think that her unfortunate encounter with Alexa was nothing but a blessing in disguise.April had gotten so lost in her head that she didn't realize that Benjamin had taken her up to the rooftop of the faculty buildin
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The crowd snickered as these students failed to hold in their laughter. They could still remember the way he was beaten up the last time.Andre felt humiliated but he knew better than to show he was affected by Benjamin’s intentional insult. It would only make him look more like a loser.“How about a flex of our wealth. There's a charity case that my The Tyrone Conglomerate is hosting. I can ask my father to host a much humbler version on campus.”Benjamin frowned slightly. “And you want you and I to donate as much as we can?”Andrew grinned innocently.“Yes. There are usually many charity cases presented at such events. After all, we all know how big this city is. There are too many poverty-stricken fellows out there.”Benjamin didn't like the way Andrew was talking about the lower-class citizen, but he immediately curved his own reaction with flinching in the slightest. He could tell that Andrew was baiting him, trying to get revenge for the humiliation he suffered just minutes ago
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Andrew, who was smirking the whole time at the drama unfolding before his very eyes, turned angry at those words directed at him.“Girl, I'm sure you must be talking about another family.”April scoffed. “Whatever floats your boat.” Andrew's anger became uncontainable.“Is this you making a death wish? If that's the case, then he prepared to get what you want.”April smirked. “I'm not scared of you.”Andrew's face showed his confusion.“And why not?”Before April could say anything, an attractive masculine voice pulled everyone's attention and a part of the crowd made way for the owner of this voice to walk through.“Because she has me from now on.”It was none other than Benjamin Knox.The crowd began gossiping.“Wait! April is with Benjamin? Since when?”“Babe, I don't think he meant it in a romantic way, but more like April has his protection.”“I'm curious though; why is he protecting April? The lady was one of the people who made the false accusations about him.”“But then she w
