"We'll love to see you around again sir. Whatever and however little your concern is, you are totally and absolutely welcomed."
The manager said to Alves. He had just walked Alves out of the office and was bidding him a goodbye.
"Is there any other thing you would love for us to do? I mean, we could have a car take you home if you don't mind. And even if you so wish, you could take my own car home."
Alves wasn't sure how to respond to the generosity of the manager. Though the manager really appeared kind to him, but he knew too well that it was an offshoot of professionalism. The manager was just working for the money. If Alves had not received such amount of money, he wouldn't have been pampered.
"No, I got it covered. You don't have to worry."
He said and the manager nodded. He turned away from the manager. If he kept looking, the man might keep on the idle talk which Alves was already getting tired of.
As soon as he noticed that the manager had left, he walked away from the vicinity of the bank. He needed a place that was peaceful and quite. He needed solitude.
The discussion he had with the manager after reading the letter did him no good. It didn't help the situation. The fact remained that the huge and ridiculous amount of money still remained in his bank. And he had no idea where it came from!!!
"Come hail and storm, it wouldn't be moved to anywhere. So, you can start taking out of your rightful wealth."
He recalled the words of the manager. He heaved a sigh. He had heard a lot of stories about how lucky men became rich from getting strange money dropped in their accounts. But in all the stories, he had never read that the men were given the right to spend all the money. They usually got rich from percentages they got grom whoever made the mistake.
Though everything around him pointed at the same direction, yet Alves wasn't convinced.
"This feels like a ticking bomb. It could explode any time. I don't want to be a vessel of trouble."
He said to himself. But suddenly, the content of the letter zoomed past his mental ken. He remembered the letter word for word. He had such a photographic memory. RUMOR had it that, his vibrant memory was one of the reasons that Grandpa took him in.
Alves was a stranger in the family. Decades ago, he was brought back from business by Grandpa and was declared as a member of the family. No one knew neither his real family or where he came from.
Ever since then has he been treated like a trash by the madam of the house. But the madam knew too well to hide her odd ways from the eyes of the Grandpa.
When madam gave birth to the only girl in the family, Laura, Grandpa was so overjoyed because he had seen a potential wife for Alves. And truth be told, Alves had grown to like the girl and vice versa.
Only recently did Laura begin to act so coldly towards him. Ever since she returned from college. Alves didn't want to put her sudden change to heart. He allowed himself to believe that her mind was poisoned by the madam, her mother.
Point in time, amidst all those thoughts, something interesting popped up in his mind.
"I know what to do. I'll see. Before going to Charles, I should do one or two things. For her. Perhaps she would change her mind."
He promised himself. Alves was a practical man. He knew too well that people would love to be associated to important figures. But he loathed the idea of 'looking down on others' while trying to push your way to relevance.
"It will harm no one if I take out a few thousands from the account."
He brought out his phone which was in a very bad shape. He punched on an icon and a recording started to play. It was the voice note of the manager assuring him to spend the money to the fullest.
"If any thing ever goes wrong with this money, it will be on the manager. It's a great thing that I have a proof. He can't pretend not to have said these words."
He took a pause.
"If the worst case scenario comes to life, I'll be compensated for keeping such huge amount of money. Wait a minute, what did he call the range...?"
He skipped through the recording until he got to that part.
"Yes! A quintillion. Woah! A quintillion dollars! Is there any figure as such!"
He looked interestingly at a lady passing by.
"If by any chance this money is mine... I'll be the stupendously richest man that has and will ever walk the surface of the earth. Like bruh..."
He quit fantasising and stopped a cab. He got in.
"Vailen Squares."
The cab drove off and got to his destination. He stepped out. He pushed his head up in the direction of the jewellery store. It was one of the top ten jewellery stores in Grimming Hills.
He looked at the card in his hand. The Diamond card which the manager gave to him for shopping.
"What if it doesn't work?"
He thought for a while.
"The worst thing that would happen is getting thrown out."
it was nothing new to him. If there was any sort of humiliation in this world, madam was the first person to try it on him. If there was a channel that updates humiliation, madam would be the top sunscriber.
He walked into the store and straight to one of the attending ladies. When the lady saw how elegantly he was dressed, she called in a sweet voice,
"Welcome to Vailen store. What would you like to get for your beautiful wife?"
Alves shot her an interesting look.
"How did you know that she's beautiful?"
"You are such a handsome and hot man. It's only natural to attract gorgeous ladies."
Alves found it funny but he knew he was running out time.
"Give me the costliest jewellery. I mean the Diana Jadeite. The one displayed on the Grimming Entertainment Hall all night."
"I'm sorry sir. Please do not take this as a disrespect, but this is reserved for the wife of Astrock Villa. It would ---"
"How much is she paying?"
She was stunned by his sudden question. Though he was well dressed, to think that he could afford such a jewel was a contendable fact. Not even the wives of the most reputable CEO's could afford it.
"Fifteen million dollars sir."
At the price, Alves' heart thumped violently. The highest amount of money he had been able to count was fifty thousand dollars. But fifteen million for a necklace?
"I'll pay double."
He boasted. The lady's eyes widened. He could swear that he didn't want to say those words. His ego must be robust.
"What!... sir... you'll do what? Pay doub---"
"Here."
He handed the card to her.
GOD PLEASE LET IT WORK.
He was praying so desperately in his mind.
"Successful, sir. We'll pack it now."
IT WORKED! OH SHIT, IT DID!
He was so elated, but then remembered that he might be making a big mistake. He pushed aside the negative thoughts.
"Thank you sir for patronising us. Here is an exclusive card to our all-night pool party tonight. You didn't only exceed the ten million single purchase requirement, but took on three rows. You more than deserved it."
Alves didn't want to take the card. He was eager to do what he had in mind. He hurried out of the building and hopped into a cab.
When he got to Casper's Mansion, the mansion of his nightmares. Where he was humiliated earlier today, he heaved a sigh.
"What are you doing here again you fool?"
He scolded himself. He knew he couldn't take the main gate. He walked to a hidden entrance known only to himself and his potential woman. In fact, she was the one who told him about the entrance;
Long ago, Madam would seek every means to throw him out, but Laura would always find a way to let him in into their own quarters of the large acres of land.
That was why Alves felt like he needed to do something to win her back to himself. She had once been good to him, there must be a reason for her sudden change.
He made his way successfully to the door of the apartment and pushed the door open as carefully as he could. As he walked into the living room, he called her name in whispers.
When he got to the door of the room they used to share, he began to hear some funny noise. He gulped in anxiousness.
When he pushed the door opened, he found the face of a man between her thighs.
"Laura!"That was the only thing he could think of at that moment; calling her name!She took a pause from moaning and looked at the intruder. Her eyes widened and then she pushed the man away. He watched her climb down the bed and walked towards him.
She got to him and slammed the door in his face.
Alves couldn't bring himself to accepting what had just happened. No matter how hard he thought about it, it didn't make any sense to him. There were a lot of things that left him speechless. Just yesterday, she had promised to follow him to a gala event, even though Madam was so much against it. Before the sudden and unfortunate incident of Grandpa's death which pulled all plans apart. He didn't remember having a fight with her. If it was something else he might have been able to stand it and probably ignore it. But that wasn't even the main concern. What struck him to the depth of his conscious was what followed the whole shocking event. She slammed the door in his face!!!He wanted himself to believe so badly that he was held up in some sort of trance or probably a dream. That was what if felt like. Like he was dreaming!LUARA... IS CHEATING ON ME... SLAMMED THE DOOR IN MY FACE. He didn't know which of the two thoughts was the most devastating. All he did was stare, he couldn'
Alves phone started buzzing in his pocket. He brought it out before any other thing; he was still on his knees, in an open place. The hidden exit which he had taken led to an exposed roadside. He looked at the caller. Seeing the caller, he helped himself to his feet. He could see people gazing at him, but he didn't care. If they had an idea what he was going through, they probably would tell him to continue doing whatever he thought right. "Why is Charles calling me?"He thought first, staring at the number for a while. He knew he has to make a decision as soon as possible else the call would fall through. He answered the call. "Hey Charles. I was just about to call you."It wasn't a lie. That was the next thing he had in mind before the whole Laura situation. "Makes sense that I called you first then. But it doesn't matter who calls who first."The husky voice of Charles came over the speaker. Alves could hear a voice underneath, over the speaker. He could tell that it was the v
No matter how much Alves thought about it, he couldn't bring himself to a definite conclusion. He quit tossing the thoughts from one side to the other. He walked towards the open space and stopped a cab."Majood Riverside."He told the driver and the cab zoomed off. It didn't take much time to get there. He got off and paid. He turned at once in the direction of the Riverside.He stood there for a while, doing the last thinking, perhaps he could take a guess of whom the person he was going to meet was.It was only grandpa who would take him to the Riverside on his birthdays when he was younger even up to this day. If it wasn't because of the cold hands of death, he probably would be there next week too. His birthday.He shook his head scoffing,"Impossible. His coffin was taken away."That was the funny thought he had.WHAT IF IT'S THE REAL OWNER OF THE MONEY?That was the thought he had been trying to avoid all the time. He realised finally that he was wasting time standing there. Al
It was hard for Alves to put his thoughts together. It was quite a difficult task to align his thoughts at that moment. There were so many things going on in his mind, but the greatest of them all was,DID GRANDPA KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY?He shook his head slowly. That didn't seat right in his mind. It was as though he needed to make a rethink.IF HE DOES, WHY DID HE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL HIS DEATH TO TELL ME ABOUT IT?He couldn't provide an answer for that question either. He opined that he would be able to answer a question with another one.IF HE DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY, WHY IS THIS LETTER ADDRESSED AS THE ONE I GOT FROM THE MANAGER OF MAVELIK?It was as though his head would explode. He had gone through a lot for that day to be greeted by such a mystery."It's not a compulsion to open it right here. You can take your time. It seems to bring so many memories."The aged voice came from beside him. He had almost forgotten that he had the old man there with him. He had been so engrosse
Alves was quite puzzled by the fact that Madam couldn't tell that he was the one from his back view. If it was the other way round, Alves would had known she was the one. He could even tell by the way she turn her neck whenever she was going to hop into a discourse which she wasn't invited to in the first place. Before Alves could choose what to do; whether to avoid her or turn to face her. He felt a force which shoved him to the side. He crashed heavily into the nearest wall, almost breaking an arm. It was sudden and ruthless. "How dare you stand in the way of our Madam." Came the voice of one of the two bouncers who had thrown him out of Casper's earlier that day. While it was raining. That got on his nerve. He didn't plan to hide his face any longer. There were quite a number of thoughts going on in his mind. WHAT IF I WAS A RICH MAN, WOULD HE HAD SHOVED ME AWAY LIKE THAT? HE HAD NO IDEA WHO I WAS, AND PUSHED ME OUT OF THE WAY IN SUCH A ROUGH MANNER? Then he remembered that i
Even though Alves knew that there was no point struggling with the cops, yet he tried to put up a fight. He was quite a realistic person, but at that moment, logic had nothing on him. He was so pained and pissed off that he just wanted to exchange fists. In his mouth was,"Bullshit! Bullshit!! Fucking Bullshit!!!"He took beatings. Several punches in his face. His cheeks folding in at the effect of the angry fists. To think that police men could be this brutal towards a SUSPECT left him speechless. Literally. Both sides of his mouth had blood trailing off. He could feel pain in his nose. He must have broken it at the ruthless contacts. He was shoved into the van of the cops before he could have himself a moment to think. He should ask them who sent them. He had an idea who it was. But it was strange. He knew Madam to be plain whenever she wanted to attack him. She had nothing to lose, so she didn't make attempts hiding her true color. He could remember vividly that Madam humiliate
Alves watched and observed closely the look on Madam's face when she had a taste of the sumptuous mucus grilled with blood. What crawled up her face was more than shock. It was as though she had seen more than a ghost. Alves didn't know when last he felt so soothed and happy after these long years. Seeing that look on Madam face was more than Utopia to him. Of course he was a realistic person. He knew what he has just brought upon himself by going to that length. He knew what was bound to happen. He knew that there would be a shower of more and more misery on him. Yet, he allowed himself to bask in the strong rays of those soothing and intoxicating feelings teasing his nerves. Before he gets drenched and drown.Suddenly he noticed Madam losing her balance and was falling away. She collapsed. She must have been very irritated. Alves knew that she would never get over something like this. He had just stepped on the tail of a cobra. While Madam was falling away, the two cops from ear
If there was light, it might had been a different story. But the fact that there was no light complicated things. The first thing Alves felt was a heavy punch in his stomach. He wished he anticipated it. If he did anticipate, his sense and mind would had been ready for such ruthless impact. But he wasn't. That was one of the benefits of light which he was suffering from in that unbecoming state. "Pass him here."He felt a very rough hand pull his leg, snatching him from the chest of a burly man. He heard his trouser rip at the snatch. He hoped that it was only his trousers that was ripped at that rough pull. "Give daddy a kiss..."A smelly breath washed across his face, denying him a natural breath for about three seconds. The breath came with a pool of saliva spurting all over his face. As if that was not enough, he felt rough hands clapping at both sides of his face. For a moment, all he could hear after the hard slaps were echoes ringing in his ears. It was as though he was th