Chris Bolton's Unexpected Rise To Wealth And Fame

CHAPTER 4

Chris Bolton could barely contain the excitement he felt. In the less than ten minutes that Greg left him to wait for his father, he had paced about the room over a hundred times.

Thousands of questions flooded through his mind in that moment. Was his father really the owner of this mansion? If that was true, did that mean that he was actually rich and not poor? Chris kept on repeating the same questions over and over again to himself until finally, the door to the room creaked open.

Chris spun around at once and the moment their eyes met, he knew it was his father, Michael Bolton. Michael walked up to his son, Chris and the pair stared each other down for the better part of a minute without saying a word. The resemblance was clear - the same ink black and curly hair, the same grey eyes, well chiseled jawline, taut arms and long legs. Chris was a spitting image of his father, Michael.

"Son?" Michael muttered. "Is this really you?"

He reached for Chris' cheek but the latter shifted back, cautiously.

"Where have you been all my life?" Chris asked. 

Michael could sense the bitterness in his son's voice and he knew he had to calm the young lad down. 

"I'm sorry, my son," Michael said. "Many years ago, I had a fight with a very bad man. You got caught up in the crossfire and I had to sacrifice everything to save you."

Michael drew the sleeve of his blue coat up and Chris gasped when he saw the nasty scar that ran down his left arm.

"I got this scar fighting to save your life," Michael added. "I had to hide you from my enemies."

"So you left me?" Chris queried further.

"In the hands of one of my best men!" Michael continued. "I thought that Marcus Sanders would be the best person to protect you - "

Chris' mouth dropped open at the sound of the name - Marcus Sanders! So the bastard knew that his father was the owner of all this wealth, and he allowed him work as a cleaner in his daughter's company! It was then that the realization hit Chris. That was why Marcus had gotten him to marry his daughter, Mabel. He obviously wanted his daughter to be married to one of the richest men in the world, and Mabel divorcing him could only mean one thing - she was not aware of his status as Michael's son. Her father never told her. 

"So you know Marcus?" Chris asked.

"He was my right hand man when you were a little child," Michael said. "He came up with the idea of taking you under his wing, to protect you. Did he treat you well? If he didn't, you can tell me now and I would have Greg take care of him."

"Take care of him? Hell no!"

Chris' mind was working very fast now. Marcus Sanders was an opportunist, an evil man who deserved the worst, but if he died all of a sudden, his family would hear the news. They would dig around and find out the truth about Chris, and then they would disappear without a trace. He would never be able to have his revenge on Mabel for wasting three whole years of his life. No way that was going to happen.

"Actually, he did take good care of me," Chris replied with a smile. 

"Greg said he found you with a bullet in your foot," Michael frowned.

"That was my own wrongdoing, trust me," Chris maintained. "Marcus Sanders and his family have been the nicest."

Michael stared down at his son for a long time and all of a sudden, he enveloped him in a bear hug.

"I'm sorry I haven't checked in all these years," Michael muttered. "I've been travelling, Venice, Puerto Rico, Hawaii. I've had to seal up a lot of business deals, and also hunt down the bastard who tried to kill you. I couldn't afford to take you with me, son. It was too risky."

When Chris looked into his father's eyes, all he could see was the genuine love of a man who cared for his son. He knew his father was saying the truth and he warmed up to him immediately.

"So you mean all this is yours?" Chris asked, turning around to gaze at the beautiful room. 

"Ours," Michael corrected him with a smile. "You know I put you as the owner of two of my biggest companies - GLAM and NEXUS CORPORATIONS. You were barely six years old then, and so I had two of my men, Marcus Sanders and Bryan McDoyle oversee them for you, until you became of age."

Chris could not believe his ears. GLAM, the very company he had been working in as a cleaner for three whole years was actually his company? 

"Marcus tells me you've been overseeing the affairs of GLAM for three years now?" Michael chipped in. "Tell me, son. How has it been?"

Chris was lost for words. He felt betrayed. The only man whom he thought had his best interests at heart had only been using him. 

"Challenging," Chris sighed, finally. "Not exactly the job I thought it was."

"It's never easy overseeing the affairs of a whole company," Michael grinned. 

The expression on his face darkened a bit and he added:

"Profits have been going down in the last year though. I hope you're looking into that."

Chris nodded absentmindedly. His mind was far away already. He was already plotting how he could have his vengeance on Mabel and Arthur for treating him like thrash! Chris chuckled to himself at the imagination of the horrid look on their faces when they found out that he was actually the owner of the companies they thought were theirs. He could imagine Mabel on her knees pleading for his forgiveness.

"Son!" Michael snapped a finger in Chris' face. "I think I'm boring you with the talk about business and all."

"No father," Chris shook his head as he spun around. He was clearly still amazed by his sudden change in fortune.

"Get used to it, son," Michael said with a smile. "Those two companies are just a few of the many assets we have."

Chris nodded in response and slowly, an idea began forming in his head. His father had said that he was the one in charge of NEXUS CORPORATIONS, the company that Arthur was heading now. It would not be bad if he paid Arthur a surprise visit.

"Dad," Chris said, turning to face Michael. "The truth is, I've not had the time to follow up both companies. Can you schedule a meeting for me, with the person in charge now? I would like to meet him in person and begin to monitor his progress."

Michael was all smiles as soon as he heard his son speak. He was happy that Chris was getting more involved in the family business.

"I would have that done immediately," Michael replied with a smile. "Bravo son. I'm proud of the man you've become."

Chris could only chuckle to himself at the thought of everything. He could not wait till Monday, when he met Arthur McDoyle at NEXUS. The expression on the bastard's face when he finally realized who he was, was going to be epic!