Ethan Smith: The Lost Heir

Chapter 4

“This can't be happening, when the accident occurred, did I hit my head? I might be hallucinating”. Ethan said and rose up with a confused expression. “How can I be the young master of a family I know nothing about? Is this some kind of prank or what? Let me tell you, I have no money, my wife has no money again and your hypnosis will not work on me”

“ You did not hit your head, nor is anyone trying to hypnotise you here, young master”. Leo said with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Please, sit down let me explain everything to you”.

Ethan had no intention of sitting down, he had heard enough. Everything was baffling him and he just needed answers.

“ Like I said earlier, I am the butler of the most powerful and famous family in Nova City, the Smith family. Which is your family, young master. If only we knew things would go wrong soon…” Leo paused.

Ethan felt like he was a child listening to his grandfather read Bedtime stories to him. Beyond that,he could pure hatred in Leo's eyes.

Leo composed himself and continued when he noticed the look of curiosity on Ethan's face, “ until the family was backstabbed by people we least expected. The whole family died that very night. Your late father seemed to be prepared and made alternative plans”.

“ How come I have no memory of that, if I'm the young master of the family? At least, I should know about this, shouldn't I?” Ethan asked, “or am I suffering from memory loss?”

“ Hahaha, Leo laughed, “ Of course not, you were very young back then, a four- year- old. And you didn't even know who you were. You won't have any memory of your family or anything that happened. My greatest regret was my inability to accomplish your late father's orders. I couldn't protect you and your twin sister that night”.

“What? Twin sister?” Ethan asked in utter shock. He was still trying to understand the whole situation and now he had a twin sister? 

What an outrageous story?

“ You had a twin sister, the whole family was headed to the airport when the car’s brake failed. The car fell off the bridge, your dad had told me to stay back and ensure his children survived and inherited the empire, Emerald Group. I was late, your body and that of your twin sister was reported missing”.

Ethan looked more confused, he was told a kind man brought him to the orphanage. He was found begging for food. So this whole story wasn't adding up at all.

“ It took me years to finally meet you, young master. And I am very pleased and grateful for that. I had followed up on everything happening to you since you got married to Ava Steve. I'm still working on locating your twin sister” Leo said with an appreciative look.

Ethan was shocked and couldn't utter a single word. This was beyond his imagination.

“As the last and only surviving male child of the rich and powerful Smith family, it's time to come back and claim your place, young master”. Leo said with a respectful bow.

Suddenly, the room was filled with men in black suits. As if they were watching from the door, they bowed with Leo.

“Welcome, young master”. They echoed in unison.

Ethan knew this was his real identity and there was nothing he could do about it. “ This can help myself and Ava”. He said with great anticipation.

“Then you can simply move back here  and start to take care of everything you own”. Leo said cheerfully.

“Not so fast Uncle Leo, hope it's fine if I can call you that”. Ethan said.

Leo nodded with a smile. He was okay with whatever his young master decides to call him.

Ethan motioned for him to come closer,” Let's not forget how I ended up in this situation”.

“ What are you trying to say, young master?” Leo asked, “Are you saying you don't want to come back? Or do you still have doubts about everything I told you?. That can't be, it took me years to find you, you are the only one who can continue the legacy of……

“ Hold on, Uncle Leo”, Ethan interrupted with a chuckle. “Let's not make assumptions”.

“But, you just said… “ Leo stuttered and stopped himself when he realised Ethan had something important to say to him.

“You and I know it's not safe for me to reveal my identity. My enemies might still be lurking around to take me down permanently. I don't want to put Ava at risk. I'd like to live a low profile life for now”.Ethan said with severe utterance.

Leo thought about it for a second and smiled, his young master is very wise.

Ethan stood up and asked, “how much is Emerald Group worth?”

Leo smiled and answered, “Emerald Group is a consortium, the assets are more than a trillion dollars. You can check other assets with the bank”.

Ethan stood still with his lips ajar, stunned by what he just heard. Did he really hear well? Yesterday, he was a loser and today he is a what?

A trillionaire? This is more than he can take.This reality was too much for him.

“Young master, would you come along with me to Emerald Group headquarters then? You just need to sign a few documents.” Leo smiled.

“Not today. I need to leave now. My wife will be worried about my whereabouts”. Ethan replied, he put his hands into his pocket and the shock on his face showed he had lost something.

“What is it, young master?” Leo asked.

“ My phone, I really need to leave now. My wife will be worried sick, she has not heard from me since last night. About the company, we can check it some other time.” Ethan waved his hands as he walked to the door.

He still needed time to perfectly digest what just happened.

“Let's drop you off”. Leo suggested.

“No need for that”, Ethan rejected the offer.

As they walked to the door, Leo brought out two cards from his pocket, the first one  a business card and the other a black card, “ Young master, take this”. Leo said quickly as he gave Ethan the cards.

“What's this?” Ethan frowned.

“This is my card, you'll need to contact me later. The second is a black card that contains a little amount of money for your phone and other things”.

“How much?” Ethan asked.

“It should be about $200,000,000,” Leo smiled.

Ethan's mouth couldn't help but suppress a smile. Did this old man just call $200,000,000 a little money?

“ I'll be off,” Ethan pushed away the thought as he walked out of the room, “ which bank can I check the other assets?” Ethan asked.

“Pulse Bank, young master. I'll call the manager and inform him about your visit” Leo replied 

Ethan looked at the black card in his hands, he let out a sigh. He didn't know how to feel at this moment. He just went from someone with nothing to someone who had more than a trillion dollar assets.