From Squalor To Splendor

Chapter 8

The celebration started in a matter of minutes. The media team was working hard at their jobs, documenting everything that happened.

while everyone was having a good time. After a few minutes, Justin got up to address everyone, including the online viewers, in person.

"Ladies and gentlemen, could I please have your attention?" With a curving smile on his lips, Justin asked while holding the tip of his suit.

After everyone had turned to look at him, he said, “ I want to tell you all a story. So, pay close attention because I am going to ask you a question and then demand two different answers."

Everyone sat still as they listened intently to what he had to say.

He took a few steps forward and stood in the center of the living room, his hands tucked behind him and a smile on his face.

He began, “On a fateful day, a certain man was on a trip to a certain city to seek help. It was going to change his life for the better. On his way to the city, he met a poor man who appeared tattered. They were walking down the street with a lady, most likely his girlfriend.

"The man came to a halt in front of the two young poor people walking on the road and asked, "Hey, young lady, why are you walking in this hot weather alone?"

The lady responded to him and said,“ Can't you see I'm with someone? Or are you too blind to see him?”

The man who was inside the car said to the lady, “Well, I can't see anyone with you. Maybe he is too poor for a rich guy like me to see him. Please hoop into the car so I can assist you in getting out of this miserable situation. You know, you are too beautiful to be with poor people like him."

“The lady pondered what the man in the car was saying. At last, she responded to him and said,“ he might look poor, but he meant everything to me. He had gone through a lot to ensure that my family did not go hungry."

The young man said,“ If a poor man like him could feed your family, how much more of me who is rich? Don't you think I will marry you and build a mansion for your family?”

"As soon as she heard that, the woman left her poor boyfriend, whom she had been attempting to support, and went after the wealthy man. She refused to listen to the poor young man's pleas to stay back and kicked him out. It took the wealthy man and the woman a few minutes to reach their destination.

The woman was lost when they got there, so she asked him, "Why did you bring me here?"

The man responded to her, “Well, I was given the address of this house to come and seek help. I am dying of a rare disease, and I have been told that only a few people can help me cure it. So I was given the address of this house to come and look for the man, so he could assist me because he is the closest and easiest person I could meet," he explained.

“The lady became speechless and she stood silent. Finally, the lady responded to him, saying, "The owner of this small house you are looking at is the same person you humiliated on the road while driving down here."

"Just as she finished speaking, the owner of the house appeared, and he turned out to be the poor young man who had been humiliated and insulted on the road by the two of them. She left her boyfriend and followed a wealthy man who had come to seek assistance from her boyfriend. He might die soon if the poor young man did not assist him. Can you see the irony?”Justin smiled and came to a halt in his story.

He slid his left hand into his front pocket and stood in one position as everyone stared at him, waiting for him to conclude the story.

On the contrary, Liam and Isabella had already figured out where Justin's story was going, and they were terrified of what he had in store for them.

There was a brief period of silence before Justin finally posed the question, "If you were that poor man, would you accept to help the rich man who stole your girlfriend and still made you look bad in public? Or... will you chase him away even though he desperately needs your assistance?"

Before Justin could finish his statement, a large number of staff members raised their hands, ready to respond.

Justin was astounded by the number of people eager to answer his question.

He smiled at them and then pointed at one of them, “Yes? Tell me what you would do if you were a poor man."

The young man whom Justin pointed out earlier stood up and said, “Well, if I was the one, I wouldn't help him and I won't accept the girl back either even if she wants to come back. since it was evident that she was after money. She wasn't concerned about the love I had for her, nor did she consider what I passed through just to make sure that her family didn't sleep hungry despite being poor.” he explained.

“Okay…” Justin gave a slight nod. "I appreciate your point of view on this."

He then motioned for a lady to respond and say something about the story he had just told.

"To be honest, it is not our fault as ladies that we dump our poor boyfriends to settle for a rich guy. I mean, a relationship is more than just confessing your love for a lady; can you provide everything she requires of you? That is what the poor young man should have considered before concluding that the lady had dumped him for another guy. He should be thankful that someone lifted the burden he had been carrying for a long time.

"The truth is that not every lady who claims to love her poor boyfriend is sincere. I am sure the lady had been looking for an opportunity to break up with him for a long time, but she had not found it until the opportunity presented itself. As a result, if I were the young man, I would forgive them and assist the man who came to seek my assistance. Because it was because of him that the poor man discovered she did not truly love him. Won't it be more hurtful if that happens after they are married? He should realize that they were not meant to be together," the lady explained confidently as if she were a marriage counselor.

Justin could not decide whether to laugh or just stare at the lady and ignore what she said.

However, he only narrated the story to give them an idea of what they would do if they were in his situation.

Nonetheless, it will not change what he had planned to do to Liam and Isabella.

What lies ahead is unpredictable…

What lies ahead is a mystery...