The wave of shock that travelled across the hall was so unprecedented. All eyes went from the large screen to Achiel. Achiel, what? Achiel Auroville?How? How is this possible? This trash bag?Achiel took a moment to look at the reaction of Madam. She was staring at him with a wild disbelief seeped in her face. Grandmother couldn't believe her eyes, too. Though this would be the first time Achiel came to the birthday party of grandmother, everyone knew his name. Achiel was not only looked down upon by the family of Madam but also the other families of the children of grandmother. This is too hard for the people to believe! There is no way possible that it made any sense. They have known Achiel all their lives. He couldn't own such a grand company and keep quiet about it. From where would he even see the money? How would he have been able to make such a huge amount of money. He couldn't even afford clothes for himself!!!They all knew that Achiel was adopted. There was no story w
A sudden laughter filled the room. Everyone was distracted by the laughter and looked in the direction. It was Jones. But when Jones caught the frown in grandmother's face, he quickly sobered up, realising his mistake. He needed to make up for the distraction else he would be done for. He jumped up on his feet at once. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful, grandmother. I was only appalled by the insult that Harold had thrown at everyone here." Jones started. At Jone's speech, the people were slowly getting distracted from the fact that Harold had volunteered to be the face of the company. They were much more interested in the audacity of Jones to boldly and openly rule out the stance of Harold. Even Madam was quite stunned by the audacity of Jones. Realising that he had gained attention for himself, Jones continued immediately. "What are you talking about, Jones? How dare you insult me and call me dumb?!" Harold interrupted Jones. "I'm not insulting you, Harold. I'm only avoiding
The gust of shock that filled the living room was equal to known. What just happened? Who did Madam just slap? Derek?!Though Derek was the one who was slapped but Hannah was the most affected by the action. Her reaction screamed UTTER DISBELIEF. Harold also couldn't have imagined this happening. In short, no one thought of it. Madam had never gotten physical with any of her children. Let alone someone who was quite respected in the business world of Jade City. Suddenly, a sound interrupted the awkward situation. It was Derek's phone ringing. Derek, for a moment, stared at Madam, who was glaring at him. Then he brought his phone out. A loud voice came over the speaker of the phone. "What the hell happened, Derek!!! Where the hell have you been?!" Derek's father yelled over the speaker. "Dad? I ---""I just woke up from sleep and watched Miss Zoe's news. Hoveland has stopped being partners with us!!! What the hell did you do?! Who did you get into a fight with? Why is it only our
Madam couldn't hide the shock crawling up her face. What did she just hear? Who had just spoken back at her?!! "I must be hearing wrong!" Madam scoffed, turning fully to face Achiel.But Achiel looked very serious. He looked like he was not willing or ready to take back what he had just said. "What did you just say? You won't give your favour to this family? Is that what you said?" Madam demanded. "Yes. You heard me right, Mother." Achiel repeated. Madam seemed to be having a hard time believing her ears. For all she knew, Achiel was not in any right to talk back at her, let alone stand a ground for what he had said. Madam walked slowly towards him. Achiel remained in the position he was. He didn't break the eye with her as she closed the pace. When she got to him, she looked to the side for a while. Then she suddenly returned to her seat like she had a change of her. Wasn't she already leaving for her room?Achiel turned to look. "I understand that it is your right. I understa
When Achiel saw Derek, he was not amused, and neither was he surprised. The company where he wanted to get a new phone from was just some miles away from Hoveland. "See who I casually walk into." Derek scoffed, walking closer to Achiel. Achiel should keep on walking, but he wanted to entertain Derek for a while. "A family of the rich Auroville group who is trekking. Shouldn't you at least get a cab?" Derek made fun. "Oh, now I remember. You are too broke to afford that. I mean, you don't even have a job. You're nothing better than a maid. I mean, even the maids get better treatments than you." Derek kept on gloating. Achiel was not offended. He was used to the gloating and insults from different people. It probably had grown on him. "Seeing you in such a great mood. Does it mean that Hoveland has finally reconsidered being partners with your company again?" Achiel teased. Of course, he knew that Hoveland would never ever be in partnership with Huthlink again. He was the owner o
Before Achiel could tell what was happening, so many people had encircled him! It was quite hard for him to get up on his feet. He could hear the people calling him all sorts of names. "He's the thief. I can swear on my life. He's the thief!" The lady said again. Achiel looked around him. He could swear on his life that he knew no one at all. He had never seen these people in his entire life! What is happening? "You must be mistaking me for someone else. I'm not who you think I am." Achiel decided to clear the air. He had to do that for himself, or else he would take the blame and punishment for something he never did. Achiel tried to get up on his feet. "He is a liar. I saw him last night. I can swear on my life. He almost broke into the store. I'm sure he wanted to steal a phone." The lady was talking so loudly. "We should call the cops right away. Or better still, someone should beat the living hell out of him. Someone, please teach this bastard a lesson." The lady wouldn't
Achiel was breathless and speechless as he stood at the front of the castle. He couldn't begin to trace the beginning of the building to its lengthy end. At one point, he stopped looking. The castle was about several metres long. But there was a structure that shot out of all the lengthy castle. The walls were something he had never seen before. The walls were decorated with different kinds of precious stones. Ranging from onyx to beryl. There was a point where he couldn't even tell the name of the stones. The contrasts and fusion of the colour of the different stones added to the opulence of the building. If the exterior of the building could be this breathtaking, what magic would the interior do to him?He was groundless. He didn't even know that buildings in this world could be constructed with such costly stones. If this building is real, then he couldn't imagine from where these stones were gotten from in such abundance. To able to construct a several kilometre long castle.
Achiel didn't know how to respond to these. "Show me to a much more secluded area." Achiel said to the man. The man lifted his gaze at once. "I'm sorry to say this, but this is the most secluded area of the Empire." The man said. Achiel couldn't believe his ears. He looked around for the last time. He was in what looked like a large hall lit by super expensive chandeliers. "This is your first time returning to the empire after decades. It would be thoughtless of me to take you to the central hall. There are so many family members willing to meet you, but I wouldn't throw that at you on the first day. That was why I chose to bring you to this place." The man took a pause. "Originally, this used to be the space for your great grandfather. This was his space whenever he needed solitude." The man explained. "My great grandfather?" Achiel asked. "Your great grandfather is the founder of Jade City. All companies in Jade City and foreign companies that have corporations and cooperati