What's the problem, sir?”
Ernest turned back with a slight smile, even though his mind was full of bad words. All those crew members looked scary like hell when he commented, so what's this man gonna do? Punch him? Ernest had decided that he would punch back at this man if he just came to yell. But it didn't happen. The middle aged director immediately smiled, as he was trying to show his friendliness to Ernest. His words were polite as well, which made Ernest think that the director wanted to copy him. “My name is Michael Durkheim, this crew's director. Please don't bother Ashley's rude behavior. He didn't hear what you've said and it's all his fault. Don't leave this way, sir. May I talk to you for a while?” Ernest raised his eyebrows for a long time, which abruptly chilled Michael to the bone. “My pleasure.” “This way, please go this way, Mr… Sorry, may I know your name?” “Ernest Eswaranski.” The director stopped for a moment. He might have heard of this surname somewhere before, but now he had no time to remember. “Okay, Mr. Eswaranski. Please go this way.” The director was trying to hold back his excitement in front of Ernest's suspicion. The more he thought about Ernest, the smarter he realized he was. No one could describe his happiness when he had seen Ernest showing his knowledge and elegant behavior in that case. If he had used to be suspicious of Ernest's identity, then he could be sure that this guy—who was wearing low quality clothes—was the son of some famous, mysterious clan. Moreover, it's likely that he could be the heir which Michael had just heard about. Great clans were mysterious because they didn't like the public's eyes on them, which brought nothing but unnecessary troubles. Most of their information was classified. There were just a few people knowing about them, let alone knowing about their heir's whereabouts. So it's purely explainable that Michael hadn't remembered Ernest's existence—this young man could live abroad, right? Clans had their own way to educate their children, especially the one who would inherit the power. It could be out of ordinary people's imagination, then Ernest's weird style was normal as well. Growing up in one of the richest families, was there any pricey thing that Ernest hadn't seen? He might be fed up with expensive belongings, and wearing cheap clothes didn't matter to him—he was still the heir even if he's nude, right? It was bitter, but possibly a truth. Although appearance played no role in his life, Ernest behaved like a true member of the elite class. Look at the way he stood, walked, smiled, and the perfect attitude he expressed! Not even a bit of haughtiness was found in his behaviors, though his family was great! This must be the result of years of learning with professional education, which an ordinary family could not provide. Eswaranski… Eswaranski… Michael had heard about this name somewhere, but where was it, exactly? Michael looked at the young man sitting in front of him. A decision was made right after that. He couldn't remember the origin of the last name Eswaranski, but Ernest Eswaranski was still the greatest resource that he had to keep!!! Since the film studio was set temporarily outside, the best place for discussion purposes was just the van where the director and his assistant took a rest at noon. The director, Michael, recalled the beginning days when they had bought stuff for filming. This old van was not even his possession, Michael had hired it with only fifty dollars from one of his friends, after two days of persuasion. Michael knew that they nearly had no budget at all—all the props they got were which they had borrowed, hired, asked from everyone—and he was sure that the ‘wealthy heir’ could realize this at first sight. And Ernest was observing all the film crew with a complicated eye. That's why Michael became nervous while thinking of the invitation of investment that he was going to say. Though Ernest was wearing dirty cheap clothes, Michael never forgot the fact that this young man came from the elite class. What was he thinking while looking at their low quality stuff? Would he agree with what Michael was going to offer? This project needed money, Michael himself needed money, but there's actually no reason for Ernest to put his money into this project. Never had he felt confused like this before. The director invited Ernest to sit on a chair. He was going to mention the budget, but the young man just kept silent as he's thinking of something. Michael was more and more nervous, because this might be the last chance for him to maintain the project before participating in the Kannan Film Festival. It's been his dream since childhood. He had done so many things to get this crew, and if this project couldn't move on, Michael didn't know what to do next. All of Ernest's emotions were hidden under his calm expression. “I know it's rude to say this the first time we meet, but I have an offer for you, Mr. Eswaranski. Could you listen to me for a few minutes? It won't take too long, I promise.” But Ernest didn't reply. He was just looking outside where the crew was preparing for the afternoon shift. “Mr. Eswaranski?” Michael asked again. Though Michael was worried as a toad under a harrow, Ernest was thinking of a different issue. That was the way to escape once this weird middle aged man did something unspeakable to him. Now after facing his chilling smile, Ernest started regretting his behavior a while ago. What the hell had he done? Pretending to be an expert while he was just a stranger, not even a well-educated one? This action was silly, with the word ‘silly’ capitalized. Ernest suddenly felt cold in his back when he realized that this man didn't stop staring at him. What was his purpose while inviting a penniless guy? Ernest knew that he would never be chosen to be an actor, so what was the director going to do? Tied him up and beaten him for his speech? Or… All of a sudden, Ernest remembered some newspaper titles which he had used to sell on the streets… [Shocking news: Teenager's body found days after his last meeting with a stranger.] [Police: “Be aware of people who showed abnormal behaviors, no matter who they are!”] Didn't he fall into a criminal den? He didn't, right? Those titles were the final factor which made Ernest worried like hell. He wanted to stand up and run, but he was afraid that the man called the director would catch him. He drew a figurative line from the place where he was to the outside, with lots of stuff put everywhere like obstacles. When Michael called, Ernest was completely confused. His mind was now filled with steps to run away from this place to the outside, but asking the director to repeat would reveal that he actually heard nothing. This man could be furious after that, and Ernest couldn't deal with that situation for sure. Therefore, Ernest looked straight ahead at the nervous director and gave him a pointless sentence. “Please give me a reason for that, sir.” So that Ernest could figure out what the previous sentence was. All words had their own meaning, right?Michael smiled in bitterness. Obviously asking for an investment was never an easy task. He may have underestimated this young guy, just because of his innocent appearance.Look, Ernest didn't even ask what the offer can be but strictly asked for a reason. Ernest knew everything, and according to years of experience talking with all types of producers, Michael understood that he had to show this teenager what benefits he could gain, or everything would be gone.Michael didn't fear that the budget would disappear. What he was afraid of is the loss of his position in the upper class—once Ernest felt unpleasant for what Michael said. Instead of asking for a budget which could provoke this young heir, Michael needed to ask for something more friendly. “I know what you want, Mr. Eswaranski.” Michael said, then he went to find his suitcase in front of Ernest's bewildered eyes.Want? What did Ernest want? Why did he know nothing about that?While Ernest was still confused, the director had
Ernest smiled at Ashley, turning at the weird director who was still bewildered aside and showing him a relaxing expression. “I guess you will need a discussion first, Mr. Durkheim.”“Mr. Eswaranski…”Michael's heart nearly stopped beating when he saw Ernest standing up. He didn't even have time to yell at Ashley—the one who had broken all his wonderful plans. He was about to hold Ernest's sleeve, but Ernest dodged Michael's hand fast like a wind, showing the obvious refusal though he didn't say that.“We will talk later, Mr. Durkheim.”“We don't work with you! Get out of here! Now!”At the moment Ernest was about to put his feet out of the van, he heard Ashley's disdainful words, and the finger pointing at the outside filled with underestimation. The people around him didn't say a word, just looking at Ernest as if he was an old toy, which could entertain them for just a few minutes.He realized that he couldn't leave this way.Ernest turned back at Michael, who was engulfed in despa
Eswaranski? Now confused wasn't what Ashley was feeling. It turned into shock and for a moment, Ashley thought that it was a damn prank. But it was impossible. Eswaranski was so rare that he had never met anyone having that surname in real life, or even on the Internet. Lying was not that easy. You couldn't randomly take a meaningless surname and unintentionally match the real one belonging to someone if you had never heard about it. Ashley had seen the name Eswaranski once. “I have read about that name, Eswaranski.” Ashley’s face turned pale and his voice was trembling. “My late great grandfather had written about that in his diary, but I don't remember the content.” Then he looked at Michael, “Mr Durkheim, I have to go home to find the diary!” Ernest was sitting at a coffee shop. A cup of espresso was on the table, giving off the beautiful scent of perfect coffee. A pianist was playing a song over there, and the relaxing music echoed all over the coffee shop. Waitresses in
For heaven’s sake, it's the first time Ernest had to do such a complicated thing like analyzing just to spend money. He looked at the shop, then glanced at his reflection on the glass door, thinking that his brain would explode before the system showed up and took his life.Ernest had nothing at the moment, just eight… no, seven hours left to complete this mission, and there was nothing valuable all over his body. All the things he was wearing were useless, invaluable which his ex-girlfriend and murderer refused to take.Just a T-shirt, a pants, an old hoodie which Ernest had worn for five years, and-Ah, yes.He got one thing.An idea appeared in Ernest's mind.Ernest turned at the woman who was advising him to ‘be a better man’, giving her a polite smile. “Thank you for giving me such precious advice, ma’am. But I don't come here to disrupt their business, I want to buy some clothes, and it's pretty weird if the employee treats me this way.”“Oh?” The woman was surprised, “To be hon
Ashley had been walking for such a long time, his face turned pale and both his legs were trembling uncontrollably. He huffed and puffed, telling James with a trembling voice, as if there was nothing stable on his body now.“S-stop, James! I-I need to take a rest! I can't walk any longer!” Then he bought an icy beverage from the vending machine, and started complaining after drinking a bit, “Screw it! Why the hell does Michael tell us to find that beggar? He is just a scammer coming to fool us and Michael trusts everything he said? What happened?”“And the last name Eswaranski? Damn, why the fck did my uncle sell the diary to pay for his debt? Why didn't he sell one of his kidneys? Fuck!!!”“Now the diary is gone and it's possible that the scammer has seen that name and pretended to be noble!”Ashley couldn't hold back his bad words. After Ernest left, he had gone back home to look for the name Eswaranski in his great grandfather’s diary. But who the hell could expect that his uncle h
Ernest raised his eyebrows. His anger vanished as fast as the way it showed up, and Ernest was conscious enough to realize his problem. He couldn't stand there and argue while the precious time was flying. He had another plan, but before leaving, he had to do something. “Fine, now I understand the way you guys do business.” He looked at the big, sparkling banner on the rooftop, “Friesta? Good, this is the first brand that I have to keep in mind.” “We will meet again.” If I couldn't survive tonight. Ernest left that sentence with a mysterious smile before he turned away, heading to another shop. Ernest wouldn't give up! He had six hours left, and there must be some shop where he could spend all his money! But when Ernest was about to leave the crowd, he heard someone calling him. “Sir. Please, sir. I have something to talk about.” Ernest was surprised, and so did the crowd. Since they all knew that Ernest had done nothing wrong, no one dared to scold him badly. Just look at his
“You have one hour and one million dollars to prepare. Got it?”Ernest's words pulled Steven back to reality. He nodded immediately.“Yes, sir. We'll have done everything by the time you arrive!”Now Steven wasn't the only one to be shocked. Everyone was, too, including Ashley and James, who had been standing in the crowd and witnessing from the beginning to the end of this event.Ashley was recording that scene with his phone, intending to show Michael that he had trusted the wrong person. But, please, how the hell could the story twist this way?James and Ashley looked at each other, seeing the same message in the eyes.Ernest Eswaranski wasn't a scammer? Not kidding?Ernest was a scammer, and Ernest himself admitted that in his mind. But he was satisfied with what he had just created. It was face-slapping, right? Just look at the woman employee’s regretful expression, as if she had thrown one million dollars away. Ah, yes, it was actually one million dollars, ha ha.Though the mone
Yes, the bank officer knew what the black card actually was.There were some mysterious clans in the world who were richer and more powerful than the other half of the world. They lived and worked in secret, wandering among ordinary people, contributing a lot for the world. As a result, they took the right to enjoy special privileges, which no one else could imagine.One of those privileges was the black card. It was recognized widely in the world, according to what the bank officer had learned, the card’s owner could pay and withdraw the money anywhere in the world, no matter what country they were in, or which ATM machine they wanted to use.Their black cards were just simple. The background pattern, the name, and sometimes there was a number.The pattern was their clan's symbol, engraved with some special techniques so that the card was unique and recognizable. They had their own symbol, and all the bank officers had to learn them properly so as not to cause any trouble with those