“You really think you can humiliate me and get away with it, eh? You must be joking,” Lewis added. The scenes from the fundraising event were still fresh in his memory. His father has always protected and defended him but for the first time ever, he was humiliated and his father coud not defend him. “How dare you go head to head with me?” Lewis thundered and slapped Kyle heavily. Kyle tried to fight back but he was overpowered by Lewis’ men.Some minutes later, Beth was brought by some of Lewis’ men. She was surprised to see Kyle tied to an old air-conditioner.“What is this good-for-nothing guy doing here? He isn’t worth our time and attention,” she said and spat on him.“I know he isn’t worth our time and attention but after what happened at the fundraising event the other day, it is only right that I show him who the boss is. I am Lewis Harrison and no one on this campus can dare to have a go at me. I will make an example of this brat,” Lewis bragged."Sounds about right," Beth sa
“What do you mean by that, please?” Kyle asked, becoming increasingly frustrated by what was going on.“I’m sorry but we couldn’t verify your identity, sir. I’m afraid you are not Ashley Barnes. Maybe Millie (the receptionist) was right afterall. You are an impostor and I will hand you over to the right authorities. People like you should not be walking freely on the streets of our beloved city,” Mr Riley answered. He brought out his phone, dialled a number and some security officers appeared in the VIP lounge.“I think I will just call my dad,” Kyle said. He picked up his phone and called Dr Barnes severally but he could not get through to him. “How did that go?” Mr Riley asked but Kyle was too ashamed to answer.Disappointed, Kyle pleaded with Mr Riley to let him leave the bank and come back later, probably with his Dad to prove that he isn’t an impostor. Just then, a thought struck him and he turned back to Mr Riley.“Can we try the identification process again?” Kyle asked.“I’m
The following morning, a new life began for Kyle Hughes, or maybe Ashley Barnes. Both names were his anyway but he preferred Kyle Hughes as it’s what he’s known all his life. Life surely wasn’t the same again but some things still have to be done and one of them is completing his first degree at Beckerley University.He had to go to the university that morning to complete some formalities so he freshened up and got ready to leave. He wanted to inform Sir Kirby or one of his parents about his movements but to his surprise, they had all converged in the main lounge as if waiting for someone.“Good morning mum, good morning dad, good morning grandpa” Kyle greeted.“Good morning boy. I hope you rested well?” Sir Kirby replied. “Yes, I did, sir. Thank you all for the warm welcome and for everything else. I’m actually heading out now and I was just coming to inform you,” Kyle said.“Heading out? Is anythng the matter?” Mrs Barnes asked, sounding a little worried.“Not at all, mum. I jus
The next day, Kyle got up as early as he possibly could. The night was short but memorable. He is really Ashley Barnes! He had people to call his family and a place to call home. He was really excited about the prospect of starting a new life, a type of life he’s always dreamed of and even more. Many hours later, after some moments of deep reflections and wide imaginations, Kyle heard a knock on the door of his room and went to attend to it. It was the personal bodyguard assigned to him the day before.“Hello sir. Your driver is here. It’s time to go home, sir” he said.“Thanks man. I’m all set too,” Kyle answered, grabbed his stuff and walked down to the car. By now Kyle was already used to seeing luxurious cars but this particular one was a new discovery. It had a custom number plate with the name BARNES boldly written on it. Its interior was even more exquisite. Kyle was completely stunned and he just couldn’t stop looking around throughout the ride down to the mansion.As they ap
Kyle finally gathered enough courage to look up and see what was left of the audience. He was surprised to see Dr Barnes sitting right before him.“Dr Barnes! You’re here. It’s so good to see you again,” Kyle remarked and proceeded to hug him.“Hello Kyle. How have you been? What are you doing here?” asked Dr Barnes.“It’s complicated, sir,” Kyle answered.“I understand things may be complicated but a shared problem is a solved problem. Grab a seat and let’s talk about it,” Dr Barnes said.“I’m sorry sir but I can’t do that. I’m here as a waiter and I won’t get paid if I’m caught slacking,” Kyle answered.“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. I will pay you four times whatever they promised to pay you,” Dr Barnes assured and got Kyle a seat.“Why are you here as a waiter? If I can remember clearly, you left the mansion with $4 million. What did you do with that? Don’t tell me you squandered $4,000,000 in 2 weeks,” Dr Barnes asked.“I deposited all the money in a savings account, sir.
“Open the wine and fill the glasses,” Lewis said to Kyle who was lost in thought and did not realize what was going on. Lewis saw this as a perfect opportunity to strike. He filled the glasses with wine and emptied them on Kyle’s head, jerking him back to reality.“Why did you do that?” Beth shouted and the attention of the entire hall was drawn to the scene. “Keep quiet. He wasn’t concentrating so I brought him back,” Lewis anwered unapologetically.“I’m sorry sir,” Kyle apologized and went to clean himself up. He felt offended but he wasn’t going to let Lewis get on his nerves because he knows Lewis has a history of getting on people’s nerves and playing the victim afterwards.The event continued as if nothing happened and everyone continued to have a good time.Kyle came back into the hall but was re-assigned to another wing to avoid a repeat of what happened. He caught wind of Beth walking towards the restroom and he went after her. A part of him still loved her so he thought he
“Ding, dong,” the doorbell rang and Sir Kirby got up to attend to it. It was Kate, one of his special attendants.“How may I help you, Kate?” Sir Kirby asked.“Someone is here to see you sir. He said he’s Dr Frappart from Evercare hospital,” Kate answered.“Dr Frappart?” Sir Kirby asked. “Please lead him to the main lounge and make him comfortable. I’ll join him there in a couple of minutes.”“Alright sir,” Kate replied and turned to do as she was instructed.After some minutes of waiting, Sir Kirby joined the doctor in the main lounge and they got talking.“Hello doctor,” Sir Kirby started.“Good day Sir. I apologize for disturbing your peace by this time of the day. There’s an issue that needs serious attention and that’s why I decided to come here myself to get it sorted,” said Dr Frappart.“I hope there’s no problem?” asked Sir Kirby.“Not at all sir. I’m here because of DNA tests that were conducted in our hospital some days back,” Dr Frappart replied.“Oh that? What’s the issue?”
Back in his room, Kyle kept thinking about the way things have turned out. Mrs Donovan (his nanny) was the human he trusted the most because she raised him since he was a kid until he left for the university. He didn’t know anything about his parents other than the ghastly accident story Mrs Donovan told him multiple times whenever he asked but it was all still very confusing for him. Mrs Donovan couldn’t have lied to him, could she? She also gave him an old picture of his parents and Dr and Mrs Barnes don’t look anything like them. “How is this even possible?” he thought to himself multiple times. After all was said and done, he fell asleep in his river of thoughts. The next day, Kyle was woken up by the repeating doorbell sound. One of the attendants was at the door. “Good morning Mr Kyle. Sir Kirby said to tell you to please get ready and join him in the dining hall. Breakfast is ready,” he said. “Good morning sir. Got it! I’ll join him soon,” Kyle replied and went back insid
That night, Kyle was back in the same situation he was in some days ago, this time with a layer of experience and experience, as they say, is the best teacher. He still wasn’t 100% sure about this whole thing because the BrooksMillions stunt was still fresh in his memory. One thing was different this time though. In a way, he actually earned this money unlike BrooksMillions’ where he just received a text message without any previous effort. Also, this time, he’s had a taste of Sir Kirby’s wealth and from what he’s seen so far, this may actually be the real deal. He was put in a luxurious room, one of the best Kyle has ever been in his whole lifetime. The walls were exquisitely adorned with gold crusts and paintings from some of the world’s best artists. “Is this heaven?” Kyle asked himself. Something caught his attention somewhere in his room. It was a cellphone carefully placed on the centre table in the room. He walked up to the centre table and picked it up, checking it out lik