About 24 hours later, the old man went back to the hospital to check on Kyle.
“I see you have responded to treatment really well. The doctor said you will be discharged tomorrow and I would like to make a proposal,” the old man began.
“What proposal? Let me hear it,” Kyle replied.
The old man adjusted his seat and continued, “I would like to invite you to eat dinner at my house and if you want to, you can spend the weekend with me. You have done me a huge favour and it would be unwise of me not to appreciate that.”
“You don’t have to feel indebted to me in any way, sir. Whatever I did the other day, I did it out of goodwill,” Kyle replied.
“If we’re to get along together, you should learn not to say no to my proposals. I insist,” the old man stated.
“Alright then, if you insist,” Kyle admitted.
“But how do I get to your house? I only had a tenner left in my pocket and after the events of the other day, I can’t say for sure if I still have it,” he added.
“Not to worry boy, one of my drivers will come pick you up once you are discharged,” the old man assured.
“Thank you sir,” Kyle replied and they said their goodbyes.
At about 5pm the following day, Kyle was discharged from the hospital with a car waiting for him at the parking lot. The driver got down, walked up to Kyle and said,
“Good evening Mr Kyle. Sir Kirby sent me here sir. He said to bring you home.”
“After you,” Kyle responded and followed the driver to the parking lot.
Upon seeing the car he was to ride in, Kyle was surprised and opened his mouth in disbelief.
“Please hop in,” the driver said to Kyle.
With the tap of a single button, the doors of the car flung open. Kyle watched on as the colours of the car dazzled under the evening sun. It was a great sight to behold for him as he’s never been so close to a car this luxurious talk of riding in it.
It was a special edition Lamborghini Revuelto with different precious stones crusted all over its body.
Kyle got in and with another click of a button, the engine started, revved and the car jerked away out of the hospital.
After covering a few kilometres, Kyle noticed that their car was being followed.
“Have you seen that car? It seems we’re being followed. Please stop the car,” Kyle said to the driver.
The driver stopped the car and the trailing car also stopped.
“Not to worry sir. That’s some of Sir Kirby’s bodyguards. They were sent to ensure our safety,” the driver said to Kyle and they continued their journey.
They got to this big villa and the driver headed in, parked the car and opened the door for Kyle.
“This man must be extremely wealthy,” Kyle commented, looking at the luxurious villa.
There were so many workers in the villa that one could easily mistake it for a production company. One of them approached Kyle, took him to the changing room and handed him a set of new clothes.
“Please put these on,” he said to Kyle and directed him to the main lounge where he was to wait for the old man who joined him in no time.
Kyle could not stop admiring the villa. Its interior was carefully designed with specific attention to details.
“Your house is really nice,” Kyle admitted.
“Thank you,” the old man responded. “So have you decided to spend the weekend here or not?” he asked.
“I’ve learnt not to say no to your proposals,” Kyle responded and burst into laughter.
“The table is all set sir,” one of Sir Kirby’s attendants said and walked away.
“I guess it’s go-time then,” Sir Kirby said and led Kyle to the dinning hall. As Kyle walked over to his designated seat, Sir Kirby noticed a mark on Kyle’s neck.
“What’s that on your neck?” he asked with an air of uncertainty.
“Oh that? My nanny told me it’s a birthmark. It was given to me at birth,” Kyle answered.
“What about your parents?” Sir Kirby asked with something still unclear to him.
“They died in a ghastly accident years ago,” Kyle said emotionally.
“I see,” Sir Kirby returned. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to open old wounds.”
“Now let’s eat, drink and make merry. Be my guest,” Sir Kirby rebutted and they proceeded to eat. It was an absolute feast with a touch of royalty. The dining hall was exquisitely adorned and glittering in every sense of the word.
When they were done, Kyle cleared his throat and started,
“You have asked me so many questions. Now let me ask mine.”
“Go ahead. I’m ready to answer your questions,” Sir Kirby retorted.
“This is a massive display of luxury. With all due respect, who are you?” Kyle asked.
Sir Kirby chuckled, cleared his throat and answered:
“I think I’ve told you a bit about me earlier. I am Darren Kirby but a lot of people around here call me Sir Kirby. I am the founder of DK Inc. and a multi-faceted investor among others.”
“DK Inc? I know DK. In fact, I use DK’s digital products in my daily activities. It’s a pleasure to meet you sir. I’m starstruck,” Kyle responded, blushing.
“Is that all you want to ask or is there more? I’ve cleared my schedule for the weekend. I really want to make it worth your while,” Sir Kirby returned.
“That’s all sir,” Kyle said sharply.
“For a start, I’ll give you a million dollars for your struggles. You don’t know the great help you rendered to me. Thank you for saving my life,” Sir Kirby said and patted Kyle on the back.
“$1,000,000? Is this another prank? There’s no way I’m falling for it this time,” Kyle thought to himself.
Sir Kirby was surprised at Kyle’s silence. Kyle didn’t even act as though he heard what Sir Kirby said.
“Maybe my offer is small, I’ll double it. Make that $2,000,000,” Sir Kirby rebutted but Kyle was still unmoved.
“What’s the problem, boy?” asked Sir Kirby.
“Please tell me this is not another stunt by Lewis,” Kyle appealed.
“Stunt? What stunt? This is real, boy. I’m offering you $2,000,000 for a start. I see you are still trying to get your life together so the $2,000,000 should help in a way,” Sir Kirby said assuredly.
“I can increase it if you want me to,” he added.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it sir,” Kyle responded jubilantly and his mood was finally lifted.
“That’s all for today. You should get some rest now. I’ve had a room prepared specially for you. Just ask any of the attendants and you will be directed there,” said Sir Kirby.
“And yeah, I’d be receiving some special guests tomorrow. I would like you to meet them. An attendant will be sent to you when the time is right. Get yourself ready to meet them,” he added and walked away.
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
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
“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?”
“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
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.
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
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
“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