Inside the tower, Mardo stopped by the front desk."Excuse Me. I would like to see the CEO" he strummed politely. Dominique, one of the officers on duty that day asked: "Do you have an appointment?""If I had, I would've mentioned it, don't you think?""Unfortunately" replied Dominique, "We can't let you in without an appointment, Sir.""Do you know who I am?"Dominique shook his head irritably."Then at least tell your boss who I am. Mardo Wormwood. Aircable CEO, and owner. Or you don't know what this too? Do yourself a favor. Pull out your phone, find out, and don't get fired for turning away someone like me when your boss comes in to check in later.""I know, Aircable, Sir. Unfortunately--" Dominque turned his attention to his pocket, where his cell was vibrating."Just one moment, Sir. Hello?"Mardo overheard a gentle tinny voice issuing an inaudible command."Alright. Understood." Dominique ended the call. "You're all set to go, Mr. Mardo. We're glad to have you."And with that,
"Pauper?""Not quite, as you can see. I usually go by Benjamin these days. Also, CEO of Ivy Corp. President of the Medhill board. Or just simply, Boss. The elevator's closing, Mr. Mardo. Don't you have somewhere to be?"Mardo Wormwood found himself leaning slightly off-center and stopped himself with the door before he could fall and collapse right there."It's impossible" he whispered under his breath, staring at Benjamin like he was the 8th wonder of the world. A wonder that had risen from the dead and posed a threat to his survival."You know what they say. Something's always impossible until it's not." smiled Benjamin.Mardo massaged his head. "I have to be dreaming or something"Benjamin pushed the button for the ground floor, with Mardo inside. "Don't worry, Mr. Mardo. All will be explained in time. And by in time, I mean very soon. Extremely sooon" The doors began to close. "See you at the Wedding" winked Benjamin from the other side.On the ground floor, Mardo was still strugg
Amber donned a sunset brown dress that draped all the way to her ankles, barely brushing past the straps of the fragile, but stunning black high heels. On both of her wrists were gold and silver bracelets stacked upon each other in closed, tight gaps.Her necklace was even simpler; a round thin chain of something that sparkled under the building spotlights, and helped to accentuate her mischievous smile. She had curled the ends of her hair into two stunning semi-circles that she brushed off her chest as she approached the dumbfounded Benjamin."Ready when you are, Boss." she poked playfully."Looks like someone's been on a shopping spree. Do I need to look into your salary?" he teased."If you do, you should remember all the bonuses I should have made for all my *hard work*""I'm just surprised you even had the time.""Oh, no. I had my cousin pick this out for me.""Really? Wonder what she looks like."Johnny Zeppeli coughed. "Don't you people have somewhere to be already? This is sti
Benjamin grinned and clinked his glass a few more times. "A toast, everyone." Soon, the sound of Benjamin's glass was the only sound to be heard in the hotel's hall. Benjamin looked again to the Black family table.Madam Black, Simon, and Mardo had all joined Claire in a gaping expression.Benjamin raised his glass. "To the couple--"Mardo rose. "Get this hobo out of here! Now!" he instructed, not minding decorum. The guests were appalled as some security approached Benjamin."Are you sure you should be treating your guests this way?" asked Benjamin."And when I find out who let him in here, you all are going to have a lot to answer for!" Mardo berated the security.Should I get rough? wondered Benjamin. But before two of the guards could close the distance by a further step, 3 gentlemen from a nearby table rose and quickly approached to block the guards."What?""Is exactly what I want to ask, Mr.Mardo." Caroline's voice pierced the air from the table next to Benjamin. "As far as I k
"So, what are you going to do, Justine?"Madam Black looked from family to foe. Claire, Simon, and Mardo were eagerly anticipating some strong response, based on how they were looking at her with wide impatient eyes. She looked back at Benjamin, still dumbfounded."What do you want?" she asked him."Want? Well, Mrs Caroline may be exaggerating things slightly there, so I don't blame you for thinking that way. This isn't some threat, or even Blackmail, Ma'am. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We're here out of respect, and professional courtesy, as Amber had deduced that maybe the board might have not told you." Benjamin rose."And now you know. We'll work with Mrs Caroline to send out figures first thing on Monday morning. It should be a good deal to think over the weekend.""Why are you doing this?" cut in Claire. For a long time, even since the bank incident, she had not been able to look him directly in the eyes. But now she did.Her eyes are weak and dull, thought Benjamin, before
Benjamin turned over the phone and unlocked it. A video was already playing on the home screen. It was a hospital setting, which immediately set off different alarms in Benjamin's head.It was a private ward, and Benjamin recognized the pattern of the windows, the wall colors, and some brand-new equipment by the patient's bedside, which looked a lot like the pictures of hospital machines Amber had once shown to him for approval.The video was in Medhill Hospital. The patient was a still, petite figure with long straight hair that had to be combed for her every morning because she was incapable of waking up to do it herself. It was Ivy Wallouby."I trust you need no further explanation," asked James Black. Benjamin looked up at him with eyes of controlled fury."I'll kill you" he stated, not as a threat, but a prognostication of what was to come."I don't doubt that you would if you could, that is. But I hope this puts everything into perspective. Now, are you willing to hear what I ha
The man returned to observing the calm waves of the beach, even though Benjamin was now only inches away, looking down on him.Is this Bastard going to make me talk first? frowned Benjamin. He cleared his throat. "You were looking for me?" he started but decided that was too polite. "What the fuck do you want?" he added.The man pointed to his left. "Take a seat. You're in my sun.""What seat?" barked Benjamin, but he was stunned to see, by the man's left, almost touching his shoulders, an identical beach chair. That's Impossible. There was only one plastic chair on this entire Beach! I was sure of that just a few seconds ago.The man gestured again: "Aren't you going to sit?""No, thanks. I'd rather stand."There was no further communication from the 'GrandMaster', until Benjamin decided, reluctantly, to take the Beach chair. Activating [Enhanced Body] first."Now talk" commanded Benjamin."You've done well to make it this far. To be honest, it was pretty touch and go there for a lon
"Huh?" muttered James. "The hell?"But Benjamin looked up to find Black's easygoing face had turned grave. He almost resembled his wife."I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, Benjamin," answered Mr. Black.Ahh, I see."Thank you for confirming it. I've had a hard time trying to decide if what that bastard told me was the truth, or not. Goodbye." dismissed Benjamin.In an instant, Black appeared before him, his hands crushing Benjamin's wrists to take hold of the pen."You should've just listened, and taken the easy way out, Benjamin," said Black softly.[Notice: [Enhanced Body] compromised.]Benjamin screamed in pain as Black wretched the pen from his fingers, but all too suddenly, Black's movements stopped. His eyes swayed from Benjamin to his stomach.There was a red swelling around a spot where It looked like his intestines had caved. A fatal swelling. James Black removed his hand slowly after delivering a deadly punch to his father's guts. Blood streamed from Black's mout