Before he had a chance for another thought, they blocked his path.“What the fuck is this?” asked Simon loudly, looking carefully at three of them. It was then he recognized the one in the middle. He was a usual guard and envoy for the Black family! “Mr Simon” started the manager from behind. Simon turned to look at him. “I think you should at least listen to what I have to say.” He continued. Simon ignored him once more and turned to the family guars.“Why are you here?” he asked the guard most familiar to him. “Didn’t I leave you back at the house after we finished the auctions? Were you having me followed?” he asked them. Not a single response. That seemed to be it, then.“On whose orders, were you having me followed?” bellowed Benjamin, but he had a sneaking suspicion as to the identity behind the operation. She has been busy, thought Benjamin, referring to Mrs Black.“Answer Me!” he barked again.“Mr Simon” started the Manager again, creeping behind Simon. “You must forgive
“Mr Simon, may I ask when you are planning on filing the lawsuit? It would make my report look a whole lot neater.” Asked the manager, grinning. This bastard! thought Simon. It was obvious there would be no way for Simon to sue the hotel since he would be suing his family’s company! The Blacks were a major stakeholder, after all.This manager was just a little bit too smug. “You son of a bitch” gnarled Simon.“Now, now, Mr Simon. There is no need for that kind of language" the manager said, approaching. “You caused quite the stir there, I just want to make sure that we are satisfying your wants,” he said, sardonically. “You think I can’t come after you because you work for my mother?” asked Simon, bluffing.“Not at all Mr Simon, I am only interested in your well-being” said the manager, with a tone that was difficult to decipher. “Allow me to say this, on behalf of the hotel Millenium, Mr Simon, I take all the responsibility and apologize for the way you have been treated until now.”
But something moved. Something moved ever so slightly that it had taken until this moment for Simon to even notice his presence. It was the youngest member of the Black Family. James Black turned a few pages on the journal he had on his lap, making no apparent observation of anything or anyone around him.Simon, at least relaxed. His mother, Joanne Black, was nowhere in sight. He coughed a little to get his brother’s attention. James, however, continued, his light reading uninterruptedly. “You’re back, Brother,” said James, not looking up from his book.“Uhh, yeah, obviously” started Simon, finding a place to sit among one of the sofas. “This is definitely a surprise. What are you doing outside your room?” Simon asked. James had belonged to that category of persons who shut themselves indoors to pursue their innate interests.His mother and father had not usually berated him over it, considering he was still under 18. It was a behaviour they hoped he would eventually grow out of, and
“I’m correct, aren’t I? And If I remember correctly, the sticker price, what we paid for construction and land and the permits a few years ago, everything was a sum total of 65 million dollars.So, not only have we lost out 15 million, actually accounting for inflation, it’s way more than that, somewhere around 30 million we’ve lost, and instead of negotiating for part ownership or something, and now we have actual cash of 55 million, which is depreciating in the bank every single hour? Is that what you mean by liquidating?” asked James.The concept of cash depreciation had totally skipped Simon’s mind. He leaned back on the sofa, groaning. “Someone would almost think that you were trying to screw us intentionally” added James.“No! Fuck, I swear that’s not what happened.” Pleaded Simon.“I know, but Mother and the rest of the board wouldn’t have seen it that way, which is why I needed to step in” stated James.Simon looked at his younger brother, really looked, he wasn’t even old en
“Then you pretended to wait for a call from this Mr Jenkins and decided for the farthest possible hospital away from here. Once we were gone, you would tell the police that you just saw us fleeing from the scene, and a long chase downtown would ensue. We would be handcuffed before we had a chance to tell our side of the story.” finished Benjamin's tale. Amber stood amazed, marvelling at Benjamin’s insight. Nicole, on the other hand, was convinced she was in a nightmare. "Well?" asked Benjamin. Nicole stuttered and muttered words that were only comprehensible to herself. If she was physically able, she would have begun to foam at the mouth. She took shorter and shorter breaths, steeping back away from them, darting her eyes around, looking to see if anyone had overheard Benjamin's analysis. Benjamin slicked back his hair satisfactorily. "That confirms it, then," he said. "Confirms what?!" snapped Nicole. "I think the city police have their first murder suspect on the case of Mr Ki
Benjamin was puzzled too. Did MedHill hold that type of reputation to admit an A-list CEO, or was it a distance thing? Sy Claire's was as equally far away as Med Hill, on either side of town. Maybe it was traffic? But Benjamin was unsatisfied. He suspected something else in play.Amber made another high-speed turn, shaking the entirety of the cabin, Benjamin in the passenger side, and Nicole in the rear-facing seats. On the third turn, Nicole had started banging her head on the A-pillars. [Warning: Incoming Notification from Driver's Skill] [Warning: Incoming notification from Driver's skill] [Warning: Incoming Notification From Driver's skill] "What the hell is all this?" Benjamin muttered to himself. "Allow me to explain, Sir." Started PAYTON. "It would seem that the system is trying to relay a message to you, the host, but the message is locked upon the activation of the target skill" it explained. "The skill in question this time looks to be [Driver's POV]" "Alright. Activat
"You've already condemned me." "Don't be so sure" started Benjamin. "Because the worst thing to do right now would be to condemn yourself first." She looked at the faces of the serious Benjamin and Amber. "Well?" asked Amber.'I - I did see the letter, from Ms Amber to Mr Kirkland" she confirmed. Amber crossed her arms. "Go on" she instructed Nicole. "It was sent up to the secretary's office by one of our mail attendants, along with our usual mail. I' didn't think much of it when I sat the name, only that it was a little different from our usual addressees." explained Nicole. "What do you mean? How different?" asked Amber. "Well, it was the first time I had seen such a feminine name in Mr Kirkland's list, although, he did have his fair share of admirers too.." "Wait...Are you saying that it was my name on the mail?" asked Amber. Benjamin cast a small glance in her direction, wondering about the sudden outburst. "But yes, it was written 'From Amber Stone' on the envelope," sai
"And what did you find out?" asked Amber. "That it was such an unimpressive company at the time. It hadn't even gone public and had no records of any employees whatsoever. The only way I found out about it was by using the CAC register. I wondered why Mr Kirkland was interested in such a low-level company" replied Nicole candidly. "Hey, watch it" warned Benjamin. "But you did find out about me and Benjamin, didn't you?" led Amber. "How did that come about?" "There was a record of a sale of the Obsidian towers to Ivy Corp, and the representatives present there were from Ivy Corp. Listed as Benjamin Black and Amber Stone" she replied. Amber scoffed. "I thought the entire point of the auctions was to preserve the privacy of the clients. Now everybody knows what we bought and for how much?" asked Amber. "Not everybody" started Nicole. "Mr Kirkland belongs to a small group, where clearances of information like that is a small prerogative, easily available whenever" Benjamin Rose fr