"What now, young man?" One of the elders among the crowd asked. "Listen, everyone!" I started with a smile on my face to lift their moods. "From this day forward, rest assured that you all can rest your worries and fears. Because I will be buying this building tomorrow..." "You gotta be kidding me." An old woman cut me off. "Have you seen your face in the mirror, young man? Or are you on drugs right now? We appreciate what you are trying to do, but you're simply worsening our situation. So get lost." "Pardon me?" I could not help but frown when I couldn't understand what she was trying to emphasize. She was supposed to be pleased by the good news, but it went the other way around. No. Most of them were as if they believed I was talking nonsense. "Get lost, young man. Don't give these people false hopes," she added. "We have had enough of promises. We need our money and jobs back." "You better get out of this place if you don't want to help us with the rally,
Boredom struck me like a bolt of lightning last night, so I did not get the chance to think better about the consequences of creating a new account. I mean, who could have thought I would be bombarded with friend requests and messages the moment I created the Young Master's account? "I'm afraid it's too late for that, my friend." John Dave replied teasingly. "People already yearned to see and meet you in one of the hallways in this building. So, yeah, you should keep the account active as much as possible." "So, what do you suggest then?" I asked him helplessly. "Beats me." John Dave heaved an abrupt sigh the second the elevator cracked open. "You're good at walking in those hallways with your profile hidden. So, it's either you can continue pretending to someone else or you can scream to the world that you are the Young Master. As easy as that." We immediately shut our mouths the second we hopped out of the elevator and greeted everyone we could pass through towar
"Dad, I'm having another call from Ms. Elaine. And I think it's more urgent than yours." That was a big lie. I had to end the call before Celestine completely disappeared from my sight. "Can I call you back in a few minutes?" "Of course, son!" Dad replied and I could hear his overwhelming excitement from the other line of the phone which meant my attempt to lie to someone as smart as Dad worked. After the call ended, I put the phone back in my pocket and followed Celestine from afar. She went into one of the rooms. Imagine my surprise when the students greeted and addressed her as a professor. "Good morning Mrs. Stroem!" the students greeted her. "Good morning, class! So sorry for being late today. I had an early appointment with my OB gyne." Celestine explained. "Anyway, please open your book to page 45, and will continue discussing..." "She's a new professor at this school? Since when?" I frowned in disbelief as I kept myself hidden behind the wall. Far enou
Ten minutes later, I hopped out of the car and bolted to my condo with the soles of my shoes, not touching the surface of the ground. "Grams... Gramps! What are you all doing here instead of searching for him in the countryside?" I yelled at them from the distance. They could have reported the incident to the cops to help them analyze the case instead of traveling all the way to the city for three hours. They could have done a lot of things instead of wasting that long hours to get here. Imagine my surprise when my son's nanny dropped to her knees the moment I stood in front of Grams and Gramps. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Llamas," she uttered despite having a hard time breathing. Her eyes were swollen, and her face was soaked with profuse sweat and tears. She has been crying like for an entire day if I was not mistaken. "You should be," I replied as I looked at her with my eyes burning in rage. "Because if my son will not be found within a day, I don't know what I can do
As much as I hated the idea, Dad left me with no other choice. I must not let my guard down when Dad and I feel the same thing. So, I encouraged Grams and Gramps to follow Dad's order as I didn't want something bad to happen to them. Mom also waited for our arrival instead of coming into my apartment. The next morning, I followed Dad's advice to remain calm and trust him with the process. He was working hard on the case and promised me to get my son back by all means. "What time is the meeting with Sebastian?" I asked Jennie in the middle of her work. Jennie grabbed her iPad and scanned my calendar. "It's ten in the morning, Mr. Fisher. Do you want me to cancel or reschedule the meeting? Or if you're not ready to face him, John Dave and I can do that on your behalf." "No, that's not necessary. I will be meeting Sebastian's company, not as the Young Master, but as the CEO of my own company." I replied before I dropped a bulk of documents on her desk. Those were the
The cops didn't give me the chance to explain - to tell them my side of the story as they dragged me out of the meeting room by force. Jennie attempted to help me, but I refused to make sure the case would not get complicated. All my employees, including John Dave, were stunned and dumbfounded upon seeing me being handcuffed and assisted by five police officers heading to the main exit. I lowered my eyes to the floor to avoid making eye-to-eye contact with anyone in the office and pretended not to feel their sharp and penetrating stares toward me. As soon as we got out of the office, I was even more surprised when more people, mostly Dad's employees were looking at me with confusion and curiosity. Some stares were mixed with disgust and bothersome. "Isn't he the man who was beaten up by his friends the other day? Do you guys have any idea what he did this time?" "Couldn't agree more. He was also the man who caused the commotion last week. Many confirmed that h
A part of me wanted to burst into tears, to lash out, but I tried to toughen my core while sitting still in front of Dad. As much as I wanted to, he didn't deserve a single drop of it. I took a deep breath, composed myself, and calmly explained the situation. "Clark and his friends visited me in that fucking holding cell despite the non-disclosure agreement you let them sign," I added as I grit my teeth to surpass the pain that lingered on my wounded lips from talking. "And they bribed the cops so they could beat me up to death again." I looked deeper into Dad's sky-blue eyes to see if he had the slightest clemency for me at least. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not see any feelings of understanding or love for his son. "Of course." I continued, "How could you know all that? You protected them instead of me, your son - your family. You would rather see me being beaten to death than see them rot in jail because you were more afraid that your noble name to get
"Dad, what the hell is going on? Wasn't this supposed to be a family meeting only? What is that bastard doing here?" Clark blurted as we grabbed our seats at the huge wooden table. I can see the veins in his neck popping out in too much confusion and curiosity. Dad and Mom were seated next to Mr. And Mrs. Cedrick while Van was next to Elaine whom I finally met for the first time even after a few nights of conversations over the phone. She was indeed a goddess just like how Van asserted every time I asked him about her. I, on the other hand, was seated across from Clark, making each other feel more uncomfortable. But I'm prepared for this kind of inevitable setup. I have been waiting for this day to happen. Dad agreed to give Clark the chance to break one rule listed in the Non-disclosure Agreement which was to keep his distance from me. He and his evil friends already broke that rule, to begin with. So there's no reason for us to keep and follow that fucking Non-