RISE OF THE HEIRS: Getting Rid of The Traitor

03

"I'm really unlucky today. It hasn't been five hours since I woke up in the morning, and I've already been insulted dozens of times! What the hell is this? There should be a warning that today is the unluckiest day! That way, I can be more careful than before, right?"

Tom let out a long sigh. He thought back to Pete and Jill, who were not residents of the town where he lived.

"But what exactly are Mr Pete and Mrs Jill doing here? They're obviously not from here. But why come all the way to the orphanage just for a few strands of someone else's hair? It doesn't make sense."

The butcher's knife Tom was holding again quickly sliced down the centre of the pork breast. He quickly removed all the entrails. He also cut the pig's back until the pig in front of him was completely split in two.

Unfortunately, Tom was still thinking about the expression of the old man he had just met. "Even though Mr Pete doesn't work for that wicked witch. But why would he be that obedient to someone else? Ah, I'm so curious. Unfortunately, I don't have Mr Pete's phone number to ask him directly."

Just as he finished his sentence, Tom remembered the business card that Jill had thrown in with the bucks. He frowned, then quickly finished the pork chop in front, before finally reaching for the pile of bucks and business cards.

"Gotcha! But there's only a landline number listed here. What is this? Reynolds industries? The best textile producing industries? Mrs Jill is the CEO of Reynolds industries? Oh, my god!"

All day, Tom kept thinking about the business card he got. For some reason, he felt familiar with Mr Pete, whom he had never met before. However, he also had no right to contact someone as powerful as Jill to ask about the old driver who had hit him.

The clock had already struck 2:38 PM when Tom suddenly felt hot. Tom was already sweating profusely, soaking almost his entire T-shirt. Even the apron he was wearing was soaked to the chest.

No longer able to stand it, Tom tried to get out. Unfortunately, the door to his section of the slaughterhouse was locked from the outside. And this was unnatural.

"Shit! Since when did Iain lock the door on my workplace? Iain! Why do I have to be locked from the outside?"

Tom began to feel claustrophobic. His breathing was heavy. Because of the heat, his chest was also heating up. Unfortunately, from the opposite direction, where the incoming pigs were killed before ending up in the slaughterhouse, thick blackish smoke was rising.

Quickly, Tom covered his nose with his palm. Meanwhile, the other hand tried banging on the door for help. "Help! I'm here! Can't anyone hear me? Please, help me!"

Tom looked back. He was shocked to see the flames approaching, making his chest even more tight and hot. Without thinking, he took off his sweat-soaked T-shirt and covered his nose while trying to find a way out of the locked door from the outside.

"Shit! What the hell is going on? How could the fire spread from the direction of the pig farm? Aren't there more people there? Why didn't they put out the fire?"

Tom went through the streets of the pig body pulling machine that had stopped operating. Unfortunately, at the end of the machine, the door had been carelessly closed by many wooden slats.

Once again, Tom shouted loudly. "Help me, Iain! Anyone, help me!"

Unfortunately, Tom did not see anyone there, even though he could peer through the small gap between the wood. "Where did those people go? Was I left behind? Is this some kind of conspiracy? Does Iain want to kill me just because I arrived late and only gave him a little buck earlier? Damn Iain!"

Just as he stopped cursing, Tom felt the ground begin to heat up. He knew very well that the metal supports of the machine that carried the pig were an excellent conductor of heat. The bad news was that he was stuck at the end of the machine with no other way out!

"I have no choice! I could die right now if I don't try to fight!"

Tom didn't want to give up. He pushed the wood with his shoulders. His jaw hardened with beads of sweat and his face flushed as his shoulders began to numb. His laboured breathing and weak stamina could no longer keep him going.

"Goddamn it!"

Tom closed his eyes. His breathing was laboured. Strangely, he remembered the face of someone he had never met before. A handsome face that resembled him! Also Mr Pete's face.

"Mr Tom!"

"Now I also hear Mr Pete's voice?"

"It's me, Mr Tom! Look over here, Mr Tom!"

Realising the voice wasn't a hallucination, Tom got up quickly. He peered through the small gap, confirming that Pete was indeed there. "Mr Pete? Is that you?"

Tom saw Pete carrying a chainsaw. He backed away briefly, but his steps were halted as the heat became more intense. "I can't go back too far, Mr Pete! The flames are getting closer! It would be best if you got out of here right now!"

"Not without you! Tell me, how many inches is between the wood and you?"

Tom shook his head slowly. "Only an inch! And even then, it might not be an inch!"

"Hang in there, Mr Tom! Because I'm not going anywhere without you!"

In an instant, the chainsaw rang out, splitting the wood and blocking the machine's only way out. One inch of carelessness and Tom's stomach would have been split open.

Luckily, Tom survived after quickly exiting the pig-carrying machine. Greeted by Mr Pete, who had gone to great lengths, the two quickly moved away before an enormous explosion followed.

"I don't understand. Why did people even forget about me cutting the pig? They left after the fire started, didn't they?" asked Tom in surprise. The two had sat down on the other side of the road.

"Welcome back, Mr Fischer. Amazingly, you have cheated fate for the second time."

"Please stop joking around when I've just escaped danger, Mr Pete."

"Would me coming all the way here to save you be a joke to you?"

"Then why did the CEO of Reynolds Industries suddenly come here, cuss me out, insult me, and then throw his bucks in my face? I know you probably feel guilty. That's why you came here, saved me, and then joked with me when I was about to die!"

Tom wiped his face briefly, then got up when the slaughterhouse in front of him was burnt to the ground.

"Where are you going?"

"Why should you care, Mr Pete? I'm going to the orphanage! Back home like before, I knew you!"

"Not just this slaughterhouse, Mr Tom. But the orphanage where you grew up."

Mr Pete's words made Tom's eyes widen. He twisted his head, then demanded an answer from Pete, who looked down deeply. "What do you mean, Mr Pete?"

Sure enough, before long, Tom heard an explosion in the distance. The fluttering of birds flying from the nests of each tree made Tom's hands begin to tremble with fear. His eyes were wet with his lips hanging open.

"It's lucky that I knew the truth sooner, Mr Tom."

Tom was reluctant to comment. His wide footsteps soon took off, heading towards the house where he had grown up for the past twenty years.

The bushes, Mr Pete's screams, the thought of panicked residents, and the smell of burning wood continued to terrify Tom. His heart was beating fast, and his footsteps were getting wider.

"Wait, Mr Tom!"

Tom saw it. The two-storey building was on fire. Its black smoke soared into the clear sky. His breathing became more laboured. Especially when he couldn't find anyone around to help put out the fire.

"Where is everyone? Help! Can't anyone see a fire this big? Anyone! Help me! There could be other people trapped in there!"

"Wake up, Mr Tom! There's no one else here but us!"

Tom, who was initially panicking, turned confused. He stared at Mr Pete. "No one else but us? How is that possible? They were all here when—"

"This is the truth, Mr Tom! Please calm yourself first before accepting any of my statements! Will you?"

Tom glanced back at the orphanage area. He was indecisive. But for some reason, he had so much faith in Mr Pete, whom he had just met.

Mr Pete immediately contacted someone without moving away from Tom. "I found him. Send a vehicle to the same address immediately."

Tom was still wondering. He watched Mr Pete, who looked happy despite looking tired. "Can you tell me what exactly happened, Mr Pete?"

"Mrs Reynolds and I are here to look for Mr Fischer's son, who was deliberately removed."

Tom's eyebrows furrowed. "Removed?"

"By his own half-brother. Decades ago. On purpose."

Tom couldn't understand more. The two had arrived at the highway, the place where they met for the first time. At the same time, a vehicle arrived to pick them up.

Two guards got out of a pitch-black car and opened the door. "Please, Mr Pete."

Tom was still frozen in place as Mr Pete pulled him into the vehicle. The car was almost on its way when Tom suddenly grabbed the driver's shoulder in front of him. He looked terrified, confused, even disbelieving. Suspicions of organ sales began to enter his mind.

"Then why did the two enormous fires happen without any effort to put out the fires by the people around? Why did everyone leave when I was left alone, Mr Pete?”

"Because you're the one we're looking for, Mr Tom!"

"Do you pulling my leg?"