Quickly, Arthur opened the news portal page. But for some reason, he had trouble opening it. Instead of restarting the network, he chose to go to the living room of Jeff Coley’s residence. He opened the current affairs channel without hesitation.
Sure enough, he saw Tom’s face in the news. His eyes widened as he saw that Tom’s stock was now equal to that of Jeff Coley, whom he had trusted to make him a director among the many candidates.
Arthur’s temper exploded. He slammed the remote control before leaving Jeff’s house. Without hesitation, he drove his car towards home. “There was only one person who could explain everything. James!”
Again, Arthur’s luxury car broke the rules to get home. There was only anger in his piercing eyes. His hands kept clenching into fists until his nails cut deep into his palms.
Arriving at the house, Arthur immediately ente
"Stop this, kiddos. Let's have lunch before you embark on a more colourful life. Arthur with his engagement, and Tom with his efforts to return JF Groups to the Fischer bloodline."James's warning made both Tom and Arthur pause. Both of them ate a hearty lunch immediately. A sight that no one had ever imagined before.Noticing something strange about Arthur's suddenly warm demeanour, Tom began to act wary. He suddenly remembered something to question."Tell me, dad. How did it start when your condition worsened back then? Did you eat or drink anything?"Instead of hearing an answer from James, Tom heard a loud cough from Arthur. He smiled softly before handing Arthur a glass of water across the table."Are you choking? There's no need to rush, Arthur. Just pick. No one will tell you to hurry at the dinner table."Arthur downed the mineral water Tom hand
Lunch was over as the trio tried to break the day into the living room. Arthur got up in the middle of a heated conversation between Tom and James."Where are you going, Arthur?" James asked anxiously. Ever since he'd thrown in a joke to break the situation, Arthur hadn't reacted the way he'd hoped.Arthur turned his head with a friendly smile. His face looked so sincere. "Gathering with you guys without a drink would be lacking, dad. Should I make you a drink?"Although Arthur's question was sincere, it wasn't for Tom. He felt something was wrong. Especially with Arthur's demeanour changing so much. "I'd like an iced coffee, Arthur. I see you often make it for yourself. Can I have one?"Arthur turned to Tom. His head nodded slowly with both hands alternately ringing the joints of the fingers. "Why not? I'll make one for you. A special drink for you. What about you, dad?""Just g
Arthur had just woken up after being unconscious for two hours. Instead of looking for someone who might worry about him, he laughed when remembered all too well how death had taken Tom back to the hell.Slowly, Arthur got up and moved. In the luxurious room, he tried to find his phone. Or at least a newspaper. Unfortunately, he found nothing there. “Shit! Where’s my phone? Why isn’t Pete here? What’s going on? I forgot Pete would probably be busy with Tom’s death, which I never thought could happen this quickly.”Arthur returned to the bed. This time, he searched for the remote to switch on the television to keep up to date with things. Especially about the state of his home, which might be in mourning.But what was Arthur’s surprise when suddenly the door to his treatment room was opened with quite a bang? Arthur almost cursed if he didn’t see who was coming to visit him,
Tom came closer and helped the dishevelled Arthur by supporting each other's shoulders to get up slowly.Unfortunately, Arthur refused. He pushed Tom away angrily. His dark face changed drastically even without saying a word.Tom shook his head softly. His wet face signalled the same sadness. He nodded his head repeatedly, then brought Arthur closer to the coffin in front of him."Why, dad?" asked Arthur regretfully. He had never expected his dad's death. It never even occurred to him to think of his dad dying, even though the desire to seize all of Fischer's wealth never left his head. "Why did you have to die, dad? Why didn't he die?!"Tom cried even more guiltily. After all, he had just returned home. He still wanted to be with his dad, still wanted to tell him things, still wanted to make up for all the time he had lost for more than a third of his life.Arthur couldn't help
Tom widened his eyes, then ran to his room in a hurry. His breath came in ragged gasps as he knocked on the door with a bang. "Pete? Are you asleep? Pete? Can you open the door? I have to—"But what was Tom's surprise when the door to Pete's room burst open? There was no one there. He was even more surprised when he turned round to find Pete behind him.Quickly, Tom scratched his chest. He closed his eyes, then let out a long breath. "What were you doing there, Pete?"Instead of answering, Pete asked back. "I should be the one asking. Why did you come here? Didn't your dad often remind you to take regular breaks?"Pete walked out of Tom's presence to enter the room. His hands were busy carrying a tray with a bowl of instant food and a glass of warm milk.Tom followed suit and also entered Pete's room, which was only half the size of his own. "Why are you eating in the middl
Arthur had just arrived home when the clock struck 4:15 AM. Unsteadily, he rushed up the stairs. But what a surprise he had when he saw the living room. There were three glasses on the table.Curious, Arthur approached. He looked at the tall coffee cup on the far side. Meanwhile, the other glasses were all gone. Slowly but surely, Arthur, who was hiccuping, remembered.His eyes widened, and he sat down right in front of the iced coffee, which was still untouched even by a sip. He searched his shirt pocket, but found nothing there. Slowly, he got up hurriedly, opening the workspace where he had changed his clothes."What the fuck? Where's my shirt? How am I going to lose that evidence? No-no. Please don't lose it. But where is it? I'm sure I have it in my shirt pocket!"Arthur's incoherent babbling could actually be heard by Tom from the doorway. He knew Arthur had done something with the iced coffee
"I lost control, Tom. I called Shannon and heard her screaming. So I—you know? I was worried, so I drove fast to make sure nothing bad would happen to her. Isn't that the natural thing to do a boyfriend to save her girlfriend?"Tom nodded slowly, then looked away. "What about Shannon's family? I haven't seen them since yesterday. Did something happen? Because it's impossible if they didn't hear about dad's death."Arthur, who realised that Jill, Camellia and Shannon had yet to show their faces, stammered. "Maybe they need some time. It's too late for girls like them to be out of the house, isn't it? I'll contact them soon."After saying that, Arthur went up to the second floor. He quickly searched every pocket for his phone when he reached the top step. He also made sure Tom was still in the living room."Damn! Why does this dream feel so real? I'm going crazy! How come Jill and Camellia weren'
“What did you say? How dare you—“Jill hadn’t finished cursing when Pete arrived with the drinks.“Sorry to keep you waiting, but Arthur didn’t tell us about your arrival. Please wait a moment for our finest offerings.”Arthur sat down opposite Shannon quietly while staring at her. “We were supposed to have a party today, weren’t we? But sorry. Because of this incident, we have to postpone it again.”Tom walked away from the Reynolds family to his dad’s room. He glanced at Pete, who was about to head into the living room with some snacks.“Mr Smith will be here soon. Wait inside. Lemme get Arthur.”Surprisingly, Tom was reluctant to enter his dad’s room. He chose to sit in the living room and watch how Reynolds would react to Mr Smith’s rumoured arrival.