Harlan waited for the landlord's hand to hit him in the face again but after some seconds when nothing happened, he looked at the landlord and could not help sighing in relief when he realized what had made the man's hand cease from working.Behind his back, was Jack, who held the landlord's hand who seemed really shocked and was wondering who on earth had stopped him from teaching the tenant who thinks he is wise enough to go away with his money. His shock increased greatly when he managed to turn around and he saw who had held his hand."Jack?" The landlord muttered in disbelief.Harlan had almost forgotten that Jack was nearby and had been watching him, it didn't feel real yet that he had a bodyguard."I want you to teach him a lesson never to look down on someone again," Harlan said when he finally could talk. He rubbed his cheek as he could still feel the pain from the slap.The landlord couldn't help but laugh. He thought his tenant was in a fantasy of some sort, or probably insa
Harlan smiled, "I could have told you to do that but I am not someone who will do something like that. I am not going to give back to society the bad I have received from it. Instead, I am going to make it different."Jack glanced at Harlan through the mirror. Talk about being weird. Jack Had worked with billionaire kids but none was like Harlan. The ones he had worked with, even the older men, took pride in seeing their victims suffer. That way, Jack had gotten used to being tough, but working with Harlan calls for a really big difference."I understand that, Sir," Jack said.Harlan looked out through the window. The night view looked so good that Harlan found himself wondering if had been on this same planet all these while. He had never really enjoyed looking at things with such admiration.His mind went back to when he was younger and his foster parents gave birth to their first child, he had become a slave to them and was often being reminded that he was an adopted child. He tri
Harlan sat in the front seat at the class and waited for the arrival of the lecturer who would arrive any moment from now. Since Jason had succeeded in painting him as a thief, no one sat beside Harlan and somehow, he loved it that way."Guess what?" Someone's voice was suddenly above the buzzing in the class."Harlan Smith is in our school," the person said even though no one had paid attention to what she said earlier. Her statement got head turning in her direction."What did you just say?" Someone asked, disbelief evident in the person's voice."Actually, I heard from my dad, he asked me if I knew how Harlan Smith looked because he is here!""Are you sure of what you are saying?""Very sure. My Dad is a friend of Mr Healy, he called in late last night and told my dad about how much he is in a fix about how to treat the students since no one had the name 'Harlan Smith' in the college database," the girl explained, gesturing in the process."Wow, that is kinda weird. Does that mean
"That was what he told me when I caught him checking through my bag, but since now, nothing has happened," Tracy, who had accused Harlan of stealing something from him, sneered."He must have read a fantasy novel and loved the phrase, you can't blame him!""Christ! He could have practiced the words in front of a mirror and see for himself how ridiculous it looks on his lips!"Harlan swallowed hard. He was in pain partly because of his face, but the pain of being ridiculed was greater. "I don't have all the time in the whole world, let's get going," Jason snapped, rudely reminding Harlan of the checkup he had to take him to.Harlan took in a deep breath, opening one of his eyes that shot pain all over his body, he slowly walked out of the hall."If I were him, I won't step foot in this school again," someone said."Do you think he has any sense of pride in him considering that?"
Harlan kept on ruminating about why his identity as Harlan Smith should mean so much to Jason as to make him sound as serious as that. He wondered who Jason was speaking to.The car stopped in front of the hospital that Mr Smith had brought Harlan the other day so that he could know the state of Harlan's health. Harlan had not seen any importance to it then, but now, he was grateful it had happened. "This is the hospital where you want to do the checkup?" Harlan asked with a smirk, the pain in his eyes was subduing gradually but it was still a bit swollen."Yes, and don't ask me silly questions," Jason snapped.The fact that Harlan Smith was back had not really made any sense to him until Mr Smith had announced it himself with that damn smile on his face, telling everyone how good he feels to have his son back. Jason clenched his fist, ready to let out his anger on anyone who got in his way. As for Harlan, Jason was sure the idiot would never be able to pay the hospital bills."Here
"Jason, what is with this rumour I am hearing?" Jason's father bellowed, looking sternly at Jason.Jason stared at his father in confusion, "what rumour, father?""Why did Harlan Smith pay your hospital bills and why didn't you bring him to me immediately when you saw him?" Jason's father asked angrily.Jason continued staring at his father in confusion. Of course, he didn't know how Harlan had paid for his hospital bills because by the time he came out from the hospital, Harlan wasn't there again.Jason's father brought out his phone and showed Jason the back view of a guy who had the same clothes as Harlan had worn in the afternoon when he followed Harlan to the hospital and he was wearing a cap too. A caption under the picture read 'the Alberts know Harlan Smith, he paid one of the Alberts heirs' hospital bills a few minutes ago.'"Dad, if I knew where Harlan Smith was, I would have called your attention to it.""Wow. Stop fooling around, son. Don't make me anxious any longer when
Smith bit his lips and thought about the best excuse to give Harlan. He was grateful when his phone rang. At least, it would give the perfect opportunity to escape Harlan's inquisitiveness for the time being.Smith answered the call. He muttered an "okay" before hanging up."Son, let's see later. And I still want to know about where you want to live, that place you are living right now is quite insecure and I don't like how it looks, my personal assistant told me of how small it was," Smith said standing up."I will love to move here," Harlan Said at last, he could see reasons with Mr Smith.Smith nodded, "I will send Jack to get you things for you. Meanwhile, don't forget about where you have to go tomorrow, I will get you the necessary things you need in order to attend the meeting."Harlan stood up too as Mr Smith left the room. After he had left, Harlan looked around, a smile on his face as he walked around th
Harlan looked at the phone to be sure it was Jason that called him. It was!"What are you saying?" Harlan asked in surprise."You stupid fellow! Come out of that stinkin' place you are living now or you will regret it for the rest of your stinking life!" Jason blared over the phone.Harlan clenched his fist, "you will pay for being as rude as this to me, just wait and see."He hung up and called Jack who answered the call almost immediately."Where are you?" "I am at your house, Mr Smith ordered me to get your stuff into the new house. But, Sir, do you still need the things here? They are supposed to be in the garbage.""They are my things, I want them here.""I get that Sir.""I want you to go to the Alberts family and inform them that when I am ready for them, I will make sure they are no more than a filthy rag.""I get that Sir. I will inform them."Jack smiled after Harlan had hung up and kept the phone in his pocket. Harlan was finally becoming tough, but not as tough as he wou
"The award of the best student in this graduating set goes to… before I call his name, I would like to add that he is the most handsome guy I have ever seen on earth —because I see a lot of things in my imagination. Combine his handsomeness with his being a genius and you have…" "Harlan Smith!" The audience and the graduating students shouted, completing the MC's sentence for him. Harlan came on to the stage, dressed in an academic gown. "Hey, Harlan, where is your cap?" Mr Healy asked in a whisper as he was about to hand over the prize to him. "Mrs Smith is wearing it," he said. "Now, you have to snap this picture without the cap," Mr Healy pretended to sulk. "Even with that, I still stand out," Harlan said and smiled. Mr Healy smiled and handed him the prize as camera light flashed on him. The MC called on Mr Healy to give his speech after prizes had been handed over to students that merits it. Mr Healy was given a standing ovation as he stood up from his seat in t
Harlan dropped the envelope containing all the cards on the table. On the same table was his car key, his ATM card and a note which read: goodbye. Thank you.He remembered the exciting feeling that he felt on the day Mr Smith gave him those cards. He shook his head quickly to get rid of the thought. This isn't time to be emotional. He just cannot forgive his parents for what they did. He had always hoped that his father would never have peace, just look what happened. All these while, he had been Harlan Smith without knowing it.He opened the door and went outside. He only took four clothes and a extra pants. He would start from scratch and go back to living the life he used to live before Mr Smith came into his life.The light in the compound made it a very beautiful sight to behold. The first time he had come here, he had almost thought he was imagining things. Funny how those days had passed really quickly."Sir, where are you going early in the morning?" Jack asked as Harlan was
Harlan almost choked on his food. He grabbed a cup of water and drank from it. She made a tsk tsk sound. "You are just like your father. Your face is flushed.""I am eating mo… Mrs Smith!" He almost called her 'Mom'."Does that mean you are studying law?" She asked."Yes. I am in my final year.""Wow! I can't wait to wear your graduation cap."Harlan found himself laughing in between eating. Throughout the rest of the day, he and Mrs Smith were discussing. She told him about her perfume company about how much she loved what she was doing. Harlan found out that she was a very easy going person. He had missed having her in his life all these years and he found himself wondering how great life would have been if she had been part of his childhood days.Later in the evening, Mr Smith came back home and the first thing he did was to turn on the television. The case had been a really fast one. Harlan would bet that everything was possible only by Mr Smith's influence. All the people that
"I just wanted to check on you to see if you are getting it, Sir," the Cctv footage officer said. He could not help thinking the CEO had come to check on his girlfriend who had come here with another man.Harlan stood up and left. The footage officer stared at his back. The CEO doesn't seem to be in the same mood he had been when he came in. He shrugged.****Harlan found himself at the large field where he already went whenever he was overwhelmed. He had had a lot of surprises in the past six months but none of them has even been as shocking as this. He rolled on the field and faced the sky. He heard the sounds of birds nearby and wondered if he would have any problem if he were a bird.He replayed all he heard from some hours ago in his head. The conversation between Mr Smith and Mrs Smith. His father and mother… he closed his eyes. So all these while, he had those two people's blood flowing in his veins and he wasn't aware of it.He took his phone from where it was lying beside him
Harlan crossed over to where he had parked his car. He got inside and looked out through the window. In the next seventy two hours, he would be buying up all what the Alberts had. Through the help of Mr Smith, he had been able to refile the cases that the Alberts had been guilty of but had won. Mr Smith had told him how difficult that was, but he had not taken no for an answer.He took a deep breath and silently prayed that all these would be over. He had been able to get the victims of the Alberts and had convinced them that they would be duly compensated if they came back for their cases again.As he was about to turn on the car. He saw someone familiar pass him by. Mrs Smith? The fact that she was alone, with no bodyguard, made him more curious to know why she was at the hotel. He waited for some seconds before coming down from the car. He walked in the direction she had passed and saw her enter the hotel.When got inside, he could see the receptionist go pale as he walked toward
Harlan's phone beeped. It was his personal assistant from the 'where talent glows' calling. He answered it."Hello?""Is there any problem?" Harlan asked."Not really. Mr Richard Albert has been meaning to see you all these while. He asked for your number but I didn't want to give him until I asked for your permission first.""Tell him to meet me at the Jay Team lounge," Harlan said and hung up."Drive to Jay Team," Harlan told Jack."I checked into the company where you made your friend the manager, things have gone really wrong there. Lot of workers have quit," Jack said as he turned the car in another direction."So?""He has done worse things than you are aware of," Jack said."Whatever he has done to me is none of your business," Harlan said.Harlan searched for his personal assistant's number of the company where he made Kelvin the manager and sent him a message to call in the evening.Harlan had informed his personal assistant at the Jay Team hotel to make sure no one other tha
The Alberts were in a pensive mood as everyone of them sat in the family hall. Unlike the other meetings where there would be chatters before the meeting started, today, everyone was focused on the phone, reading the various posts on social media that had managed to circulate around in the last three days. "Richard, how many companies don't want to partner with us anymore?" Grandfather asked."Seventeen."Grandfather sighed. "Let them go." "What are the updates about those riffraffs?" Grandfather asked."The TV station where they went refused to disclose anything about their identity. I have met with the owner of the station but he isn't saying anything," someone said."I have a friend there but he is more clueless than we are about the matter," someone else added."I have checked into it but there is really no one I suspect to have done this among our business rivals," another person said.Richard felt a feeling that he had missed something out... Funny how he seemed not to have th
Another movie had begun on the television and they both watched it as they ate the pizza Elizabeth had ordered. She kept stealing glances at Harlan. She had a lot of questions to ask him but she didn't know which one to ask first. "Stop staring at me," Harlan said without taking his eyes off the television."Huh?" She blushed and looked away.She looked back at the television and reached out to take a slice of pizza. At that same time was when Harlan was going to take one too. Because he was looking at the television too, he grabbed Elizabeth's hand. He glanced at her and for some unexplainable reasons, her face flushed."Hmm, I need to get something inside," she stood up and almost ran to her room. She locked the door behind her and held her fast beating chest. "Darn!"Harlan is in the sitting room… Why the heck is she over-thinking it? She shook her head and turned on the light in her room. She glanced at her face in the mirror. It was flushed. "No. This can't be happening!" She
Elizabeth didn't know how long she had been staring at Harlan's picture on the poster that had been placed in different places all over the campus. In the poster, the pictures of the six of them that had won the competition were there. When Harlan and Roger wouldn't show up, herself, Jason, Cecilia and Adrian had taken the picture. Roger had sent his picture and she had given Harlan's picture from the ones posted on the group chat when the gossip about their dates first started. Some skillful graphic designer had managed to put the pictures of the six of them together. In the picture, Harlan was the only person that stood out to Elizabeth.She looked around to be sure no one had been looking at her. There was no one. She sighed.Her phone beeped. It was a message from Harlan... No, a message from Jack because he is the one with Harlan's phone now. She checked it and saw a picture of some guy in a suit and tattoo on his neck. Under the picture, it read : would you recognize me if you s