Chapter 4: The Cunning Plan

Benjamin's death is still a mystery.

The police have yet to find out who committed the murder, even though Benjamin's body has been autopsied.

Even until the lawyer was buried, not a single person was suspected.

The CCTV footage at Benjamin's law firm office was lost, and only the footage before the murder was left. Diego really did it neatly. There was no trace of his arrival at Benjamin's office before he was killed.

Diego and a young lawyer came to Benjamin's house exactly 3 days after Benjamin was buried.

The arrival of the two men from different backgrounds was greeted with astonished faces by Benjamin's wife and children who were still mourning the tragic death of their father.

"What is this?!" asked a man named Eric. He threw some papers he had just read onto the table.

Eric is Benjamin's 27-year-old first son. Eric was very surprised when he finished reading word by word written on the white paper.

"As you read, Mr. Benjamin gave all his property and assets to Mr. Diego," the lawyer sitting beside Diego answered calmly.

"No way. This must be wrong!" Eric shouted while ruffling his hair. Meanwhile, Matilda, Eric's mother, was silent as she wiped away tears.

She had no idea that her husband's passing had left no legacy for her and their son, Eric.

"This is true, Mr. Eric. You can see the signature on this paper. This is Mr. Benjamin's original signature. Mr. Benjamin wrote this will several years ago," the lawyer beside Diego answered again.

"My father couldn't have given all his property to an unknown man. This is a lie, you're a fraud!" Eric shouted.

"My son is right, my husband would never give his entire estate to a stranger," Matilda chimed in.

"Diego is not a stranger. He was a client of Mr. Benjamin 10 years ago who lost in court. Back then, Mr. Benjamin was unable to save Mr. Diego from being sentenced to jail. As you can read, the reason why Mr. Benjamin gave away all his property was because he kept feeling guilty in his life for conspiring with someone to make Diego lose, when in reality, Diego was a victim of slander from his own brother," said the young lawyer, explaining the contents of the will.

"This is impossible. This is impossible!" Eric swept the table until the items on it fell.

Not only was the table Eric's victim, but also the expensive urn that was located not far from where he was standing. Eric lifted and slammed the ceramic object until it broke into pieces.

"Don't break anything here, because from now on this house is legally mine!" Diego, who had been silent, finally spoke out loud.

Diego stood up, folding his arms across his chest. He looked at Eric, then at Matilda who looked shocked.

"Pack your things, and get out of here," Diego said again. "This is our house, you should leave," Eric argued.

"Your father gave this house to me. So you and your mom should leave, not me. I'll give you 24 hours to leave, otherwise I'll evict you by force." With that said, Diego and his lawyer walked away, out of Benjamin's mansion that had been renamed after Diego in just a few days.

Diego and the lawyer got into the car that was parked in the yard.

Diego turned to the lawyer and smiled meaningfully.

"Thanks for your help, Mike. You're very reliable," Diego said.

"You're welcome, Diego. Next time, if you need any more help, I'm ready to help."

Yes, Mike was a young lawyer, a friend of Gloria's from school. Diego came to see Mike at his law firm's office to ask for a favor.

Diego wanted to manipulate Benjamin's inheritance into giving it to him. Diego promised to give Mike a generous reward. Mike agreed and immediately did a good job.

"I will pay you immediately."

"Thank you, Diego."

The two men, who were only 5 years apart in age, smiled at each other. Diego's plan had worked perfectly.

*

Diego bought a house in downtown Boston as a result of selling Benjamin's vacant house. Eric and Matilda inevitably left their house after being forcibly evicted.

It's not nice to take away people's property, but Diego did it to take revenge on the people who had made his family suffer.

"This is just the beginning, the real revenge is about to begin...," Diego said as he sipped wine at a nightclub.

Diego didn't want to get drunk; he just needed to relax his mind. To get rid of the baggage that had been sitting in his brain for so long.

Byuuur!

Someone approached, pouring a glass of alcohol on Diego's head. Diego was startled, immediately standing up from his chair with wet hair and clothes.

"What the hell?" Diego asked sarcastically, his eyes rounded.

"You thief, give me back all my father's money!" replied the man equally sarcastically. That man was Eric, Benjamin's son.

"You still don't accept the will made by your father, Eric?"

"Give back my father's property. You have stolen it from us!"

"You can't accept reality yet. Don't demand what already belongs to someone else."

"I'm not willing to give all of my father's money to you," Eric said. Eric was about to hit Diego on the head with the glass he was holding. However, Diego quickly swatted Eric's hand away. Diego pulled Eric's shirt and punched him in the chin until the Benjamin boy staggered back.

"Damn it!" Eric came forward, made a fist, and punched Diego in the face. However, his fist missed and only traveled through the air as Diego dodged, tilting his body 45 degrees.

Diego retaliated, punching Eric several times in the stomach. Eric, who was drunk, could not support his body and collapsed to the floor.

Not only that, he also kicked Eric's legs and waist violently. Eric wanted to stand up but was prevented by Diego's foot on his neck.

"Leave my life alone, asshole. Just accept your fate of being poor!"

Diego spat in Eric's face, then walked away, leaving Eric still lying on the floor with his clothes all messed up from his actions.

***

Austin was furious; he was disappointed that Carlos failed to get the big project that his advertising company got every year.

The project instead went to a company that had only been established for a few months, a new advertising company, but it had already managed to attract several big companies to make advertisements for its products.

Of course, Austin was furious. He was seen pacing back and forth while girding his loins. His face was grim, and his gaze sharp.

"Why is this, Carlos? Why did you lose out on a big client project that advertises to us every year?" Austin asked his son who was sitting on the couch. Austin's face was tense and upset.

"I don't know, Dad. All of a sudden, Mr. Kiel chose that new company over ours," Carlos replied with his head bowed.

"Why didn't you know?!" Austin was still angry.

"I did my best to get the project, but the new company won anyway, Father," Carlos reasoned.

"Your efforts were lacking."

"But... maybe it was because the price offered by the new company was relatively cheap."

"No way. Mr. Kiel never made an issue of it. He's more concerned with quality than low prices!" Austin snapped.

Carlos was silent. He couldn't say anymore. What Austin said was true. Mr. Kiel never minded the price during their collaboration.

"Mr. Kiel has been using our services for the past eight years. This is the first time he's hired someone else!" Austin started to sit on the chair in front of Carlos, then massaged his forehead. Carlos was still silent. Austin's son felt guilty.

"Who owns the company, Carlos?" Austin asked, his voice low.

"I'll find out later."

"Now!