I sent Gerald a quick text saying. 'If I'm not back by nightfall and won't answer my phone, trace it.'It's bound to get him agitated, but without knowing what the Wilkens family wants from me I can't give him more information. And telling him that I was actually accepting an offer to meet up with the said family was only going to get him agitated.However, this is going to get him in quite a tizzy too, so I add, 'I'm going for a meeting.' Just in case. The men in black clothing, agents for the Wilkens family seem to notice me sending the texts but do not say anything against it which does bring me a certain degree of relief, I will not lie. If they didn't want anyone to know where they were taking me or who they were taking me to, I surely wouldn't have been allowed to keep my phone. Hell, if that's the case, I was pretty certain that they'd have just forcibly taken me in even when I said 'no' multiple times. Maybe the reason the Wilkens family wanted to see had nothing to do with
The car pulls next to what looks essentially like a close gated community. It is a massive estate with lavish houses built equidistant to one another. The outside is immaculately groomed, and the houses and subsequent facilities looked like they could sustain a group of very wealthy people within the estate forever without having to go outside. At a side, there was even a plot of land that looked like a mini-golf course. There were so many vehicles parked in the driveways, and there were so many people walking around the estate grounds as well, dressed in uniforms to show their status as workers. And they weren't the only ones outside. There were people of all ages dressed far more nicely loitering around, engaging in games with children, conversing, playing tennis and golf, even swimming…“What the heck is this place?” I ask John and James, mesmerized by what I’m seeing.“This is the Wilkens family estate,” replies James, “every member of the Wilkens family resides within the estate
Inside the room, there is a man reclining on a sofa.That’s it. It’s a large circular sitting room with windows all around bringing in light through the lace curtains draped over them. There is a set of garish gold and ivory-colored sofas placed around a coffee desk and the man is lying on the longest sofa there is. He’s a frail person who lies face up on the sofa, with an Afghan laid over his legs. His eyes are closed, and his hands are laid with fingers intertwined, he looks like he’s sleeping. I stand there right next to the door, frozen, not knowing what to do.This is the weirdest shit that’s ever happened in my life, and that’s saying a lot considering what I’d gone through.Is this guy even alive? Should I wake him up? What was he doing here sleeping in a sitting room? Is this the master of the Wilkens family? I’m not the one to judge people based on their appearance, but this is the master of the family everyone seems to be afraid of. I honestly thought that he would be bigger
I blink at him. Once, twice, thrice.Oh, God.What?“What?” I repeat the word running in my mind, and he nods.“I am your step-grandfather,” reveals Harcourt Wilkens, “your father married my daughter.”The words run in my mind over and over again. I mean, when I woke up today with an empty bottle of some spirit or the other cradled in my arms, sprawled on a couch rather than my own bed, I did not even think of finding out this tidbit of information. I thought the two guys in black were dangerous and were trying to get me involved in some trouble, but this? I did not fathom that the letter I received was from my father’s actual wife’s father.And that is a whole other can of worms that had been forcibly opened with that one confession. I’m the illegitimate son! My father and my mother never married, he carried on an affair with my mother while his wife was this guy’s daughter. Was married to him. He had a kid with his affair partner while his wife was still freaking alive!!!For all in
“I don’t think I’m ready for it to be honest,” I say, “a lot of things had been going on, and if there were any earlier plans, I had to gain more experience in order to do a better job, all of that had been derailed with everything that happened. A lot of my father’s business information is still a mystery to me, and I think he needs to hold onto his position at least until I graduate. I still attend university, by the way.”“I see, I see,” the man nods, “well, I don’t think your father expects you to take over this year either, although it’s always better to have a successor waiting for you once you want to step down. Most likely he told you that he would be retiring at the end of the year so you would take it seriously.”“I always take things seriously,” I reply, “he didn’t have to lie if he wanted to keep me here.”“Did he know about that? You were quite adamant in your insistence on being independent, last I heard.”“I was going through a rough patch when I came here,” I confess,
“If I were to answer that question, I need to retrace the history of the Wilkens family,” says Mr. Wilkens, “but it’s already getting late, and I have a feeling that your family would not be too keen on me keeping you here until the after hours. After all, this was meant to be a short affair. A very brief meeting of introduction if you will. But to give you a very short answer, I have found my trust in my family waning during these recent times.”And there it is. That’s the reason. I knew that there is something sketchy about this whole gated community thing and here he was confirming it.“May I know why you think you can’t trust them?” I inquire, and the elderly gentleman shakes his head.“Not here, my boy. Walls are peculiar things, sometimes they may have ears,” he gives me a wink and a smirk, “we’ll schedule a later session off these grounds. Then I will be able to impart that knowledge upon you.”“You still didn’t answer my initial question though,” I point out, I still don’t kno
John and James drive me back to my home. They leave me in front of the gates as per my instructions, and I walk all the way home through the massive estate. I feel quite let down, more than a little bit sad, so very shocked and honestly out of this world. The need to find a bottle of anything that’d make me forget this encounter for a moment prevails over any other desire. How on earth do I find myself in these positions? When I was smaller, back when I didn’t really realize who my father actually was and rich people existed, I came to realize that rich people lived some pretty bizarre lives. And I admit, I laughed at them and made fun of them.Never did I realize that one day I would land in one of those situations that little me would have thought was extremely dramatic to the point of being hilarious. That little shit would be chortling at me right now. Not that it was very chortle-worthy, because Jesus Christ someone was dying. But every other fact is just absurd.How suspicious a
“What did he want to do with you?” he demands, “did he threaten you? Coerce you into something?”“What? No, he didn’t coerce me into anything.” I reply, “He gave me some much-needed information, though. Told me almost everything that you kept under the covers. Not everything, mind you. There seems to be a lot I still don’t know, but I know enough.”“And what about what he said that had gotten you so worked up?” Gerald questions, “Is it the fact that your father had been in contact with him all this time?”“No, I’m mainly upset about you keeping his identity a secret from me this entire time knowing what he wanted from me all along.” I yell, wondering how he was not seeing it still, “how could you not tell me about it? Did you think I’d be upset? Because he's the father of the woman who could have been my stepmother?”“We didn’t want you to worry about him as well. He should not have met you without talking to your father, he had no right to do so.” Gerald snaps, making me want to bare