"What's my schedule after this meeting?" Richard walked out of the decades-old main building, followed by Smith behind him, who kept their steps together by not preceding him.He quickly checked the journal he had made in the notes on his cell phone. "The next two hours, sir, you have nothing to do."In other words, Richard had free hours to spend on other things."Then you can go. Leave the driver alone." He stood on the sidewalk of the street that ran along the office buildings and shops and wandered around, looking for his destination. "I want to take a walk around here."He wanted to relieve the fatigue from the daily burden that, instead of lessening, continued to grow and weigh her down. Moving on from one thing before it was even finished, another was waiting for him to do. His overscheduled daily life was somewhat troublesome to him, like a tie tied too tightly around his neck. It was a bit suffocating and needed to be adjusted several times to keep it on."Yes, sir. You can c
"M-Mr. Richard?" He was surprised when his gaze met Richard's.He had no idea that the man causing trouble for him and his betrothed Ross was Richard, the Marrison family patriarch, a man he was naturally powerless to deal with.Richard looked at him coldly, removing the hand on his shoulder.The man named Rigid moved back awkwardly and nervously. He was fully aware of what kind of person he was dealing with and how dare he touch Richard in such a rude manner, but Richard's existence in that place itself also made him wonder. "Excuse me, sir, but what are you doing in this place?"Richard wagged his hands on his shoulders, then looked at him sharply. "What business is yours? What am I doing here?" She snapped back and silenced him.If it hadn't been for Richard standing in front of her now, he would have punched her earlier and made a severe fuss about her meeting with Ross, her fiancé. They were meeting in a place far from the crowd, and secretly, it was suspicious, and he was not wr
Rosse looked at Richard prejudicially until she caught her breath and realised what he meant. It was true that nothing was free in this world. Everything costs money. "What can I do for you, sir?" She doubted there was anything Richard wanted from her.Richard saw the change in her face with a faint smile. He was sure that Rosse must be thinking of something strange to pay for, probably something sexual, as most men would expect that from a woman. It was a pity that Richard only said that offhandedly because he felt somewhat disturbed by Rosse's situation. He was honestly annoyed but couldn't just leave her.He took a breath from his mouth and fully filled the air into his lungs, then turned his gaze nonchalantly while looking at the crowd crowding the streets again. "Save the payment for next time, I don't need anything right now."Next time? Rosse looked confused at him.What did she mean by next time? Although Richard was an important person who would probably show up anywhere, she
"They said the road to this place is being diverted, sir, so arriving might take a little longer." The driver approached Richard after reading the message he received on his cell phone.Richard took a deep breath. "Alright, let me know when they arrive. I'll wait there." He walked towards a tree not far from the building, not among its main parts but still in the same neighbourhood.Richard sat back under the tree with his feet on his lap and his shoulders resting against it, gazing out at the bustling street. It was unfamiliar because each person was busy with their own business and not paying attention to the other.Richard's gaze drifted to the bustle, to those passing by, and to what was moving in the wind. He was too tired of many things to find the trivial and simple things around him soothing. At some point, he began to romanticise the simple things that happened around him.He enjoyed that tranquillity briefly until a group of people surrounded him, blocking the light from his
"Are you alright, sir?" The driver who came to inform him that the pickup Richard was waiting for had arrived was surprised to see the chaos.He stared at the stocky men lying on the ground unceremoniously with many bruises and blood on their faces, the sound of the men's groans drawing his attention deeper. He furrowed his brow, somewhat sympathising with them for their dire situation but also blaming them simultaneously for dealing with Richard, who would never hold back from teaching those who bullied him a lesson.Richard got a handkerchief from his driver, who immediately realised the back of Richard's hand was scratched thanks to the repeated blows he gave those people. He then wrapped the handkerchief around the back of his hand. "Ask someone to take care of them. Send them somewhere far away without anything." Putting them in prison would only fill up the prison.He was beginning to be reluctant to let those people enjoy the prison services because, to him, even the prison tre
"Your master has received a letter from Miss Andrea. She left this letter to be given to you directly. She said that it contains important matters." Smith held the letter carefully in his hand.Richard, who had been struggling with his work, looked at Smith. He looked at the maroon envelope letter with no interest. "Just put it there. You can get back to work."Smith did exactly as Richard said, but the letter remained unmoved and untouched for the rest of the day. The next day, the same letter came to him via the same person, Smith said the same thing, that the letter was from Andrea and she said it was important.Just like the previous days, Richard let the letter pile up like the other letters waiting to be opened by him. Until the fifth day, he found Smith coming back always at the same time with the same maroon letter. The persistence of the sender of the letter somewhat disturbed Richard, who then, for the first time, took the letter directly from Smith's hand and did not leave
"I don't think there's anything to talk to you about," Richard replied coldly.For him, he did not have any interest in Andrea, especially since many people like Andrea were currently competing to offer her marriage proposals with a variety of objectives, ranging from those that benefited her to the most unfavorable ones, but reasoned by falling in love with her. Some of them sounded plausible, and some sounded utterly absurd.Among the proposals, nothing caught her attention, piqued her interest, or made her change her mind about the possibility of a relationship. So far, it all seemed like dishonesty, ambition, and the hope of those who saw him as an object of specific achievements rather than seeing him as Richard, without the name Marrison behind him.To him, those people only wanted to use him as a bridge to get into the Marrison family list, they only wanted to participate to get benefits, fame, comfort and other guarantees."But you still haven't listened to my explanation, sir
After their conversation that day, Richard investigated what was really going on. He knew that it was possible and very likely that several people were conspiring with each other to bring him down from his current position.He was somewhat annoyed that this time it was not just his guess, not just a prejudice that the smiles shown to him were just a mask. Someone had come to her and told her about the rot directly to her."To what extent do you think they've planned it, Smith?" Sitting in his place rather bitterly, Richard momentarily broke away from his work.Smith, who was at his desk, looked up at his Master attentively, yet he did not fully understand what Richard was suddenly talking to him about.Richard took a deep breath. "Do you think maybe they did it a long time ago? The plan couldn't have come together overnight all of a sudden, could it?"Smith was silent. He looked down for a moment, thinking about it seriously, and then he looked at Richard. "I think so, sir."Richard s