Rise of the banished heir

Chapter 3 Unexpected Gift’s and Accusation’s

In front of Gerald's modest-looking dorm room, the woman who owned the place appeared with an irritated expression.

"Gerald, Gerald, wake up!" she shouted as she pounded on the door.

The loud noise, not the first time it had happened, was enough to make Gerald realize that the landlady intended to collect the two months' unpaid rent.

Gerald got up and immediately took out money from his drawer. He counted the money from the mission completion rewards given by the system. Despite repeatedly telling the landlady to be patient, the pounding on the door only grew louder.

"Hurry, open the door! If you don't pay your rent, leave this place right now!" the landlady yelled.

Without argument, Gerald quickly opened the door. He handed over the money with a smile. The landlady, who was initially angry, was left speechless. She became even more frustrated because her fiery anger couldn't be expressed since Gerald already had the money.

"This is how it should be. If you pay on time, I won't have to get angry with you. If you're late with next month's payment, don't expect..." The landlady immediately fell silent when she counted the excess money. She looked at Gerald for an explanation.

"That's for the next two months," Gerald replied with a smile.

"Okay." The landlady left abruptly, feeling awkward about Gerald's nonchalant response to her earlier anger.

Gerald closed the door. In his heart, he couldn't suppress his laughter. His thoughts could still be read from the celebratory gestures and somewhat comical facial expressions he displayed, even without sound.

While on the bus dominated by college students where Gerald attended, he felt the hateful glares from them. He chose to act as if he didn't care about those looks, given how crowded the bus was. However, to his surprise, there were hushed comments that caught Gerald's attention, even though he didn't understand their meaning.

"I never thought he'd be like that!"

"Yeah, right. He looks innocent, but secretly he's like that!"

Upon arrival, all eyes turned cynically towards Gerald as he entered the campus gate. This time, Gerald felt extremely uncomfortable with the stares and whispers they exchanged.

"Why are they looking at me like I'm a caught thief?" Gerald muttered as he continued walking.

However, Gerald's steps came to a halt when Zack and his gang blocked his path.

"Well, well, well! He still has the audacity to come here after embarrassing us all," Zack said, clapping his hands.

"What are you talking about, Zack? I don't understand what you're saying."

"Acting dumb, huh?"

Zack stood face to face with Gerald, a sly smile on his lips. Then he displayed a photo from his phone.

Gerald widened his eyes as he saw the news circulating in the campus W******p group: a picture of himself and Olivia, both looking happy while hugging money.

"Why is there a picture like this?" Gerald asked in confusion because, as far as he remembered, no one knew about him lending money to Olivia.

"How should I know? But from this, we can tell that you're a scoundrel who takes advantage of others' misfortunes!" Zack scolded.

"What do you mean, Zack?"

Realizing that Zack wouldn't allow him to see the photo again, Gerald tried to grab the phone to clarify the accusation.

However, Zack effortlessly pushed Gerald, causing him to stumble.

"Oops," Zack said with a sly smile, then slowly stepped back, raising his hands as if unwilling to take responsibility for his actions.

Olivia, who witnessed Gerald being mistreated by Zack, quickly rushed over and tried to help Gerald to his feet. "Gerald, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you!"

"Gerald, I'm sorry! I don't understand why helping me led to trouble like this."

"Don't worry about it. What's important is that we didn't do what they accused us of," Gerald replied.

"So why did Zack push you?"

"I wanted to see the photo on his phone. As you can see, he got angry and pushed me."

"Zack is just a mean person! Why does he enjoy bothering you so much? What really happened between you two?" Olivia was puzzled because Zack rarely caused trouble with other students, but he seemed determined to get Gerald expelled from campus.

Gerald just smiled and looked at Olivia's frustrated face. Moreover, Gerald didn't want to bother thinking about Zack’s actions. For him, it was better to avoid Zack than to get into more foolish trouble. "Don't worry too much about Zack. What matters is that our studies are going well!"

"Okay." Olivia looked at Gerald from head to toe. Gerald looked neater than usual, wearing black pants and a white long-sleeved shirt. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to meet someone for a job offer."

"Really? That's great to hear. Congratulations!" Olivia waved her hand and smiled as Gerald nodded in response to her question.

Gerald left, checking his appearance.

Gerald arrived at the address Sarah had given him. He was surprised to see the massive and majestic building in front of him. He never imagined he would work at a company owned by the Johnson family. But the size of the building reminded him of his father's advice to stay away from big corporations like the one he was visiting now. "Dad, forgive me. I still can't accept the logical explanation behind your advice," Gerald thought as he tried to reaffirm his decision.

Gerald approached the reception desk. Without saying anything yet, the receptionist scrutinized Gerald's face and appearance carefully.

"Excuse me. Is there something important you need at this office?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes. The owner of this office, she told me to come here."

"Have you scheduled a meeting with Mrs. Sarah?"

"I don't understand such procedures... Sarah's grandmother just gave me her business card and asked me to come to her office," Gerald replied with a smile.

Hearing Gerald refer to his boss as "grandmother," the receptionist raised her eyebrows in surprise. She quickly composed herself, trying to regain her composure. However, she was still shocked because no one else dared to refer to a prominent company owner as "grandmother" unless they were a family member.

"Please wait for a moment. I will call her secretary first," the receptionist said while trying to maintain a polite smile.

Gerald simply nodded in response to her smile.

After a short wait, a guest relations officer approached and escorted Gerald to Sarah's office.

Upon arriving in front of Sarah's office, a beautiful woman in formal attire and glasses was waiting. She greeted Gerald with a friendly smile. "Mr. Gerald, please come in. Mrs. Sarah has been waiting for you," said the woman, Lily.

Sarah smiled warmly. She got up from her chair, leaving behind some documents she had been reviewing. "You finally made it, Gerald. Grandmother has been waiting for your arrival!"

"I'm sorry; I could only come now."

Sarah invited Gerald to sit down and chat on the sofa. After talking with Gerald for a while, Sarah handed him a piece of paper containing a list of job vacancies. Despite the various job options, Gerald chose to become an office boy.

"Why did you choose to be an office boy?" Sarah asked with a smile.

"I realized that other positions would require a lot of time commitment, and I'm still studying and need to learn a lot about the working world."

Sarah was impressed by Gerald's reasoning. She didn't expect Gerald to have such a simple mindset. There were better job vacancies available, such as a warehouse manager.

Sarah then asked her secretary to fetch the paperwork that had been prepared earlier.

"Gerald, how did you get here today?" Sarah asked with a smile.

Gerald answered the question with a smile, as he understood the direction of the conversation.

"Gerald, just go to the address of the dealership on this business card. Tell them you got this card from me, and they'll understand," Sarah explained while handing Gerald a business card from the paperwork Lily had just brought.

Gerald nodded in understanding. In his mind, he assumed that all employees there were provided with vehicles. However, it was a special treatment that Sarah was offering to Gerald.

"Grandmother has already ordered a motorcycle for you. Use it as you wish, not just for commuting to work," Sarah said.

"Thank you for this facility. It will be very helpful for my work."

Then Sarah handed Gerald an ATM card, complete with its PIN number.

"Thank you, Nek. But I think this facility is more than enough," Gerald politely declined. He felt that Sarah's generosity was excessive. But what Sarah said next surprised Gerald even more.

"Just take it. The money is nothing compared to your courage in helping my granddaughter."

Reluctantly, Gerald accepted all of Sarah's gifts. Feeling that there was nothing more to discuss, Gerald made small talk before leaving, knowing that the position of a company owner's equivalent would be quite busy.

Arriving at the dealership Sarah had mentioned, Gerald felt awkward once again because he had to visit another luxurious place.

Gerald was immediately greeted by several beautiful women dressed neatly and professionally. "Welcome to our dealership. Is there anything I can assist you with?"

Gerald remembered Sarah's instructions. He quickly showed the dealership owner's business card and mentioned Sarah's name. The woman understood and promptly invited Gerald to meet the manager.

The manager immediately asked for some personal information from Gerald for administrative purposes. Once the administrative matters were settled, the manager led him to where the ordered motorcycle was located.

Gerald smiled with joy when he saw the motorcycle given by Sarah. The matte black motorcycle with two separate red seats looked very attractive to him. From the manager's explanation, Gerald learned that the motorcycle was a 2021 Super Cub C125 from Honda. That was all Gerald could grasp.

Gerald could only smile and nod as the manager explained the motorcycle's specifications because he didn't understand anything about motorcycles. To him, the classic-looking bike just had few owners, and he assumed it would become popular soon, unaware that the motorcycle was actually quite rare in his country.

After completing his business at the dealership, Gerald was on his way home when his phone rang.

"Assistant professor? Why is he calling me? What's the matter?" Gerald answered the call.

"Gerald, you are required to meet with the dean tomorrow! We need an explanation about the photo of you and Olivia circulating among the student body!"