SHADOWS OF INFLUENCE

Chapter OneKelvin awoke, feeling utterly fatigued and drained. The night before had been a torturous ordeal, marked by relentless anticipation as he waited for Maria's return, but she never came. Exhausted, he finally succumbed to sleep around 4 in the morning. Struggling to shake off the weariness, he dragged himself out of bed and descended the stairs to the kitchen, hoping that a simple bottle of water would help him regain some semblance of alertness.As he made his way back to the living room, a curious sight met his eyes: an envelope sat conspicuously on the table. He found this rather unusual. Could it be that Maria had returned in the early hours without waking him? The clock on the wall indicated a time slightly past 8 a.m., and Kelvin knew from experience that even when she did decide to return home, Maria would typically slip out long before the rooster's crow. He couldn't resist his curiosity any longer, so he picked up the envelope, half-expecting wh

The following day, Alex went to visit his uncle. When he arrived, his uncle was in a meeting, so Alex had to wait. He sat in a pew at the back of a large church. He glanced at the statue of Jesus in front of the church. Alex wasn't accustomed to going to church because his father believed that churches often did more harm than good.As he sat quietly, many thoughts crossed his mind. He had known his Uncle Fernandez since he was a baby, even though his father and the uncle didn't get along, they stayed in touch.Finally, Uncle Fernandez emerged from his office. He was wearing a white robe that shone in the light, and Alex's guest, a large man dressed in all black, looked intimidating. If Alex were someone else, he might have felt intimidated by the man's unsettling presence, but he was here to see Fernandez, not worry about the people Fernandez associated with.As they approached, Uncle Fernandez's face lit up with a smile. He seemed genuinely happy to see Alex. "Al

A month later Kelvin returned to New York, after he had recovered from his gun shot wound and had put most of his businesses in order. He had to sort out his situation with Maria, he couldn't wait to see her face when he told her who he was and who was behind her sudden wealth, he couldn't wait to tell her she was just a puppet and he was the puppet master.It was past seven pm when he got to the house, he had gone with his men but asked them to remain outside, he opened the door with his spare key as nobody was home, he had however done his findings and knew she'd be home at any moment. He heard she had been gallivanting around town with some guy name Chris. He sat down on the living room sofa waiting patiently for her to return home. After about twenty minutes of sitting in the dark he heard the lock turn, from where he was sitted he could make out the figures of two people one was maria the other was a guy, most probably Chris. They were in a complete frenzy, kissing each other and