“I was coming to check on you, sir,” the butler said. “Are you the one waiting for me inside?” The butler nodded. “Yes, sir.” For some seconds, it didn't make sense for Ryan. The butler…did the butler cause him to lose his memory? The butler took out a gun from his pocket and handed it over to Ryan. “There are forty bullets in there, I'll be waiting in the party. I saw a guy who caught my attention.” He winked at Ryan before walking away. Ryan sighed in relief. It really wouldn't have been funny if it was the butler who caused his amnesia. Slowly, Ryan walked in. In the center of the empty room were two men on their knees. He couldn't recognize one of them but he knew fully well who the second man was. His mother's only brother. The same man who had been by his side and comforted him when his mother died. Ryan adjusted the gun and pointed at the other man's head. He shot him dead with two bullets. He held the gun against his mother's brother's temple.
Ryan stood rooted in the spot and tried to process the information. The girl he saved when he was eight was Stephanie? His father knew but still made a fool of him by making him carry out stupid assignment by using the Hill family to threaten him? He stared at his father. “You know what, dad? You're unbelievable.” He started toward the door. “Ryan…you are not the only one affected by your mother's death! You get it?” “Like hell, you were affected. Like hell, you missed her way more than I did. But what…?” Ryan laughed. “You made no attempt to find out who murdered her. What a way to miss someone.” “We have different ways of handling losses. This is just my way.” Ryan turned to look at his father. “You handled it in a very pathetic way.” “Thank you, but what would I have done? Left all the work and cried all day? Would that bring her back?” “Dad, stop, will you? Nothing will ever bring her back, yeah, but you are just making excuses. You allowed the fact that you thou
Ryan ran his hand through his hair. “I'm sorry I lied to you.” “No problem, man. Things might have been awkward if you told me straight up that you were Lopez's heir,” Landon said. “By the way, what clothes do you wanna wear? I could choose for you if you are confused.” “I'll really love that.” Landon checked the clothes one after the other. He took out five pieces of clothing and dropped them on the bed. “You can try those,” he said. “Was it the butler who invited you here?” Ryan asked. “No. Your father called me a week ago and made me promise to come with our neighbors.” “Are our neighbors here too?” Ryan asked in surprise. “Yeah and don't worry, your father sponsored their transport fare.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “Of course he's supposed to do that since he invited them.” “We arrived last night.” “I'm really disappointed in you guys. Abbie too? She kept it a secret from me…” Ryan grumbled as he tried one of the clothes. Landon chuckled. “Um…Lewis came with Brenda too.
Ryan stared at the worker for a few seconds. Has she lost her mind? “What did you say?” Ryan asked some seconds later. “Master had collapsed, sir.” “Where is he right now?” “At the hospital, sir.” “Which hospital?” Ryan grabbed a car key from the top of the drawer. “I don't have an…” Ryan didn't hear the rest of her words as he ran outside. A driver was waiting for him. He got in and the car sped on. “Does this happen often?” Ryan asked the driver. “No, sir. This is the first time something like this has ever happened, sir.” Ryan tried to control his knee jerk but it was impossible. Why should his father collapse on his birthday? The thought of losing the only family he had left brought numbness to his whole body. The car came to a halt in front of a big building. Ryan opened the car door and ran toward the gate. He ran inside. He stopped and looked around. This place looks nothing like a hospital. He was about to go back to meet the driver when he saw people coming out
A really bad headache was what Ryan woke up to the next morning. What a way to start a birthday, he thought. He took the phone beeping on the bed. He checked the time. Seven a.m. He had a thousand messages from strange numbers. Yeah. He's back to this kind of life where he cannot have a private number. All the messages were congratulatory messages from people he had no idea who they were. Just as he clicked on one, ten more messages appeared. Ryan tossed the phone on the bed and got up. Just how people always figure out his number will remain a mystery to him. He went to the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. An idea came up in his head. “Ryan, we are no longer a kid…” he scolded himself but still, he dropped the toothbrush and walked to the end of his room where the digital scale was. He stood on it. He hasn't gained any weight. He went to the stadiometer his height hasn't increased too. He started laughing. What the hell is he doing? He is really not trying
Ryan glanced at his father. He wanted to remind him that he was supposed to hand over the Right Life to him when he is twenty five but the man doesn't seem like he was ready to listen to anything else. Ryan looked at the men still on their knees. “I promise to do my best as your leader and not let you down.” There was the sound of gunshots, then total silence. For some seconds in which everyone processed the change of leadership, there was silence. At once, all the men got on their feet and together, they bowed at Ryan. “I should have known you guys were planning something dangerous when you told me a surprise was waiting for me,” Ryan said later that evening as he went with butler to the lounge. “That isn't a surprise. Your birthday is tomorrow.” “If that isn't a surprise, what the hell are you guys planning to do with me again?” Ryan asked. “You'll love it, sir. I'm sure of that.” The lounge was already set with tables filled with drinks. After they sat down, the butler
“Is this an interview?” Ryan asked without looking at the man.“No…”“Stop asking me questions then.”Since the spread of the rumor about Anderson having something to do with the drop in the stock market, people have been coming out and talking about one bad thing or the other that Anderson did to them. The FBI had checked his house and he has been declared as wanted but since Ryan discarded the stupid guy's body, no one has been able to find him.Ryan tried to sleep throughout the rest of the ride to keep off the annoying whispers about him flying around the plane. Some people have an annoying habit of never minding their business.As soon as the plane landed, Ryan hurried out. Even with that, some people still managed to follow him. The guards that the butler had come with at the gate were the ones who rescued him in the end.The butler opened the door to a white Lamborghini for Ryan before sitting beside hi
Ryan dropped his cross bag on the sofa and walked to the fridge. He opened it. He was still deciding on what to drink when Landon came into the sitting room.“You're ready?” Landon asked.“Yeah.” He finally settled for a bottle of water.“You're not inviting Stephanie?” “I already told you there is no party for me. I'm just going to see what my old man planned to surprise me with this time around.” Landon nodded rather vigorously. What's up with that smirk on Landon's face?“How's Abbie?” Landon waved his hand. “I hate her with all my heart. Don't mention her name around me anymore.”Ryan opened the seal of the water, he tried not to laugh as he drank the water.“Why is she getting all worked up over nothing?” Landon asked, anger on his face.“Why did you make the prank? How'd you feel if you heard her making a call to another guy and telling him she loves him?” “This is different,
Stephanie frowned. “What are you talking about?” Cathy gave a white paper to Stephanie. Stephanie collected it and opened it carefully. In it was the neatly written handwriting of her father. ‘Dear, Stephanie. I am assuming you are twenty two now. How do you look? Beautiful? I'm sure of that. I have always been proud of you and I'll always be. Your skills and your curiosity to know more is something that makes you my favorite— I'm hoping Stewart has overcome his jealousy issue and won't throw a tantrum because of this. ‘Stephanie, you are to take this letter to Carlos Lopez. He and I agreed that you and Ryan Lopez, his son, would get married once you both turn twenty two. I would have told you this earlier but I don't want you to feel pressured. If by any chance you already found someone you love before coming across this letter, discard this idea. But if not, you could try dating Ryan Lopez. If you find out he's someone y