Nathan had to pull out a chair and sit beside his mother. “This is incredible!”Mr. Smith plunged his hand inside his jacket and pulled out a ring, carved out of ruby stone. He caressed the ring and walked up to Nathan. “This is an Alcantara symbol. It was handed over to the heirs of this family for generations and now that you have come of age and the heir of this empire, I want you to take this,”Nathan took the ring from his father and slipped it into his middle finger. Mr. Smith continued. “The ring is a symbol of authority. Any high-profile person out there will know who you are at a glance at the ring. It’s your identity as the Alcantara heir.”Nathan gave repeated nods. Mr. Smith sat opposite Nathan. He began to rub his hands against each other vigorously. “I want you to also know that you’ve got one thousand men at your disposal.”Nathan’s eyes widened. “Are they that much?”Mrs. Smith giggled and crossed her legs. “Of course. Each of them was trained and carefully selecte
Nathan woke up the next day with the thoughts of Avery. The image of her disappointed face, when she walked out on him at the yacht, was still imprinted in his mind.Before heading to the bathroom, he decided to try calling her. After dialing her number severally, Nathan flung his phone to the edge of his bed with a frustrated sigh.Her number was still unreachable.Nathan couldn’t help but wonder. Had she blocked him from accessing her line?He placed his hands on his hips and shook his head in filial objection. It couldn’t have gotten that deep. With a defeated sigh, he aimed for the bathroom.A few minutes later, Nathan stepped out and moved to one of his exotic closets. He had resolved to show up at Phoenix that morning. He needed something to distract him from his situation with Avery so he concluded that work would do the trick.After getting dressed in a grey Armani three-piece suit, Nathan hung his face mask, grabbed his briefcase, and dashed out.***Avery palmed her forehead
Corrigan cleared his throat loudly and continued.“Gregor just got to the city and as an acquaintance, I told him about the club and he showed interest in becoming a member. As a kind fellow, Gregor has donated the sum of 100 million dollars to our ongoing estate project.”The cheers and applause intensified.“For those who don’t know him, Gregor manages several oil companies around the world and is currently making waves in Rockville. He’s the CEO of the famous DELL OILS PLC.” Corrigan added.Nathan turned to his father. “Seems like the man in question is a big shot.”Mr. Smith threw his back against his chair with a dry smile.Gregor took one of the empty seats in front.Corrigan invited the men carrying laptops to move closer. “Speaking about the brief exercise I earlier talked about, I’d like to introduce a new policy.”Murmurs broke out.“Policy? What policy?”“Is Corrigan changing a rule?” A second voice commented.Corrigan moved closer to the crowd. “I don’t intend to change an
“Come in,” Nathan said while ushering Charles into the guest living room. Their session at the bar was short-lived. After Nathan gave Charles an update about his experience at the billionaires club meeting, the boys decided to leave. Nathan had requested that Charles come with him to the estate that night. It was quarter past 9 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were having a chit-chat in the spacious guest living room when Nathan and Charles walked in. Mrs. Smith fell back on the couch and heaved a sigh of relief.“Thank goodness you are back son.”“I told you he needed some moment to clear his head and he was going to get back home.” Mr. Smith asserted. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Charles hailed after Nathan made him stand before the couple. Mr. Smith stood up and extended his right hand toward Charles. “Charles Wells right?”Charles has stars in his eyes. Mr. Smith Alcantara had just called him by name. He quickly shook Mr. Smith with a wide grin. “Yes sir. Pleased to meet you
By exactly 9 a.m., Charles pulled the Bentley to a halt in front of the city’s biggest mall. The boys stepped out and aimed for the entrance of the skyscraper. “Seems like we will be the ones to open this place,” Charles remarked after they stepped in. “Well, looks like there are a couple of morning customers on standby.” Nathan pointed out after they got in. They took the route leading to the clothing section. When they got to the male section, they were greeted by a young saleslady who was smiling so brightly at them that Charles thought her cheeks were going to hurt. “Good morning. Welcome to the Deloitte store. Do you need any guidance or you would want to look around by yourselves?” She asked with her hands stationed behind her. She was dressed in a short black shirt and a white silk shirt. “You show us around,” Nathan said. He turned to Charles. “What do you think?” Charles agreed with a nod. “So do you have any designs or materials in mind? What do you guys want to s
Charles clenched his jaw and quickly looked away. He was irked by the words coming out of Derrick’s mouth. Nathan slipped his phone into his jacket after making the phone call. He was about to turn around when the tail of his left eye caught a show glass by the corner. As someone who is fascinated by wristwatches, Nathan began taking steps toward the transparent glass. Rebecca walked up to him with a smile. “The iced watches arrived yesterday and would be on display later by the day.”“I’d like to have a good look at them. I’m a fan of such a brand of watches.” Nathan said. “You can take a look and who knows, you might find the perfect watch amidst the collection,” Rebecca replied with a smile. Derrick moved to them and faced Rebecca with his eyebrows raised. “Are you nuts? He’s yet to clear his 960,000-dollar bill and you’re showing him these exotic watches?”Nathan turned to Derrick with his brows furrowing with rage. “Why don’t you just mind your damn business?”“I feel so sor
Rebecca and the rest of the staff quickly stepped aside with their heads lowered. “I hope you didn’t encounter any trouble shopping here?” Terry asked Nathan. “Was anyone hostile toward you? Let me know and I’ll fire them immediately.” Nathan smiled and pointed at Rebecca. “She’s the nicest sales lady I’ve ever met.” “That’s true.” Charles agreed. Rebecca slowly lifted her head with a proud smile. “Rebecca, why don’t you take me to the denim section for the jackets I talked about.” Charles requested. “Sure sir.” She quickly replied and aimed for the door. Charles went after her. “I’m so sorry about your card.” Mike sympathized with Nathan. “I can’t imagine the frustration.” “What took you so long?” Nathan asked after heaving a sigh. “I’m so sorry young master. I needed to clear something at the bank that’s why I couldn’t be here on time. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting for long.” Mike said. Nathan waved his hand down. “That’s okay.” “I guess you’ve met Nathan Smith now.
“When do you want us to meet up?” asked an eager Nathan. He quickly sat by the edge of his bed and turned to the oval wall clock by his right. He wouldn’t mind meeting up with Avery that night.“How about tomorrow?”“Okay.” Nathan sharply replied.“But if you’ll be occupied then we can reschedule.” Avery pointed out.Nathan sprang off from the edge of the bed and shook his head. “No. I’ll be free tomorrow. Just tell me when and where you want us to meet up.”He heard Avery sigh over the phone. Dozens of thoughts began to flutter in his mind.“I think I’ll leave that to you to decide. I’ll be available throughout the evening so pick a suitable time and location and then get back to me if that’s cool with you.” Avery responded.“Got it.”She hung up.Nathan sighed and lowered the phone to his chest. The conversation ended when they reached a consensus but somehow, he felt they should have said more.He collapsed on the bed and shut his eyes.****“Come in,” Nathan responded from the ins
Steve pulled the car to a halt in front of the airport building. Nathan turned to Avery with a smile. “You still want to do this?” He asked with his hand stretched out toward her. She took his hand into hers. “More than anything in the world. I’ve been running around for years and I never told you this but the main reason why I came back to Rockville was to make peace with your soul and then build my brand from scratch now that you’re here, I just want to spend as much time with you as possible, away from the whole chaos and drama. Just the two of us.” Nathan planted a kiss on her forehead. “Thank you so much, Avery.”She smiled. “I’m excited. It’s going to be my first time in Russia and I just can’t wait to explore the city with the love of my life.”Steve cleared his throat loudly. “Looks like I also need to find the love of my life and take her to Russia.”They laughed.Suddenly, Nathan’s phone began to ring. He heaved a deep sigh and turned to Avery. “It’s Charles.”“It’s over.”
Morgan turned to his bodyguards who had been inside the lounge with him all this while. “Call for reinforcements. We’ve been tricked.”Derrick darted Morgan’s attention toward the chip on the table. “It’s a camouflage. It’s all programming shit.” He said and began to take off his jacket. Morgan was already sweating profusely. “I must find the real Alex. I need to kill that bastard today.”“Are you even serious?” Derrick cried out. “We are in a mess. That chip proved that this whole session was recorded.” He took his head into his hands. “I should have listened to Kelvin. This was a bad idea and now, we’re doomed. I’m not even sure if we’re the only ones in this building right now.”“I reserved the whole damn building and apart from the staff, there’s no damn customer here.” Morgan retorted and threw his gun on the floor. “My backup team will be here any moment from now and we’ll get the hell out of here. As for that recording chip, I don’t care about what’s in it or who had access t
“Now that your girlfriend is safe and out of the picture, let’s talk business,” Morgan said to Nathan’s camouflage who was sitting before him and Derrick. Both men had no idea that the man sitting in front of them was a product of science programmed to function like Alexander Alcantara with a chip buried in his head. The camouflage was programmed to follow Cole’s instructions and ever since he walked into the longue, his words and actions were being directed by Coke from outside. “Why did you kill my parents?” The camouflage asked Morgan. Morgan broke into a laugh. “Seriously? Do you think I have time for this? Do you want me to respond to your stupid questions? You’re doing this to buy time right?”“Isn’t it obvious that you have me under your mercy? If you are going to take me out then at least I deserve the chance to know why you killed everyone in my family.” Nathan replied. “For my brother’s sake.” Morgan quickly replied. “You killed Corrigan, the only person in the world wh
Nathan stretched his hand toward Avery and held her hand tightly. “You’ll be fine.” He mumbled to her lovingly. She nodded repeatedly.Derrick clenched his jaw and looked away while his bowels continued to heat up with rage. “You’re lying,” Morgan replied. “I gave you ten minutes to come here and according to my guards, you came alone so how did you get to rally troops and station them here?”Nathan chuckled. “I didn’t bring any troops from home. If you and your partner were smart enough, you’d know that this is the Grandiose Hotel and the Grandiose Hotel belongs to the Alcantaras.”Derrick and Morgan exchanged glances. “Shit!” Derrick cussed and rubbed his hair repeatedly. “It didn’t cross my mind.”Morgan frowned. “All I had to was give the manager a phone call before coming in. I told him that if four minutes pass by and Avery does not come walking through the door, he should tell the restaurant security squad to start firing.” Nathan said. Suddenly, Derrick snatched Morgan’s g
The waitresses returned carrying food trays. They graciously placed it on the table. Morgan reached for the plate of steak and began to devour it like a hungry lion. Avery kept staring at her plate of pasta and meatballs. “Are you okay?” Derrick demanded. “Yeah.” She replied and looked up. “Don’t eat that.” Nathan’s voice came through the chip. She heaved a deep sigh because that was exactly what was on her mind. What if the food was poisoned? She kept thinking. Nathan continued speaking to her. “Leave your bag there and get up. Act normal and tell them you need to use the restroom then you head out.”“I think I need to pee,” Avery announced. Morgan stopped eating and dropped his plate immediately. “But you just got here?”“Yeah.” Derrick agreed with a nod. Avery faked a smile and quickly stood up. “I think I had a lot of water earlier and now, I need to pee. I’ll be back soon.” She said. She was about to turn around when Morgan spoke. “Excuse me?” Avery turned around lookin
“You look as gorgeous as ever,” Nathan commented while Avery was tracing her way down the staircase. It was time to meet Derrick. He had already dropped the location and had called a while ago to say that he was on his way. Avery was wearing a short black floral dress with black sandals to match. Nathan had insisted that she apply makeup so that Derrick doesn’t sense her insecurity. “Are you sure about this?” Avery asked when she reached Nathan. Nathan took her face into his hands. “You’ll be fine. I promise you with my life.”She smiled. “If you say so.”“Remember, act normal and do as he says. Okay?”“Got it,” Avery replied and walked away. By the time she arrived at the restaurant, Derrick was already inside because he had texted her about three minutes ago that he had arrived. On her part, Avery had convinced him that their meeting was a secret because Nathan was not going to approve. She had taken a cab to get there. When Avery walked into the building, she was stunned by i
“Welcome, bro. What can I offer you?” Nathan demanded the moment Kelvin walked into his living room. Kelvin marched in and didn’t even look at the couch Nathan was presenting to him. “I don’t think I can sit.”“You look restless. What’s the matter?”Kelvin sighed and faced Nathan. “It’s Derrick. He had been in my place for the past three days and he’s been looking like shit.”“Did you ask you to come here and convince Avery to go back to me?” Nathan asked. He then raised an index finger. “Listen, tell Derrick that if I see him close to my woman, I’ll kill him so he should leave her alone.”“That’s not why I’m here.” Kelvin sharply replied. “Last night, he went on a rampage and drank several bottles of my wine and when I walked into him in my living room, he was half conscious and he said some things.”Nathan abruptly stood up. “What did he say?”“You and I both know that it’ll be difficult for a man like Derrick to change.” Said Kelvin. “It’s not like I’m condemning him.” He quickly
“He’s coming out shortly,” Daniel reported and sat with the rest of the team. That morning, Morgan’s allies stormed his mansion to talk about the tragic events that were unfolding. It was no news that his biggest warehouse was burnt to ashes. That evening, another one was looted and by midnight, Morgan got information that his security guards were attacked on their way back from the club and 6 perished while two were in a coma. Morgan made his way down the staircase, carrying the weight of his problems. However, he was sober and didn’t display any angry reaction. Perhaps, he was too beaten by the incidents that he had lost his will to react. His Allies looked upon him as he made his way toward them. The group consisted of his friends and partners who had helped him execute shady deals in the past. After he sat, Daniel stood up and cleared his throat loudly. “There is no denying that we all know who is behind the constant attacks. Without mincing words, I’d like to inform you all t
It was Saturday morning and during the weekends, Morgan plays tennis with Daniel, his assistant. Daniel is no fan of table tennis and barely knows how to hold the bat but every Saturday and Sunday morning, he shows up dressed in shorts with his gears just to impress Morgan. Also, Morgan knew that his assistant was bad in the sport so it gave him an edge to defeat him completely all the time. This morning, Daniel was already seated by the court in Morgan’s house and was waiting for his boss to show up. Morgan had just stepped out of his room and was on his way toward the living room before heading out to your court when his phone began to ring. He frowned and didn’t pick up the call. Even though he was a workaholic, he had made it clear to his workers that none of them would disturb him with work matters except if it was an emergency. The call persisted and the warning bells in Morgan’s head began to ring. What if this particular call was a case of emergency?The call was coming fr