The Billionaire's Revenge

Chapter 7

Richard began to take a few steps back but Lawrence caught up to him.

"You took it, didn't you?!", Lawrence asked him, grabbing his shirt aggressively.

"Took what?", Richard managed to ask.

"Don't pretend. I know you took it, the document of the partnership with AY Investment, you took it, didn't you?!" Lawrence accused him, seizing his shirt tighter.

It took Richard a few seconds to understand what Lawrence was saying. His mind flashed back to the document he had seen in Lawrence's room, it was missing?

"I didn't take it. I didn't take anything", Richard quickly denied.

"Liar!"Lawrence shouted and began to raise his hand to hit Richard but was immediately held back by the drivers and the helpers.

"Lawrence, stop it!", Camilla shouted.

"Stop this madness", she said.

"What happened? Tell me what is going on right this instant!", Camilla demanded in a stern voice.

Lawrence calmed down a bit.

"The document is the finalized contract of the partnership between AY Investment and the company. I brought it home to look over before presenting it to AY Investment tomorrow. I left it on my work desk this morning before going to work but now I can't find it", Lawrence explained.

"And this bastard was the only person that went into my room today", Lawrence said, staring daggers at Richard.

"I didn't take it. I didn't", Richard denied.

"If it wasn't you then who did? You were the only one who went into my room today, to take the laundry, one of the maids told me, so who else could have taken it if not you?!", Lawrence shot at him.

Richard immediately turned to his mother-in-law.

"Mother, Mother, you have to believe me. I didn't take it. Why would I take it?", Richard asked frustratedly.

"Maybe because you were never really in support of the partnership with AY Investment and you were the one who was constantly poisoning grandfather against the idea while he was alive", Lawrence announced.

Richard stood stunned.

As James walked into the compound he strangely felt that something was wrong. He hastened his footsteps into the house. When he walked into the living room, he saw Lawrence, Richard and Camilla standing in the middle of the living room. The air between them was tense.

"Good afternoon, madam. Master Gray, Master Lawrence", Mr. James greeted them.

"James, good you are here", Camilla was the first to speak.

"Richard took something from Lawrence's room", Camilla told him.

Mr. James glanced at Richard who looked back at him.

"Let's all calm down", Mr. James began to speak in his usual calm manner.

"This could all be a misunderstanding...", he continued to speak but was interrupted by Lawrence.

"What do you mean by a misunderstanding? This bastard took the finalized partnership contract from my room and you are telling me that it is all a big misunderstanding?", Lawrence lashed out angrily.

"I already told you, I didn't take it", Richard said once again.

"Shut up! You liar! You obviously wanted to sabotage the partnership!", Lawrence raged and began to advance towards Richard again but was immediately held back.

"Master Lawrence, please calm down", Mr. James implored him.

"Calm down? Why should I calm down?!", Lawrence asked him angrily.

"Because Master Gray didn't take the contract", Mr. James said calmly.

"What?", Camilla asked surprised.

"How the hell would you know?!", Lawrence asked him, a bit calmer now but still angry.

"Master Gray didn't take the contract because I have the contract with me here", Mr. James said, surprising everyone.

"What?", Lawrence asked, looking at him doubtfully.

Richard stared at him with a surprised expression as well.

Mr. James opened up his bag and brought out a file, he passed it to Camilla who took it from him and opened it. She glanced at it then closed the file.

"Why is the contract with you?", Camilla asked him.

"Miss Linda said there was something she wanted to confirm in the contract and asked me to bring it over to the company", Mr. James explained calmly.

"I would have called to inform you Master Lawrence but Miss Linda was in a rush and it slipped my mind eventually, I'm sorry", Mr. James apologized.

There was silence in the room for a few minutes before Lawrence snatched the file from his mother and with one last glare at Richard, he walked up the stairs, headed to his room. Camilla also left, the maids seeing that the show was over also slowly dispersed and soon it was just Richard and Mr. James left.

Mr. James turned to Richard and did a low bow before leaving the room. That evening at the dinner, no one mentioned a word about the incident. Lawrence didn't show any indication of apologizing to him for falsely accusing him.

Richard knew better than to say anything about it. He still wondered what Lawrence meant by what he said earlier today, that he was the one who had poisoned the old master's mind against the partnership.

Where had Lawrence gotten that idea?

It had always felt like Lawrence had a personal grudge towards him that went beyond him being married to his sister. Richard couldn't help but wonder if Lawrence was jealous. But that didn't make any sense. Even when the old master was alive, he hadn't treated him any special.

So where was Lawrence getting these ideas? The rest of dinner went on as usual.

After dinner, Richard didn't go straight to his room. He decided to take a walk in the garden to clear his head and think about some things. As he walked, Richard thought about the incident that happened today again.

Lawrence had always taken any opportunity to pick on him but this was the first time he had accused him of stealing. Richard could still remember the look of hate in his eyes, it was pure loathe.

As Richard walked his phone suddenly rang, Richard bought it out to see that it was an unknown number calling him. Richard watched the phone ring for a while wondering who it was that could be calling him by this time before finally answering the call.

"Hello?", a male voice said from the other end of the call.

"Hello?", Richard responded.

"Good evening. Am I speaking with Mr. Richard Gray?", the person asked.

"Yes, this is him speaking. Who is it?", Richard asked cautiously.

"My name is Andrew Willows, I am a representative of the Nema Bank, Lead City branch", the man introduced himself.

"Nema bank?", Richard asked, surprised.

Nema bank was one of the biggest banks in the entire country Z. It was meant for the richest of the rich. They didn't accept deposits less than twenty million dollars, so why would a representative from such a bank be contacting him?

"Yes. I know this is unconventional but it is somewhat a matter of urgency which is why I am contacting you by this time", Andrew explained.

"I don't understand," Richard told him.

"Mr. Gray, I'm calling to invite you into the bank tomorrow", Andrew told him.

"Invite me? To the bank? Whatever for? I don't have any business with Nema bank?", Richard asked, already beginning to doubt the authenticity of the call. He began to wonder if perhaps it was one of those online fraudsters that used voice phishing for their exams.

"It is the matter of your inheritance, Mr. Gray", Andrew answered.

"My inheritance?"Richard asked, confused.

"Yes, your inheritance, Mr. Gray. You just received your inheritance of over fifty billion dollars"