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2022-07-01 14:35:47Irene.
That was his sister-in-law’s sister’s name. She didn’t try anything funny after tickling Adam. So, he was able to simply take her out and escort her to her room, which she very much liked.
“Short, orange-haired, and has a bright smile. She’s like a little sun,” Adam was thinking about her after returning to his room.
He received a call. The screen displayed the name Sasha. He answered, “Hello, who’s this?”
“Are you kidding me? You’ve been through an accident, sir,” an angry voice blasted through the phone. “Your body must be in dire need of a full-body massage. Pick a date and time as soon as possible.”
She must be the masseuse, he thought. Adam was told that this woman used to massage tennis professionals back in her late twenties. Now she was almost the same age as him. “How much?”
“What?”
“I’m asking how much will you take per massage? A full-body massage.”
“You know I don’t do full-body massages to just about anyone, but you’re a regular customer, so the charge is a thousand dollars per session.
“WHAT?” Adam’s jaw dropped.
“Did something happen?” Sasha sounded concerned. She thought something bad happened on the other side of the screen.
“A-Ahem, nothing. I don’t think I have the time for a massage this week.”
“Is that so? Then how about next monday.”
“Uh… I have an appointment that day until evening.”
“We stay open until 10, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
“No. I have a dinner appointment.”
“Okay. Tuesday, then?”
“Tuesday isn’t a good day to spend money, so…”
“Alright, Wednesday it shall be then. You better not make any appointments, or I’ll break your bones when you show up! Good bye.”
“Wait!” he tried to speak, but she hung up. “What’s up with this woman? She’s so forceful. How does she expect me to waste a thousand dollars on a massage per session? I’m not using my own money, but I’m not a fool. I can buy a massage machine for a much cheaper price and do it myself as long as I want for as many times as I want.”
He went back to his bed and rested.
His phone rang again. It was Leher, so he had to pick it up. “What is it, sir?” he sat on the bed and asked rather politely.
“Hoho, even your voice sounds almost the same, though the tone needs some working,” Leher sounded proud. “Anyway, how are you doing?”
“I’m doing okay, except that my wrist hurts from putting so many signatures.”
“Haha, you must be feeling like a celebrity now.”
“I wish, sir. What did you call me for?”
“Ah, I’ll come straight to the point then. One of Adam’s close friends died two weeks back. Before he died, he gave Adam 2 million dollars. If at all his father or anyone from his family approaches you and asks about it, just deny.”
“What?” Adam’s heart shook.
“There’s no proof for that, so all you need to do is deny.”
“B-But, sir…”
The call ended.
“Did he just hang up on me?” Adam put the mobile away. “These bastards… they want me to lie about such a large amount of money?” he remembered his aunt who did the same thing. She took money from him and then acted like she didn’t. “If I do what they say, will I be any different from my aunt?” he tried to clench his fists, but he found himself unable to do so. “Give me a freaking break. I’m not afraid of these guys. I’ll hold my ground no matter what!” The way he felt right now, he believed he could even walk through a storm. “There are some lines that one must never cross in life.”
Later that night.
At Conreid mansion, an impressive residence spanning 2600 acres, the black limousine stopped.
Adam got out of the car, expecting someone from the family to receive him, but only the maids were waiting. They escorted him to the main hall, which was fully decorated with ribbons and balloons. His brothers, sister, their kids and other relatives were waiting by the vast glass dining table.
A seven-layered cake was up for view.
His younger sister, Diane, the one with the curly hair and intense green eyes, began clapping. “Welcome to your second life, Brother.”
“Yeah, welcome home.” Everyone clapped. Some of the children ran over and gave him hugs. “Don’t drive cars again, Uncle.” They innocently said.
Adam’s eyes already teared up. He wasn’t related to these people, yet the warmth these children showed was pure, and even his heart hardened by his beggar’s life felt squeezed straight away. He picked up the little girl, his sister’s daughter, into his arms after she raised her arms, and then planted a kiss on her cheek. She, too, kissed him in return.
“What about me?” the little girl’s little brother raised his arms.
Adam picked him up and gave him a kiss as well. He gave two kisses in return.
“C’mon,” Diane gestured with her hand. “Don’t keep the children waiting too long for the cake.”
“Y-Yeah,” he walked over to the dining table and put the kids on either side of the cake, and they began to dig their fingers into the cake before he even cut it. Their mother tried to stop them, but he said it’s alright. A beautiful melody began to play in the background. Without wasting time, he blew the candle lights off and cut the cool cake and put the first piece in the kids’ mouths and then fed a piece each to his sister and brothers, then they exchanged hugs. The cakey grins on children and the unrestrained smiles on everybody’s faces seemed so genuine. For a few moments, he forgot that some of these same people were probably behind Adam’s accident.
The family bonds and moments he never thought he would experience were now filling his heart, and his world felt so beautiful and perfect at the moment. How wonderful would it be if these exquisite moments lasted forever?
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All the friends, relatives, and those related to the Conreid family were sent flowers, sweets, concert tickets, and wine. A bottle of Conreid wine cost 9,900 dollars and was only sold to private buyers. Many people felt glad to receive this wine harvested from exclusive vineyards and produced in limited quantities every year. It wasn’t thick, yet it offered a deep, concentrated taste. It was best known as the wine that’ll go well with any meat dish out there.The workers in Conreid companies received gift cards.Evelyn also received a 1000 dollars gift card, an expensive suit, and the Conreid wine in addition. She took it to her apartment, and her parents were most excited by seeing the wine.“A bottle of this stuff costs about a grand!” they quickly said ‘cheers’ before sucking in a small glass of it.Seeing their subtly shocked expressions, Evelyn asked, “How is it?”Her father sipped some more again and shook his head in surprise and shock. “Too good.”Her mother also nodded in agr
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The next morning.Adam took a tour throughout the mansion in a golf car with his niece and nephew. Leher’s son, Jeffery, the current head butler of the mansion, also accompanied him.They stopped by the horse stable. While the children played with the ponies, Adam noticed the very many cars stored in the old shed behind the stables. There were at least fifty cars, so he was genuinely shocked.“Why keep so many cars here instead of selling them away?” Adam asked.“They are all rare models, so in a few years, they’ll sell for a great price, Young Master.”“Oh? That’s a great way of earning money. Whose idea was it?”“Haha, stop joking. It was your idea, Young Master.”“Hahaha,” Adam embarrassingly laughed.“When you said the idea to your grandfather, he was impressed even though he saw through that your real intention was just to ride all the costly cars coming into the market,” Jeffery said and chortled. “But buying these cars is easy, so Master didn’t refuse.”“Buying these many cars
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Adam visited one of the research institutes to check out the progress in the 5G development. He attended the meeting of the directors. However, he kept thinking about Reena. “I wonder how she’s feeling. She must be feeling bad after going through such an experience.”Having lived on the streets, he knew how scary they could be. If he was timid or weak, he would have been physically abused by other beggars or even the police sometimes. Teenagers who got kicked out of their foster homes especially had it rough. Luckily, he became a beggar in his mid twenties, so he was able to fend off from most of the dangers that challenged him.“Should I call her?” Adam had her number, so he wanted to check how she was doing, but he also feared how she would respond. After all, she was an A-list actress who might probably be in a pissed-off mood right now from what the director had tried to pull. “No. Let’s not get ahead of myself.”The field researcher was explaining everything while showing the ani
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Reena was watching TV during the break between her shoots. The news channel showed the scene of Adam playing with the street dog.The news anchor said, “Adam Conreid is seen feeding a street dog right before Conreid Headquarters. He might not have succeeded as an actor who played the role of the self-made superhero ‘Coinman,’ but he’s definitely a better hero in real life. Perhaps, the recent accident might have even made him a better person?”Reena felt envious of the dog receiving Adam’s pattings and belly rubs, but she showed her frustration by throwing the remote at the TV screen. “What sort of news is this? These useless news channels… If it was possible to capture farts, they would make 24x7 flash news of all the celebrities around the world doing it.” She walked out of her motorhome and participated in the shoot with an angry expression. The director tried to calm her down by praising her beauty and acting skills. This was the same director whom she had slapped, and then it bec
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At the third school, just after giving his speech, Adam was leaving, and a reporter popped out of nowhere and kept asking him troublesome questions such as why he wasn’t talking about the complaints some parents raised about the school fees being abnormally raised every year, or what exactly he was doing in the car that resulted in an accident. Was it rash driving or something else? Why was he using a driver now? And why didn’t he include a point or two about driving safely during his speeches?There was no camera, and it was only a voice-recorder. Still, Adam didn’t answer. He was specifically told to not answer to the media anything until it was time. And Evelyn helped him by scolding the reporter for being so shameless and insensitive for asking a question regarding the accident, as it might bring out the trauma, given it should still be relatively fresh in his mind.The reporter even asked if they could enter the helicopter, but of course, they were rejected.After they were in th
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The next morning.When the maid came to Adam’s room to wake him up at seven, he was already awake and reading a book titled ‘The Weak Wish; The Strong Work. The Poor Dream; The Rich Live’. It was a book written by Parul, so he was giving it a read.Some of the points mentioned in the book opened his sleepy eyes wide awake.“‘Dogs take on debts; their owners take on the world,’ and ‘Never reply when you’re angry,’ huh,” Adam was mightily impressed with some of the quotes in this book. “Man, this guy is scary good. I can see how he managed to become so rich.”The maid gave him coffee, which he found hard to drink. He never liked coffee, but the real CEO Adam did, so he had to drink it now without complaint.Compared to Parul’s book, the short list of women the real CEO Adam made was like a pile of dung with little worth to it. Sofia Bacic was also described there as a nasty whore who was quite masterful at sucking the balls and deep-throating the dick. Nothing else.It was Sunday, yet i
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Adam choked on the water and ended up spilling some on the table.James’ father, Joseph, watched calmly. He didn’t say a word, but Adam began sweating. This old man in his seventies didn’t ask him if he took the money but confidently asked him to give him the money his son had given him.What should he reply?Should he ask for some time? No, that would mean he would be agreeing to have taken the money. Should he play innocent like Leher told him to? Hell no! That would mean he was no different from his aunt.But then, what was he supposed to say?“Mr. Adam?” Joseph said his name and nothing, but it made rails run through Adam’s heart. He had never been so tensed to answer a simple question in his life. His head surely gained weight in the last few seconds.“I need time,” Adam somehow managed to squeeze out some words.“How long? Two days?”“That’s…”“A week?”Adam ended up nodding halfheartedly.“Then I’ll see you in a week,” Joseph stood and patted his shoulder once before walking aw
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“No credit cards are allowed?” Adam’s eyes turned as round as the moon. “I don’t get it.”“Why don’t you get it?” Leher spoke through the phone from the other side. “Master Parul had made it a rule that nobody in the family should use credit cards without taking his permission first, no matter the reason. It is because of his strict rules that Conreid can proudly say that all of its companies are debt-free. Not just one but all of them. There is no other company in the whole country that is debt-free. Conreid is the living wonder of the world, boy.”“I-I get that, but a little bit of credit card doesn’t hurt, right?”“Why do you need a credit card? I’ve already arranged so that 10,000 dollars get deposited into your account sharply at 12:00 AM on the 1st of every month. And you don’t even need to pay for daily expenses such as lunch and all as we privately pay for them yearly.”“I-I know, but…”“But? But what?” Leher still sounded patient. “Is 10,000 dollars not enough? Is that what
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CHAPTER 96
“If you were really a beggar, then what happened? How did you change yourself?” the beggar curiously asked Adam. “Did you rob a bank or something?”“No, it was a stroke of luck,” Adam replied. “I’m still taking that test. If I don’t pass it, I might end up as a beggar one day again.”“I wish that luck visits me as well,” the beggar said.“Don’t worry, Brother,” Adam saw that this beggar had a bent leg, which didn’t allow him to walk properly. He took out his checkbook from his suit and signed it for 5000 dollars. “It’s not much, but this is all I can give you right now. You better not use it for drugs, or the next time I see you, I will beat your ass.”“I will spend this very carefully,” the beggar quickly said. “But I don’t think the bank guards will allow me to enter the bank if I go in these dirty clothes. I have to buy new clothes.”Adam then took his suit out and gave it to the beggar who felt more touched by this gesture. It brought tears to the beggar’s eyes.“Nobody has been t
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CHAPTER 95
Both Evelyn and Adam had gone to Sterling villa and talked with the producer, Jacob sterling.They were expecting him to look cool and grand. He was indeed a big, handsome fellow despite his age being in sixties, but he looked to be under great stress because of his movie being released incorrectly.“From behind the scenes, someone messed with me on purpose,” Jacob told them. “I know you’ve come here to get solid information from me, but I can’t guarantee you anything right now because all the people I took money from to produce the film are grabbing my throats right now. I have to pay them hundreds of millions in interest. So, until I clear all that, I won’t be able to release the film. Even if I do release it, will the people come to the theaters again?”“They will, sir,” Evelyn told him. “All your past movies were blockbusters. There was not an average film, so I think people will understand that some mistake happened this time and will definitely make many people come to the theate
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CHAPTER 94
Adam and Evelyn came to a restaurant. It was mid noon at the time. Both of them were sweaty and hungry. Evelyn first ordered some drinks to quench her thirst, and then she told the waiters to wait for fifteen minutes before prepping their meals because she just drank a lot of water. This gave both of them fifteen minutes of breathing space. Evelyn still couldn’t forget burying the beggar, and she also didn’t understand why Adam would go to such lengths. “If you don’t mind me asking, did you meet that beggar in the past? I mean, did he stop in front of your car at some traffic signal and then ask for some money?” “No, this is my first time seeing him,” Adam replied in a calm but slightly knowing, heavy voice. “But this isn’t the first time I have seen beggars die overnight. During winters, some of them freeze to death on the streets. Some have their toes and legs frozen overnight that they have to get amputated afterward.” “What?” Evelyn covered her mouth in shock. “You sound like
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CHAPTER 93
As Adam approached the scene, the crows reluctantly flew away to the nearby posts and rooftops but still very much kept their eyes on him. There were at least twenty-odd of these black little things.Adam stopped and looked at the old man lying lifelessly on the sidewalk. There was no life in his eyes, which were half closed, and the black plastic bag beside him was open, with many items on the ground, suggesting that someone searched the bag for valuables.Evelyn joined Adam but was not able to see the old man’s corpse. She stood behind Adam. “Did he die? The beggar?”“He’s been dead for hours,” Adam said, his voice deep and concealing the pain and sadness swelling in him.“Let’s call the ambulance,” Evelyn said. “They are going to take care of him.”Adam, however, picked the old man up with both of his arms. He was not that heavy because he was very thin. His body had already hardened and was not bending at all. It looked like Adam was carrying a pole instead.“W-What are you doing,
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CHAPTER 92
Evelyn came home that evening and jumped onto the bed. She hugged her pillow and tried to be calm. However, she couldn’t help but think about Jim. He was without a doubt the most handsome man she had seen. He was not just tall and handsome but had a really good sense of humor and a voice that was very good on the ears. “Though it started off bad, by the time it ended, my impression about him changed very much. It’s rare to find bachelors like him, but the issue was that I’m not sure if he’s interested in me or not. How do I find out? Should I call him first? Or should I wait for him to call me? What if he doesn’t call me? How long should I wait? One day? Two days? Three days?” Seconds passed. “This isn’t helping. I’ll be patient for a few days and see if he calls me,” Evelyn thought. “If he does call me, it means he’s interested in me. If he calls me much later, then he’s not interested in me and is only trying to use me.” She kept thinking about him and ended up sleeping without
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CHAPTER 91
Even though Adam lost all the money he invested, a total of ten million dollars, he didn’t feel too bad right now because he spent the night with Reena, and they didn’t have sex but were watching romantic movies all night. After watching the movies till sunrise, when both their bodies and souls were fully craving for love, Reena still managed to hold herself well.“I will sleep in my bed,” Reena said. “You can sleep in the other room. That’s good for both of us.” She wanted to prove to him she could control herself well if wanted to.However, Adam grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace and began to kiss her everywhere on her face except the lips. “S-Stop, Adam,” she said in a trembling voice, but there was a hint of thrill in her voice. While almost every man she had sex with before lustfully kissed her on the lips, what Adam did now was a first for her. He was gentle, yet the pressure from his lips sent vibrations all over her body and to the depths of her soul. It felt so
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CHAPTER 90
Reena and Adam rushed out of the theater, and Evelyn just happened to see them while talking with the contractors on her mobile. On top of that, it started raining. “He’s unbelievable,” Evelyn gritted her teeth. “I was a fool to think he’s changed.” Adam and Reena entered a car that surely wasn’t Adam’s, and they hurriedly drove away. Evelyn ran to Adam’s car, only to then realize that she didn’t have the keys. “Ugh, dammit!” she ran back into the theater. She kept walking to and fro, hoping that the rain would be gone soon, but it only grew intense with every passing second. Evelyn didn’t even feel like talking to the contractors right now. She quickly called Adam, but he didn’t answer. She angrily smiled. “Of course. I was a fool to even call you, thinking you might answer. A leopard can never change its spots.” She was hoping for a Best Day Ever if the movie were to become a hit, but that didn’t happen. The saying ‘when it rains, it pours’ came to her mind. She didn’t go back
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CHAPTER 89
The El Man movie produced by the famous Jacob Sterling and acted by many top actors just released today.This was the movie that Adam and Evelyn put a lot of hopes on because they invested into the catering businesses across the city. If the movie were to succeed, they would earn multiple times of profit. If the movie were to become an average hit, they wouldn’t lose any money. Since the producer had a record of making every single one of his movies a blockbuster hit, Adam and Evelyn were fully confident in this movie, which was also the movie with the highest budget of all time.Both Evelyn and Adam went to the theater, but to their shock, Reena was there. She got a seat right next to Adam.With Evelyn on one side, and then Reena rubbing her foot from the other side, Adam almost went crazy. If Evelyn were to notice, what would she think? He surreptitiously glanced at Reena, trying to tell her to stop acting childish, but she seemed to be having fun from putting Adam in a tough spot.
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CHAPTER 88
Saying Crawford was the crappiest board member would be an understatement. The only person he feared was Parul, but after Parul fell sick, Crawford had taken sides. He didn’t like Brendon because Brendon was too smart, whereas Eric was relatively easier to control.Crawford considered Adam to be too irresponsible to even spare a second for him. So, Crawford rarely ever spoke to Adam before.Adam went to his office.Crawford was an abnormally tall guy with great-looking hair despite his age. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he looked a few years younger just because of his hairstyle.“Mr. Crawford,” Adam humbly greeted Jonas Crawford. “It’s a pleasant surprise to see you here. To what do we owe this pleasure? Is your family doing great?” He purposely tried to speak a bit too much to make himself look friendly.“What’s there to talk about my family? I just got my 13th divorce,” Jonas sighed. Even though he shook hands with Adam, he didn’t get up from the seat, which showed Ada
