"It's a gift I am willing to offer. I'm very sorry if it is too little. But if you are still willing to give me something..." Travis kowtowed and raised his voice. "Please accept me to be a houseboy in your house."Rocco Morrison quickly distracted her by bringing a wrapped canvas and quickly unwrapped it. It was a big glinting imagine of the late Mr. MorrisonRocco was a grandson of the old Mrs. Morrison. He had received many awards from her because of his beautiful drawings.When Rocco learned that Mrs. Morrison had invited many special guests, he had spent several nights painting the pictures in other to impress the guests which could make him more famous.It was a big no for him to accept a poor young man from taking this rare position."Granny, this canvas is worth millions of dollars because the art tools I used are worth fifty million dollars. It would be good to consider my painting before giving this cheap drawing the picture of the day." Rocco pointed to the Travis's paper o
Travis felt betrayed, thinking CEO Douglass wanted to destroy his plan.Rocco was sad, not because CEO Douglass wanted him to contest with the poor young man. He often claims that he was born to compete, for he had never lost any artist competition.Rocco was sad because of the girl CEO Douglass pointed to. Stella was the last girl Rocco wanted to see on Earth.Many of Morrison's family hate her while some pretend they hate her because they don't want others to go against them.The only reason they couldn't send Stella away was because she was a member of Morrison's family."If not because of her," they would say often in a family meeting, "Rachel would still be alive."Yes, they lost their lovely Rachel when she was giving birth to Stella. As the manager of the Morrison company, Rachel Morrison brought improvement, promotion, and many connections to the family.And her absence from the family makes them lose many connections. And since the twenty-four years ago Rachel died, Mrs. Mor
Stella was observing Travis curiously. His hopeless face she saw at the beginning of the contest had brightened.And no one had ever looked at her the way he was doing. The more Travis looked at Stella, the more he felt like he had never seen her before. She is so beautiful. Rocco got tired of erasing so he permitted himself to complete drawing the head before the time ran out. He had faith in himself that whatever he drew today would be much better than what Travis would draw. When Liam saw that Rocco was restless, he raised his voice, "My son, concentrate. I promised to buy you that car tomorrow if you win."Rocco dropped the pencil, took the paper and tore it apart, asking for another clean paper. The lady behind him had already gone because she couldn't stand his hot temper. The lady behind Travis smiled and gave Rocco the new paper. She was having fun gazing at the elegant girl Travis was carefully drawing. She believed that Travis had already won, so there was no point in i
"I will start with Rocco drawing as usual," Mr. Williams said.The moment he collected Rocco's paper, he quickly held himself from laughing.Mr. Williams then raised the paper for everyone to see. The people at the back could see the image on the big screen hung on the wall.Liam sat quietly and lost enthusiasm and words to say.Rocco looked back to receive praises from his people but his smile fade off as he watched them watching him.Mr. Williams cleared his throat. "There's nothing needs to be said about this. It is what everyone could see clearly. But if I must say something, I would firstly appreciate the effort Rocco put in. It's good but doesn't resemble Stella Morrison."I had thought Rocco had the strength to bring Stella from his imagination since he didn't look her more than five times." Mr. Williams stopped as he tried hard to suppress his laughter from bursting out."Give me the paper he tore," Mr. William said to the lady who stayed behind Travis and she gave it to him.
[Attention! Attention!!][Sub-mission: Dance with Bella for ten minutes][Reward: 200 GS Points and 20 Strength]"Who's Bella?" Travis asked himself before turning back. Chloe and Bella stretched blank paper and pencils to him. And in their eyes, he could detect they were saying, "Choose me first."Travis just winked and said, "Who's Bella?"Bella was surprised. "How did you know my name?""Can we dance for fifteen minutes?" Travis offered his palm with a don't-you-mind sort of wink.And she accepted it, allowing him to take her to a space near the stage.Everyone marveled and applauded as Bella danced with Travis. Some appreciate Bella for dancing with the poor guy humbly.Some young couples even climbed the stages and danced while Rocco and his friends were gazing at Travis with hardened faces.Rocco had told them Bella was his crush, and they had been planning to woo her for him, but this poor rat dared to touch her wrist. WHAT THE FUCK!Rocco put down the fourth cup of red wine
After the ambulance drove the old Mrs. Morrison to the hospital, everyone wanted to follow. Mr. Williams humbly asked Rocco to drive Augustus, Travis, and Stella to the hospital. Rocco didn't want people to think he was still angry for losing the contest. He politely opened the doors of his car and then turned the key in the ignition.On their way to the hospital, Rocco detected Travis cross-legged beside Stella."You have no permission to cross-legged in my car. I owned this car and am not your driver. Is that clear?" Rocco looked back to see if Travis obeyed him."Don't worry about him, Roc. He won't do that again," Augustus said."This is the last time he would sit in my car and I will never drive him again. How could a beggar be comfortable sitting like a boss inside my car? The leather he sat on worth twenty of him-""Just do like you don't see him since he will never enter your car again. Face front. It is bad to lose focus when driving." Augustus cuts in."Don't tell me what
The grand system made Rocco slam on the brake near an open field and stirred him to say, "Get off my car. Your weight is slowing down my car."At least, he allowed them to get out of his car safely, Augustus was most thankful. And once they were out of his car, the grand system made Rocco speed back to the street. He was enjoying the movement of his hands and legs and how he was escaping from the police cars. He was enjoying the game until his car stalled and the door refused to open.Not until the police surround him, was when the grand system allowed the door to open by itself.Rocco could only cry, and could only surrender for the police to handcuff him.Don Amato was inside his mansion when his gangster made him watch the live news about Rocco being arrested. "The only way he can avoid my anger is to stay in prison forever," Don Amato said. "You guys should watch him closely. I want him here.""Okay, Don," they chorused.Augustus gave his daughter a piggyback as they walked to t
Travis and Stella looked up to see a tall guy behind them with an attractive smile.The guy offered Stella a handshake, which Stella accepted willingly because no guy had ever done that to her. "I'm Arthur, and you?""Stella.""What a beautiful name. Do you mind if I call you Ella?" Arthur said.Stella nodded with a smile."How much is the leaf? You can take as much as you need.""She wanted to take five pieces and the price was fifty dollars," the sales agent said to bail Stella out of the awkward moment.The sales agent gave a don't-tell-him-I-lie-about-the-price sort of glance and Stella quickly took a few breaths within as Arthur gave the woman the hundred dollars."Take everything," Arthur said to the sale agent."Wow! Thanks very much. You two guys are fit to be a happy couple."Travis's eyes sparkled as Stella and Arthur grinned at what the sales agent said. Is Stella falling for the guy already? Why was he always unlucky in the business of women?"Thank you very much madam," A
Augustus shed tears of joy as he leaned his back on the wall of Private Key bank. He went there to confirm his account balance because he thought he might have received a fake alert from the unknown master.The notification he received didn't show the master's name or account number. All he saw was 95 billion dollars.Augustus had thought he would never forgive Liam and Mrs. Morrison, but the happiness that was flowing within him made him forget the pain of how they treated him badly.If not for old Mrs. Morrison, who took everything he owned, the master might not make him a billionaire.Augustus called the private number back but it failed. He then went to the restaurant to have a good meal and then used the opportunity to relax and think of what he would use the money for.The first thought that crossed his mind was of his daughter. He must take her out of Mrs. Morrison's house so that he can show her love he failed to do since her childhood.Days went by and weeks went by. Liam tri
After getting home and relaxing for some moments, Mr. Williams checked his wristwatch and rose as Stella offered Mrs. Morrison a herbal tea.“I will be going home now. I have an important meeting to attend.”“Thank you very much, Mr. Williams, for being there for me on bad days. I appreciate it. God will repay you in abundance,” Mrs. Morrison said.Mr. Williams smiled. “You are always welcome.”The moment Mr. William left, Mrs. Morrison started the topic with Master.“Augustus, what are you hiding from me? Which master are you?”Augustus sighed. If he says the truth, who would believe the truth anyway? What is the point of saying it?“Mom is talking to you, Augustus,” Liam added.“I’m not the master that Mr. Lucian is talking about,” Augustus said.“Then you might have some connection with that master,” Mrs. Morrison asked.“I don't want to be repeating myself, Mom. I cannot hide from you.”“The way you show courage at Mr. Lucian’s company depends on someone or something,” Liam said.
Augustus frowned as he knelt before Mr. Lucian and said nothing.He can only force himself to knee, but can't force himself to beg. He had made up his mind that Mr. Lucian deserved the punishment for beating Chloe.“I expect you guys to support me. He deserves it and we shouldn't care. I'm not afraid and won't beg him,” Augustus said and rose.“We're not here to spoil his things. He had every right to take us to jail now. The only thing we can do is to find the money,” Mr. William said.“We won't find any money, and he must release Granny now,” Augustus said and looked more aggressive.“Calm down please, Dad,” Stella said.“I don't have time for rubbish people. What I said is what I will stand on. I will not release Mrs. Morrison till he pays $3,000,000. In fact…” He pointed to Stella while looking at his other security men. “Take his daughter too and send the rest out of my company. I don't want to see any of them except if he comes with my money. And I have increased the amount to $
Chloe slightly opened her eyes on the hospital bed and was transfixed by the faces of her family sitting beside her."She has woken." Liam, the only person who didn't sleep last night, swiftly rubbed his eyes. He relaxed his shoulders on the chair and took a deep breath. He had been watching the rising breath of his daughter since last night to be sure she was alive and, at the same time, was furious about what Mr. Lucian did to her.Old Mrs. Morrison opened her eyes ajar and stopped Liam from grappling with Chloe's hand. "I understand your feelings, but let her rest."Liam then hugged Mrs. Morrison and sobbed like a small child. "Mr. Lucian is so wicked. I thank God my daughter hasn't married him. He is going to regret it. He would die in prison."Others were woken by Liam's mourning voices and were relieved to see Chloe sitting up."This isn't the right moment to cry," Mr. Williams said as he checked his wristwatch. "Now she is fine, what should we do next?"Old Mrs. Morrison looked
Chloe wore a blue gown early in the morning and went to Travis's door, knocking. "Open the door, Travis." She gave Travis a rate-me sort of smile as he opened the door. Travis widened his eyebrows. "Hey. You are so beautiful like a morning glow." Chloe hissed. "I want you to tell me I am ugly. I want to fail. Give me ten minutes." She hurried back to her room and changed into a black skirt and white top. She knocked on Travis's door again. "How do I look now?" Travis took a deep sigh. "Don't you look in the mirror?" "Just tell me how I look." "I won't lie. You become more pretty." "Two minutes please." Chloe went back to her room. She wore her vest, jeans, and cap, looking like a tomboy. The moment Travis saw her coming, he burst into laughter. And without asking how she looked, she took Travis's laughter as a way of telling her she was ugly. But no, Travis wanted to tell her to wear the first blue gown because the vest revealed more of her alluring face. Stella went to Trav
The Morrison family gathered to talk about their huge debts and about bringing Mr. Lucian back."The first solution is to send Travis away," Liam said."I don't see anything wrong with what Travis did. He hadn't collected any salary. He can't afford new clothes. I'm sorry to say the problem was Mr. Lucian himself. He wanted to use the opportunity to marry your daughter. He is too old for her," Augustus said. Liam, who sees this as an opportunity to have a strong connection with Mr. Lucian hated what Augustus said last. But he had to hold himself from going against Augustus in the presence of his children so that they wouldn't detect his hidden motive. Liam then kept quiet. It's not because he didn't know what to say, but because he didn't want to say too much so that his plan wouldn't be ruined by Augustus.Old Mrs. Morrison focused on her breathing as instructed by one yoga teacher to reduce stressful thoughts. "Are we here to argue?" Old Mrs. Morrison asked."I explained what he
"You guys are reducing me to a means to an end. I'm not important in this family. I'm just reduced to a helper," Mr. Lucian said in anger."It's not what you think, Mr. Lucian." Old Mrs. Morrison quickly sipped her herbal tea, a remedy to reduce a heart attack. The anger of Mr. Lucian's face almost gave her high blood pressure. Since Mr. Lucian was her last hope. She would do whatever it took to cool him down, even if it would take her to send Travis away.Mr. Lucian pointed at Travis. "Then why did this riffraff bring me coffee? See how he dressed. He didn't even comb his hair. I'm very sure he didn't have his bath today..."The noise Stella heard made her dart into the guest room. She knelt before Mr. Lucian because she didn't want him to punish Travis. "It was my fault. I should have brought it. Please punish me instead."Mr. Lucian rose and stormed out without listening to what Mrs. Morrison had to say. Mrs. Morrison swiftly asked the people to beg him because he was her last hope
"I would let you go peacefully if you promise me you won't contact her again," Travis said."Yes, I promise," Arthur said with a sincere voice."You can go.""Thank you very much." Arthur rose and hurried away.When Travis and Bella were going back to the car, Travis noticed Bella didn't want to talk to him. Travis couldn't decipher and so he asked."You told him not to contact her again," Bella said. Her anger showed more through her voice than through her cool face."That's what you want.""When did I tell you that? I can tell that you also want to date Stella."Now that Travis understood Bella was jealous, he had nothing else to say than to say he was sorry."You are free like her, but I don't expect you to let the guy go without being punished for comparing me to Stella. I defended you and you defended who you love. You didn't see me as an important person. Don't talk to me again."And Travis's silence afterward fuels her anger more. They got into the car and went home.When Stell
Bella drove her car closer and then realized it was him. This was the second time she saw Travis doing great things she couldn't believe he was capable of. What kind of person is Travis? Bella inquired curiously before coming out of the car. "Hey, Travis!" Travis was surprised to see her and, at the same time, was scared. He shouldn't have asked the grand system for help if he knew Bella would see him. Travis quickly thought of what to say to bail himself out of Bella. Telling people how he fought today was the last thing he wanted Bella to announce to anyone. "Hey, Travis!" Bella repeated, since Travis looked away the first time she called him. Travis turned to her with a forced smile like a Kong fu student to their master while the men on the floor were groaning. Bella didn't care if the men rose and attacked them, because she had already trusted that Travis would save her. Travis, on the other hand, was rubbing his head as if to let her know they pounced on his head so th