The smell of cigarettes filled the air, alcohol and laughter from both responsible and irresponsible men echoed throughout the room, yet one man sat at the far end, spending the last few West Arcadian Dollars in his pocket on a bottle of drink.
"Mind if I join you, mate?" A tall man whose face was barely visible under the dim light requested, and without waiting for Oscar's reply, he drew out the chair opposite him and sat down. "What's good?" The man asked and Oscar felt irritated, he wanted nothing more than to sit alone and wished the folk would quit bothering him. "Nothing good, man," He replied, without hiding the fact that he felt disturbed. "You know," the man continued, after taking a sip from his bottle of baijiu. "If you don't want to talk about something, it's okay to say so. No need to feel bothered." He concluded and lit the cigarette after carefully placing it in between his lips. "Do you smoke?" He asked, handing his second cigarette to Oscar who politely declined, "No, thank you," He replied, "I do, but not tonight." He lied with a sigh. He wondered how the man knew that he was bothered, yet failed to stop bothering him. "By the way, the name is Wade, lost my wife earlier today, I loved her so much," He uttered, and Oscar could already tell that the man just needed company, that's all. "Sorry about that," He uttered, "Lost my job, and my wife recently," He also confessed. Besides, what would silence do for him other than keep him thinking about what he didn't want to think about? "Oh, she died?" Wades asked, wearing a sympathetic look. "Uhm... yes," Oscar replied, he couldn't bring himself to tell the random man what truly transpired between Ellen and him. "Sorry man, and your job too, you know coming here to drink after losing your job and wife wouldn't help matters, you'd leave and still have to face it." He emphasised each word like he truly meant them, speaking like a therapist, a tipsy one at that. "You are doing the same thing," Oscar argued, as it made no sense that a fellow bird would tell another that flying was wrong. "No," Wades interjected "I have a job, you don't. I can buy myself ten bottles and still have a lot of money on me, you can't." He added and Oscar raised a brow. "What is he getting at?" "Listen here man," Wades continued, "If you think coming to this dark place to drink will soothe you, then you are just wrong. I'd rather take a bath and take a walk in the park with headphones on." Wades concluded. He stood up and dropped the cigarette on the floor, stepping on it to put it out. "Pay for your drink when you are done," He said and placed a few dollar bills on the table, before walking away without giving Oscar a chance to thank him or ask questions. After Wades's swift disappearance, Oscar reflected on what the man had said, he had three million dollars to pay back to a company that he did not steal from, yet he was sitting here drinking. He was just living the moment and he knew it, but now that the stranger had pointed it out, he saw no point. Picking up the money, Oscar counted the notes only to realise that he had left five notes, each a hundred-dollar bill. "What the hell?" He was stunned, checking again to make sure he hadn't counted wrongly. He had no way to contact the man, so he paid for the drink and quickly rushed out of the bar hoping to get a glimpse of him at least. "Hmm," He sighed when the man was nowhere in sight. Before he could turn around and leave, two police cars parked in front of him. He was startled for a moment knowing that his boss at work had threatened to get him arrested, but he expected that she would give him some time to attempt to pay back. The officer hurriedly walked out of the car, "Excuse me?" He politely approached Oscar, not wanting to scare the man off. He stared at the image on the phone in his hand and back to Tristan. The plate number on the car not so far away from him, also matches the one he was given. "Are you Mr Oscar?" He asked, and Oscar instinctively knew that he was the one they were after. "Yes," He nodded, what more could he do? Running from a cop in West Arcadia would only get you into more trouble than you are already in. "Okay, we'd like you to come to the station with us, please cooperate and make this easy for yourself, okay?" The cop uttered, keeping a calm countenance as well as the others. Having guessed why they came for him, Oscar sighed heavily, "Okay," He mumbled, at least it was better than public embarrassment for something he wasn't guilty about. "Thank you," the cop acknowledged his submission and guided him to the car. Once seated inside the car, Oscar closed his eyes for a moment. He knew there was no way to get himself out of this situation unless an investigation was carried out without the company's consent. No one would listen to his suggestion because he was the victim and all evidence pointed to him, else he'd have asked for Jacob McCarthy to be interrogated. The good thing about the police department in West Arcadia was that they were very critical in their investigations, sooner or later, he knew that the truth would come out and he would be free. He looked at the cash in his hand and sighed, "Wades," He mumbled, before finding a way to put them in his pocket while waiting for the police car to arrive at the station, where his fate for the next few days or even months, will be decided."Carefully fill this form, Mr Oscar," one of the cops handed a white piece of paper to him while he stood at the counter.Without responding, Oscar took the paper and pen from her and silently filled up the document, after which he handed it back to the cop."You left the surname blank," the female cop complained and Oscar nodded his head,"I know," He said."Is there a reason why?" She asked him with a hint of curiosity in her eyes."I never met my parents, and I don't use the surname given to me by the court, I don't like it. I only used them for document's sake." Oscar replied and the cop sighed."I'm sorry," she said."It's okay," Oscar uttered and followed her to the chief's office, the man who will decide his fate for the time being."Good evening, please sit down." He ushered and Oscar did as he said, all while keeping a straight face and composed demeanour. After looking through the files in front of him, the chief looked up to Oscar and said "I believe that you are aware o
Do not touch that man!” The police chief yelled at the cops as they took Oscar towards one of the cells.They all turned to face hi, including Oscar, and the chief looked at his phone again to confirm that the person looked just like him.The striking resemblance was astonishing, such that anyone would assume that it was a picture of Oscar that was taken a few months back. The only difference was the hairstyle.Having this knowledge, the chief knew that he had hit the jackpot, because Oscar wasn't just from any family.“Please Pardon me, sir," He approached Oscar, who was stunned by the sudden remark. Even the cops who had escorted him were confused."Your mother must not know that you were arrested, I beg you," he apologized and Oscar frowned. He couldn't help but feel that the chief was mocking him since he had no parents.“Prepare the car!” He ordered the cops."The Slytherin family is about to get some good news.”At that name, both officers raised a brow, the chief did not say an
By nightfall, they were all seated in the car, Oscar, the chief, and two cops along with him. The three of them were not dressed in uniforms and did not go along with an official police car.The fact that they also chose to drive at night made no sense to Oscar. It'll take them three hours to get there, and they left the station by 7 pm."Why didn't they leave earlier?" He kept that question to himself.He also contemplated whether or not to ask the chief about the Slytherin family, and why they were taking him there, and he couldn't come up with any reason to be afraid to ask."Am I the man in the picture?" He asked the chief who was seated next to him at the back, and the chief replied with a smile,"Wouldn't it be wonderful?""Wouldn't you confirm first? What if I am not their son? That will put both you and me into a lot of trouble. It has been twenty-six years since that child went missing, what are the chances that he is even alive?" He asked the chief, to further understand how
As anticipated, the drive through the night took three hours, and at exactly 10:32 p.m, they arrived at Axel City. It was quiet throughout the city, mostly because those who live here are very influential and wealthy families. The streets were not filled with clubs, only a few, and also it was past ten pm, so most people had returned to their houses. The drive to the Slytherin's house took twenty minutes, they passed numerous checkpoints, and being a police chief, the man had easy access through these checkpoints by showing off his official license. The Slytherin family bought a massive plot of land, enough to create a small town. Not just that, the position of the land was spectacular, being situated above the city near the rocks. Each member of the family had their house at different points, but the Slytherin house itself was situated at the far end of the land on the left, a mansion built on the rock.The breathtaking view of Axel City from the mansion was spectacular, and the
With his heart racing, Oscar walked into the biggest bedroom he had ever seen, so spacious yet so beautiful. And by the edge of the bed in front of him, a woman was seated, it was none other than Amy Slytherin. She looked quite young for her age, so beautiful and elegant that no one would assume she'd have a twenty-six-year-old son, her dark hair rested on her shoulder, while her eyes were already covered in tears."Frederick," she mumbled and stood to her feet. She looked away from the paper and let the tears drop from her eyes. She closed the distance between them, and looked into Oscar's eyes."I thought I lost you for good," she cried, her body shaking slightly as she was overwhelmed by the unexpected news."A mother needs no tests to tell who her son is," she added and drew Oscar in for a hug.She sobbed in his arms, the true reaction of a mother who had just reunited with her son. These tears of joy could not be contained, and she could only hold back from screaming on top of h
Inside the room, Oscar stood in awe, the sight of what now belonged to him was spectacular, no one would reject a life like this, and Mrs Amy did not even give him a chance to say no."I'm adopting you today," He recalled what she had said and smiled. He tried to recall if he had any memory of his mother. He closed his eyes and tried to picture what she must have looked like but he couldn't remember anything beyond Pere's house."Hmm," He said and sat down by the edge of the bed, he took out his phone and searched for the Slytherin's long-lost son again, and once again those images were shown. He read through the article again, and a few assumptions from the detective who had been on the case, all while trying to figure out if any of them matched something he could remember, but none.He was just trying so hard to see if he truly belonged here, but nothing came to his mind. "I can't let the public know of this yet," He mumbled, unless he was truly their heir, he couldn't let the pub
Oscar woke up, still assuming that he was at home and not the Slytherin mansion. He couldn't recognise where he was for a few seconds, before it finally occurred to him that he had spent the night at the Slytherin mansion. He sighed and got off the bed immediately. He stared at his phone to check the time, and it was past seven a.m. and also read the response to the voicemail he sent to Karen last night.Karen had asked for a few documents to file for the divorce, and he proceeded to send all soft copies to her before walking into the bathroom to freshen up.This has been his daily routine for the past three years since he started working for the company that fired him. He saw three new toothbrushes and cleaned his teeth with one of them before proceeding to take a bath.He had only just gotten out of the bathroom when he heard a knock on the door."I'm coming," He said, and forgetting that he had nothing but a towel around his waist, Oscar unlocked the door to let in a maid who brou
"I was," He replied with a sigh, if only Ellen had stayed back with him, she would partake in the luxury of his current life."You had a family, with a child?" Amy asked, leaving the door and walking back to where he was seated. "No, I don't have a child yet, she left me recently, apparently, she saw someone better, but it doesn't matter anyway." He replied, hoping his newfound mother would drop the topic, but she didn't."You loved her?" She asked and Oscar thought about it for a while, he loved her, and after she chose to be foolish, and leave with someone else, he still loved her. She was his wife after all, and the memories of the blissful two years they'd spent together were still fresh.He was upset but didn't hate her entirely, he was disappointed but did not condemn her, but one thing Oscar wasn't going to do, was get back with her. After he had torn the divorce paper, he wanted to file for another divorce to bring the union to an end.He was quite aware that if Ellen saw him
As he walked into the Slytherin mansion, Nigel couldn't believe his eyes, it looked as if they lived on an entirely different planet because their home was just grand both inside and out. For a moment, he wished to become a member of the family, just so he could visit the mansion every day or even live there. But his admiration of the mansion was cut short when the voice of a young man called his attention from behind. "Please sit down," He said and Nigel nodded before taking his seat on the sofa, waiting for them to attend to him as soon as they could. Mark came to him in less than five minutes and he submitted the papers. Mark signed on to other blank spaces and spent a lot of time reviewing the information on the documents. It has a lot to do with Nigel's contributions to the company handed down directly from the managing director at the London branch, and it was meant to help Mark determine what kind of promotion Nigel was to be given. After accessing the information, which
Inside the elevator he took a deep breath and waited until he got to the sixth floor. He stepped out and walked his way down the last office and knocked gently on the door. “Come in,” Aston's voice responded from the inside, and without further ado, Nigel walked into the office and met the CEO of the Slytherin Empire staring at a picture on his phone. The expression on his farces was somewhat disturbing, like he had just seen a dead body or a gruesome sight from a crime scene. Looking at him again, anyone could think he was irritated, but Nigel would rather not ask him any questions since it had nothing to do with him, but at the same time he hoped he wasn't being too insensitive. “Good afternoon sir,” He greeted Aston and the CEO lifted his head from the phone and replied “Yes, sit down,” His gaze returned to the screen, and this time, Nigel couldn't hold back his curiosity. “Hope I didn't come in at the wrong time?” “Huh?” Aston raised a brow, clearly he was distracted, bu
They picked up Nigel not so far away a headed fod a garden far-off into the city. The drive was rather peaceful, no one said a word to each other, not even Oscar. The lively moments between mother and son ended and now the depressing moment carried on until they got to the reserved park. Once they got into the park, there were several suits and exclusive restaurants scattered across the land mass, and with the help of Tom, they got a reservation at the best sitting area. It was situated inside the hotel at the park, designed for the elites. As the walked in, drinks were already set on their table, with clean glasses for them to drink with. As they sat down, a waiter approached them to take their orders, and in this place, whatever food was ordered will be cooked and served fresh, and just to make it more exciting and luxurious, the customer were given the exclusive menu, consisting of the most exotic dishes from across the world. The menu was a large book, having pictures of
Oscar did not just take Amy out of the room but out of the mansion, she made her get into the car and for the first time in a long while, Oscar was going to drive into the street alone. But Tom having spotted them from afar, signalled other bodyguards and immediately followed them from behind, whilst maintaining a good distance. Neither Oscar nor his mother said a word while they were together, he knew the emotional tumult, he knew that her heart was broken, shattered to pieces. He knew that she wanted to strangle Aston to death and he didn't blame her for feeling that way. Aston was a dubious man, nothing about him was good maybe the fact that he founded the Slytherin Empire. The tales he's heard of this man from Stephen are not ones of he was willing to share just yet, but even though it was not part of their plans, Oscar felt that it was time to introduce his mother to Nigel. Stephen had introduced Nigel to him and had told him how far they had gone in their research befor
She paced back and forth in the room and both Oscar and Leo watched her without saying a word, she was in a very bad state, and if only Oscar would let her, No was willing to run out of the room to make trouble with her husband. For a woman in her mid-fifties, Amy was quite strong, she knew how to get what she wanted and would go to any length to get it, but with Oscar pleading with her to stay calm and keep the door locked, she has no choice but to inhaled and exhale repeatedly until she was a little bit calm.Suddenly a knock was heard on the door, looking through the peephole, Oscar sighed in frustration, it was none other than the man whose presence had ruined their whole day.He opened the door to let him in, and as if Amy knew he was the one, she threw a pillow at him, one after the other until Oscar came in between them and stopped the pillows from hitting Oscar. He also approached Amy and tried to stop her once again. "What a way to welcome me, Amy," Aston scoffed, staring a
“I see that we already know each other,” Aston smirked, his eyes staring into the eyes of the young man who was supposed to be his son. How quick they were to conclude, how swift they were to make him the CEO in his absence without even knowing whether or not they were related.The striking resemblance was too much to go unnoticed, but most people will argue that it's possible because people look alike in the world and this could just be a sheer coincidence.“Yes, so it seems,” Oscar nodded his head in agreement,“And from what I know, you went missing three months ago, it's good to see you back,” Oscar said and didn't let go of Amy, the lady fuming with anger and Oscar could feel it build up with each passing second. “Well yes, I have been away for a long time,” Aston uttered nonchalantly, and stole a glance at Amy, “And oh, before I forget,” He added and turned around to face Miles.“This is my son, Miles Slytherin,” He said, leaving everyone's jaws to drop to their feet. Amy's re
Within three days, the drama had subsided, all the Slytherin Empire companies were back to resume operations, and as easy as it may seem it was truly hell for all of them, both CEO and those under him. When Oscar returned to the mansion, Amy had already hosted a party to welcome him, inviting a lot of people to the Slytherin mansion, both within and outside the Slytherin Empire The celebration was grand, and Oscar was delighted to have come back to such a gathering, and he appreciated all those who came to celebrate with him. As for William Hudsons, he had confirmed by himself that Micheal was alive after he noticed that the detectives knew the truth. He tried to conceal it but only went into more trouble with the authorities. He was arrested under several charges, and his company was suspended. Micheal's son was also arrested for conspiracy, and as if that was not enough, most of their assets were confiscated, including their homes and land across west Arcadia. The case ended
“Why do you think so?” Oscar inquired, even believed that Micheal was dead, the evidence was so clear even though Micheal's pictures were not shown. “Think about it sir,” Leo replied, “Mr William Hudsons did not say a word about his son's death until two days after the supposed incident that caused him to lose his life, and while many people think he was grieving, I don't think so.” He came out two days later and claimed that the Slytherins had killed his son, and it had been four days now since the incident and Micheal is yet to be buried, what's causing the delay.” “He didn't see the need to publicize his son's funeral?” Oscar replied but in such a way that it seemed like he was also asking a question. “I thought of that, but Mr Williams is not known for keeping quiet, he announces everything very quickly. Take when he lost his mother for example, the funeral took place two days after, and there was a full life coverage broadcasted on the news, so what makes Micheal different?”
Days turned to night and things were not going well with the Slytherin nor with the Caribbean enterprise, the company clash became a more brutal war, especially after the death of Micheal Hudson. Without any logical evidence, Williams concluded that the Slytherins had everything to do with the death of his son and no one could tell him otherwise. He went as far as suing the Slytherins for murder, but as powerful as the Slytherins were, proper investigations needed to be carried out before the arrest. And in this case, the Slytherin Empire had the upper hand and no action was taken. Oscar was already sick and tired of the travels. Within the past week, he has visited five top political officials, people he never thought he'd meet in his lifetime. He spent more money than he had ever spent all his life, trying to solve the problem at hand, leaving the Slytherin experts to deal with William Hudson, but the suspension was yet to be reconsidered and he never thought it was going to be