As Pierce already predicted, the hacker sent Jake another email two days after the viral leak, threatening to reveal Jake’s location. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he had doubled his fee and was now demanding 200 million dollars.
“This is ridiculous,” Jake laughed after reading the email. He showed it to Shadow a.k.a Fransisco, and he too laughed.
“What an idiot.”
“I hope Pierce is wrong about his suspicion though. It would break my heart if he’s right.”
“At this point in your life, nothing should surprise you anymore. I could even be your enemy.”
“Please, don’t be. Let me have at least one human being that I can trust.”
Shadow smiled. “I’m just kidding. I value loyalty and integrity above everything else in life.”
“That’s refreshing to know.”
“I better go out and catch us some fish for dinner. We do
“In a shocking plot twist, all speculations about Jake Turner, also known as the Underdog Billionaire possibly faking his own death have finally been laid to rest following a confession from his former PA, Gregory Lowe, who has admitted in a social media post to being the brain behind the leaked emails. “According to Lowe, he conceived the idea after months of battling with emotional instability due to a terrible break-up that he never recovered from. He created deep fake emails and posted them to gain attention and create excitement in what he has described as a boring life.“The story is still developing and we have with us in the studio a behavioural analyst who will break down this topic and – “Pierce flipped a button on the remote control and the TV went dead instantly. He swung his swivel chair around to face Jake on the desktop computer screen where he’d been watching the news report f
“Another round, please,” said Jake Turner. He pushed his empty shot glass toward the middle-aged barman, Sam.“Yeah. Right after you pay for the ones you already drank,” came the reply.“Come on, man. Cut me some slack here. Didn’t I tell you that I just got laid off from the factory?”“How’s that my business?”“Ok, you know what. I’ll pay everything I owe once I get another job and that will be very soon.”“Very soon doesn’t pay the bills here, Jake. Pay what you owe and get out of my bar.”Jake sighed. Why did his life suck this much? He couldn’t even afford to drown out his sorrows with a few shots of cheap whiskey.“Come on, man. Pay up,” Sam growled at him.Whatever Jake was going to say next was silenced by the loud crash that happened behind him followed by a man yelling, “Stupid bitch!”He looked back to see what the commotion was about and he saw a sleek guy in a suit, towering over a lady who was sitting in front of an upturned table. She looked terrified.“I’m trying to do
“There he is! The man of the hour,” said Brian as Jake entered the tiny apartment he shared with him and two other guys.“What’s up, bruh?” Jake greeted him.“Cut the crap, pretty boy. Where’s your rent?” Freddie asked. He was a short, bulky guy with a mean streak and a foul mouth.“Chill out, man,” said Paul. “At least, let him sit down first.”“He can sit after he pays,” Freddie growled.“So, where’s your cut, bruh?” Brian asked.Six pairs of eyes focused on Jake. He realized just then that this was a gang-up against him. He’d walked into an ambush.“Look, I got laid off from work today,” he explained.Paul laughed and said, “I won!”He stretched out his hand towards Brain and got a $20 bill in return.“Wait, you guys bet on me?” Jake asked. He was embarrassed.“Yeah, because all you ever come up with are stories,” said Freddie. “You never pay your share of the rent and hardly contribute to buying the groceries.”“And yet you get to eat, sleep here and load the toilet with your stin
“Morgan has always been a very picky girl but I can see why she chose you,” said Richard Sherwood. They were in the sunroom and he’d been grilling Jake for over two hours about his background and life experiences. “I want my daughter to marry a street-smart guy, not those pansies with ivy league education but no grit. I like you, son, and you have my approval to marry my daughter.” “Just like that? I don’t even have a dollar to my name!” “I have all the dollars you could ever want, Jake. The question is, do you have what it takes to keep them coming or will you throw them all away?” “But isn’t that Morgan’s responsibility?” Richard scoffed. “Morgan is like a Sherwood mascot. She doesn’t know anything about my businesses but she thinks she would magically figure them out after I’m gone.” “Where are you going?” “Are you blind? Can’t you see I’m old? What’s left in this world for me?” “Oh…” “A stylist is coming to dress you for the engagement photoshoot later today. Morgan has a
Ever since the will reading, Jake felt as if he was walking on land mines in the mansion. Linda had stopped speaking to him and Morgan hated him.“I can’t believe I brought you here to steal my inheritance from me!”“Listen, I had nothing to do with that. I’m just as shocked as you are.”“What did you discuss with my father the following morning after I brought you here?”“He was just telling me about his businesses.”“Liar! You somehow managed to convince my father to give you my inheritance!”“That’s not true, Morgan, and you know it. How would a complete stranger convince an intelligent old man to give up his fortunes like this?”“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me how you did it?”He sighed. The arguments were always the same every day and he just couldn’t win. He too was still struggling to wrap his head around it all.In two weeks, he had gone from a poor guy to becoming a billionaire. It was unbelievable and he hadn’t yet come to terms with it.The following day, he was summon
“I can’t believe it!” Said Morgan. “Martin?”“Yes. And he pulled out a bunch of paperwork showing that Richard did owe him half his empire. I couldn’t even tell if the documents were legit or not.”“I thought Martin was an investment banker,” said Linda.“Well, he invests in shady businesses and banks on his partners going sideways on him so that he can steal everything they have,” said Jake.“What do we do now?” Morgan asked. She sounded panicked.“I don’t even know. I have no clue about this kind of backdoor business. Richard didn’t explain any of this to me!”“Get yourself together!” Linda snapped at him. “If Richard entrusted you with his wealth, it’s because he knew you have what it takes to handle it. Think!”Her words set the wheels in his brain turning at high speed. How do you beat a bully at his own game?“I’m going back to see Martin,” he announced. “I’m going to have a look at those documents again and see what I can find out.”“Good,” said Linda. “Make us proud.”When he
“We should seriously consider starting a family, Jake. We’ve been married for over a year now and I’m not getting any younger.”“I agree. We’ll start tonight when we return from the party.”He winked at Morgan and she giggled delightedly. They may not have very much in common but when they get in bed, magic always happens.They finished getting dressed and went downstairs to join Linda who was waiting for them. Sherwood Holdings was about to receive the Most Enterprising Brand award at the annual Business League event.It was one of the most coveted awards in the business world and the biggest compliment Jake has ever received since he resumed his position as President/CEO of Richard’s empire.“You look dashing, my son,” said Linda when she saw him. “You and Morgan are going to have the cutest babies.”“We were just talking about that upstairs,” Morgan laughed.“Thank you, Linda. Shall we?” He said and presented his elbows to the women.They took their positions beside him and togethe
“The police cannot protect us. We need a different kind of protection,” said Rex.“What do you mean?” Jake asked.“We need underworld protection, boss. The type Martin has.”Jake was silent. He sat back in his chair and thought about what his bodyguard had said.They were still in the hospital and Rex had just come out of surgery. Fortunately, the bullet that hit him didn’t do much damage to him and he’d be fine in a matter of weeks.“I don’t want to get involved with the mob,” he said.“At this point, boss, you don’t have a choice. No wealthy man in this country relies solely on the police of private security for protection.”“How do you know these things, Rex?”He hesitated before speaking again. “I know you don’t know much about me, but Mr Sherwood knows my background.”“Come on, Rex. Don’t mak