Brandon shuffled into the gas station store, holding tight to his paper cup filled with coins. A loud voice diverted his attention as he got close to an aisle. Behind an older man who had hearing problems, he observed a line of irate customers.
“I’m sorry, what did you say about the water being funny?” the elderly man asked the cashier.
“Money!” she groaned. “I said you don’t have enough money, sir!”
“Yes, it was a sunny day!” replied the man with a frown.
“You need more cash! For the water!” A younger guy standing behind the man grabbed him by the shoulder and yelled into his ears.
Brandon took note of everything. He wanted to intervene, but he did not want to anger the customers. The elderly man, meantime, clarified that he was short on cash and asked if he might receive a smaller bottle of water because he needed to take his medication.
“You will have to leave if you are unable to pay!” The cashier yelled.
“May I go?” The cashier grabbed the water bottle out of his hand as he turned to go, grinning. She snarled, “Just get out, old man.” “You are really too troublesome!”
The elderly man requested that he needed to take his pills, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Brandon had had enough. He marched to the cashier and offered to pay for the old guy.
“Have a heart, lady,” he said and emptied his cup on the counter. The woman looked at him in distaste before she counted the money.
She took all the money, including his final $2, and said, “That will cover everything.” “Now move aside. The line is being held by you.
Brandon offered the older man the water, leaving his can of beans on the counter.
“All right, sir. He said slowly and clearly, making sure the man could see his face in case he needed to lip-read, “I got you water.” The man then thanked him. Brandon went to his tent on the barren stretch of ground next to the station after they left the store together, but the man stopped him.
“Wait!”
Brandon turned around.
“Why did you help me when you obviously needed the money?” asked the older man.
“If there is one thing I have learned from being homeless, sir,” Brandon replied, “it is that when people treat each other with kindness, the world functions.”
However, what will your children eat? The beans were left on the counter by you.
Brandon answered, “We have the last of yesterday’s bread.” “We will manage.”
The man frowned as he went away. Brandon wondered why a man like him could not purchase a bottle of water after noticing that he got into a shiny SUV.
The next day, while Brandon was dividing cold fries among his kids, a silver sedan pulled up near his tent. A man in a fancy suit approached.
“Morning, sir. Mr. Grives’s last wish was for me to deliver this to you,” he said, extending an envelope.
Brandon wiped his hands and took it. There was a letter inside.
“Dear sir,
When you spent your last few bucks on me yesterday, you demonstrated that you are a kind man. Your generosity and commitment to helping others have motivated me to return the favor by giving you the best present I can: my company.
I am nearing the end of my stay here. Since I have realized that my son is a self-centered, heartless man, I have recently grown nervous about leaving my business to him. If you were to inherit the business instead, it would significantly calm my conscience. I only ask that you see to it that my son is cared for and able to lead a secure, comfortable life.
“Is this a joke?” Brandon looked up at the man.
The man produced a stack of printed papers and a pen. “Mr. Grives was quite serious. And the moment you sign these papers, it’ll be official.”
“But I just met the guy yesterday. And now he’s dead and leaving me everything?” Brandon asked as he studied the documents.
“I understand your concerns, sir, but these papers were drawn by the finest lawyers. All we need to do is fill in your name, and the lawyers will proceed with the rest.”
This was his chance to provide his kids, so Brandon signed it. Then, the man drove him and the children to their new home.
As they arrived, Brandon stared up at the massive mansion.
Even Brandon found it hard to believe. However, he realized something was off as soon as he pulled the double doors open. The house was in disarray, with a closet overturned and a table on its side in the hallway.
After dumping the bags, Brandon chased after the vehicle and instructed the driver to dial 911. A few hours later, he was talking to the police while standing surrounded by smashed furniture and shredded sofas.
The officer stated, “We have inspected the entire residence and have not discovered any evidence of forced entry, sir.” “This, along with the fact that the security system seems to have been bypassed with the right code, indicates that the person who vandalized this location had a valid way to enter.”
“Like a key? So, the person who did this just walked in here?”
“I’d suggest you change the locks, sir,” the officer nodded.
As the cops left, Brandon suspected the elderly man’s son.
Mr. Grives’s secretary showed there early the following day. Before bringing Brandon to the company, she went him shopping and had him cleaned up by a barber. Brandon was preparing to browse the computer files in the office that had once been Mr. Grives’s when the doors suddenly flew open.
“You are definitely Brandon!” A man in his middle years walked into the office wearing a dark suit. “I am Christopher, a former business associate of Mr. Grives, and I am here to keep you out of a lot of problems.”
“I’m sorry?” Brandon asked.
Christopher clarified that he was in charge of sales for one of Mr. Grives’s “particular” companies. Brandon realized right away that it was against the law. Christopher was having none of it, but he refused to go on.
You idiot, pay attention! I was owed $2 million by Grives for managing his illegal operations! That is your responsibility now,” he growled. And I will go to the police and tell them everything if you do not pay. Additionally, you will be responsible for any damages as the owner of the business. I therefore anticipate receiving my $2 million by Saturday.
“What? This is extortion! You can’t be serious!” Brandon retorted.
“Yes, it is. And just in case you think I’m not deadly serious…” Christopher pushed back his suit jacket and placed his hand on the butt of a gun holstered at his side. “…rest assured that if you cross me, Brandon, I’ll make you disappear.”
Brandon said nothing and agreed to Christopher’s demands. But he wondered if Christopher was scamming him. So Brandon searched for any hints of this illicit side of the business.
After looking over the information from every other department that night, Brandon was certain Christopher was lying. But then he saw the filing cabinet hidden in one of the room’s corners. Using the keys he had discovered on his desk earlier, Brandon opened it. His initial observation was that the drawer contained an antiquated filing box.
A ledger with entries in some sort of shorthand was found inside, and Brandon knew Christopher was not lying. He opened a drawer in desperation, hoping to find some bottles of scotch there, but all he saw was a picture.
It showed Mr. Grives standing with…a younger guy. Brandon’s eyes bulged in horror when he realized how similar they looked. The young man was Christopher, Mr. Grives’s son!
Things started making sense to Brandon. He couldn’t believe a kind man like Mr. Grives would be involved in illegal business practices. So, most likely, Christopher was using his own shady dealing to blackmail him, Brandon reasoned.
Everything was occurring far too quickly, including a lucky break and a horrible turn of events that threatened to ruin everything. Fortunately, Brandon was accustomed to the hectic nature of the corporate world.
Christopher and Brandon met in the underground parking lot that Saturday, but Brandon had a counteroffer.
“I will give you 49 percent of the business while I keep the remaining 51 percent because I have to honor my promise to your old dad,” Brandon stated. You will have enough money to live comfortably, will not you? And I will keep the right to run the business the way your father intended.
But Christopher refused. “I’m not a fool! I deserved all of it, not some token! Let’s talk when you come to your senses!” he hissed and left.
Brandon went back to the office. He decided to pay Christopher his $2 million and be done with this but found the company’s money was tied up in assets or allocated to monthly expenses. Brandon was helpless.
Dejected, he went back to his house, where he would face yet more difficulties. The babysitter for his children was gagged and strapped to a chair when he opened the front door.
“He took the children! “This should serve as a wake-up call for you,” he continued. As he released her, she sobbed, and Brandon recognized the person she was referring to.
After pleading with Christopher not to harm the kids, Brandon agreed to turn over the business over the phone. They agreed to get together at noon. However, Brandon also made a police call, and within 30 minutes, he was seated next to an FBI agent.
“Just follow my instructions, and we’ll have your kids back…” Agent Bates assured him.
That noon, Christopher was chilling by the poolside of a hotel he’d rented out. He’d locked Brandon’s kids in a closet and dismissed all hotel staff except the manager, whom he had paid handsomely.
“Excuse me, sir,” the manager interrupted him. “You have a package.”
Christopher smiled as he looked at the envelope. Strolling to his room, he signed the documents he saw within the mail. At last, the business was his! He then released Brandon’s kids. “A group of ragamuffins like you four can definitely find their path.” Get lost now!
Christopher completed his preparations. He heard a click behind him all of a sudden. Christopher recognized the sound of a gun’s safety selector right away, despite its softness.
“FBI! Put your hands in the air! You’re under arrest.”
Meanwhile, Brandon held his children close on the sidewalk. Thanks to Agent Bates’s idea of putting a tracker in the documents, Christopher was caught.
Ready to put things right, Brandon took the kids home. Knowing that he would have nothing left over at the end of the investigation, he gave the agents the evidence—the ledger he had discovered in his office and a copy of the company’s records—when the FBI’s fraud section arrived with a warrant. He would, however, be free.
“Daddy, are we going to leave our home…just when Mommy died?” Kelly asked him.
Brandon got down on one knee and hugged his kids.
“Hey, you four, we will be all right. Are you curious as to why?
Children nodded and gave him a serious look.
“It’s because the most valuable thing we have is right here, in my arms. So long as we stick together, we’ll always be rich in the most important way: love.”