Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - I would've have given it to you anyway
Today Ryan woke up like any other day. It was his 28th birthday, the day he would inherit 58 Billion USD as per his father's will. Losing his Mom when he was 6 years old has been hard on Ryan. When his father passed away in an accident 3 years ago, things came crashing down.
Linda was his mother's best friend and when she passed away, she helped around the house and took care of Ryan. During this time Linda and his father had fallen in love. Ryan accepted this right away because of how much he loved Linda as she was his only connection to know his Mom. She took care of him as if he was her own son. And when she had kids, they were a happy family. This happiness lasted 19 years before his father passed away. Overnight he had become the head of the family.
Instead of inheriting his father's vast empire and live like a king he ended up becoming a slave to his own company. Due to the SEC and lawsuits on corruption, he could not access his immense inheritance. All this was due to a rival company trying to freeze his assets by false accusations of insider trading. This happened during the hardest time of his life, when his father had passed away.
So, when his father passed away did Ryan had nothing. He had to take the responsibilities of a company where he worked for free. He also had to take care of his step mom and her three children. Due to his step brothers being around 15 – 18 years he had to take care of them.
The last three years he was their meal ticket. He had to struggle and work three jobs a day to take care of their education and expenses. He had to give up his life-long ambition of MBA from Harvard to feed his family. But all this was going to be alright today, they had finally won the case and SEC released the funds. Being the sole heir of his father's company, he was now one of the richest bachelors in America.
He felt bad that his father's Will did not include Linda or his step brothers. He wanted to change that as soon as the SEC removed freeze on the assets. Dismissing the depressing thoughts, he got read y. Walking down the stairs to the family living room he saw Linda and his brothers Robert, Mark and Wayne. Their family lawyer John was also present in the room with the paperwork for changing the will. Ryan wanted his family to know that he cared for them.
"Happy Birthday Ryan" they all shouted together. Ryan felt happy for the first time in almost three years. Today was going to be the day when he would no longer have any problems.
"Big Brother, you need to taste the cake mom made" shouted Robert. He was almost shouting at the top of his voice due to the excitement of having the cake.
"Alright, let me talk to John and get the paperwork done. I will get to the cake as soon as I am done with it." Said Ryan, still smiling from all the happiness from his brothers and his family.
"John did you get all the paperwork that I asked for. I need it entered into the Will today. In case something happens to me I want the family to be taken care of. Mom will be handling all the business in case something happens to me." said Ryan.
"All the documents are in order the way you want them sir. All I need is signature from you authorizing this" replied John.
Ryan signed the document after looking it over once, he was happy that this was finally behind them.
"Mom and you guys, I want to make an announcement." Ryan said getting their attention.
"I spoke to John and have made the amendments to the Will; Mom could have contested the Will but she didn't. I want you guys to be equal shareholders in the company as a sign of the trust I have, like how she had trust in me." said Ryan
"Of course, other than Mom, the rest of you will have to wait till you are 21 to access the funds" joked Ryan.
"Alright, enough business talk. Eat the cake now. " Linda replied; Ryan could see that this affected her when he saw her eyes misting up.
Linda fed him the cake; everyone was happy and started celebrating. Linda and John opened the celebratory champagne. Ryan felt woozy and collapsed on the sofa.
"Looks like it's finally kicking in, all this smiling and acting is giving me serious jaw ache. Almost wanted to end him myself, he is such a loser" said Robert.
"Ha ha, his father and mother were such eyesores. Flaunting how much they loved each other. How much their precious Ryan meant to them" sneered Linda.
"Guys what is happening, what is going on? Stop joking around, I don't feel so good. Mom what are you talking about?" asked Ryan. He was so confused, why would Mom say stuff like that? He always loved her; Dad loved her too.
"Guys stop confusing him, I will explain it to him in words he will understand. He is so stupid that he would die and still not understand what is going on." said John.
His brothers were laughing now. He did not understand why he deserved this treatment. In the last three years of working three jobs and taking care of them he had come to love them even more. Never did he feel that they were a burden.
"Okay, so what happened was your Mom married Jack and they were happy for a while. He started his business and became rich so fast that they did not deserve it. I was jealous, your mom was always my underling, how dare she flaunt her riches. She was my pet dog in school, how dare she marry a man and find happiness before me." Shouted Linda.
"Did you know what irritated me the most? Their looks of friendship and love. It was so ridiculous as if I needed them. It was when Jack was overseas trying to build the business that I got your mom Sarah hooked on to drugs. It was harmless at first, you know some Vicodin here some Oxy there. Soon enough she got hooked on to the hard stuff." Said Linda.
"Faking an overdose was so simple that it was a joke. When your dad found her overdosed, he silenced it so that it would not affect you. He was so guilty, I almost laughed at her funeral. After that the guilt made him overwork and neglect you as he could not face you anymore. I healed him with words and taking care of you, I wanted to get rid of you as well. He made me sign the pre nuptials that the assets would belong to you and I would get a small sum. I almost wanted to kill you. I knew I could not get away this time."
"Mom look he is frothing at the mouth. Gross. Clean him up John" said Robert.
John took his handkerchief and started wiping Ryan's shocked face. Ryan was so shocked he could not find words to reply this hideous woman.
"When your Dad died, he still did not change the will. Meanwhile, I was doing insider trading and moving it to the offshore accounts. The SEC dogs sniffed it out. I almost got caught, Johnny here helped me out. He also convinced me to keep up the act while he tried to keep the pre-nup a secret and get you to believe your Dad was unfair. Ha ha I still can't believe you fell for it" said Linda.
"So, poisoning the cake as soon as you signed was the last thing to do to get rid of your Dad and your Mom's traces on this planet."
Ryan tried talking now, his voice had gone raspy. He coughed a couple of times before he managed to say "Mom, I would have given the money to you if you had asked. I loved you and the brothers Mom, was money so important?"
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME MOM, YOU PIG. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, DIE, DIE, DIE. YOU PIG! THIS IS WHY I KILLED YOUR MOM!!! SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS BETTER THAN ME. DIE!!!!" she screeched and kicked Ryan's face again and again.
"Stop it Linda, we can't leave too much evidence. We should at least be able to play it off as suicide. We can't do that if you hurt him too much" said John while trying to restrain Linda.
Ryan looked at her for one last time, something broke in him. It was his trust. He could never believe again. What was there to live for, his family the only thing he valued was gone. Money never mattered to him anyway, the last three years of his life and youth was gone. The sad thing was he would do it all over again for them because of a silly thing called love. Was it worth it?
He started hearing someone call out his name. Her voice was sweet, it reminded of spring after winter and drizzle in the hot summer.
"Ryan, stick with me. I need you. The world needs you. I want you, Ryan. I love you Ryan, you embody the 12 strengths of the Universe. Don't lose hope, don't stop now."
With those words the world blacked out.
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