Benjamin Knox's Rise to Riches

Chapter 6

Hunter stretched his hands into one of the compartments beneath his desk top, retrieving something from it. He turned to the still shocked Benjamin across from him and handed it to him. It was a black card.

“This is a tax free card to a private account. It's yours from now on. This should eliminate any financial issues you've had and may have in the future. It holds a maximum of $3 billion. It's my welcome gift to you.”

Benjamin could hardly believe his ears. He stared at the sleek black card being handed to him, the amount he'd just heard swirling in his head.

"$3 billion?” Benjamin seemed in a daze. “Sir, that… that's more money than I'll ever need." He was reeling from the surrealism of the situation.

Hunter smiled, clearly amused by his reaction. "This is just the beginning, Benjamin. As the newfound heir of the Whiteridge family’s business empire, you’ll be taking over the entire consortium after your graduation. Herbert, my assistant, will guide you every step of the way."

The gravity of the situation felt like too much to process. In just one day, his life had flipped upside down. From barely scraping by with part-time jobs, he now stood on the threshold of unimaginable wealth. The thought alone made his head spin. Now, he's sitting across from the most wealthy man in the country, as his grandson.

He is literally holding a black card containing $3 billion, and is also being promised to be the ruler of the family's business empire once he graduated.

This was definitely a lot.

Before Benjamin could respond, his phone rang. Frowning, he fished it out of his pocket, seeing his best friend’s name, Max, as the caller ID.

Benjamin picked up the call. “Hey.. Max. What’s up?”

“Ben! Where the hell are you? You need to get back to school. It’s your grandmother.”

Max's urgent voice sent worry cutting straight into Benjamin's heart.

“What? My grandmother? What happened?” Benjamin’s heart began to pound, and all questions he had prepared to ask Hunter dissipated in seconds.

“Dude, she’s at school right now. She must have been informed by the school about your suspension. She must be here to beg the director into revoking your suspension. Also, she met Alexa and Andrew at the main gate. Now, I don't know what those two are telling her, but I bet it can't be good. You need to get here, now.”

Benjamin didn’t even need to think. “I’m on my way right now.” He was already moving toward the door.

Without a second glance at Hunter, Benjamin rushed outside. He hoped Max could keep Alexa and Andrew away from his grandmother, until he gets there at least.

Meanwhile, back at the grand mansion, Hunter's face darkened, his earlier joy fading. “Herbert.”

“Yes, sir?” The assistant remained near his master.

“Have one of our drivers take Benjamin back. ”

“Also, inform the driver to let me know if there's a problem.” Hunter's voice was hard and cold.

Herbert nodded with respect. “Understood, Sir.”

Meanwhile, Benjamin finally found the main entrance and he rushed out of the mansion when….

“Sir Benjamin, please, wait!”

Benjamin quickly halted his footsteps as he heard a masculine foreign voice. He then found a middle-aged man in formal wear coming towards him.

“Sir, I've been ordered to give you a drive back to your school.” The man bowed. “Please, follow me.”

They soon got to the garage and not only was the room wide, it was filled with the most expensive cars he had ever seen in his life.

Isn't that a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport that worth $3.9 million?!

And beside it is a Lamborghini Veneno, worth about $4.5 million.

And the Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita, the 2022 Bugatti Mistral, the 2023 Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail...

"Are- are these all my grandfather's?" Benjamin stuttered. 

The driver stared at Benjamin with a smile.

“Yes, Sir Benjamin. Please, pick which car you would like me to drive you in.”

Benjamin hesitated for a second and noted the more low-key one and he pointed at it. “The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport. Let's go.”

He would have settled for an even cheaper one to this $3.9 million car, but there simply wasn't any in that garage. It was just that he had no desire to show his newfound wealth to the world right now.

Time went by, and before Benjamin knew it, the car had reached the vicinity of his school.

“Stop here please.  ”

Once Benjamin was out, he turned to the driver. “Please, remain here until I say otherwise, alright? I want  to deal with this on my own.”

“I shouldn't come over without permission. I got it, Sir.” The driver nodded sharply.

Benjamin ran the rest of the way to the school gate, and that was where he found his grandmother standing a couple of feet away from Andrew and Alexa.

“Please,” she begged, her voice trembling, “We don’t have the money to pay more tuition if Benjamin misses his exams. Could you please help him stay in school ?”

“Oh, I'm afraid it's none of my business,” Alexa smirked, covering her nose with a bit of disgust on her face, “ And could you please stay away from me? I don't like dirty people.”  She glanced at Andrew, who grinned.

Benjamin's grandmother’s hands trembled. She clearly had no idea why Alexa suddenly became like this. She still thought Alexa was his grandson's girlfriend.  

“Tell you what, old lady,” Andrew said, stepping closer to her, looked down at the pitiful woman with a disdainful expression.

““You want your son to be allowed back in this school that bad, huh? Fine. Kneel right here before me. Beg me for it.”

“W…what?” Theresa Knox - Benjamin’s grandmother - was shocked by Andrew’s words. She couldn't believe she was being asked to do this.

But still, she slowly began to go down on her knees.

“Grandma, don't!”