Beyond Riches: The Inexplainable Trillionaire

Chapter 3: The Truth Unveiled

The police threw Ethan into a cold cell as he sat on the concrete bench, staring at the bars.

“Why?” he muttered. “What did I do wrong? Why was I born into nothing while Brad  gets everything?” He pressed his palms to his eyes. “If I could change the world, I’d make it fair. Give wealth to those who deserve it, not lazy and cruel...”

“Shut up in there!” Two officers stared through the bars. One tall and thin with an unkempt mustache and the other was shorter, wider with a face worn by too many late shifts. "What the hell are you yapping about?"

“I said I’d make the world fair,” Ethan repeated flatly.

Both officers burst out laughing. “He is in jail for stealing ten million, talking about fairness,” the short one said. “A real philosopher.”

“Maybe you should’ve philosophized your way into not being a thief,” the tall one added.

“I didn’t steal anything.” Ethan insisted.

“Sure. Nobody in here did. We’re holding a building full of innocent men.”

Ethan’s tears filled his eyes. A loser his whole life, now losing everything else. Then came footsteps. Chief of Police Marcus Dolan rounded the corner, his face was red and sweating, with his uniform buttoned wrong and thrown on in a rush.

“Chief?” The tall officer straightened. “It’s three in the morning.”

“Open the cell,” Chief Dolan barked.

“What?” the short officer said.

“Open the damn cell and release the boy!” Chief Dolan demanded.

The officers exchanged confused looks. “Sir,” the short one said carefully, “the people behind this arrest are very powerful, the Charleslys, the Novas. We can’t just release him without their..."

Chief Dolan turn to the officer with fury in his eyes, “You’re fired. Both of you, effective immediately. Give me the keys.”

The tall officer stumbled. “Chief, we’ve been on the force for..."

“I just got a phone call. If this boy spends one more minute in that cell, what happens to me will make getting fired look like a birthday present. Give me the keys damn it."

The short officer fumbled, his hands shaking. Dolan snatched the keyring and opened the cell, then he bowed. “Please, sir, come out. I apologize for the inconvenience...for everything.”

Ethan stared. “What the hell is happening?”

“Please, just come out. I’ll explain what I can.” Chief Dolan insisted.

Ethan rose on wobbly legs and stepped into the hallway. The fired officers pressed against the wall, pale and clueless.

“Follow me, please,” Dolan said, eyes down. He led Ethan through the station as every officer stopped and stared. The chief was acting like a servant.

At the front doors, Dolan pushed them open. “Your ride is here, sir.”

Ethan stepped outside and gasped. The parking lot was filled with cars worth more than buildings. But it wasn’t the cars that stopped his heart, it was the crest. Silver, shining and a mountain with a crown, surrounded by stars. The Silvercrest family crest, painted on every door, embroidered on every uniform of the armed men standing at perfect attention.

Ethan’s legs nearly gave out. "They they found out," Ethan thought to himself. "The Silvercrests know about the alleged theft. Brad and Cady must have told their families. They’re here to finish what the Golden Five started, and kill me for embarrassing their subordinates."

A door opened on the center car, and a man stepped out. He was a tall man with straight-backed posture and he seemed to be in his mid-fifties, with gray hair perfectly styled. His suit looked priceless, but it was his presence that struck Ethan the most, because he seemed to command the ground to move beneath him. He looked like a man who could call the president and get an apology for bothering him.

Everyone in the lot bowed, the armed men, the drivers, Chief Dolan, all bent at the waist like the man was royalty.

Ethan didn’t know what to do, should he bow, run, beg for mercy? He started to bend his knees, but the man reached him first and bowed.

“Young Master Ethan, your father sent me to bring you home.”

Ethan’s mind went blank. Then hysterical, disbelieving laughter bubbled inside him. This had to be the most absurd joke in history. Him, young master of the Silvercrest family, the richest, most powerful on the planet? Brad Charlesly was a young master, Jason Nova was a young master. Not Ethan, the janitor, now a convict for a crime he didn’t commit.

Still, everyone was bowing. Ethan decided to test it. “Rise,” he said, voice cracking. “And speak to me.”

The words felt ridiculous. Who was he to give orders? But the man rose immediately, and everyone behind him did too, moving as one. They actually obeyed. “What’s going on?” Ethan’s voice grew stronger. “You’ve made a mistake, I am not your young master.”

The man smile was warm and patient, “My name is Donald Steflon. I am the head butler and estate manager of the Silvercrest family. I have not mistaken you, Young Master Ethan. You are exactly who I believe you to be.”

“But—”

“Please, call me Donald. I am your humble servant. No formality needed from you.”

Ethan’s mouth opened but no words came. This had to be a trick, the poor orphan secretly a billionaire’s child was a classic story. He’d dreamed of it as a kid in the orphanage, but that was fiction.

“You’re lying,” Ethan said. “You want me to come with you so you can kill me for what I did to Brad and Cady. Their families work for yours, they must have told you I humiliated them.”

Donald’s expression shifted to genuine confusion. “Young Master, who would dare want to kill you?”

“Brad Charlesly and Cady Winter. Their families are your subordinates, I had a fight with them. I told them I would be bigger than them someday. They must have complained, and now you are here to punish me.”

Donald’s face went through several changes. “Young Master, I know nothing of this. I was not sent by any subordinate family. I was sent by your father and If heirs from subordinate families have disrespected you… those families will be punished, severely. I can make the call right now and they will be bankrupt by morning.”

Ethan stared. The man sounded utterly sincere, but if this were a trick, of course he would. “Even if I believed you,” Ethan said slowly, “which I don’t, where has my father been all these years? I grew up with nothing. I was hungry most nights, I worked three jobs to survive, I cleaned toilets and ate from garbage cans. If I’m so important, why did nobody come for me?”

Donald’s eyes softened. “Those are questions your father must answer himself. I am only here to bring you to him.”

“No.” Ethan said firmly.

“I beg your pardon?” Donald responded in shock.

“I’m not going with you.” Ethan crossed his arms. “Either this is a trick to kill me, in which case I’d rather stay in my cell, or it’s real, and my father has a lot of explaining to do. Either way, I’m not getting in those cars.” He turned and walked back toward the station.

Donald’s heart dropped. “Young Master, please..."

“I said no.” Ethan kept marching.

Chief Dolan’s eyes nearly popped. “Are you insane? That’s Donald Steflon, the right hand of the Silvercrest family! You don’t say no to him!”

“Watch me.” Ethan said.

“Restrain him!” Dolan shouted.

Two officers rushed forward, grabbed Ethan, and threw him to the ground. His face hit the concrete, pain shooting through his cheekbone.

“Get off me!” Ethan struggled, but the officers were heavier, stronger.

Seeing this, Donald almost fainted, but he caught himself. “HOW DARE YOU!” The voice was thunder, shaking the air. Donald Steflon strode toward them, his face transformed. Gone was the patient servant, in his place was something terrifying, something that made the armed guards behind him flinch.