Chapter 6

"Let go of me, damn it! How dare you stop me?!" Alvin shouted rebelliously like a child.

He was only being pulled gently by John, but his body was dragged so easily that it took him out of the bar area.

"You bastard!!!"

Alvin shouted again at John and immediately aimed his kick at John's back knee. Of course, his attack didn't work, because John could very easily avoid it. Not only did he dodge it, John also turned his body and kicked Alvin's back knee.

It hit!

"AARRRRRGGH!!!" Alvin was now screaming loudly in pain.

His body collapsed, both knees hitting the ground. He screamed and whimpered loudly while hugging his knees with one free hand.

"ARRGGHH!!! MY KNEES!!!"

John still didn't release his choke from Alvin's other hand, while he just stared flatly at his young master writhing in pain on the ground like a worm.

"Get up!" John said finally. He commanded in his usual flat voice.

Still grimacing loudly, Alvin looked up and replied fiercely, "YOU THINK I CAN GET UP, HUH?! You hurt my knee!!!"

"Get up!" John emphasized his voice.

Even though John was wearing his usual dark glasses, Alvin could clearly see the frightening glint in John's eyes. It made Alvin swallow hard. He finally supported his body with one hand while standing up slowly. John also helped pull his hand so that he could stand up straight.

Only after Alvin managed to stand up, John released his grip.

"So, you came to see me to get your money back, right?" Alvin asked then, while he fumbled for his cell phone from his pants pocket.

"I knew you'd come back." He cleared his throat. "Don't worry, I didn't touch your money at all. I'll transfer it to you and then we can--"

"You want to kill him?"

Alvin's movement stopped. His eyes shot up to look at John in confusion. "What?"

"That young man. In the bar. The one you fought with," John affirmed, "you want to kill him?"

Alvin blinked, looking still confused. However, a second later, he looked away and laughed awkwardly.

"N-no! Of course no! Just, forget it! I was... I was out of my mind earlier!" he answered mischievously.

Suddenly, there was silence between them. The only sound in the midst of that silence was the sound of vehicles passing by on the highway.

Alvin and John stood in the narrow alley beside the bar. It was stuffy and dark. That's why the silence between them was so thick even though the highway was too noisy.

"Anyway, thanks," Alvin said then while giving John a glance.

John's right eyebrow raised slightly. "For?"

"For pulling me out of there," Alvin continued. "I can't imagine what crazy things I would've done if you hadn't come along." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and mischievously.

"Well," John grinned, "actually, you can do much crazier things than that, young master."

Alvin stopped just glancing and turned quickly to him. He frowned at John because what he had just heard seemed like something he shouldn't have heard.

However, Alvin immediately shook his head to get rid of the unimportant question mark in his mind. After that, he took a step forward.

"So, sir, I don't want to make small talk anymore," he decided while he took out his cell phone from his pants pocket.

Alvin looked at John intently. "Sir, whatever you want from me, please just give in. Although I look pathetic, I'm actually very busy. My mom was in a coma and I had to earn money to pay the mounting hospital bills. I really don't have time for other things, sir. I also don't have time to get involved with the mysterious money you gave me a few days ago."

John glanced at the cell phone that was forcefully handed to him by Alvin.

"So, please just transfer your money back from my account. After that, I hope we don't meet again."

John was silent for a moment after hearing Alvin's words. But a moment later, he suddenly snorted and sighed at the same time.

"Alright." He then took out something under his black coat. Something that was a brown letter envelope. "You should probably know how hard I went to get this before coming here."

Instead of complying Alvin's request before, the man with dark glasses handed the brown letter envelope to Alvin. He forcibly handed it into Alvin's hands just like Alvin had done to him earlier.

"I told you, right? I'll come to you again to give you a valid proof," John said while gave Alvin an eye signal to open the letter. "After you open it, you'll no longer take my words as nonsense stories, young master."

He smiled slightly. "So that way, you've finally trusted me."

***

For the umpteenth time, Alvin sighed heavily while reading the letter John had given him last night.

"So... I'm a member of the Cooper family?"

The letter John had given him last night was the result of the DNA test between him and Albert Cooper. And, the test results showed 99.99%. That means, Abert Cooper is his father.

"But..." Alvin looked down and grabbed his own hair. "Ugh! It's too crazy!"

Alvin desperately wanted to reject all of John's previous stories, that he was the long-lost Henry Alexander Cooper, and that he should return to his 'real home' as the future CEO of Axco Corporation. The problem was, this DNA test evidence made Alvin start to believe that his true identity was Henry Alexander Cooper!

Alvin exhaled again. He looked up. His eyes then fell on his mother's gurney that was visible through the PACU room.

"Things wouldn't be this confusing if mom was awake...," he muttered sadly.

Alvin actually remembered one thing. In the past, Sarah had told him that he had been in a terrible accident. It made his childhood memories blurry and made him not know many things. That's why Alvin didn't know who his father really was, in which hospital he was born, or how his life was as a child. Suspiciously, Sarah never wanted to tell him about any of that either.

"Is it because I'm not really mom's son?" Alvin guessed, asking as if Sarah could hear him.

Of course, he didn't get any answer. In the end, he remained dazed in indecision and unsteady at the same time.

However, Alvin was then distracted by a call on his cell phone. His glum face instantly disappeared and brightened up when he found out who was calling him.

"Rose!"

Yes, Rose finally called him again after almost a week of sulking. Because Alvin couldn't transfer the two thousand dollars he promised, Rose was furious and avoided all of Alvin's chats and calls.

It is still unknown whether Rose has forgiven him or not, but Alvin didn't want to think about it and immediately picked up the call.

"Hey!" he greeted first, excited as always.

There was an amused snort from Rose.

"Where are you?" Rose asked.

"As usual, at the hospital," Alvin replied in a soft voice. He seemed so happy to be able to hear his girlfriend's voice. "So... you're not mad at me anymore?"

"Hm," Rose replied.

Alvin knew there were many meanings of 'hm', but at that moment, he was sure that Rose had just said yes to his question; that she was no longer mad at him.

"Thank God.... Thank you for forgiving me, Rose!"

Rose snorted loudly. "How funny! I didn't say that I forgave you, Alvin!"

Alvin's back instantly stiffened. He sat agitated on the waiting chair in front of the PACU. "The--then, what can I do to make you forgive me?"

"Buy me something!" Rose replied without hesitation.

"Mm..., does it have to involve money?" Alvin frowned in objection. "Sorry, actually... I don't have any money right now."

He was honest. The one million dollars yesterday had already been returned to John, while the rest of his money had been used to pay off the hospital bills. So, Alvin had no more money now.

"Tsk! You're useless!"

Alvin's heart tightened at Rose's curse. Even though Rose was muttering under her breath, he could still hear her swearing. Not only that, Rose suddenly ended their call unilaterally.

It was very painful. Alvin felt so lame and useless.

Then, he started thinking, "If only I had a little 'power'...."

Alvin unconsciously glanced again at the DNA test letter. He glanced at the name 'Albert Cooper' in there.

How tantalizing it was to see the name and how much 'power' the owner of that name had. Alvin was sure that the 'power' was huge and extraordinary beyond his imagination.

Then, Alvin put his hand spontaneously into his pants pocket. He pulled something out from there. It was a business card.

"When you're ready, don't hesitate to call me, young master." That's what John said last night, before leaving Alvin with the brown envelope and the business card.

The name 'John F. Cruise' along with a contact number was written on the business card. Now, Alvin realized that his heart was wavering to contact John immediately.

"Argh, no!" The young man shook his head firmly and stood up from the chair. "I can do everything for Rose without any help!"

Alvin was determined. He decided to leave the hospital for the nearest supermarket. He actually still had a hundred dollars in cash left to survive for the next few days. But, Alvin ended up using that money to buy Rose's favorite snacks. He was sure Rose would like them.

After shopping for snacks, Alvin then moved to a cafe near the supermarket to buy Rose's favorite coffee, Cuban espresso.

While waiting for his coffee order, Alvin typed a message to Rose that he was going to her apartment. However, just as he was about to send the message, Alvin suddenly felt it was a bad idea.

"Wouldn't it be more fun if I surprised her?" The young man smiled brightly.

In the end, Alvin decided to leave for Rose's apartment without telling Rose first. He took a taxi with the money he had left so that he could easily carry the coffee cup he bought and a large plastic bag of snacks for Rose.

Alvin was now riding the elevator of Rose's apartment building with a happy heart. He even whistled when he finally walked towards Rose's apartment unit.

Since he had been in a relationship with his girlfriend for quite some time, Alvin had certainly visited this apartment quite often. He also knew the password, 'cause Alvin often helped clean Rose's apartment when Rose wasn't home. So don't be surprised when Alvin was finally able to easily open the door and enter the apartment.

"Rose! I came to bring you some---"

Alvin's enthusiastic voice suddenly disappeared. His breath caught. What he was witnessing now made his body stiffen instantly.

"Wha-what are you doing, guys?"

To be continued...