CHAPTER NINE: HOME

“Master, good morning” Tony greeted.

Ryan opened his eyes and sat up on the bed, watching Tony draw the curtains in his room open.

“What are you doing in my room, Tony?” Ryan asked.

“You mean my room?” Tony chuckled.

“ Well if you must know, I'm here to give you some information on the assignment you tasked me with, master” he added.

“What do you mean your room?” Ryan probed.

“Oh. I take it that you had a rough night. You got drunk and mistook my room for yours. I'm impressed however at how you got through the locks I placed on the door” Tony explained.

“I wasn't…I wasn't drunk” Ryan pushed.

“You don't need to lie, master. I saw the alcohol bottles in the trash bin. Plus the place is a whole mess and oozing badly. What happened, master?” Tony confessed.

“I'd rather not talk about it, Tony” Ryan responded.

“But Master, there is an old saying that goes: a problem shared is a…”.

“I don't want to talk about it, okay?!” Ryan cut him off sharply.

“That's alright master. I'll respect your wishes”.

“I'll be going to my mother's home today. Let me have my bath and we'll leave immediately” Ryan announced.

“Very well, master”.

“If it's alright with you, I would like to call one of the helps at Ms. Roberts mansion to come here and keep the place tidy for you while you're over there” Tony pitched.

“Whatever you want to do, Tony. It's your apartment after all” Ryan answered, nonchalantly.

“Um master…sorry to disturb you further, but the assignment…”.

“We'll talk after I return from my mother's house” Ryan interrupted, walking away to his own room.

Tony nodded, walking to the living room to wait for Ryan.

…

“Look who finally decided to pay his dear mother a visit” Bethany announced happily, her arms wide open.

“If you put it like that…” Ryan answered, chuckling.

He embraced his mother, feeling a different kind of warmth from the few times he had been opportuned to embrace his father as a young child.

“I set you up with a job and you abandon me just like that” Bethany teased.

“I'm sorry mother. I truly am. It's just…it's been a whole roller coaster these past weeks especially with Vanessa's wedding. By the way, I quit my job at the bar. There was an incident” Ryan announced.

“Oh I am so sorry Ryan. We have A LOT to talk about. Let's go down to my office first, I have something to show you. I'll ask the cook to prepare something for lunch” Bethany offered.

Ryan followed after Bethany, heaving a sigh of relief. He could not still believe that he was deserving of such genuine concern, a feeling he had been a complete outcast to for most of his life.

“Remember the discussion I had with you last time about the shareholders and their current decision? I wanted to push a good response out of them but you didn't want that so I let them decide according to their own pace…” Bethany began.

“Well…” Ryan pushed.

“It was not a very good decision. I don't want to sugarcoat it, but it was really bad. Making you the new heir just seems too fishy for them especially since you're equally going to be a masked CEO. They are too protective of their investments. Also, I can't legally make you my heir just yet even if it's in my written will” Bethany spilled.

Ryan was broken.

“Why?” He asked weakly.

“Because I never believed I would get to see you as a man free from Elias' evil control. So I made my right hand man, Tony, a temporary heir in your place. The condition was that if you were with me before you turned twenty one, you would take over as heir just in case something happened to me. If not, then you'd have to wait till you turn twenty five. Making you CEO to my empire was the only loophole through this and now it's not possible. I'm sorry for keeping this from you, my dearest” Bethany explained.

“I don't know what to say, mother. I need some time alone” Ryan answered after a long pause.

He stormed out of the mansion, grabbing the keys to his car and driving away from the property.

He had no destination but he drove on. For the first time in his life, he felt like a true failure.

Ryan stopped the car by the side of the road, taking a deep breath to think deeply. A honk from another car brought him back to consciousness.

He drove on and decided to take a turn back to his apartment to rest. He had nowhere else to go, whether rich or poor.

As Ryan stopped in front of his apartment building, he stepped out of his car, shocked to see Dahlia gazing at him with visible shock.

She appeared to be waiting for someone. He walked past her without a word and into his apartment.

The apartment was clean just as Tony had promised and he was impressed, even if he was a little mad at Tony after his mother's story.

Ryan slouched on the sofa, catching his breath. He began to hear strange muffled sounds from the other room.

Ryan walked down, slightly pushing the door open. He met the next biggest shock of his life.

Tony and a woman in house cleaning uniform popped their faces from under the covers of the bed, sweating profusely and breathing heavily.

“Fuck! I didn't know you'd return so soon, master” Tony spoke, hurriedly getting up from the bed.

Ryan ran out of the room, not wanting to see anymore of the image he had just seen.

Tony put on his clothes quickly and followed after Ryan who was standing in the living room.

“I'm deeply sorry, master. Please don't let Ms. Roberts know about this, I beg you master” Tony pleaded frantically.

“Why should I not let my mother know about this, Tony? This is low and disgusting and she looked very discomforted, almost like it was against her consent” Ryan expressed.

“So you can get an early access to your rightful position as heir” Tony spat.

“Excuse me?” Ryan asked, shocked.

“I'm guessing Mama has informed you of what's at stake for your new status. I'm the only person who can change all that if I so wish. Keep your mouth shut and I say a simple sentence that will change everything. What do you say, boy?”.