Mysterious Trillionaire Kingpin

4: A detour

“The Cedric family?” Mia repeated immediately, the lines of her eyes curved. “Who are those?”

Aria relaxed. “Well, the Cedric family is business-oriented. They don't like showing off. So, yes Noah prefers simplicity that's why he's so casually dressed now. In fact, they live in the capital,” she explained.

Mia turned to look at Adrain, as if they were both wrestling with the explanation in their minds.

After a few minutes of silent communication, they finally turned to Noah again, their expression completely changed.

The coldness had disappeared but there was still something lingering underneath.

“Come, I will have the maids set the meal,” Mia said with a cool smile. “We have a lot to discuss.”

Noah found it laughable. Just moments ago, they looked at him with disgust but now, that had changed just because of a fake background name.

People were the same. They look down on you when you have nothing and respect you when you have something.

“Oh no!” Aria’s arms tightened around Noah again. “He's busy alright. He has to leave now. He's only here because I asked him to, so he has to return to his business.”

Mia regarded Noah for another moment. “Seriously?”

Noah tried to smile, to keep up with the pretense but it was difficult. “Yes, ma'am.”

“Then you should bring him to the family banquet tomorrow. Then, you can show him to the whole family,” Adrian suggested.

“Yes, that's right,” Mia chimed in, with a soft fake smile. 

Aria nodded once, with a big smile on her face. “No problem mum. He will come,” as she said this, she started to drag him with him over to the door. 

Mia and Adrian regarded them until they were out of the house.

“Are you sure he's not fake? There's no way a real heir would dress like that,” Mia voiced her opinion.

Adrian nodded once. “Yes, his clothes look so cheap.”

Mia released a sigh. “We will find out if he's a fraud at the banquet tomorrow.”

Aria released a sigh of relief when they were back in the car.

Noah turned to her quickly, visibly angry. “You didn't say anything about the lies!”

“Well, I did tell you it was all an act. Do you think you alone can pretend to be my boyfriend if I don't add extra sauce?” She sounded a bit angry, as if trying to match him.

Noah looked away, adjusting. She was right. He had nothing. There was no way he could be his real boyfriend. To meet up with her kind of standard, they would need to lie.

“What about the banquet?” He asked in a low voice.

Aria hesitated for a moment as if thinking about what to say. “You will be attending. So, now I need you to prepare for it.”

Noah panicked. “But I will be meeting the whole family.”

Aria looked at him, her eyes cold. “And it won't be a problem if you stick to the plan and don't talk too much. Just find yourself a suitable outfit and leave the rest for me.”

“But I have no money,” Noah protested softly.

Noah didn't even have any savings. He used to give Chloe 90% of his salary every month, so he didn't even have any time for savings.

Without responding, Aria gunned the car engine and drove out of the villa.

“You can't expect me to give you money for clothes aside from the five million dollars I promised you, right?”

Noah looked at her but didn't say anything.

“I can't even give you any money now because your payment depends on the success of this job. If you aren't interested, you can tell me so I can find someone else,” her voice was a bit demanding.

Noah swallowed harder. He could not afford to miss such a mouth-watering offer. He had better solve the issue of the outfit.

“No problem, I will sort it out,” he assured.

Aria smiled at this. She knew that Noah would be easily controlled. She was going to trust his acting skills because her survival would depend on him. 

Her credit card had been suspended because she refused to enter into a marriage with the Carter family which is why she needed to do this.

“Where am I dropping you off?” Aria asked suddenly, pulling Noah out of his thoughts.

He had been thinking of how he could get the money he needed for the clothes. Nothing was too small to buy for five million dollars

With five million dollars, his life would change.

“Here,” he said suddenly.

Where else would he get such an amount of money if not from Olive and Dine? 

Out of anger and sadness, he hadn't collected his wages before he left. So, he would just go for it and use it for the outfit.

He arrived at Olive and Dine and walked to the manager's office.

He banged on the door but didn't wait for a response before he opened it and walked inside. 

A middle-aged man was behind the desk, laughing on the phone. Seeing Noah, he hung up and his expression changed.

“What do you think you are doing barging inside like that? Is this your father's company?”

“I'm here to collect my wages,” Noah ignored his complaints and said instead. “I worked for two weeks. So, I deserve to.”

The manager laughed. “You must be daydreaming! No one fired you, you left on your own. So, there's no money for you. Leave my office now before I call the security for you!” He threatened.

Noah huffed. “Seriously?” 

Then, he hurried to lock the door. 

“Let's see if you will still be alive before the security comes. And by the time they are here, it will be your corpse,” he threatened and advanced towards him.

“You must be out of your mind! You will rot in prison if you try anything funny!” The manager warned.

Noah smiled. He had nothing to lose now. He was not even scared of anything anymore.

“Well, you would be dead already and maybe you would be able to watch from heaven what would happen to me!” 

He reached him and punched him on his face just as he was about to stand. The manager slumped back into the chair and his nose started to bleed.

“What have you done?” the manager cried.

“The tip of an iceberg,” Noah said dangerously and started to swing his arms.

Fear entered the manager's features instantly. “It's ok. I will give you a cheque!” He said quickly.

“Cheque?” Noah laughed. “You must be kidding. You either make a transfer or give it to me in cash!” He yelled at him.

The manager nodded once. “Alright. Cash then,” he agreed, rummaged through his desk and brought out Noah's wages.

Noah took it and walked out without another word.

Anger took over the manager at this. He took his telephone and placed a call to the security.

“Get Noah and retrieve the money with him!”

Noah recounted the money in his hands with happiness before he pocketed it.

But just as he stepped out of the elevator, several security men were standing in his way.

“Give us the money, Noah and we will let you go.”

Noah regarded them for a moment. “But this is mine.”

“Just surrender it and we won't touch you.”

Noah couldn't believe it. He should have agreed to a transfer and not cash. All the authorities in Olive and Vine were corrupt. Oliver took his girlfriend and the manager wanted to take his money.

“Move back! This is mine!” Noah warned as he adjusted backwards slowly.

But they rushed towards him nonetheless. Two men grabbed him by the shoulders quickly, keeping him in place. Noah struggled with them but they were stronger.

One of them moved closer with a smirk on his face and delivered a punch to his stomach. But instead of hitting his stomach, it made an impact with something hard and then, his game console dropped to the floor, cracked.

One of the men picked it up with shock. “What's this?”

Noah started to shake his head. “No, not the game console!” he yelled with fright. 

The man regarded the console for a moment before he threw it against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

Noah's eyes widened with shock. That was something left behind by his parents.