Return of the hidden heir

chapter 5: Return of the hidden heir

More people threw more money at Harlan and the crowd was starting to become too much for a law firm like Keith and Mint. The gatekeepers continue giving scornful and snippy remarks.

Harlan knew he would leave the place in shame. He glanced at the gateman, they were having a nice time capping on him.

"I think our boy is greedy too, if not, why is he still waiting here after all the not thrown at him?" Robinson asked the other gateman who in turn laughed.

"Don't be shy… don't be shy, Mr beggar, just pick your money and go away."

Harlan sighed. He wondered where Jack was. He could have rescued him in a situation like this. Just when he was about to take a step toward the gate, silence descended on the place.

People who had been together before, made space for someone to pass. Smith stopped walking and stared at Harlan. They maintained eyes contact. Smith felt weak in the knee as he stared at Harlan. He had grown really well.

"What is going on, son?" He asked quietly, still not taking his eyes off Harlan.

"I have been trying to get in here, but those men stopped me," Harlan pointed to the gateman. He let out a sigh of relief.

There was a sweep of exclamation in the crowd. Mr Smith just called Harlan his son! Everyone brought out there phone to take pictures of the heir who had been hidden all these while. A lot of people took videos of Harlan, and Soon they were posting it on social media.

"Father, you need to get rid of those men, they are giving a good reputation for this firm," Harlan pointed at the gateman.

The gatemen were shocked.

"Get out of here, two of you," Smith ordered.

"Sir… this is not your son… I mean, this beggar cannot be your son!" The first gatekeeper said.

Smith gave the man a cold stare," what do you mean?"

"I mean… Christ! I am doomed!" The first gatekeeper felt flat on his face.

"Sir, I didn't know you were Mr Harlan Smith," Robinson got on his knees in front of Harlan.

"What would have happened if you knew?" Harlan asked with his brow raised.

"I wouldn't…" realizing that Harlan was teasing him, Robinson swallowed the rest of the sentence.

"Have mercy on me, I didn't mean to insult you," Robinson pleaded.

Harlan took a deep breath and looked at the two gatekeepers.

"No going back, I promised to get you sacked, and that's it," Harlan said affirmatively.

Smith nodded. He found himself liking Harlan's boldness.

"Well, son, let's go talk inside," Smith said, turning to his personal assistant, he said, "post the information on our site that there are vacancies for the post of gatekeepers here."

The personal assistant whom Harlan had seen in his room yesterday bowed and Smith went to his office with Harlan.

"I am sorry you had to go through that," Smith said.

"If I had your number, I wouldn't have gone through it, it's all my fault."

"I should have given you my number yesterday, I am sorry I didn't."

Harlan smiled. He was starting to feel nervous.

Inside Smith's office, he sat down and waved Harlan to a seat too.

"You have thought about it, right?" Smith asked.

"Yes, Sir. I am ready to be your son."

Smith nodded and took a file from his drawer. He gave it to Harlan.

"I would love for you to read everything in that file. You are free to ask me anything you don't understand," Smith said.

"What do I have to do to be your son, Sir?" Harlan asked nervously. Going by the book would take a lot of time if Smith was willing to explain it himself.

"Don't use 'sir' for me any longer, you can go for 'dad' instead. You are free to do anything you would do to your own father to me," Smith said.

A flicker of pain passed through Harlan's face. He would never behave to Mr Smith the way he would behave to his own father who had sold him. But he couldn't tell Mr Smith that.

"Okay, Dad."

Smith nodded.

"You are free to add your own condition to it too, there is a space in the document where you can do that," Smith said.

Harlan thought about it. There was nothing he would need again if he became Harlan Smith. He almost shook his head and told Mr Smith that he won't be needing anything, but a thought came to his mind that had him gripping the file.

"I have something to add, dad," he said.

"Go ahead."

"Once you adopt me, I will remain your son forever, nothing can separate us again," Harlan said.

Smith nodded as he studied Harlan. He seemed to have had a hard time, and all those were going to stop. He, Smith, would make sure Harlan never suffers again.

"I promise to make you my son forever," Smith said.

Harlan wrote it in the document and signed the document after reading through it. Mr Smith signed the document too and in the presence of another lawyer, Harlan legally became Harlan Smith.

***

Cecilia flashed Jason a smile and sat beside him, she had just five minutes before the next lecture started to be with Jason.

"I called you yesterday, but you didn't pick my call," she said.

"Why did you call me?" Jason asked rudely.

Cecilia had been wondering what she found intriguing about Jason, now, she has realized it. She loved his rudeness.

"I helped you out yesterday and made Harlan get punished instead of you," Cecilia said sweetly.

"So?"

"Nothing. You could have just muttered 'thank you' to me as a sign of acknowledgement of what I did," Cecilia said.

"Did I send you?"

Cecilia's jaw dropped in disappointment.

"What? I mean… what do you mean by that?" Cecilia asked, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Do you think I would have been punished if you didn't lie about Harlan being the one who whistled and laughed? If you knew how much fun you made me miss by that stupid confession of yours yesterday, you wouldn't be sitting dumbly here and asking me to compliment you for the rubbish you did," Jason said coldly.

Cecilia's face flashed in anger.

"Stupid boy," she said under her breath and stood up.

"Hello guys!" Someone screamed, attracting everyone's attention.

"Guess what! Harlan Smith has returned!" The boy screamed, waving excitedly.

Now, there are a lot of rumours about Harlan Smith. Some people believe that Harlan Smith had died a long time ago, because if he wasn't dead, his father would have announced him a long time ago. Some people believe Harlan is studying overseas, it would only be a matter of time before he shows up, and the other set of people believe Harlan Smith doesn't even exist.

Mr Smith had done nothing about the rumours going all about his son, he seemed not to be bothered by it, but now that Harlan Smith was back, those who thought he was dead or he doesn't exist have to change their mind.

"Harlan Smith?" Jason asked in disbelief.

"Yes. It's on the internet already. He went to his father's law firm and some people harassed him because they didn't know him. Their bad luck anyway. But, Harlan Smith is back!" He shouted.

Everyone took out their phones to confirm what the guy had said.

"It's true," Jason muttered, trying to make the picture bigger on his phone so that he could see Harlan Smith's face.

"It's really true," Cecilia muttered too.

"I am going to be the first to see Harlan Smith, trust me. I wonder how old he is and how he looks. His back and side view is really good looking." Someone said excitedly.

When Harlan got inside the hall. He noticed that everyone was looking at their phone. He moved closer to one of the students and peeped over his shoulder to have a glimpse of what was holding their attention.

He almost gasped when he realized that it was his picture, but luckily for him, his face wasn't showing in the picture. He had forgotten to ask Mr Smith if he should keep his identity a secret. He let out a sigh of relief, attracting the attention of the owner of the phone through which he was peeping at.

"How dare you come near me, you smelling thing," he said in disgust.

"I am sorry," Harlan muttered and tried to find a seat to sit.

"Come back here, you fool, where do you think you are going?" The guy snapped.

"Pardon?"

"How can I be sure you have not stolen something from me?" The guy accused.

Harlan was dumbstruck, he stared at the guy.

"Wait while I check through my things. If I realize that anything is missing, you will be held responsible for it," he said and started checking through his bag, to Harlan's amazement.

Jason strode to where Harlan was, with a smirk on his face.

"Is our poor man asking you for money, man?" Jason asked the guy who has accused Harlan of stealing something.

Seeing this as an opportunity to get Jason's favour, the guy nodded.

"He is asking me to lend him a hundred dollars. I thought I had cash in my bag, but I must have been mistaken. Harlan, come over to my house in the evening and I will give you The money," the guy lied.

Jason roared in laughter.

"Do you think a checkup will cause just a hundred dollars? You are more slow witted than you look. Sometimes, I find myself wondering if you really did made it here with a scholarship or you forged your way here," Jason said.

Harlan clenched his fist, staring hard at Tracy.

"Since nothing is missing in your bag, I would love you to withdraw that dirty statement about me being a thief," Harlan said angrily.

Jason looked from Harlan to Tracy, "What is happening?"

"Well… I caught him checking through my bag and I asked him for what he was looking for. Actually, he was going to steal anything expensive he finds in my bag, but since I asked him and he said he is in need of fifty dollars, I told him I would give him twice of it," Tracy lied, glaring hard at Harlan as if warning him to not say anything again.

"Wow! Everyone should hear about this," Jason said with a smirk.

He clapped his hands twice and got everyone's attention.

"There is a new development going on in this class. Their is also a new thief that has just been caught red handed, and he is our poor Harlan. You would do well to keep your things well, if not, it would be gone within the twinkle of an eyes," Jason said.

Some of the students started, eyes widened at Harlan while the others threw hateful glances in his direction.

Without warning, Harlan attacked Tracy and grabbed him by his collar.

"Are you insane? How could you accuse me of stealing?" Harlan yelled.

"Well, I think everyone can see this. Not even poor Harlan can admit to being a thief, but it would be really helpful if you keep you things well, beginning from now," Jason said and went back to his seat.

Tracy took off Harlan's hand from his collar. He grinned at Harlan.

"Congratulations on your new found reputation. It isn't easy to be recognized as a thief, is it?"

"Trust me, Tracy, you will pay for this in the hardest way you will ever imagine," Harlan swore and went to a seat in the front.

"Even chickens make threats, so hilarious!" Tracy sneered.

Someone was in the front seat already but as soon as Harlan got there, the guy took his things and went to join another person in another seat.

"To be forewarned is to before harmed," he muttered.

Harlan's face went red in embarrassment. He tried to pretend as if he wasn't moved by what was happening and instead, he thought about something else— how to deal with Tracy.

"Hi, can I seat with you?" A female voice asked.

Harlan raised his head to look at her. Too surprised to see who she was, he couldn't say the 'yes' on his lips.