SECRETLY THE WEALTHIEST MAN.

Chapter 2: Help turned into trouble.

“I'll pay for his meal." The smooth feminine voice was added.

She approached graciously, her heels clicking against the marble floor of the restaurant like a model threading on a catwalk. There stood Rose, in a red dress, her beauty effortless and flawless, drawing attention to her.

Seeing her, a smile crossed Elijah's lips. He immediately recognised her as the lady who gave him the $100 and offered kind words to him.

The male attendant turned to Rose sharply.

“Madam, this man here is a scam. This isn't about paying for the meal. It's about integrity!" He pointed at Elijah whose face was still hidden under the hood.

Rose scoffed lightly, her small lips pressed thinly then she spoke up eloquently.

“Talking about integrity, what part of integrity told you to harass a beggar because he couldn't pay. How much is the money we're talking about?" She rolled her eyes at the man.

The man's shoulder slumped, almost like accepting defeat and feeling ashamed to speak the amount of money. Nonetheless, he revealed it with a voice barely up to a whisper.

“It's $50." He said hesitantly.

Rose’s eyes dilated Slightly. “You were going to harass him because of $50?! That's gross!"

She turned to Elijah with a smile on her face. “You may leave. I'll handle the bill." She told him.

Elijah was surprised this lady didn't treat him like a beggar or inhuman like everyone has been doing.

Instead of being unkind to him like others, she even offered to pay his bill.

“That's too kind of you but I can pay for the m.."

“No, I'll handle it." Rose interuptted him with a genuine smile because she thought he's really a beggar.

Elijah gritted his teeth as he glanced between the workers wanted to embarrass him. He appreciated Rose and left the Restaurant.

Rose didn't have breakfast that morning before coming to work so she took an excuse from the manager to get something edible which was why she came to Bites and Bites.

On her way out with the dish she bought, her debit card fell from her hand without noticing it.

Elijah who was on his way to the Bin to join other beggars noticed it when he inadvertently turned back.

“Hey..madam!! Hey!!" She called on her but Rose had entered the bank so she couldn't hear him.

Elijah jogged to where the card fell and picked it up. He stared at it, pondering if he should go after her or wait till she notices the card is missing and she'll definitely come for it.

Just as he thought, someone snatched the card from him and ran away.

“Hey!! Stop!!" Elijah ran after the man to one of the ATM machines outside the West Bank.

The man who stole the card quickly slotted the card into the card slot but he grumbled in disappointment when an error message popped up on the screen; ‘insufficient funds’

“What a waste!" He lamented and hurriedly left the machine, abandoning the card in the card slot.

Elijah got to the ATM machine panting heavily. He thought the man had withdrawn all the money but when his eyes fell on the screen to see the message displaying on it; 'insufficient funds.' A mixture of surprise and shock displayed on his face.

“Did she pay for my bill despite not having enough in her account?" He mused, his gaze fixed on the screen.

Obviously that was the case.

“How kind and selfless" Elijah couldn't believe it.

“Get the heck out of the line, beggar!!" Someone barked at him from behind.

Elijah quickly retrieved the card and stepped away to a corner– A cool spot where no one would see him.

He looked around. No one was around so he dipped his hand into his trousers and pulled out a phone.

Nonetheless, he tapped hastily on the screen and put the phone on his ear after dialing a number.

“Hello Alex.." He started the conversation with a low voice, consciously looking around so that anyone won't see him.

“Young..."

“Hold it Alex! I told you not to ever call me that! Is that too much to comply with!?!" Elijah cut him off, his voice laced with anger.

“I'm..sorry young...I mean Elijah.." Alex fumbled.

“Better be." He said simply and continued with a low voice. “I need you to do something for me urgently. I'll send you the screenshot of a debit card. Make sure you find the account number and.." He paused for some seconds thinking about the next action to take.

“And what?" Alex chipped in curiously.

“Sent a token of $100,000 to the account. Do it now!" He instructed.

“Immediately sir!" Alex said sharply, the respect for Elijah evidenced in his tone.

Immediately Elijah dropped the call, he took a picture of the debit card, making sure the card number was clear enough. He sent the image to Alex.

Just after 20 seconds of sending the image, Alex called back.

“It's done sir. $100,000 sent to Rose Wallace." He said.

Elijah smiled satisfactorily. “Rose Wallace. Hmm..that's her name?" He mused, a smile tugging on his lips.

“When are you returning to.."

Elijah, knowing what Alex wanted to ask, quickly ended the call. He took a deep breath and kept the phone before walking out of the place.

Meanwhile, Rose was attending to customers with a practiced and inviting smile on her face when an employee walked up to her and informed her that the manager wants to see her in his office.

She was slightly bemused because the manager knew that she would be busy attending to customers since it's a busy Monday morning.

It was then that her phone beeped and a notification popped up on it.

She glanced at it- It was a bank alert. She didn't bother to check properly, thinking the bank just debited her for the meal she paid for earlier.

She stood up and addressed the queue before her politely with a smile on her face.

“I'm sorry to announce this, everyone. I need to address an issue urgently. Kindly move to the next stand to have your transaction processed. Thank you." She said and whispered to Kate who was beside her.

“I'll be back shortly."

With that, she left for the manager's office.

Some of the customers grumbled not because their transaction would be delayed but because a courteous banker like Rose won't attend to their service.

The other lady who gave Elijah money and still abused him was Kate. She is not only rude but also arrogant. She believes she's the boss after the manager since she had stayed longer than any other employees in the bank.

Getting to the manager’s door, Rose knocked and entered the manager's office to see the 40 years old man seated behind a polished mahogany desk with a computer before him. He was engrossed in the computer, his fingers typing on the keys swiftly.

He was garbed in a navy blue suit. Beneath the suit is a crisp white shirt which is visible on the wrist and collar. On the desk were also documents, neatly stacked, one above another. A name slab resting on the table displayed his name boldly; 'Robert Kennedy.'

“Good morning Sir." Rose stood before his table and greeted with a smile.

The manager raised his head from the computer screen and looked at her, his expression as hard as ever which was unusual.

Seeing the inviting expression on his face, the smile slowly dropped from Rose's face.

Robert leaned forward on the chair and began.

“I recorded a loss of $100,000. The transaction history shows it happened last week Thursday which was the same day you were employed here.

When I traced the account that received the money, it was a strange account. Tell me you're not involved in this Miss Wallace." He leaned back on the chair, swirling on it gently while one of his fingers tapped continuously on the keyboard of the computer.

Rose was taken aback by the accusation “Are you in any way saying I'm the one responsible for the missing fund sir?!" Her brow arched.

“Listen Miss Wallace." Robert shifted on his seat and leaned forward with a more serious expression. “All the employees you see here have worked with me for more than two years and the relationship I have with them is solidly built on trust. I trust them all. ”

“Excuse me sir!” Rose snapped in. “This is baseless! Why would you think I'd do such a thing in the first place just because I started work a few days ago! "

Rose was beginning to get angry because the man was trying to accuse her for something she didn't do.

Robert exhaled deeply and raised his hands in defeat then laid it back on the table. “Alright. My apology, Miss Wallace. You may leave please.” He said with a low voice but his eagerness to dig deeper on how the company's fund suddenly vanished was vivid.

Rose left the office angrily.

Robert stared at the door through which she left for some seconds, his thoughts swirling. He exhaled deeply and picked up the office telephone and called Kate to meet him in the office.

Fortunately, when Kate received the call, she just attended to the last customer on her queue so she stood up but her eyes accidentally fell on Rose's phone. She picked it up to see the bank notification.

She had always despised Rose due to how the customers prefer to do their transaction on her counter. The hatred was just natural too.

Her eyes widened with shock flashing within when she swiped down the screen and saw the alert of $100,000.

“Heck!! How did that little thing get this huge amount of money!!"