Julian couldn’t believe that his uncle was thinking of leaving when he needed him the most.
“What are you talking about, uncle?” Julian was shocked. “You can’t leave me like this. Everything has turned upside down. I don’t know if I’ll get a scholarship, all my belongings have been destroyed. I have no idea how I’ll get my life on track again. You promised my parents that you would take care of me. They died trying to save you from the fire. How can you repay them like this?”
Julian had been told that his parents had died in a fire when he was eight years old. Julian had been in boarding school by then and a fire had broken out in the vacation house they owned. They ran out but soon realised that their nephew Mason was still inside. When they went back for him, a beam collapsed on Julian’s father and he died instantly. His mother had managed to take Mason outside but she died soon after. The neighbours called in the police and the paramedics who declared both adults dead. Julian had attended the funeral but the caskets had already been closed. He did not get to see them one last time and that hurt a lot.
“I have spent 10 years of my life repaying them,” Mason said. “I have taken care of you like my child without complaining. It has been hard but you’re now 18. You’re an adult and can figure out life.”
“Age is just a number,” Julian said. “Just because one digit changed doesn’t mean I suddenly know what to do. It would have been easier if I had the house but now I have nothing.”
“I’m sorry but I have to start a new life. Marie and I are traveling to Europe where will start our new lives. I promise to send you money when you need it. Besides, I’m not leaving you with nothing. You also have great friends who are willing to help you.”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving at a time like this. This is not fair at all.”
“I’m sorry but it’s hard for me too.”
“Hard for you? Clearly you know nothing about being hard.”
“Just so you know I’m homeless too. We don’t have money to renovate the house.”
“But you have money to go to Europe.”
“I’m done talking about this,” he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and proffered it to Julian who grabbed it.
“What’s this?” Julian asked as he opened the paper.
“Don’t.”
“What is this?” Julian asked.
“I found it on the windscreen of my car yesterday after the fire. Someone called me at night and told me not to pursue your case further. My friend was also threatened. We cannot sue those people anymore. The police think the house was burned down by someone and I think it’s those people you accused.”
“So we are going to just let the matter slide?”
“Yes, we have to. Julian we are lucky that they didn’t torch the house while we were in it. Those people can kill us and they have too much money. They can bribe everyone and everything will be in their favour. It’s better for us to leave it at that and just move on.”
“So that’s what you’re doing, moving on, running away. Did they give you money to shut up?”
“Don’t be disrespectful. Marie and I have been saving money for a while now. I’m only telling you to quit for your own safety. These people have done a lot and nothing has been done to them. Just let it go.”
“The only thing that I’m going to let go is you,” Julian said. “You want to leave, leave. Let me suffer. Leave me when I’m most vulnerable. I will not force you to stay. Go and enjoy your life. I’m sorry to have been such an inconvenience all this years.”
“I hope that one day you will understand,” he said.
“Julian!” Julian turned to see the pretty maid standing at the back door. “The cops are here. They want to speak to you.”
“Be careful about what you say,” Mason said and grabbed the piece of paper from his nephew.
“Why do you care anyway?” Julian said before leaving. The cops questioned him from the living room for about thirty minutes before leaving. Julian accused the bullies for what had happened and the cops looked like they didn’t believe a word he said. He was pretty sure they were going to dismiss him. He sighed. Maybe Mason was right. There was no point. The poor could never get justice in Fetterville city.
“What are you still doing here?” Julian asked when he saw his uncle coming from the kitchen.
“I have something to give you,” Mason said. “Come with me.”
Julian wanted to say no but he decided to follow his uncle out anyway. His uncle took him to his car. He opened the glove compartment and produced a small rusty box.
Julian’s eyes narrowed as he stared at it. “What’s that?”
“It’s a map,” Mason said and opened the wooden box. He pulled out a folded paper and gently spread it open. The paper which seemed to have been white in color at some point had tanned, turning into a light brown color. There was a large map drawn on it with ten spots marked in red ink. It was a map of Fetterville. The map seemed ancient because there were less buildings on it.
“What is this?”
“You see those red spots? There is a treasure in one of them.”
Julian couldn’t help but laugh. “What nonsense is this?”
“There are things you don’t know about our family. Heck, there are things even I don’t know. But we have never been average. Do you ever wonder where we don’t have many relatives around yet our ancestors settled here a long time ago?”
“No, because most people in our family keep having one or two kids and they like moving away or dying in mysterious circumstances.”
“You’re right about the mysterious circumstances. There is so much mystery and this is one of them. Don’t tell anyone about this. You have to find the treasure. When you do, your life will be sorted, I promise you.”
“This is ridiculous. If you believe there’s a treasure, why didn’t you go looking for it? Why don’t you help me find it so that we can split? I’m not stupid. I’m grown so stop feeding me with silly tales just because you want to go away. I’ll be alright. Just go.”
Mason folded the map. He pulled out and envelope and put the map in it. “This is for you. Take it and keep it safe. You may not want to use it now but time will come. I’ll go and open a deposit box for you at the bank. You can keep the map there if you want.”
“Not necessary,” Julian said, taking the map. “I’ll keep it, if it will make you feel better about abandoning me. You’re the only relative who ever cared for me. You may be leaving now but I appreciate what you have done for me all these years. You have been a father, brother, mother, sister, everything to me and I’ll never forget that.”
“Thank you,” Mason said and hugged Julian. Julian rolled his eyes before wrapping his arms around his uncle.

Latest Chapter
The party
Julian was now sandwiched between two strong men in the backseat. The man in a green shirt had disappeared when he was bundled into the van.“Who are you?” Julian asked.The men didn’t say anything. The one on his right pulled out a bottle of water from a bag and drank it, sighing afterwards. The other one nodded his head to the low music playing on the radio. Realising that he was not going to get the answers he wanted, Julian decided to find a way of getting out of the van. He remembered his uncle telling him about his family’s enemies that had drove his parents away.Bending his thumb inwards, he felt the ring on his middle finger. He wondered why the men with him had not made any move to remove it from him. Were this kidnappers sent by someone else?When they reached a steep corner, Julian side-eyed the door handle before glancing at the man on his right. The man looked at him and narrowed his eyes.“Where did you put the ropes, Garner.”“I put them in the trunk,” Garner, the man
The fight
“I’m so glad you got that scholarship because I don’t know what I’d have done without you around here,” Gary told Julian as they came out of the college library. It was their third day in the Fayetteville College and they had gone to borrow books needed for some of the courses they were taking. Julian led the way down a well-lit hallway, Gary following close. “I’m happy as well,” Julian said. Since Julian was now rich, he did not need any scholarship. But for the sake of hiding the amount of money he had, Mason had to create a scholarship that only sponsored three students in the college. Had Julian not joined as a scholarship kid, it would raise eyebrows since everyone knew how poor he was. The college was the most prestigious in the country, and the best in the city. “This place is great.”At the end of the hallway, the branched into another that led them out of the building. They had walked a few metres when they spotted Kyle, Logan and Jake coming up the pavement. Julian consid
A win
Chapter 13Julian turned and saw Kyle Washington walking in to the shop with a two tall blonde women, each at either side of him. He smirked as he walked towards Julian with the women. The sales assistant quickly went to them, completely ignoring Julian who had got there first.“Good morning, Mr. Washington. Welcome to the store. I’m Amy and will be helping you with whatever you need.”Kyle ignored her like the bastard he was. He was focused on Julian.“Katy, this is the loser I told you about. Julian Ford. The one who broke his leg to get the scholarship and accused us of doing it. Very pathetic, isn’t he?”“Yeah, sounds like a loser,” the taller girl said. “What are you doing here, loser? This is no place for your kind.”“I’m here to buy some shoes,” Julian said proudly.The three laughed out loud. “You didn’t tell me he was a comedian,” the shorter blond told Kyle, before standing on her toes to kiss him on the laps. Julian and the sales woman watched the exchange feeling disguste
Acceptance
Several hours later, Julian walked out of the mansion. It had taken a while but he had finally come to terms with his situation. As he headed to the car, he felt like he was walking on air. He couldn’t believe that he had a million dollars within his reach and he could do whatever he wanted with it. Julian wanted to do a happy dance and celebrate but he couldn’t do it among his parent’s employees. When he was dropped at Gary’s house, he walked into the house happily, feeling like screaming on top of his lungs. When he entered the living room, he was saddened to see only the maid who disliked him.She groaned. “You’re back again. When will we ever get rid of you?”“Why do you despise me so much? I have never done anything bad to you.”“You’re a waste of space, and you’re not worth cleaning up after. I hate that I have to work for a broke nobody like you. Save us the trouble and leave.”“I don’t need to stay here anymore,” Julian said.“How great!” she said.“Where is Gary?” he asked.
History
“The Ford family is one of the most powerful families in the world,” Mason said as Julian watched him sceptically. “We have many secrets that are not known to most of the world. Many centuries ago, one of our ancestors discovered several magical artefacts in a cave he had just bought. Sir William Ford had just moved to America when he used all his money to buy the cave. He had it inspected by several cavers who gave him everything they had discovered. William was a historian so we spent a lot of time studying the artefacts trying to figure out what they were and what they could do. Eventually, he found out that they were magical and talked to a few experts in the field. He realised that he could do a lot of things with them so he manipulated several situations in his favour and soon became one of the richest men in the city. For centuries, the family continued to prosper while many wondered how they were able to make so much money. At some point, the Ford women were accused of witch
The mansion
Julian opened more pages of the book but couldn’t see anything. All the pages were blank. He sighed and closed the book.“Useless book,” he said.“Sorry man,” Gary said. “I thought you’d find something useful in there.”Julian wanted to throw the book out of the window but he remembered everything that had happened to him. Maybe the book would come in handy at some point.When they reached Gary’s house, Julian wanted to be alone. He went to his room and threw the book on the table. The book fell open when it landed on the table top. Julian was about to turn away when he saw words on the open page. He did another take to make sure he was seeing right. He could swear that the page had been blank before but he chose not to dwell on that.He picked up the book and saw an address written on it. He opened other pages to see if there was something on them but found nothing. Julian grabbed a piece of paper and copied the address hoping it wouldn’t disappear. He opened the drawer and saw a few
You may also like
Rise From Prison: Married To A Beautiful CEO
Rex Magnus77.6K viewsRevenge Of The Rejected Heir
Beautypete94.2K viewsEthan Nightangle Rises To Power
Dragon Sly94.7K viewsUnknowingly The Billionaire's Heir
Winner Girl76.4K viewsThe Magnificent Reed Ryder
The Supreme writer 24.3K viewsThe Unpolice
Lvmberjack790 viewsMy Demonic System
Anton Hansen1.9K viewsLegacy Of The Chaotic Heir
Daniel Solomon 4.5K views
