THE CONSORTIUM SYSTEM

“You must be very stupid!”

Xaden was appalled by the woman’s instant refusal. It was his first time witnessing such open hostility.

“How do you expect us to just open our home to a stranger just because our father and your grandfather were old friends?” It was the woman’s brother,Trevor, that spoke this time with a frown on his face.

“I don’t even understand why father would make friends with a man like that. Look at you, you’re just as wretched as your old man. Poor and stinking. Your shoes look worn out and you have dirt all over you. You also stink! While my father worked to gain all his wealth, your grandfather ran away like a coward to live in the country and remained poor.” Bianca sneered with obvious disgust and held her nose to emphasise her point.

Xaden’s grandfather, John Dyre had been a good man and he was close friends with their father, Adam Miller. Though John had retired to the suburbs to live a quiet life, Adam had gone into business and become a millionaire. They both recently passed on, and while Xaden inherited a small farm and 500 dollars from John, Adam left millions to his daughter and son, Bianca and Trevor. That was why they looked down on him, because they knew he had no penny to his name. Whatever money he had left from his inheritance and his savings, he used it to transport himself here.

John and Adam had an agreement before they passed on. It was signed so everything was legitimate. They agreed that their grandchildren would get married. They wanted to join the two families together through that bond. So on his deathbed, Xaden promised his grandfather that he would come here to marry Bianca’s first daughter, Ashley.

“I’ve already shown you the agreement between my grandfather and your father. I am not lying. Surely Adam must have told you about their agreement before he passed on.” Xaden tried to reason with them.

“He’s right, the agreement is legally binding.” Trevor agreed with reluctance.

“Even if it is, I will not let my daughter get married to someone this useless. Look at how wretched he looks. He’s just a poor bastard looking for who he will extort money from.”

Xaden was so hurt but he didn’t know what else to say so he kept quiet.

“Let’s take a minute and try to negotiate. Maybe we can come to an agreement.” Trevor said and Bianca got even more furious.

“I’m not negotiating with this poor rat! What does he have to offer me, or my daughter, or this family? You only look so calm because it’s not your daughter that was betrothed to this stinking thing. You better get him out of my house this instant. Does this look like an orphanage for street rats to you? Or do I look like a charity handing out free food?” Bianca fumed at her brother.

“This was my grandfather’s dying wish and I promised him that I would fulfil his end of the agreement…”

He was still trying to explain when she interrupted him.

“And do I look like I care about a wretched old man’s last words? His words have no meaning when he couldn’t even make something of himself while he was alive. My grandfather was a legend in the business world. He worked hard to make his fortune and make our lives better while your grandfather was a lazy cow, who preferred to spend his time on a farm drinking his life away..”

“Don’t talk about my grandfather that way!” Xaden finally spoke up.

He couldn’t bear to stand by while the woman stained the name and image of his sweet grandfather. John Dyre might have not been rich, but he was kind, and smart and he was never an alcoholic. He just preferred a simple life. Xaden had no way to find out more about his roots now that John was dead. The only thing he had of his grandfather was his grandfather’s ring which was also passed on him on the man’s death bed. He promised his grandfather to never take off the ring and his grandfather had told him that the ring would show him the way when the time was right. He had no idea what that meant but he was still going to fulfil the promise he made.

Bianca was about to insult Xaden for daring to speak up against her but Trevor held her hand.

“Give us a minute to talk, Xaden. We’ll be right back.” Trevor said and took his sister away to a more private place.

"Why are you acting nonchalant instead of fighting back? How can you be so calm when a stranger just walked in here and demanded to be made part of the family? Are we now accepting beggars into our home? Are you on that dirty brat's side?" She yelled at her brother.

“Calm down Bianca. Our father signed that agreement whether we like it or not. He could decide to sue if we don’t at least negotiate. Is that what you want?” Trevor asked and the prospect of being dragged to a law court over this made Bianca hold back her insult for now.

"It was stated in father's will. I guess this was the man he was talking about. Have you forgotten what the lawyer said when he read the will? We only have access to a quarter of Grandfather’s assets till Ashley is married to his friend’s son. And it has to happen before the year ends or everything automatically goes to him. We’ll lose all our money. If Xaden finds out about this, he may even decide not to marry Ashley anymore and just take all the money. But now we have the advantage because he knows nothing of Grandfather’s will. We can just let him marry her, get control of all the money and find a way to kick him out later. I abhor his presence just as much as you do but I want him to think I’m on his side so we can easily control him."

“Fine, I’ll accept him for now, but I will make sure his life is miserable for daring to set foot in our home.” She promised.

~

AUTHOR'S NOTE; Hello old and new readers of my books. This is my first Sytem book and I hope you love reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know your thoughts by dropping comments as you keep reading. Thanks.