THE RISE OF JAKE MILLER

chapter three

Chapter 3

While in the elevator, Jake looked at his sweating palms and laughed self-deprecatingly, “I still made a scene.”

But that was beside him right now, he needed to figure out why anybody would give him five million dollars and even speak about an inheritance.

The elevator finally came to a halt on the 99th floor. Jake took deep breaths to calm himself down.

He just stepped out when a well-dressed man in his early fifties walked to greet him and ushered him into the office.

It was a big office, seeming to occupy the whole floor with expensive decorations.

“Good evening, sir. I'm Mr. Miller.” Jake said as he entered the office.

“Good evening, Mr. Miller. I am so glad that it was indeed possible for you to join me today. I know you must be dying to know the truth behind all of this.”

“You are very right, I need to know.”

“First things first, I am Jack Black, and what is your full name?”

”Jake Miller, sir. My name is Jake Miller.”

“Okay, Jake, do you know the owner of this great company?”

“Do I know the owner of this company, the biggest enterprise in the entire city? Of course, I know Leonard Rothschild.”

“Okay, that is great. Now, do you remember a man you saved a few years back? He was going to be assassinated and then disguised as a heart attack?”

“Yes, I remember him vividly. I know he had kind eyes. But what has that got to do with all of…”

Jake's eyes widened and his host just nodded in affirmation

“You mean to tell me that the man I saved five years ago is Leonard Rothschild?”

“Yes, Mr. Miller, that is exactly who he is.”

“But what has that got to do with me or with anything at all?”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Rothschild passed away two days ago, and he died without an heir to inherit this great company he worked for over his entire life.”

“Oh, that's sad. I hope his death this time was a natural one. But still what has that got to do with me, because I received a call from a Barrister Smith who said he was the new lawyer in charge of my father’s will, but I know two well the circumstances of my family and I know that there is nothing that could amount to five million dollars.”

“You are right. The story of the will was just a way to cajole you into coming here but obviously that didn’t work. You were listed as the heir of this company by Mr. Rothschild before he passed and that is why we have taken this effort to find you.”

“Hold on a minute, Mr. Black, what you mean to tell me is that I was listed as heir simply because I saved his life five years ago? All of this company becomes mine, both in miniature sizes and its entirety?” Jake said and shifted from his seat.

“I can understand you being this surprised, honestly speaking, I was surprised myself, but Mr. Rothschild worked in mysterious ways and if he picked you himself I have no doubt that he made the right decision.”

“All of this is too much to swallow. What am I supposed to do now?”

“You can choose to either accept this offer or decline, but if you are a wise man, I’m sure you would know what to pick. If you accept the offer there is a certain condition attached.”

“It would be unwise of me to decline, so what condition are we talking about here?”

“You get to keep a black card, which allows you to spend as much as you would like to, you get the numbers of other Presidents, CEOs, and owners alike of enterprises such as this one, but you have to marry a girl and she has been picked already.”

Jake considered this condition only for a moment. Even if the lady was ugly he could send her to some place like South Korea where they have one of the leading technologies to get plastic surgery.

“I know you must be thinking about how that would seem, marrying a total stranger, but like I said, Mr. Rothschild made all the arrangements, so be optimistic for the best and also be ready to face the fact that she might hate you and your guts even before you two meet. Women are time bombs.”

With this, they both let out a proper laughter.

“Okay that is fine, I agree.”

Mr. Black pressed a button on the table that Jake had not noticed before, there seemed to be a lot of buttons that one could barely make out. A white sheet enclosed in glass glides from the opening created on the table by the depressed button.

“Here this is the contract for you to sign. It contains basically what we have just discussed and a little extra.”

Jake examines it for some time and then put his signature on it, alongside Mr. Rothschild’s

Just as he finished signing, Mr. Black brought out a black card and handed it over to him. “Take this black card. It's worth trillions of dollars."

Jake received the black card, the world's top-level for spending.

It was backed by LOTEX Group's reputation. It meant he could use over a hundred trillion dollars.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Black, this is an opportunity I never saw coming.”

“I should be thanking you for accepting the proposal. In everything you do, do not allow anyone to bully you, if you use your fists then lay in on them. One more thing before you go,” he reaches into his drawer and brings out a brown envelope marked confidential. “Inside this envelope are all the details concerning the girl you are supposed to marry, It should prepare you better.”

Jake collected the envelope and stuck it away in his clothes. “Thank you, Mr. Black, I'll be on my way now.”

“Alright, then, I'll see you here tomorrow and introduce you to everyone.”

On his way down the elevator, Jake thought back to all that had happened at Mr. Black’s office. He thought back to the woman he had bumped into and couldn’t understand how a spilled coffee would be such a big issue.

“Here he comes, you uncultured fellow, you spilled my coffee on me and walked away without a proper apology, just who do you think you are?”

“Ma’am,” he said as calmly as he could. “I already apologized to you and I can see you are already wearing a different dress, Why not save yourself and me a little time and dignity, we don’t need to argue over this.”

“You must be bold to address me in such a manner. I would not take an apology unless you kneel.”

“Do not make yourself such a joke, a lot of people are watching.”

“Worry about yourself young man, that is the more reason you should apologize and let us get this over with as quick as lightning…”

“What's happening here?”

A voice was heard raised loudly over the other voices and it sent others scattering everywhere.