7

The woman wore a very simple one-shoulder top and skinny-fit jeans; on her left breast, which was slightly covered with the top, he could see a marking similar to that of his own, the only slight difference was that her breast swelled making her own to be uplifted upward. The gorgeous girl's pendant was exactly like his own. 

"Is that my mother?" Aidan asked in a shaky voice, feeling a bit dizzy. 

"Yes, that's your mother. That picture was taken on her 20th birthday, she was the apple of my eye. Everything began to go wrong when she fell in love with a church rat and refused to marry the man I chose for her." Mr. Kal explained to him. 

Aidan peered more at the photo, he shared a striking resemblance to this woman. 

"And here is your father, Mr. Luke Bryan. He was a businessman but with the bad economy back then, getting a job wasn't a piece of cake, but your mother loves him." Mr. Kal said as he flipped the photo album. 

His supposed father looks great too, he now knows where he got his jet-shiny black hair from, his father didn't dress so classy but he looks very gorgeous in his simple clothing. 

He flipped through the photo album, seeing pictures of his supposed parents, their simple marriage pictures, house opening, and many more beautiful pictures. 

"Stop!" Came the sharp command from Mr. Kal, and he immediately stopped. The old man had this deep commanding voice that made the bravest of all heed his commands. 

Aidan looked at the man with a questioning look. 

Mr. Kal flipped to the next page to reveal a child picture, "this picture was taken when you were born. The next pictures you'll be seeing are all yours."

True to his word, Aidan flipped frequently to pictures of himself and his parents. In all the pictures, one could depict that they were one little happy family. All his childhood pictures were there, including pictures of him while he was in the orphanage. 

"What happened to my parents?" Aidan asked, in a pained-filled voice. He was trying hard to suppress his tears from flowing. He hardly cries, ever since he was little, he doesn't like crying, he prefers to take out his anger in fighting and kicking against stuff. His mode of expressing anger is very severe, but he hardly cries. 

"When your mother refused to marry the man I chose, I went red with anger. I threatened to disinherit and disown her if she didn't agree to my choice, but she seemed to care less about my threats, so she went ahead to marry your father." He explained.

"I was blinded by power and typical male ego, infuriated that my orders weren't obeyed, I carried out my threats and kicked her out of her comfort zone. She so much believes that your father would make a better world for her."

 His narration was interrupted by a cough and Jonas immediately provided a cup of water for him but the sick man rejected it and asked to be brought some wine.

Jonas wanted to protest but a look from Mr. Kal silenced him, and he went to bring his boss's favorite wine. 

"In my anger, I swore to thwart every attempt made by Luke to offer her a better life. He began a business project and I must confess that his business ideas were great. He was a business genius but every company he met with a business proposition rejected it. I ordered every company to reject him, I made it known that any company who dares help him will get ruined by me."

Jonas came in with a glass of wine and handed it over to him, "I know you care about me Jonas, but you should know by now that you can't stop me from drinking this, even if the doctor advises against it, so take a chill pill and let me have my way." Mr. Kal said to Jonas and smiled, Jonas gave a little nod and went to stand by the door.

"Don't you ever get tired of standing, come sit with us. I'm trying to solve my grandson's riddled life." Mr. Kal invited Jonas. 

Jonas came and sat down, knowing full well it was useless arguing with the stubborn sick man. 

He sipped from his drink and continued, "knowing my influence, no company dared help him. I was sincerely praying and hoping that my Artemis would come back to me but she didn't. A murder attempt was made on her husband's life by an enemy of mine to create a rift between us and it succeeded. Artemis thought that I wanted to kill her husband and she left Greece with her husband." He stopped and looked at his grandson's calm face as he listened with rapt attention. 

He liked the man his grandson had become. 

"They settled in Ireland. I kept details of their every movement and decided to allow a little company I own in Ireland to help him, Artemis had no idea it was my company or the stubborn blood wouldn't have agreed. The couple was delighted to know that someone was willing to give them a chance. The only problem was that they lack finance and no financial institutions want to help them."

"It was at this moment of need that Luke met his childhood friend and coursemate, Orion. Orion was struggling in business too, when Luke explained things to him, he saw how good Luke's business plan was and he decided to support him financially, he lent him some money, and Luke sourced for the rest. The business proposition was accepted and instead of paying Orion, Luke decided to make him a 15% partnership in his company and Orion was more than grateful." Mr. Kal gestured to Jonas and Jonas stood up and went out. 

"Where's Jonas going?" Aidan asked. 

"He's going to bring a picture of your father's partner." Came the sharp reply. 

"Is that necessary?" He asked, looking puzzled. 

"Oh, son. It is very necessary that you know who your father's partner was, it is very important." Mr. Kal said calmly. 

He wants to know his parent's life and what led to their death. How is his father's business partner important to the story?