The Forgotten Heir Of Pendragon

Chapter 6

The elderly man turned toward Mr. Bennett and quietly whispered something to him. Mr. Bennett listened, nodded in response, and then turned to Adrian, asking him to follow him out of the office.

Still confused by what was happening, Adrian followed the managing director into the corridor.

“What was that about?” Adrian asked. He had expected the elderly man to offer him money immediately, but the look on his face after hearing his sister’s name had left him worried.

Mr. Bennett sighed before answering. “Well, your grandfather has never liked your mother.”

“Huh? Why?” Adrian asked, unable to understand why his grandfather would hold such a grudge against the woman who had raised him.

“When your father brought your mother home and announced that he intended to marry her, your grandfather strongly opposed the marriage. He wanted your father to marry a woman from a noble family, someone whose background matched the status of the Pendragon family. Your father refused to accept his decision and eventually chose to run away with your mother.”

Mr. Bennett paused briefly before continuing. “Unfortunately, the accident happened on the night they tried to escape, and your father died. As I explained earlier, we never found your body, your sister and your mother’s, so we assumed all of you had perished in the fire. However, your grandfather refused to believe that you were dead. He insisted that you and your mother and your sister were still alive somewhere, so he established a special investigation team whose sole responsibility was to find the two of you.”

Adrian let out a sarcastic laugh and looked away in annoyance. “Well, his investigation team certainly did a wonderful job finding us.”

Mr. Bennett had expected the young man to be excited about discovering that he was the missing heir to one of the most powerful business empires in the city. Instead, Adrian looked more troubled than ever, and the managing director could see that his thoughts were still with his sister.

“So, is he going to let my sister die just like that?” Adrian asked quietly.

Mr. Bennett could hear the pain in his voice, and his expression softened. “No, nothing like that. Your grandfather instructed me to take you to the hospital and settle her bills.”

Adrian’s face immediately brightened. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Mr. Bennett replied, unable to hide his smile at the young man’s sudden change in expression.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

Mr. Bennett drove Adrian to the hospital in a sleek black Mercedes-Benz, the kind of luxury vehicle usually seen among the city’s wealthiest residents. After parking in the hospital lot, he prepared to step out, but Adrian stopped him.

“Leave this to me. I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?” Mr. Bennett asked, giving him a questioning look.

“Yeah,” Adrian replied with a faint smile.

“Alright.” Mr. Bennett shrugged and handed him a special credit card reserved for the wealthiest members of society.

Adrian’s eyes gleamed as he carefully held the card, almost afraid that he might damage it. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Bennett’s eyes widened, and he immediately began to stammer. “D-don’t call me s-sir. You’re the heir to the Pendragon family. I’m the one who should be serving you.”

Adrian winked at him. “That doesn’t change anything.”

With that, he stepped out of the car and headed straight into the hospital, making his way to the billing counter.

“Next person,” the accountant behind the counter called without looking up.

“Hello. I’m here to pay the hospital bills for my sister,” Adrian said calmly. “Her name is Eleanor.”

At the sound of Adrian’s voice and the mention of Eleanor’s name, the accountant finally looked up, a frown spreading across her face.

“You again? What are you doing here? I thought your sister had already been thrown out of the hospital!” she asked rudely.

“Well, she was, but I’m here to pay her bills so you can continue her treatment,” Adrian replied, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“Pay her bills?” the accountant repeated loudly, a mocking smile spreading across her face. “Oh! Has your wife finally decided to give you some money?”

Adrian frowned and placed the credit card on the counter. “Just take the payment and let me leave.”

The accountant rolled her eyes before turning her attention to the card. The moment she picked it up and examined it, her expression changed.

“What?” she exclaimed, inspecting the card more closely. “Where did you get this?”

“That doesn’t matter. Just process the payment,” Adrian replied matter-of-factly.

“You stole it, didn’t you?” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “Wait a minute. You’re too much of a coward to steal something this valuable. You probably picked it up somewhere on the street. Yes, that has to be it. You found it lying around and decided to use it!”

Adrian sighed and pressed a palm against his forehead, already growing tired of the accountant’s unnecessary questions. Seeing the irritation on his face, she finally stopped speculating and swiped the card through the payment machine.

[Beep!]

[INSUFFICIENT FUNDS]

“Ha!” the accountant shouted triumphantly, as though she had just won a competition. “I knew it! Nothing good can ever come from someone like you!”

Adrian stared at the machine in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Stop pretending you don’t know what’s going on!” she yelled in his face. “There isn’t a single dime in this card!”

“No, that can’t be possible. Please, try it again,” Adrian pleaded, struggling to understand what had gone wrong.

“Try it again? You must be out of your mind!” she snapped before flinging the card onto the floor. “Go and get a life instead of picking up empty credit cards and pretending to be somebody important!”

Her rudeness finally pushed Adrian to his limit. He bent down, picked up the card, and glared at her. “Is this how you treat a customer? I’m telling you there’s money on this card. All you have to do is try it again!”

“Well, Mr. Young, Dumb, and Broke, the machine says otherwise, and nothing you say will make me run that card through again!” the accountant retorted. Although she was slightly surprised that Adrian had dared to talk back to her, she had no intention of letting him leave without giving him another piece of her mind.

Adrian rubbed his forehead, trying to figure out how to convince the troublesome woman to process the payment again. He was certain the card contained money, unless Mr. Bennett had somehow given him an empty card. If that were the case, the situation would be far more embarrassing than he had imagined.

“Didn't you hear what I said?” the accountant snapped impatiently.

Adrian looked at her. “What?”

“I said move! You’re holding up the line. Other people are waiting to pay!” she shouted.

“But I’m trying to pay too! There’s money on this card!” Adrian protested, holding it up for her to see.

“And I’ve already told you that I’m not trying it again, so move!” she yelled even louder, attracting the attention of everyone waiting nearby.

“What’s going on here?”

A deep male voice suddenly came from the side, causing both Adrian and the accountant to turn toward the speaker.