The General's Forgotten Son

Chapter 4

The helicopter landed on top of a private helipad at the roof top of the monolithic one hundred storey building of the World bank.

The bodyguards stepped down first before Rebecca Alejandro, and lastly Benjamin who was still trying to process what his reality was slowly transforming into.

Benjamin and Rebecca Alejandro arrived at the top most floor of the World Bank( the hundredth floor). This place is only meant for people of the highest rank in the world. The security there is layered and it was only accessible by specific staff workers in the bank.

Four safes glittered on the wall with a biometric fingerprint panel that could only be unlocked by just one person.

"Mr. Volvok, your fingerprint will be needed to open the safe." Rebecca Alejandro said gesturing at the finger prints panel on the safe. She stepped back considerably, her posture straight as a spear.

Benjamin's heart raced with anticipation, his gaze fixed on the lock wondering what her mother kept behind the cold metallic silver.

He stepped closer to it, his footsteps barely audible on the floor that might have been bullet proof.

Benjamin slowly planted his thumb on the fingerprint. The scanner moved under his thumb. Then a green light flashed.

A deep metallic sound of lock disengaging came from within.

His breath caught.

The safe opened slowly before his eyes. The smell of metal filled the room. Benjamin's eyes narrowed into the safe.

His breath caught again. His jaw dropped, nearly hitting the pavement. Inside the safe, real gold piled up neatly, catching and throwing the glow to his face.

Benjamin's mouth remained open, his eyes wide, counting the gold bars in his head...till he lost count. The number was overwhelming. Maybe five thousand gold bars and more....

He gasped.

Rebecca Alejandro stepped forward when it was necessary, her heels clicked the floor gently.

"Inside this safe is ten thousand gold bars. Each of them is 24karat, 100 kilograms of weight. The current value for each bar is $135,000. The total estimation for everything behind the lock is 1.3 trillion dollars." Her voice was calm and professional, pronouncing trillion with a conversational tone like she had done it before and will continue doing it for her clients.

Benjamin's jaw dropped.

Rebecca Alejandro gestured at another safe which had disengaged immediately Benjamin activated the biometric fingerprint. Inside were piles of different foreign currencies carefully arranged, one above another forming a mountain of crisp currency. The air smell of new money and the realization that he was stepping into an entirely new world hit him.

Rebecca Alejandro pulled out a tab that was accessible to only her because the security at the hundredth floor was strict and had operation restrictions.

As her finger scrolled over the screen, she was saying, "inside this safe are twenty different currencies. Everything is $100 trillion, Master Volkov."

Benjamin's knee buckled. He stumbled back one step, his mind reeling. He blinked, and blinked again like the night was pulling him into a dream deeper and deeper.

"All of this...they belong to me?" His voice cracked as he asked.

Rebecca Alejandro gave a faint controlled smile. Her hands scrolled across the screen.

"You have more, Mr. Volkov." She said, "ten thousand authentic silver bars, estates and documents of apartments across the country. Everything has been documented in your name…sir.”

She paused, looking from the glowing tab to Benjamin. "Mr. Benjamin Volkov you're inarguably the richest man in the world right now."

Benjamin stumbled back one step.

'inarguably the richest man?'

A sharp disbelieving laughter escaped from his lip.

Tears blurred his vision as his heart was overwhelmed with excitement but none of it fell.

A few hours ago, he was a nobody, the man the city rejected, the man his girlfriend humiliated in a restaurant. Now, he was called...a trillionaire!

He looked at everything set in his front inside each adjacent safe— gold bars, silver bars, hard currencies of different countries. It was all unbelievable.

Lastly, a smaller safe disengaged. Inside is a letter that was written twenty two years ago by his mother. It was still neat.

Benjamin opened the letter and read;

"When you'll be reading this letter, you'll be twenty-five, Benjamin. I kept you away from my world of war and enemies because I wanted you to live a normal life. After you take over everything, you should live a peaceful life. I love you so much, son—." Benjamin's heart tightened with different emotions. Tears gathered in his eyes and he smiled through it and continued reading. "— I kept everything for you. You should enjoy it, son. You're bigger than this world. Choosing peace however doesn't mean you should allow anyone to walk over you. You're bigger than them."

A single tear dropped into the paper. Benjamin smiled, his emotions reeling.

"Mum..I'll do as you wish. I'll rule over this world and let them know I am the general's son. I will not disappoint you."

Rebecca Alejandro who was behind felt the emotion in the room. She stepped closer after some minutes when she felt it was necessary.

"Mr. Benjamin. Will you like us to prepare a card for you for your daily transaction?"

Benjamin raised a brow. "What kind of card?"

"The highest one. It is called the Supreme Black Card. A customized and limited edition."

Benjamin nodded gently. "Go ahead," he said. Something had started shifting around him. This wasn't the young man dripping in liquor at the restaurant just hours ago. This was someone more;the son of the General.

"Right away, Mr. Volkov," Rebecca clipped. "Please follow me."

Benjamin stepped out with Rebecca Alejandro.

Rebecca Alejandro's office was a massive space with shining edges and surfaces. A massive screen in grids was planted on the wall, on the wall showing every footage of every floor in the bank, framed photos of powerful men sat at an elevated angle on the wall.

"Mr. Volkov, please." She gestured at a chair from across her respectfully. Benjamin sat down, his skin cooling under the air conditioning system. Rebecca Alejandro began working immediately, her finger clattering over the smart computer keys in her front.

"We'll need your finger print, Mr. Volkov. And the code you'll like to use."

Benjamin pressed his thumb on the scanner. Beep!

Afterwards, he inputted his code, which was his birthday date. He relaxed into the expensive leather after he finished with the process.

"It'll take a minute, Mr. Volkov."

"No problem." He said, taking in the ambiance as the president's work space that looked like it was entirely another world.

After one minute, the card was ready. It arrived in a velvet box, sitting inside like a relic. It was deep black, with a single letter 'V' for Volkov.

A genuine smile crossed Benjamin's expression. He nodded in satisfaction. "How much can this contain?"

"Unlimited. As much as you want." Rebecca answered.

Benjamin paused, his mind calculating.

"I want it accumulated with One hundred million for a start." He said.

"Right away, Mr. Volkov."

Rebecca Alejandro gets to work at once.

Benjamin's phone received the alert in less than ten seconds.

$100,000,000 staggering across his screen. His lips parted. He'd never seen this much in his account in all of his life.

It felt surreal.

He was called garbage a few hours ago but now, he's on top of the world now with treasures worth trillions to his name.

Benjamin rose to his feet. The president stood up immediately.

"Mr. Volkov, it's an honor to have you in our bank, sir." Rebecca Alejandro bowed gently.

"Thank you, Rebecca.'

"My pleasure, Sir." She smiled professionally. "If you ever need me to handle anything for you, I'll quickly attend to it, Sir." She told him.

Benjamin nodded, grabbing the small box.

"Thank you, Rebecca." He shook hands with her. "I'd like to take my leave now."

"It'll be an honor to escort you to your flight, Sir."

Rebecca Alejandro quickly stepped out from behind her desk.

They arrived at the helipad and Benjamin stepped inside. The door slid shut and spun then it slowly ascended to the sky.