The Super-rich Gerald Arnold

Chapter 2

Gerald was left there lying in the grass. The crowd dispersed, people crossed over him, no one offered a hand. The laughter echoed in his ears like his own personal humiliation playlist.

It wasn’t just the betrayal or the beating—it was the shame, the mockery, the way Susan had looked him in the eye and denied knowing him like he was some worthless stray.

His friends—Terry and Juliet— soon came, harried and frantic. They pushed through the crowd, panicked and breathless, only to find their friend on the ground, bloodied and silent.

“Gerald! Oh my God! Gerald, can you hear me?” Juliet cried out as she cradled his head.

Gerald couldn't respond. His head was spinning, his vision blurry, his hearing distorted.

Terry didn't waste time, he flagged down a cab and together, he and Juliet got him to the hospital. His wounds were cleaned and stitched, but still Gerald said nothing. He lay there staring blankly at the ceiling, his mind spiraling into a thousand places at once— but always returning to the same thing.

Susan.

Her voice, her smile… her lies.

He thought she’d at least cared about him. He’d thought that despite knowing he loved her more, there was some small spark of truth in what they shared. He never even got to kiss her, never touched her the way she practically begged Alex to touch her with her body language. Yet, he had loved her. Deeply, completely… naively.

When the doctor finally gave him clearance to leave, Terry and Juliet began debating which of their apartments he should stay in. But he stopped them. He'd decided. He was going to talk to Susan privately. Surely she'd only done what she did because she didn't want to humiliate Alex in public, it wouldn't be good for her family connections. She'd known he would understand.

Terry and Juliet looked at each other in shock and horror. Was he being serious?

“G, haven't you been through enough?” Terry demanded, his voice low and annoyed. “She let him put you in this condition! How can she possibly care about you?”

“Exactly,” Juliet added. “She’s not worth your peace, Gerald. You need to stop torturing yourself.” 

Gerald knew what they were thinking. They'd warned him when his ‘relationship’ with her had started. But he couldn't just give her up…

Gerald shook his head. “I need to hear it from her mouth,” he said softly. “I need to look her in the eyes and ask why.”

His friends shook their heads in exasperation. Gerald's stubbornness was great in certain situations, but this? This was just foolishness. But they let him go. They were sure that he'd learn his lesson this time.

Gerald left the clinic, limping and clutching his torso, but he was determined. He made his way to Susan’s place. Every step was painful, but the pain in his chest was even worse. The betrayal burned like fire in his bones. He needed to find water to put it out quickly.

He reached her dorm and knocked.

The door opened almost immediately, a wide smile on Susan's face, her hands moving to open the robe she was wearing, revealing her full breasts.

Gerald was shocked speechless. She was clearly expecting someone— someone who wasn’t Gerald.

“Oh, what the hell? Gerald?” She spat, her brows knitting together and her hands quickly wrapping the robe around herself as her eyes scanned him in disgust. “What are you doing here?”

Gerald stood frozen for a second. She was obviously getting ready for a date. He hadn't been ready for the sight of her like this— so made up, so seductive... He didn't know what he felt, there were so many emotions. He wanted her so bad, but at the same time, she’d exposed herself thinking it was Alex. The minute she realized it was him, she'd….

“I—I just came to ask…” Gerald’s voice cracked. “Was it all fake? Everything between us?”

Susan folded her arms, one hip cocked to the side. “Between us? Don’t make me laugh, Gerald. There was never an us. You were just… convenient. Someone to do my assignments, help with my studies. You assuming it was something more, helped my cause, but that's on you.”

Gerald’s jaw clenched. “You used me.”

“Of course, I did, and you should be grateful I even bothered,” she scoffed. “You're nobody. You’re broke. What did you think this was, a fairy tale? That we’d fall in love and ride into the sunset on a bicycle?” She laughed cruelly. “Please.”

His heart dropped further. “I thought… I thought...”

She rolled her eyes. “Save yourself a crumb of dignity and leave now. I don’t need you anymore. Alex is rich, connected, and can give me everything I want, I don't even need those grades anymore. Why would I stick with a loser like you?”

Gerald stood there, breath shallow, blood boiling.

“I swear, Susan,” he said through gritted teeth. “He’s going to break your heart one day. He doesn’t love you. You’re just another girl to him.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Susan’s expression changed.

“How dare you?” she hissed. “You think that makes you better than him? Leave, now!”

“Susan—”

She rushed inside the house. He stood there, wondering if he should follow, then, without warning—splash!!!

She'd poured a bucket of water on him. Gerald stood there, drenched and humiliated, water dripping from his face and clothes. She slammed the door on him, her laughter echoing through the hallway.

He didn't know how long he stood there before he was finally able to turn away. He limped down the street in silence, the cold from his wet clothes a perfect match for the emptiness he felt inside. But his mind wasn’t done. He promised himself that one day— when her dreams came crashing down— he would be there to remind her of this very moment.

As he reached the end of the street, two black luxury SUVs screeched to a halt in front of him. His heart skipped. Alex again?

The car door opened.

A tall, silver-haired man in a tailored suit stepped out. His aura screamed money, power, and importance. He looked directly at Gerald.

“Gerald.”

Gerald flinched. “I don’t want any trouble. If Alex sent you—tell him he can keep Susan. I’m done.”

The man frowned. “Alex? I'm not affiliated with any such person. I am Samuel Arnold. I’m your uncle.”

Gerald blinked, confused.

“My… what?”

“Your uncle. Your father’s older brother and the patriarch of the Arnold clan. We’ve been searching for you.”

Gerald’s world tilted slightly. His father had told him when he was young that they came from a big family. But he'd never met any of them before his father's death.

“I know,” Uncle Sam interrupted his thoughts. “There’s a lot you don’t know. But I need you to come with me. There’s something important we need to discuss.”

Still unsure, Gerald hesitated. He looked at the bodyguards, the cars, the obviously powerful man. But what more could go wrong after the day he'd just had? He nodded and climbed into the car.

As the car drove through the city’s elite districts, Uncle Sam turned to him.

“You must be wondering what this is all about,” he began. “Well…” he sighed. “I hate for us to meet under these circumstances, but the Arnold family is in trouble. Deep financial trouble.”

“I don't understand…” Gerald croaked.

“We need money. At least $25 billion to save our businesses.”

Gerald choked. “25… billion? Dollars?”

Gerald had never talked about money that extended to that part of the denomination. In fact, it was almost impossible to believe it existed.

Sam nodded grimly. “Yes. And the only person who can save us is you.”

Gerald chuckled bitterly, surely this was a prank. “Sir, I can't even afford my tuition.”

“Because you don’t know the truth about your father,” Sam said. He sighed and shook his head, glancing down at his clasped hands for a moment.

“He was the heir to the Arnold fortune. But years ago, when you were just about a year old, he made some bold investments the family didn’t agree with. We were all angry, it looked like he'd been stealing from the company and… well, he was disowned.”

Gerald listened in stunned silence. He recalled his father talking about something like that. The biggest mistake of his life he'd called it, all the time—even until his death when Gerald was just ten years old.

“But you wouldn't believe it,” Sam continued. “Those investments? They matured. Wildly. The smallest of them is worth over $55 billion now. And your fortune is at least 200 billion. Your father was a genius. If only we'd understood then...” He turned to face Gerald squarely, “And you… you are his only heir.”

The world blurred around Gerald.

“I—I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to right now,” Sam said, handing him a sleek black card. “This is the contact card of Aventos Bank. Your father’s account manager is waiting for you. That account holds the power to change your life. And frankly, the future of our family.”

Gerald took the card slowly, his fingers trembling.

“Please know that we're all very sorry for what we put your family through.”

Gerald was barely listening as he looked over the card; from nobody… to billionaire?

The moment hadn’t sunk in yet. But one thing was certain.

The world that mocked Gerald today… would kneel tomorrow.