Pride and Promises ✔

Chapter 58

"Remember me, Evelyn White?"

I looked shell shocked at the person standing in front of me. Never in millions of years would I have imagined he would be behind it all. My mouth opened and closed a several times but no words came out. My brain was still trying to process everything.

"What? The famous, the smart Evelyn White has no words now? 'Cat got your tongue?' would have been a phrase I'd use but you are too smart for that cliché, aren't you? So, surprised to see me?"

I finally managed to get my voice back.

"Mike?"

He smirked in response before bowing dramatically. "The one and only."

"I don't understand. How... how did you know Dylan? And my parents?"

He laughed loudly at my confusion. "And you called yourself smart." He gave me a mocking smile. "Well, let me tell you a story to clear that beautiful frown off your face. It's a pretty long story so I might as well sit down."

He brought a chair close to me and sat down. "Once upon a time," he started, "there was a wealthy evil man who proud of his riches. He owned a large sum of money, mostly because he got his brother's share as well. He inherited the family business and his father's property but didn't have the brain to run it. After all, the business had been run by his competent brother. After his brother was disowned, he got the business but could not handle the responsibilities. Neither did he care what happened to it as long as he got to live his life in luxury one could only dream of.

So he went on with his life- drinking, partying, sleeping around, gambling, buying lavish things with the money that had miraculously come to him. His father disapproved of his ways and told him to be responsible but he didn't care. Slowly, the riches started dwindling due to his reckless spending. The business was doomed as all the shareholders had started backing out when they became aware that his brother will not be running th company anymore. A few remaining ones took off as well after witnessing his carelessness.

As poverty threatened to visit him, he started thinking of ways to get rich again. Then his eyes fell to his brother's growing business. He had found a door. Initially, he started by asking his brother for money. He did get it for a few times but later, his brother started refusing. Just like his father, his brother told him to be responsible and refused to give him a cent unless he started working.

This angered him. His father was growing angry at his ways and he wasn't getting money from his brother either. So he resorted to an evil way- blackmail. He started threatening his brother's family, knowing that he valued his family more than anything. His brother moved a lot in fear of something happening to his family but he managed to track them everytime to demand more again.

Then one day, his brother finally had enough. He was charged for blackmail. Luckily, his father was afraid to lose their family's reputation so he prevented his younger son from being arrested. He got a restraining order from his brother. His father then threatened him to throw him on the streets. His ego faced a brutal blow when one day he found out that his father had asked his brother to come back and handle the business once again, even promising to transfer the property to his eldest son.

His brother- who loved his family more than the property- refused, thankfully for him. But his anger didn't subside. He was blinded with rage at the audacity of his father. So one day, he poisoned his old man. The property went to him so he was rich once again.

But it wasn't enough for him. He was angry at his brother for simply existing. He had this twisted notion that his father had always favored his brother above him even when the elder son was disowned. So he began to search again- he wanted to make his brother pay for being the firstborn.