Billionaire's Game

Chapter 27

A tight slap greeted Noah the minute he was dragged over to the main office. To the very same room every orphan kid feared. No one were brought here unless they were to be punished severely. Miss Stella was rude and angry, but she always reprimanded the kids herself and never dragged them over to the director-a tempered man. In Noah's case, she took an exception. 

It was the third time she had caught him sneaking out. The boy was hopeless. Clearly turning out to be a rule breaker just like his parents had. 

Many a times, she had tried to separate him and Michael, who had a good record and had a slight chance of a bright future if he had massive luck. But she was afraid the boy was hanging out with the wrong sort. 

Initially, when Noah had stepped foot into the orphanage, he was uneducated, indecent brat with no manners. Within a span of a few months he turned out to be one of the smartest kids under her care. Perhaps, it was Michael's influence that played a massive role in the change. She was grateful for the older boy to have turned the unruly brat into a decent kid with a goal. To see him struggling to read, write, do his chores, behave and talk in a gentlemanly fashion. However, there was one thing the boy couldn't simply discard-the affinity to break rules. 

Today, she was at the end of the rope and had dragged him to the director's office to give him a earful. 

Thirty minutes later, the boy emerged stern faced, cheeks still red from the tight slap he had received and ears red with anger and embarrassment. 

On the way to his room, Miss Stella looked at him, disappointed. 

"I thought you had hope." She muttered. "You are smart. Very smart indeed. I wouldn't deny. Academically you have proven to be one of the best. And yet, your behavior sometimes is simply unacceptable."

Noah did not reply. He wished she would shut up. He had had heard this conversations several times already. Apparently, Miss Stella guessed his thoughts. Furious, she continued.

"You are not to be blamed. It's your parents fault. It's in your blood. Look what their illicit activities got them."

"Stop it."

Until then, Noah had always ignored that bit of his memories. He had refused to acknowledge anything about his parents death. It was better to not know. 

"Drug dealers. Murderers. That's who they were."

"Stop it."

"I won't. I bet you don't know that you too were involved in drugs dealing. You helped them sell those...those horrible things to those poor teenagers. I heard what happed to your mother. It got her in the end, didn't it. Serves her right, I might add."

Noah started to walk way, now furious. Miss Stella caught his arm and spun him around to face her. "Deny it all you want. Your parents are no good people. If you even try to follow their footsteps you will end up like them!"

"I won't. I was only trying to... to-"

"To revisit your home. I know. That place will be occupied by some other family by now. This is your home. And let me warn you, if he sees you again, he will not let you come back and there will be no one to save you."

"Who?"

"Gorden, of course. Your parents worked for him. He's the mafia leader. We have had troubles from his men sometimes. But lest we don't cross his path. He's ruthless. I hear he's keeping an eye out for kids like you-orphans to get them to work for him. They never suspect kids and he likes to take advantage of that. Your parents were poor and didn't have a choice."