A General's Daughter

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Frederick Zuñiga

 

Frederick Zuñiga was born to a gambling tycoon father and a beauty queen mother. As soon as he graduated from college with a degree of business administration, his father had trained him in supervising their casinos.

His father had several business partners. When his parents suddenly died in a suspicious car accident, he was only left with the real properties that his parents had acquired through the years. The ownership of their casinos was left to his father's business partners.

He never liked gambling and managing the casinos anyway. But when the right hand man of his father, Ambrosio Querubin, told him that the business partners of his father played dirty tricks to acquire ownership of the casinos and kill his parents then he made a decision – to gain back everything through gambling and uncover the truth regarding the death of his parents.

Ambrosio taught him all about gambling. Frederick was taught of all the tricks, codes and cheats but he insisted on playing fair and square. After a year of training under Ambrosio, he was already an unbeatable player of baccarat, pai gow poker, roulette, black jack, craps and poker. He also trained in martial arts and target shooting.

Ambrosio became his right hand man. He was served by him with utmost respect and loyalty. In the next three years, Ambrosio had tightened his security. They also coordinated with the proper authorities for a possible threat on his life as they uncovered the truth about his parents' death

One by one, he had plummeted each business partner of his partner through his winnings in gambling until the casino reached bankruptcy. When they all fell down in casino business, they planned on assassinating him.

His perpetrators never succeeded. They had gained proof of the illegal activities of his father's business partner and soon they were all locked up in jail for all their faults including the death of his parents.

For the following year, he had reorganized his life. He first established a world-class resort and casino in Maunni City, Missi. It was then followed with another one in Las Palmas, Kebu. Afterwards, another branch was built in Puerto Ava City, Davou and in one more branch in Liberar Island, Rogan. It was a dream project his father wanted to achieve. His father had purchased coastal lands in those three different provinces so as to establish a world-class resort and casino with beach hotel, sports and recreational facilities, shopping center, restaurants, multi-purpose activity center and casino.

With all the successes he had in the business, he had allotted one percent of all his income to Ambrosio; twenty-four percent to his personal needs along with the payment for his personal employees; another twenty-five percent to charities; and the rest of the fifty-percent to his business operations. Frederick found it difficult to trust possible business partners because of what happened to his father. He used his gambling expertise to expand his capital by playing in different casinos around the world and used his business adeptness to rule the business empire he established for his father.

Ambrosio never left his side. Along with him, he had only hired the best employees who underwent rigorous background check.

Within all these years that he had immersed himself in the gambling world, he never had a steady girlfriend. He had dated a lot.

Ambrosio was fifteen years older than him. His right hand man had a wife and four children.

Ambrosio once told him, "Don't you have any plans to get married, Derek?"

His answer was, "I haven't found the right woman yet, Manong. Most of the women I encounter just like me for all the glitz and glamour that I can offer. Once they get tired of the workaholic me then they would replace me with another man."