A Nobody to a Trillionaire: The $100 Trillion Vault Changed Everything
Chapter 43: Reuniting with the family (2)

Chapter 43: Reuniting with the family (2)

Kieran said to Richard, "You smile just as brightly as I do."

Soon afterwards, he let go of him. Doing that didn’t take away the fact t that just meeting his biological brother too was abrupt... so, he actually didn’t feel the pull he had for long thought he would.

Not the tightness in the chest as the day when he knew everyone in his life were like actors making a perfect movie, not the urge when having sex either... Everything was bland, but still, Richard seemed like his brother.

If nothing was similar between them, their blue eyes were.

Soon, the man on the podium continued his speech and before they knew it, the party had reached the end. But, was this really a party? – Kieran thought, reminiscing on the fact of how neutral and stagnant everyone was, even smiling with a gentle gasp, which they called laughing.

The Chairman did invite Kieran to a dinner, whereas he didn’t feel quite well about it... Because already being in the same room with this man for that long made his nerves stiff and stomach churn from uncomfortableness, despite how hard he tried to be himself.

But it seemed even his body knew who his greatest enemy was.

Kieran had said, "I won’t be able to join you guys..."

But before he could complete the statement, Richard came in and told him he had some things to ask about. Kieran stared at him for a few moments but ended up nodding with a smile.

One thing was yet a wonder, that Kieran had in his mind from the ground floor to a higher one where the elevator took them to. The room next wasn’t too wide, just enough to have a small dinner together. Well, Kieran was expecting a space even wider than his lounge.

What was a wonder to him was how nice this man – Chairman Holland – was trying to be. These mixed reactions...? No, Kieran wasn’t seeing any of them coming.

Anyways, he sat down like the others – on the warm wooden ground of the room, legs crossed, and around small tables each, filled with bowls of vegetables and everything else Kieran had been craving lately.

Even chicken soup.

But he hesitated and looked up. Almost at the same time, the Chairman spoke, "Let’s pray before we dig in."

Kieran frowned. ’Is he a monk or something? Even letting us eat like this?’

Richard glanced sideways at the Chairman, and he chuckled dryly, as though he was trying hard to be humorous and, at the same time, careful of what he would say. Kieran could tell straight away.

"... Such a surprise to hear that from you, Chairman," Richard finally let that out.

The Chairman slowly turned his face to Richard and raised his brows as he said in a deep tone, "We do not know yet what type of person he is, and we cannot—"

"Can you taste the food real quick?" Kieran cut in and both of them glanced at him. He shook his head. "I’m not a religious person, so I don’t really care about praying."

Amanda peered at him from the corner of her eye. Asking them to first taste the food? She had her phone gripped in her hands crossed behind her, so she quickly typed a message to Kieran, without looking at the phone...

"I do not think this is a good idea."

Kieran’s phone chimed with a message, but he didn’t spare it a glance. Instead, he gestured at the Chairman. "Please go on, sir."

The man took a few seconds to do so, not that he was surprised Kieran was asking this... but just to keep himself composed. Because if one rushes through what they were asked to do, they appear submissive, but if otherwise, they literally come out as being confident.

And Kieran noticed that too – the man wasn’t bad at all.

The Chairman took a sip of the chicken soup together with some lettuce water, then asked Kieran, "Do you want someone to taste yours too? So, it doesn’t seem there’s poison there..."

Kieran chuckled slightly.

"Poison?" he interjected. "No, I didn’t mean that. I just asked you to go on because, being someone who doesn’t pray before eating, I at least don’t take a bite first when an elder is at the table, too."

Amanda peered at him again. She knew his game.

"Apologies if it seemed that’s what I meant," Kieran said with a slow bow. Before he raised his head, he smirked – this was how he planned to mess things up.

An intentional baiting; that was all he did.

The Chairman nodded and smiled. "You must have been brought up well. Eat up, then."

As the man and Kieran started eating, Richard hesitated, swallowing as he peered between both of them. They didn’t seem like a father and son at all... but like rivals who were in tough competition against each other.

He won’t really call this a competition, because none of them had a reason to do so since they manage the same business... but something still doesn’t connect.

’Is this how boring a family dinner should be?’ Richard thought as he rolled his spoon in the soup and took a sip.

Anyways, he didn’t come here to expect much. The family and his older brother had been apart for twenty five years, as said by his mother... before they came to the party today.

... Once done eating, Kieran went into the restroom to clean himself. While washing his hand by the faucet, a shriek of memory ran across his head... And he stopped, letting the water flow loose.

It was the statement ... when you know the true nature of your father, you’ll stop blaming me for all this... that Mrs Jackson uttered back then. What secrets do they have together?

Everything was vague, but he, for one, believed his father wasn’t actually that different from the likes of Mrs Jackson.

It was the vibe he gave off, and the same that came in with him as he entered the restroom. Kieran turned at the creaking of the door, saw the Chairman enter, and went back to wash his hands.

The man said nothing as he did the same thing, and soon dried his hand with the aerial hand dryer – a small machine on the wall that, once he brought his wet hand closer, blew enough air to dry it.

But... Kieran was still rubbing his hands against each other. Washing for that long? He must have eaten ten folds of what was on everyone’s plates then.

The Chairman raised his brows, turned at him and said while refixing his rings, "... I saw the news."

Kieran glanced at him.

"That you bought Jack and Sons Enterprise. It’s some billion dollars on the market, isn’t it?"

Kieran slowly turned the faucet off and nodded. "Yes."

The man beat a handkerchief against his coat, as though cleaning off dust. "What do you plan to do with it? For buying it in the first place?"

Kieran frowned, tilting his head in confusion at why there were so many questions. Was his hunch torturing him now or what, that he seemed interested because Mrs Jackson was involved?

Kieran then straightened his back and said,

"I’m not sure yet. Maybe just watch it go bankrupt." Then he lightened his face with a slight smile. "Such a surprise you’re discussing this of all important things. You must have some interest in the company... or perhaps the owner, to begin with, sir." He carefully watched.

The Chairman chuckled, and then drew closer to him, beating his palm against Kieran’s shoulder. The man said, "You’re learning about business little by little now. It doesn’t matter how much you spend or how long it takes – just force them to listen to your orders and execute them."

Kieran clenched his jaw. "What...?"

"You do not buy an over-a-hundred-billion-worth company just for the fun of it," the Chairman simply said.

Kieran held his jaw tight, staring at him – was he reading him like an open book? The man still beat his hand against Kieran’s shoulder until he didn’t feel like doing it any more.

Kieran immediately said, "... Perhaps. But what if I bought it because the price meant nothing to me?" He smiled slightly. "You actually left me a fortune I can’t finish spending for decades."

"It’s a what if... and that means you didn’t actually do it," the man stated. Kieran clenched his jaw tighter, and his chest pounded.

So, this is what it’s like to be read like a book? He couldn’t even control himself from breathing unsteadily and glaring at him with displeasure in his eyes.

Chairman Holland looked at him with overly calm eyes. He then stated, "I understand why we have to be formal around each other, and why neither of us can trust each other. But... maybe because I’m who I am to you whatever the circumstances, I’ll help you take down your enemies..."

Kieran unknowingly took a rushed step forward, breathing out loud...

Yet, the Chairman was unfazed. He continued, "... You’ll hate me for it because I will be disrupting your plan, when you don’t see me worthy of interfering in it. Your plan. That of a weak-hearted person."

He looked Kieran in the eyes for some moments and soon patted his shoulder.

He said, "Believe me, you look more like a competent yet lacking man to me, not my actual son. So, whatever you do, don’t forget to do business and make money from the empire. That’s all we can worry about for now."

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