Billionaire by Chance

The Main Family

Monday morning at eight o'clock I arrive at the impressive Delish building with my hair freshly cut, face clean and wearing the suit I borrowed from a neighbor which is a little small on me but hopefully not too noticeable.

I announce my arrival with a receptionist and wait in a chair until Erick Fay himself comes to pick me up and takes me to his office.

“It's nice to see you with clear eyes and decent clothes," he mentions as we walk out of the elevator to his office and I get a little embarrassed about what happened the first time we met, but then I tell myself that I don't have to be embarrassed about things that are out of my control.

“Thanks. Next time don't arrive unannounced at my home on a Friday night if you don't want to witness my favorite hobby.”

“That's fair. Have a seat, Adrien.”

Once I'm seated in front of his big desk, Erick repeats basically the same things he explained to me on Friday, which I do understand better this time, and then he has me sign a bunch of papers that I pretend to read. Honestly, I don't care what they say as long as they give me the millions they promised me. It's almost thirty pages long and my hand starts to hurt by the end, but I don't care.

Once I’m done, Erick takes me to the finance department where they ask for my bank information and Erick promises me that I will get my money today or tomorrow. That causes a nervous flutter in my stomach and makes me want to go somewhere private where I can scream.

“Thank you, it was a pleasure to see you a...”

“No, no, no. You're not leaving yet," Erick stops me and makes me follow him to the elevator again, "It's time for you to meet the Dell family and after that we'll talk about your responsibilities.”

Oh, no. I didn’t want to met them. Not yet.

I recognize all of the three people waiting for me on the top floor, in the dead man's old office. His wife Megan and my two half-siblings: Allison and Drake.

Megan is a tall, extremely thin woman with short copper hair, bangs and small evil eyes. This woman is intimate friends with a lot of celebrities and she’s always being interviewed for something or other just for being rich.

Drake is a year older than me and I think I can see a couple of similarities in our faces and bodies, although I’m about two or three inches taller, probably a lot heavier and my hair is dark instead of blond, like his.

And Allison. She’s five years older than me. Her body is voluptuous and probably fake. Her lips are injected and her eyes glow with hatred towards me.

I've seen a lot of pictures of these people in magazines, news and especially all over the internet, but this is the first time they've seen me and they don't look very happy about it.

"You already have your money, don't you? You can go now," my brother spits with a sneer. Hmm. Something tells me maybe he's not too fond of me, "Go back to the hood where you belong."

What a badass.

"I'd like nothing better, Draco Malfoy, but your dead father cheated on your mommy with mine so now I have to stay away from my beloved hood for a year, because of him," I explain, though something tells me he already knew that. His little hands form into fists but I turn to Erick, "Is this little man going to be a problem? Because nowhere in the contract did they mention that I would have to put up with drama from this guy. I want to sue."

"Don't worry, Drake is perfectly capable of behaving the way he should," Megan replies. I can see why my dad cheated on her with my mom. She was way prettier, "So I hope you know how, as well."

"Sure. I'm not the one who started with the insults," I defend myself, but Erick gives me a heavy look, "Okay, let's drop that subject.... Why am I here?"

"The Dell family wanted to welcome you to the company," Erick says and I know it's a lie because none of the three look welcoming, "Now that we'll all be working together, it's only right we get to know each other. Adrien will have all day today to decide which department he wants to work in and as soon as possible, we will have a meeting with the rest of the board to introduce him to them as well. I advise you, as I had mentioned before, to look united."

"Of course," the lady mutters, giving me an up and down look with complete disgust and the she forces herself to ask me something meaningless to appear nice, which starts the most awkward conversation I've ever had in my entire life. My half siblings do nothing to hide how much they hate me, the only one who seems willing to at least pretend to, is Megan.

As soon as Erick calls this little meeting to a close, I follow him out like the place is on fire.

"Drake's a good kid. He's just hurt by the decisions of..."

"You don't need to excuse him, Erick. I'm sure you hate him too but you get paid to say otherwise," I laugh. Erick decides to not say anything, "But I'm warning you, I'm not good at keeping my mouth shut if someone comes at me."

"Okay, I'll try to tell him to behave," he nods, giving me a deep look, "But you have to try, too, okay? Try to be professional because, just between us, this family is not very happy with the outcome of the will and with you here, okay? Don't give them any more reasons to dislike and reject you."

They can reject me all they want, I truly do not give a fück, but I nod anyway because I still don't have my money and I can't get rude yet.

Once I have my money secured, I make no promises.

"Now... can I go?"

"No. We need to have another talk, just you and me," he orders and walks towards the elevator which gives me a chance to roll my eyes hard at his back. I run to get into the elevator too before it closes and then I have to follow him to a deli in front of the building, "Order whatever you want. It’s on me."

He doesn't have to tell me twice. I order a chicken sandwich with fries and a salad on the side, also a berry smoothie which is probably the healthiest thing that has gone into my body in about five years.

"Have you thought about what department of the company you'd like to work in?"

"Nope."

"You said you've never had a 'real' job, right? So what have those 'unreal' jobs been?"

Selling hard drugs. But I can't admit that to a lawyer, so I just say, "Sales."

"Oh, great, then you can work for the sales department!" He exclaims with a smile and takes a swig from his coffee. For some reason, Erick seems to be on my side and that makes me feel good, "You're going to be away from all the family except for board meetings, so you won't have to worry about them much."

"Stop worrying about me, Erick. I’m not scared of them. I'm used to dealing with way worse people," I assure, remembering my boss, the one I mentioned before. The one who kidnapped me in his basement for owing him one thousand dollars worth of drugs that I didn't sell because I was too busy consuming them and for which I am now missing my left middle finger’s nail.

I literally don't think my rich step-family could be any worse than Big John and if they are, I should be planning my escape to another continent since right now.

"So... how about you tell me about what I'm supposed to do on these board meetings?"

"Being part of the board means that your opinion counts, and depending on how high your percentage is on the board the higher the value of your opinion. You can make important decisions that will affect or improve the company. Your father left you 20%, so you are one of the major shareholders. That is why the main family is so nervous about you being here, you understand? They don't know you, they don't know what kind of intentions you may have."

"My only intention at the moment is to buy a toaster as soon as I get that money in my possession," I admit and Erick closes his eyes, fighting a smile that wants to escape his face. “Honestly, I couldn't care less about this company, so maybe they have a little reason not to want me there. Besides, I don't have much of an education, I dropped out of high school before I graduated and of course I never went to college. I'm quite likely to ruin the whole company."

Erick is silent for a long silence, just watching me.

"Right. You mentioned that before..." he nods and ponders. “How come you work in sales, then?"

"Oh, Erick. I can't tell you that," I mutter before taking another bite of my delicious chicken sandwich. Erick's mouth drops open as the realization of my job hits him and he has to clear his throat, "Don't try to frame me for something, Erick, because I haven't admitted to anything."

"Let's change the subject, please and don't ever talk about it with me or anyone else again. Especially don't do it in front of the main family," he advises me, but I just give him an obvious look.

I may look stupid, but I'm not.

Once we finish eating and Erick pays for the food, he tells me I can leave and as I walk to catch a bus back to my neighborhood, my phone beeps.

When I look at the notification, I realize that it's from my bank app and my heart starts pumping hard. I have to sit on a bench because my legs start to shake when I see the amount that has just been transferred to my account.

Three hundred and fifty million dollars. That is three hundred and fifty million McDonald’s chesseburgers.

Is this real life?