Can You Keep It Saintly?

5 “VAN-SAINT Group”

Year 2017

Tatum Van Saint, 25, was the stuff of nightmares for those who worked and had worked for his family and his respectable father Santiago Van Saint. Tatum’s reputation was built on a foundation of terror - his severely violent outbursts, his icy disposition, and his superiority complex left a trail of complete fear and resentment in his wake.

As the heir to the Van Saint family’s vast fortune and empire, Tatum had been the sole heir of his entire family business called the VAN-SAINT Group - a conglomerate that monopolized the electricity supply for the entire United States of America, and included a range of other industries and holdings. Despite his privileged upbringing, Tatum’s power and influence only seemed to fuel his arrogance and entitlement.

Even before Tatum was born, he had already been destined for a life of privilege and luxury. From the moment he entered the world, he was bestowed with the greatest and the finest of comforts and material possessions, having been the first-born son of one of the world’s most powerful and wealthy families. As he grew up, Tatum was surrounded by the trappings of wealth, such as private jets, mansions, and a vast array of expensive toys and gadgets. His life was marked by extravagance and opulence from the very beginning.

Despite Tatum’s privileged upbringing and status as the heir to the VAN-SAINT Group, Tatum was very well aware of the vile consequences of any missteps that could negatively impact his father’s immense business empire. Santiago, known for his ruthless business practices, would not hesitate to mete out a lesson if his son’s actions threatened his operations. Therefore, Tatum always kept this in the back of his mind and tread carefully to avoid incurring his father’s wrath.

The VAN-SAINT Group has been a veritable behemoth in the multinational manufacturing and services conglomerate sector. Its core industries have always been mainly on energy, petroleum, and chemicals, where it held a significant presence. But its reach did not stop there. The group also owned the country’s leading wireless mobile phone service provider called VAN-SAINT Telecom, and had a stronghold in the construction, marketing, local telephone communications, high-speed internet, and wireless broadband sector through VAN-SAINT Skyfi. The whole conglomerate’s diversified portfolio and expansive network of businesses reflected its status as a formidable force in the global corporate landscape.

In addition to its dominance in the electricity supply and other industries, the VAN-SAINT Group also held a significant share in the global semiconductor market through its majority ownership of the company VAN-SAINT Hyper. Founded in 2012, VAN-SAINT Hyper was known as a major player in the random access memory (RAM) and semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its main customers included some of the most well-known technology companies in the entire world, such as Apple, Asus, Dell, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise which has been formerly known as Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and then MSI.

So, you see, Tatum had always seen himself as someone of complete unparalleled importance, considering himself more crucial than even the President of the United States of America. After all, he believed that the prosperity of the nation relied heavily on his family’s entire empire, from electricity, energy, petroleum, chemicals, construction, marketing, telephone communications, internet to hyper memory manufacturing. With his family’s influence and control over vital resources, Tatum carried himself with a heavy haughty air of entitlement, expecting nothing less than utmost respect. He felt empowered by the knowledge that the success of countless businesses in the country rested on his family’s shoulders, and his ego inflated with pride.

Tatum, whose family was renowned for their extreme power and wealth, had harbored an intense secret desire to invest in the illegal drug trade since he was twenty years old. Despite the strict and wealthy nature of his father, Santiago Van Saint, Tatum has been absolutely determined to pursue his own investment and build a vast drug syndicate, to become a wealthy drug lord. In Tatum’s mind, becoming a drug lord would let the people in the underworld fear him even more, and Tatum loved power. Knowing his father’s disapproval, Tatum kept his ambitions hidden, carefully planning and implementing his drug empire behind Santiago’s back.

Santiago Van Saint has been a figure who was often compared to the devil himself in the world of business. He was known for his cutthroat negotiating style, his ruthless drive to always win something over someone and getting what he wants whenever he wants, and his relentless pursuit of success and power. These characteristics were then passed down to his one and only son Tatum. Santiago’s reputation preceded him, and many potential partners would find themselves shaking in their boots at the thought of doing business with him since he was the devil in the world of business. Santiago had built the VAN-SAINT Group into the global powerhouse it was today, and he commanded a significant amount of respect and fear in the business world. No matter the challenge, Santiago Van Saint was a force to be reckoned with. He was ruthless, just like his son Tatum.

That was why, when Santiago discovered that Tatum had been heavily involved in the drug trade for over a year now, and was on the brink of being imprisoned, he immediately went into action to protect his heir, his one and only son, and most of all Santiago’s last name and his entire business. He had lots of lives to protect so he did what he had to do, as a father and as the CEO of the entire conglomerate. Santiago had no qualms about paying off the police, drug lords, and anyone else who had knowledge of the situation, using his vast wealth to keep Tatum out of legal trouble. Money was never a problem for Santiago, and he saw this as a necessary expense to save his son from facing harsh consequences.

Santiago gripped Tatum’s collars with both of his hands, his eyes ablaze with fury. “Get up!!!” He roared, delivering five powerful punches to his son’s face. The room fell silent, and not a soul dared to intervene. “What did I tell you, huh?! What did I warn you about?! WHAT DID I f*****g TELL YOU?! SAY IT!!” His loud growl of anger echoed in the entire mansion which sent an absolutely cold shiver down the spines of their house employees.

“Not to f**k up.” Tatum answered, his lip was cut and blood was dripping down his chin.

“Did you think you could go against my commands and get away with it?!” Santiago continued, his voice laced with menace. “I paid millions of dollars for your f**k up, you little whim!!”

His tightly clenched fist landed on Tatum’s face strongly. His face stung from the force of his father’s blows, and he stumbled to stay upright, only to be yanked back into place by Santiago’s firm grip. “What did you think of my hard earned wealth and reputation that I built many years before you were even born?! A stupid game of snakes and ladders?! A trial and error?! This is not f*****g monopoly board game, Tate!! You listen to me, you little s**t! And you listen well! I told you time and time again, even when you were a child to stay away from anything illegal. But what did you do?! You brought the FBI on our trail because of your stupid drug exchange with some Italian mafia!! You did not listen! You never listen!!”

As the barrage of scolding and curses continued, Tatum could feel the full weight of his father’s disappointment and fury bearing down on him. Tatum only wanted more power and more respect, he wanted to do greater heights compared to his father, and to Tatum being a drug lord would make him become more of an influence to many people aside from being the VAN-SAINT Group’s heir. The mention of the FBI investigation and the exposure of their dealings with the Italian mafia hit home, underscoring the gravity of his mistakes. It was clear that Tatum’s actions had endangered not just his own future, but the family's reputation and business operations as well.

“I am cutting you off from my will.” Santiago firmly announced.

“WHAT?!” Tatum yelled back in an instant.

“As of now, you can no longer access all of your credit cards and debit cards. Your bank account is on hold. All of your expensive things; from clothes, shoes, jewelry, cars, every single thing, you can not touch them.”

“You can not do this to me! I am 25 years old! I am a grown man! I do not need detention!”

Santiago raised his voice even louder than Tatum’s, “Every single thing inside your bedroom and in your garage, your collection of your sports cars and luxury cars? MINE. I am confiscating every single thing that you bought with my own money. YOU are disinherited from everything that I have. You have your own passport, get your ass out of this city, go to a small town and get a job.”

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME, DAD!” Tatum was visibly fuming.

“I DO NOT CARE.” Santiago was the devil, always so harsh and heartless. His loud and roaring voice was laced with a seething anger as he continued his tirade. “Get a decent job; a maintenance man, a garbage collector, a delivery driver, janitor, waiter. I do not give a single s**t!!”

In the face of his father’s harsh wrath and demands, Tatum stood defiant. He raised his chin in a show of stubbornness, refusing to back down. “How dare you speak to me like this,” he retorted, his voice laced with a mix of absolute anger and insolence. “I am your son, and I will not be treated like some lowly servant. You cannot force me to do these menial tasks and humiliate myself. For what? For your own entertainment?!”

Despite the gravity of his situation, Tatum’s pride and sense of entitlement continued to drive his response and actions towards his own father.

Santiago’s eyes were like steel as he looked at his defiant son while he gripped Tatum’s face strongly, “Earn your own damn salary, save up five hundred thousand dollars and give it to me as your collateral damage for every single thing you did to me and caused!” he growled, his fury simmering just beneath the surface. “If I let you pay me measly ten million dollars, the same amount I paid everyone who knew about what you got yourself into? You will work for the rest of your life until you die. Might as well have you jailed instead, huh?” He leaned in closer to Tatum’s ear, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “So do not even think about touching drugs again, or I will make sure your life is a living nightmare. I will make sure to put you in jail myself for as long as you are alive. One wrong move. Just one more, and you will even regret being my son.”

Santiago's piercing eyes bore into Tatum's, as he suddenly slapped Tatum’s face strongly, “Do you understand?”

“Yes, dad.” Tatum answered.

Tatum had a great deal of respect and admiration for his father, Santiago Van Saint, despite Tatum's absolutely rebellious demeanor and sporadic outbursts of insolence. Even though he frequently disapproved of the limits and demands placed on him by his father, he respected Santiago's great desire, astute business sense, and extensive network of contacts that he had amassed and totally developed over the years. As a result, despite their differences, they were still connected by a bond of respect and familial loyalty.

In the end, he had sent Tatum to Pine Ridge North Carolina, on a self-reliant mission.

Santiago’s orders to Tatum were crystal clear - no financial crutches provided by his father, no use of credit or debit cards, no provided allowance, no usage of his luxury cars, designer clothes, or his expensive collection of Rolex watches. It was a stark contrast to the lavish lifestyle that Tatum had enjoyed and had been used to before since he was growing up. Santiago wanted his own son Tatum to experience the harsh reality of earning his own keep, and forced Tatum to take whatever job he could find, regardless of how menial it might be. The only way for him to return to the city and reunite with his father would be for him to realize that business with drugs was not the answer.

Santiago was the devil even towards his son, and the apple does not fall far from the tree, Tatum was the devil himself. Santiago’s reputation for being a ruthless business magnate extended even to his own family, and his very cutthroat approach left little room for empathy or kindness, even to Tatum. But since he was Santiago’s very own, one and only son, Tatum had inherited some of that cold, calculating nature and had developed a reputation as a fierce and unfeeling individual in his own right.

Like his father, Tatum was known for his ruthless business tactics and his willingness to go to great lengths to get what he wanted. The apple truly definitely did not fall far from the tree in this case.

When Tatum arrived at Pine Ridge, North Carolina, he had nothing.