Homeless and poor Brandon offers his last $2 to a needy elderly man at a gas station convenience store and inherits his company the next day. Brandon thinks this is the start of a new life for his family.
Brandon clutched his paper cup of change as he made his way into the gas station convenience store. He had already reached the aisle when he was distracted by a loud voice. He saw a line of angry shoppers standing behind an elderly man who was hard of hearing.
‘Excuse me, what did you say about the water being funny?’ – The elderly man asked the cashier.
‘Money!’ – she moaned. ‘I said you didn’t have enough money, sir!’
‘Yes, it was a sunny day!’ – replied the man, frowning.
‘You need more money! For water!’ A younger guy standing behind the man grabbed him by the shoulder and shouted in his ears.
Brandon noticed everything. He had the urge to intervene, but he didn’t want to incur the wrath of the customers. Meanwhile, the elderly man explained that he was short of money and asked if he could buy a smaller bottle of water since he needed to take his pills.
‘If you can’t pay, you’ll have to leave!’ – shouted the cashier.
‘I can leave?’ He smiled and turned to leave, but the cashier snatched the water bottle from his hands. ‘Get out, old man!’ – she hissed. ‘You’re making too much trouble!’
The elderly man asked for pills, but his pleas went unanswered.
Brandon had had enough. He approached the cashier and offered to pay for the old man.
‘Have a heart, lady,’ he said and set his cup on the counter. The woman looked at him in disgust before counting out the money.
‘That’s enough,’ she said as she took all the money, including his last two dollars. ‘Now step aside. You hold the line.’
Brandon tossed the can of beans onto the counter and held out the water to the older man.
‘Here you go, sir. I brought you some water,’ he spoke slowly and clearly so the man could see his face in case he needed to read his lips. The man thanked him. They walked out of the shop together and Brandon headed towards his tent on the bare patch of land adjacent to the station, but the man stopped him.
‘Wait!’
Brandon turned around.
‘Why did you help me when you obviously needed money?’ – The older man asked.
‘If I’ve learned anything from being homeless, sir,’ Brandon replied, ’it’s that the world works when people are kind to each other.
‘But what will your children eat? You left the beans on the counter.’
‘We have the last of yesterday’s bread,’ Brandon replied. ‘We’ll manage.’
The man walked away, frowning. Brandon noticed him getting into a gleaming SUV and wondered why a man like him couldn’t afford a bottle of water.
The next day, as Brandon was dividing cold fries between the kids, a silver sedan pulled up outside his tent. A man in a fancy suit approached him.
‘Good morning, sir. Mr Greaves‘ last wish was for me to give you this,’ he said, holding out an envelope.
Brandon wiped his hands and took it. Inside lay a letter.
‘Dear Sir,
Yesterday you proved yourself to be a man of good character when you spent your last few dollars for me. Your kindness and belief in doing good for others inspired me to repay you with the greatest gift I can give you: my business.
My time in this world is coming to an end. Lately, I have become wary of leaving my company to my son, as I have become convinced that he is a selfish man with a heart of stone. It would ease my conscience greatly if you inherited the company in his place. All I ask is that you take care of my son and provide him with a safe and comfortable life.’
‘Is this a joke?’ Brandon looked at the man.
The man pulled out a stack of printed papers and a pen. ‘Mr Greaves was very serious. And once you sign these papers, it’s official.’
‘But I just met this guy yesterday. And now he’s dead and left me everything?’ asked Brandon, studying the papers.
‘I understand your concerns, sir, but these papers were drawn up by the best lawyers. All we have to do is put your name in and the lawyers will do the rest.’
This was his chance to provide for his children, and Brandon signed the document. The man then drove him and the children to their new home.
As they pulled up to the house, Brandon looked around at the huge mansion.
Brandon could hardly believe it himself. But as soon as he swung open the double doors, he sensed something was wrong. The house was a mess: the desk was lying on its side in the hallway and the wardrobe was overturned.
Brandon dropped his luggage, ran for his car, and told the driver to call 911. Hours later, he was standing amid slashed couches and broken furniture talking to police officers.
‘We inspected the entire house and found no signs of forced entry, sir,’ the officer said. ‘That, combined with the fact that the security system appears to have been disabled with the correct code, suggests that whoever vandalised the place had a legitimate way to get into the house.’
‘Like a key, for example? So the person who did this just walked in here?’
‘I’d advise you to change the locks, sir,’ the officer nodded.
When the policemen left, Brandon suspected the older man’s son.
The next day, Mr Greaves’ secretary arrived early. She took Brandon shopping and got him cleaned up at the barber’s and then drove him to the company. In the office that had once belonged to Mr Greaves, Brandon was about to go through the files on the computer when the doors swung open.
‘You must be Brandon!’ A middle-aged man in a dark suit walked into the office. ‘I’m Christopher, one of Mr Greaves’ former business partners, and I’m here to save you a whole bunch of trouble.’
‘Excuse me?’ asked Brandon.
Christopher explained that he was doing sales for one of Mr Greaves’ “specific” businesses. Brandon quickly realised that this was something illegal. He refused to continue, but Christopher didn’t care.
‘Listen up, you moron! Greaves owed me two million dollars for handling the illegal side of his business! Now you’re responsible for that,’ he growled. ‘And if you don’t pay up, I’m going to go to the police and tell them everything. Moreover, as the owner of the company, you will be responsible for all losses. So I’ll be expecting my $2 million by Saturday.’
‘What, that’s extortion! You’re not kidding!’ objected Brandon.
‘Yes, it is. And in case you think I’m not serious…’ Christopher threw back his jacket and put his hand on the butt of the pistol that hung in a holster at his side. ‘…Rest assured, if you cross me, Brandon, I will make you disappear.’
Brandon said nothing and agreed to Christopher’s demands. But he wondered if Christopher was deceiving him. So Brandon looked for any hint of this illicit side of the business.
By the evening of that day, after reviewing the data from all the other departments, Brandon was sure Christopher was lying. But then he noticed a filing cabinet hidden in the corner of the room. Brandon opened it with the keys he had found earlier on his desk. And the first thing he noticed was an old-fashioned file cabinet tucked into a drawer.
Inside it was an account book with entries written in some kind of shorthand, and Brandon realised that Christopher wasn’t lying. In desperation, he opened the drawer to find a few bottles of scotch on hand, but found nothing but a photograph.
It showed Mr Greaves standing with…a young boy. Brandon’s eyes bulged with horror as he realised how much they looked alike. It was Christopher, Mr Greaves’ son!
Everything began to make sense to Brandon. He couldn’t believe that someone as kind as Mr Greaves could be involved in an illegal business. So Christopher was probably using his own shady dealings to blackmail him, Brandon reasoned.
With luck and a terrible twist that threatened to ruin everything, it was all happening too fast. Fortunately, Brandon was not unfamiliar with the whirlwinds of the business world.
That Saturday, Brandon met Christopher in the underground car park, but with a counter offer.
‘I have to keep my word to your old man,’ Brandon said, ’so I’ll give you 49 per cent of the company and I’ll keep the other 51 per cent. That’ll be enough for you to live luxuriously, right? And I’ll reserve the right to run the company as your father wanted.’
But Christopher refused. ‘I’m not stupid, I deserve all this, not some petty little thing! We’ll talk when you come to your senses!’ – He hissed and walked away.
Brandon returned to the office. He decided to pay Christopher his two million dollars and be done with it, but found the company’s money tied up in assets or diverted to monthly expenses. Brandon was helpless.
Dejected, he returned home where another trouble awaited him. Opening the front door, he found his children’s babysitter tied to a chair and gagged.
‘He’s taken the children! He asked me to tell you that this should be a wake-up call to you!’ – she shouted as he released her and Brandon realised who she was talking about.
Brandon called Christopher and agreed to hand over the company, begging him not to hurt the kids. They decided to meet at noon. But Brandon also called the police, and within half an hour he was sitting down with an FBI agent.
‘Just follow my instructions and we’ll get your children back…’ Agent Bates assured him.
That afternoon Christopher was relaxing by the pool of the hotel he had rented. He had locked Brandon’s children in a wardrobe and fired all the hotel staff except the manager, whom he paid well.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ the manager interrupted him. ‘You have a parcel.’
Checking the envelope, Christopher grinned. He made his way to his room and signed the papers he found in the envelope. The company was finally his! He then released Brandon’s children. ‘I’m sure ragamuffins like you can find your way around. Now get out of here!’
Christopher finished packing. Suddenly he heard a click behind him. Although the sound was quiet, Christopher immediately recognised it as the gun’s safety selector.
‘FBI! Put your hands in the air! You’re under arrest.’
Meanwhile, Brandon was cradling children on the pavement. Thanks to Agent Bates’ idea to put a tracker in the paperwork, Christopher was caught.
Brandon took the kids home, ready to make things right. And when the FBI Fraud Squad showed up with a warrant, he handed the agents the evidence – copies of company documents and a ledger he’d found in his office – knowing he wouldn’t have a penny left by the time the investigation was over. But he would be free.
‘Daddy, are we really going to leave our house…only after Mummy dies?’ asked Kelly.
Brandon dropped to one knee and hugged his children.
‘Look, you four, we’re going to be okay. Do you want to know why?’
The kids looked at him seriously and nodded.
‘It’s because the most precious thing we have is right here in my arms. As long as we stick together, we will always be rich in the most important thing – love.’
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