Chapter 2 Grand Homage

Horace's mouth flew open as he stared at the message in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes hard.

"One, two, three... Eight, eight zeroes! One hundred million!"

He checked the sender and saw that it was actually the bank that sent it.

The last message he received from this line was the debit alert he got after the POS transaction he did yesterday to buy the cellphone for Amaia.

Horace's heart began to beat fast.

'Oh my God! How could this be? I must be daydreaming! Or did Addy's beating send me to the great beyond? No, I am still alive! Could this be some kind of advanced hacking technology?'

To confirm if that was real, Horace dialed the bank's customer service number with trembling hands.

He was connected to a human customer service representative.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" A sweet female voice came from the other end of the line.

Horace swallowed and tried not to sound so nervous.

"Hello. Well, I want to check my account balance. My account number is..."

"Okay, please hold on a moment."

Anxiety ravaged Horace as he waited for the result.

It was the longest ten seconds of his life. A response came from the other end of the line afterward. However, the customer service representative's voice was unsteady. It was obvious that she was flustered.

"H...Hello, sir. Ahem! Your account balance is one...one hundred million three hundred and fifteen dollars."

"Okay, thank you."

Horace calmed down a little after this confirmation. He felt that the middle-aged man who called him a while ago wasn't insane after all. He began to consider his words at this time.

The customer service representative was nervous. She hung up the phone hurriedly without asking Horace to rate her service.

It wasn't until she got off the call that she began to beat herself up. She felt that she had just let a golden opportunity slip off her fingers. 'Gosh, you are so stupid. You should have struck up a conversation with him and gotten his phone number. Who knows? You could become his girlfriend or maybe his mistress. You just threw away your one-way ticket out of poverty!'

Meanwhile, Horace immediately called back the strange man.

Raul answered the phone on the first ring. He had been expecting his call, so he was still holding his phone.

"Hello, Mr. Warren."

"Who on earth are you? Why did you send me that amount of money? And why do you call me Mr. Warren?" Horace immediately fired questions at him.

"Don't worry, Mr. Warren. I'll explain everything to you," Raul began respectfully.

He then added, "My name is Raul Warren, and I am the general director of the Warren family's business in Rinas!"

"Raul Warren?" Horace was stunned for a moment. For some weird reason, this name sounded familiar.

"Yes, Mr. Warren. You have suffered a lot since you were a child. Until now, your identity was hidden. It might interest you to know that you have a noble identity. You are the direct descendant of the Warren family. The flesh and blood of the family's head."

"What? Is the Warren family very powerful?"

"Not only is this family powerful, but it's also a force to reckon with. It's one of the wealthiest families to ever exist. Also, it is a top player which controls a great part of the world's economy!"

"Oh, I see. So, the leader of this so-called powerful family thought it wise to abandon his wife and son for eighteen whole years? Wow! He must be an impressive man!" he commented sarcastically.

For as long as Horace could remember, he had been fatherless. He grew up with Caylee Potter, whom he called mother. It wasn't surprising that he harbored inveterate hatred for his father now that he found out he was alive and had been wealthy all along.

'Powerful man, my foot! Of what use is his power if he abandoned his family?' he thought to himself.

"Mr. Warren, I think you have misunderstood your father. Your mother's disappearance scarred him. He never remarried, so you are his only child. He never wanted to be the leader of the Warren family. However, he had no choice but to take the position so he could have all the power and resources to search for you!"

"Let's just assume that I believe you. But why didn't your boss call me himself?"

The story about his true identity was becoming clearer and clearer, but Horace couldn't bring himself to say the word, father. Not when he didn't even know the man.

"Mr. Warren, your father can't be in contact with you for now. He's currently tied up with something. Please be understanding. I believe that you would hear from him in a few days!"

After a brief pause, Raul continued in a low voice, "All of your father's assets in Rinas are now in your name. Anyway, are you still at the city square? I'm on my way to pay homage to you with all the regional directors!"

"Eh? Pay homage to me?"

"Yes, please wait a moment. We'll arrive there soon."

"Oh... Okay!" Horace hesitated before agreeing reluctantly. He had a lot of questions to ask Raul, so he thought it was best to meet him face to face.

Still in pain, he managed to walk to the main entrance of the city square and sat down on a bench in the parterre.

Two young men were also there at this time. They were watching videos on TikTok.

"Gosh! This guy is so rich! Unbelievable!" one of them suddenly exclaimed.

"Who?" his friend asked curiously.

"Look!" The first young man handed the phone to him. "He's so wealthy that I can't tell his net worth. He owns more than ten Rolls-Royce cars in his convoy and he ran a red light!"

"Really? Wow! The road looks kind of familiar. Look at that sign. It seems the convoy is coming towards the city square. Let's go and have a look!"

The two young men stood up and craned their necks to look into the distance.

"Wow! I can see the convoy!"

"This is so awesome. I hope I would be able to buy one of such cars with my life savings!"

"Your life savings? Dude, you think so highly of yourself!"

Horace also looked in that direction and saw that a dozen luxury cars were coming at a very high speed. They ignored all the traffic lights. To prevent their car from getting scratched or knocked off the road, all the commuters made way for the convoy. Thus, the luxury cars drove freely on a large path.

The cars orderly formed two lines as soon as they drove into the city square.

In unison, all the doors opened and several men in black suits got out.

"Whoa! What are they doing? How come they are so orderly?"

"Are they YouTubers?"

"Let's be logical here, bro. Even if they are YouTubers, they are a special breed. Their cars are so expensive!"

Many people had gathered here at this time. Scores of others swarmed in like bees just to witness what was happening as soon as they heard the news.

The crowd spoke in hush tones as they stared at the luxury cars and the mysterious men.

It was at this time that Raul got out of his car slowly. He scanned through the crowd with a frown.

He had come here for one person, but he couldn't find him now. He took out his phone and dialed Horace's number. "Mr. Warren, we are here."

Horace, who was stuck in the middle of the crowd, painstakingly started making his way to the front after receiving the call.

"Hey! You stepped on my toes! Don't push! Stay back there!" the crowd complained.

"I'm sorry, please excuse me!" Horace had to apologize again and again.

After a great deal of struggle, he finally managed to get to the front. He took a deep breath and walked to the convoy.

The onlookers were confused.

"Who's that guy? Why is he walking up to them without fear? He must be insane. I bet they would beat him black and blue!"

"Isn't he the loser who just professed his love for a girl and got rejected? What does he want to do now? Did the heartbreak affect his brain? Does he want to end his life by annoying these men?"

"Anyway, we are about to watch another good show starring the same main actor!"

This conversation wafted into Horace's ears, but he ignored them. He just continued to walk up to Raul and the others.

"Mr. Warren!" Raul first stared at him straight in the eyes before greeting him with a bow.

Behind him, all the men in black suits also bowed and greeted him in unison, "Mr. Warren!"

The entire city square instantly became as silent as a grave. No one in the crowd made a sound.