ONE WEEK CHAPTER SIX

“We are here to witness the death of our beloved. A friend, a brother, and a relative. Although he was taken away at such an early time from us, he was always ready to help those in need and a great benefactor, as his good deeds cannot be counted even up to this moment...”, a voice was heard in the background while a lot of people dressed in black could be seen close to a coffin and a place has been dug already to bury it in.

This was the burial ceremony of Raphael who has been dead for two days now. Keeping him longer in the mortuary won’t do any good, thus Andrew has decided to let his body rest in peace.

The priest in charge of the ceremony was saying a lot of things that Andrew wasn’t interested in. He was just thinking back to that playful child who had always called him big bro, didn’t like having issues with anyone, and was smiling no matter what. He has always seemed too mature for Andrew as he never requested for much, saying that having his big brother around was enough. Even when Andrew tried to go the extra mile, Raphael would always reject such things. Although he has gone through a lot, that didn’t stop him from being a good man and wanting to help others so they don’t pass through such a situation.

Now he was gone, no longer to be heard from again. He would miss his little brother, as he has always been the reason that he never gave up no matter how hard the situation got. Now is there any reason to live? Is there a reason to keep on amassing this wealth? There is no meaning to this life any longer.

Through the little things he could do, Ella has been released from jail and was present in the ceremony as she cries her heart out. She wore a black net gown, with a thick cloth covering beneath and a cocktail hat.

After the short preaching and words, the coffin was slowly being buried and Andrew was called to pour a bit of sand on top of the coffin. Andrew takes a deep breath before walking forward. He stares at the coffin for a long time, his thoughts unknown before pouring the sand.

Other close friends and relatives of theirs also did the same, although none of their relatives came to their rescue when they were down, Raphael still showed mercy and put some of them in some important positions, perhaps due to the fact that they were all one family.

The next scene is shown with Andrew on top of his bed, still depressed over what has happened. Although various comments and pieces of evidence have come out over the video which he had posted on the media, after filtering through them and further investigations, they all turned out to be lies.

He couldn’t just accept the fact that his brother had just died in that manner without any prior warning. This was surely more than an ordinary death to him, the murder was well-planned. So although he was depressed, he poured a lot of resources into finding out who the real killer was. But no matter how much money he was willing to pay or the amount of time he was willing to sacrifice in this case. He always ended up at a dead end, like his death was normal and Raphael was not murdered.

In this way, Andrew was able to confirm one thing. The powers behind the death of his brother were greater than he had imagined. He never imagined that even with the amount of wealth he has now, he couldn’t be able to figure out who was responsible for the death of his brother. He was feeling dismayed at this moment.

‘So there were powers greater at than mine. So wealth doesn’t matter in this life then’, Andrew thought depressingly.

Meanwhile, the old man with the walking stick was currently in an online meeting with the other top members of his family.

“Hahahaha. Such a foolish boy he is”, one of the men present in the meeting says. “He thought that with such measly wealth, he was able to amass through nothing but sheer luck, he would be able to touch the helm of our garments”, another says in derision over the recent actions of Andrew. “I wouldn’t blame him for feeling that he could find something to hold down the murderer of his brother. But you played your part well, Lucious. I never expected you to be able to do the job so well”, a woman speaks this time around.

“I made use of my connections to get hold of the strongest terrorist group in this country. I ensured that they would be able to do such a job perfectly by testing their powers on the son of the vice president who has been feeling crazy about going head-to-head with us, and they did the job more than perfectly. I just had to tie up some loose ends and that was all it took to clear every piece of evidence”, the old man who uses a walking stick to support himself whose name also seems to be Lucious says while feeling smug.

“Hmm, I thought you employed the use of the smilers. Since they were the only ones who are known to be able to do such a job cleanly”, the woman says, shocked that it was not who she thought was used. “I thought that way too”, “Same here”, all the people present in the meeting chime in their replies.

The people currently present in this meeting all held important positions in the country and their words held a huge amount of weight.

“It was not like I did not think of employing their help, but using them would just be like allowing a man-eating tiger who can never be satisfied into our backyard. I did rather have the ones I can control take hold of the job so that we can be able to dispose of them if the need ever arises. And they performed this job more perfectly than the previous job which goes to show that they can still be of use to eliminate all other enemies”, Lucious explains his reasons behind the decisions.

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“That seems about right”, “Yeah, I guess we should be grateful you thought that far ahead”, “Allowing you to be the head doesn’t seem to be a waste at the end”, the people chime in their opinions once again.

From their discussions and the action of Lucious, it seems to be sure that they were more afraid of Andrew than they were of the politicians who ruled the country. Seems like although Andrew has not been at the top for too long, he still had some amount of say in the country.

And although Lucious seems to be the head, he could be easily replaced at will. Seems like the person with the lead shares was just meant to make life-changing decisions and take the blames when it all goes south.

“So how do you plan to deal the final blow to Andrew?”, another woman couldn’t help to ask.

Lucious smiles broadly first before saying, “The pieces are already in play. It would be just a few days max for him to fall below and start licking our boots”.

“Ohh, that’s good then”, another man pauses before continuing, “What about that girl you made use of? What was her name again?”.

“Ella”, Lucious replies. “We have her in our palms. One wrong move on her part and her parents would be long gone. And before she would be able to execute her plans, she would be properly dealt with”, he continues with pride in his tone.

“Good, good”, the man says. All the people in the meeting were pleased with the words of Lucious and his thinking was nice. They didn’t find any flaws in his words and were proud of him. They have even made plans secretly to reward him once this was all over.

The days went by and it was a Monday morning. It was almost one week since the death of his brother, and Andrew has wasted a lot of money on the case, but with no lead.

Today, he just thought to watch the tv to get his mind off some stuff. He turns on the tv and slowly switches between channels. He gets to the news channel but quickly passes by it since he doesn’t want to be reminded about his brother’s death or anything of that sort. But he quickly changes back to the news channel as a particular headline catches his attention.

On getting back to it and his eyes scanning through it all, he was in complete shock, it seems like his world was turned over. He has turned into a star once again, but this time around, his stardom wasn’t that for people to praise. He was being framed at this moment as he watches the news in shock.

“The crimes and fraud department has dug up a huge secret on the top tycoon Andrew”, the news broadcaster begins. “He has been found to be involved in various crimes including money laundering, tax evasion, and other sorts. It has also been found out that his business empires have been built through the blood and sacrifices of various people, so he is also involved in mass murder.....”, the news broadcaster continues.

Other stuff was also being said, but Andrew was not willing to listen to a single word again as his already shattered world, shatters more.

Instead of crying, he starts laughing like a deranged human being. It wasn’t hard to imagine the number of investigations that would be run on him and his companies. Since the people were able to broadcast such news, they would surely be able to provide evidence, so there was no question about his empire crumbling.

Meanwhile, Lucious and his son were watching the same news while laughing and clapping at their deeds. This was spectacular no matter how they see it, and with this, they were sure that Andrew was finished. They can slowly acquire all his wealth with little to no effort and all at a lower cost. It all seems like Andrew acquired the wealth specifically for them.

There were various reactions to the news all over the country. Some were shocked, some dismayed, some happy. Business rivals were happy at this, it was good for their business after all.

‘How can you be able to get rid of this situation then? You have always been boasting right? Show me what you have got right now’, Lucious says inwardly feeling happy.

In the next scene, it was still that same day but it was in the afternoon now. Andrew could be seen being brought out of his house with light flashes here and there from cameras. His hands were being handcuffed and although he was being brought away calmly, sneers could be seen being formed on the faces of the police authorities now and then. Like they were privately sent in to do the deed and they would be rewarded for their actions. Journalists were asking various questions as Andrew slowly enters the police vehicle about to be brought away, but he didn’t answer any questions. He was still in shock about all that has happened. This was all new to him. He hasn’t faced such a situation in a long time since he started hustling from when he was just a little kid until when he had amassed all this wealth.

Although the journey hasn’t been a smooth one, he has always kept a clean record.

It was now evening and Andrew could be seen behind bars, for crimes he did not commit, he was not treated too shabbily since the crime hasn’t been judged. But the policemen have been letting various words out of their mouths for a long while.

They were deriding him. The richest man in the country, one whom they would want to lick his boots formerly. Oh, how quickly people change sides when you are down.