Chapter 4 Got A New Business

• Adrian was severed by the Luthers. The media was buzzing about Valerie and Stanley's nuptials. Reporters, photographers, and paparazzis swarm around them whenever they go out together to snap pictures of them.
• Adrian made the decision to move on and opened a little restaurant with his savings. Being the owner of one of the biggest restaurants in the city was his dream. The fact that the only affordable lodging for his business was situated in front of Luther's lavish restaurant made him unhappy.
• He had no choice but to set up his business there but he received nothing but mockery from the Luthers. His mother and half-sister supported him in his business endeavors and provided him with happiness.
• One fateful day while Adrian was attending to a few customers in his restaurant, Stanley, Valerie and her two brothers showed up, leaving Adrian with shock.
• "Have a seat." Samantha said nicely to them but Stanley smirked as he assessed her poor outfit.
• Adrian got angry, he knew they were here to humiliate him again.
• "What are you doing here?" Adrian asked as he saw them taking a seat at a corner beside the window.
• "Is this the way to talk to your customers? Isn't this your business where you need people to patronize you?" Valerie asked sardonically and Adrian could see the romantic display between her and Stanley as they both robbed hands.
• "We'll serve your orders and you leave afterwards." Adrian emphasized as he reached for a menu. "And what if I decide not to leave instantly?" Claus cut in as he stood and confronted Adrian, trying to intimidate him with his muscular physique and statuesque.
• Samantha held Adrian's hand softly, trying to stop him from getting upset or exchanging more words with them.
• "Your orders please. It will be my pleasure to serve you." Maria cut in as she approached them with a warm smile.
• The Luthers looked at their food in contempt once it was served. They were obviously there to make fun of them rather than to eat. Valerie could not stop laughing at how poorly prepared the meal was.
• After Stanley tasted the food, he spat on the ground.
• "Chickens undercooked, vegetables, overcooked. The rice is strong and salty, the mushrooms are stale plus the food is all gross." Stanley gave a rancid remark while Adrian clenched his fist in anger as he stared at him.
• Valerie scoffed, "Is this the best food you can offer to your customers?"
• Scott slammed his plate on purpose, spilling the contents over the floor as they all stood up. "Oops! That was a mistake," He said with a scornful pitiful look as he stared at the content on the floor.
• "I apologize for giving you guys more cleaning tasks. You must have been exhausted after cooking the whole day."
• "I can see your restaurant is right in front of ours." Valerie added with a smirk look as she caught eyes with Adrian.
• "If your dream is to expand your business and compete with the Luthers as a Revenge, then…" She stopped and bursted out laughing as soon as she caught eyes with Stanley.
• "That can only be achieved in your dreams." She concluded and Stanley brought out some dollar bills before throwing them on the floor.
• "Our payment for your service even when we didn't get to eat the horrible food you guys made."
• Despite his rage, Adrian made an effort to remain composed. The other few customers were watching the scene as they ate. It wasn't easy for him to get customers after setting up the business for a month and some weeks. What upset him was the fact that the Luthers were trying to intimidate him and make mockery of him in the presence of his customers.
• "Don't you need your money?" Stanley asked mockingly as he tossed more money on the floor.
• "STOP!" Adrian said, stopping Maria from bending to pick them up.
• "Why are you stopping her?"
• "It's none of your business."
• "I see you're trying to have some ego, you poor thing. Just take it, I'm sure you need the money more than I do."
• "Who knows, maybe he's shy to take it and act defeated right in front of his customers." Scott added as he scanned the faces of the few customers who had stopped eating to watch the scene.
• "You know, you can always take it when your customers leave." Stanley said in a mutter to Adrian.
• Samantha, Adrian's mother, collapsed on the ground while they were still making fun of him. Her epileptic seizure occurred, and she was convulsing. Samantha was an epileptic. When Sir Gerald got her treated by competent physicians, the frequency of her seizures decreased.
• The Luthers had stopped giving her the minimal care she required for it ever since Sir Gerald passed away.
• "How amazing! A restaurant chef who suffers from epilepsy?" Stanley mocked and the few customers who were eating got on their feet when they noticed her condition.
• Some spat their food as they watched as Mrs Samantha convulsed and foamed from her mouth before blacking out.
• They were in shock that they had just consumed food prepared by an epileptic.
• Maria and Adrian hurried to their mother, trying to revive her by holding her in their arms. Since they were young children, they had grown accustomed to seeing her that way.
• The Luthers laughed as they watched the scene. "Let's go. We've got important things to tend to." Scott suggested and they all went out together with the remaining customers.
• Days passed, and Samantha's condition grew worse. In addition to being diagnosed with epilepsy, the physicians also found that she had a brain tumor. Adrian would have to pay a fortune for therapy because the tumor was not discovered in a timely manner. The Luthers never inquired about her status by phone or in person. An earlier diagnosis of the tumor would have been possible if they hadn't discontinued her treatment.
• "I can't live any longer, Adrian. I want you to take good care of your sister while I'm gone." Samantha said weakly on the hospital bed as her two children held her hands and cried.
• "Please! Don't leave us mom. You're all we've got." With her face flushed from crying all morning, Maria mumbled, her eyes moist.
• "I have something to say to the two of you." Samantha confessed, breaking the silence that had ensued.
• "You are both half siblings. I had you for two different fathers."
• "What do you mean mom? B-but dad had been raising us along with you before he died." Maria said, getting confused.
• "Yes dear, that was your Biological father but not Adrian's. I had Adrian for someone else."
• *****
• Tesla, Valerie's cousin, joined Adrian and Maria at the cemetery as they grieved the loss of their mother. Of all the Luther family members, she was the only one that truly loved Adrian.
• "I'm so sorry for what my family did to you." She said to Adrian who looked gloomy and seemed to have lost himself after his mother's death.
• Adrian, desiring solitude, told them to go. He wept as he continued to lay flowers on his mother's tomb. His ambitions were dashed now that she was six feet under, as all he had ever wanted was for her to live to see his achievement and witness his success.
• That night, while he was crossing the street, he became deeply contemplative as depression overtook him. Unfortunately, he failed to see the approaching truck and ended up getting into a collision with it.
• **
• A few weeks later, Adrian awoke to find himself lying in a hospital bed. Through his blurry vision, he saw a woman smiling by his bedside and heard a machine beeping.
• "He's conscious! Your son is awake." The woman cried out and fled the ward, coming back a minute later with a middle-aged man wearing a dapper suit and spectacles.
• Adrian's head ached as he sat up. He had been in a coma for three weeks.
• "How are you feeling? Are you alright?" The young lady asked as she placed her hands on Adrian's forehead. As he sat up on the bed, she couldn't help but admire his manly features and handsome looks.
• "I'm feeling a little alright. How long have I been here? Wh-where's my sister?" Adrian inquired as he became conscious. He looked around, wondering how he had gotten into the hospital's opulent, comfortable room—often referred to as a VIP suite.
• "How are you doing, son?" Nicholas, the middle aged man who arrived with the lady earlier, inquired as he stared at Adrian with concern.
• "What do you mean?" A confused Adrian asked as he watched the man hold his cheek with tears prickling in his eyes.
• The man gave Adrian a hug and after he broke the hug, he grasped his hands and said to him, "You are my lost son. I never knew I had a child of my own and I'm sorry I just got to find out about you."
• "I don't understand what you're saying." Adrian asked, trying to comprehend his statement.
• "Back in the nineties when I was on a business trip to Mexico, I had a one night stand with your mom, Samantha.
• "She was the sweetest woman I had ever met, but regrettably, I lost touch with her before traveling back to the United States. All this time, I had no idea that she had been pregnant and had given birth to my child." Sir Nicholas confessed with guilt as he robbed Adrian's hands.
• Out of confusion, Adrian asked, "Then who ar- are you? Are you trying to say you're my father?"
• "Yes son. I am your father, I'm Nicholas Roberts Thompson."
• "N-Nicholas Roberts Thompson?" Adrian asked in disbelief with widened eyes.
• With lips agape and eyebrows up to the ceiling, he examined the man's features closely. Nicholas was not just any man; rather, he was one of the world's most well-known billionaires. He was the mysterious and well-known CEO of the top-ranked restaurant in North America. His restaurant was reportedly the greatest; it has locations in the US as well as numerous other nations, including Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and so on.
• Adrian was well-informed about Nicholas's business, and the Luthers were ardent fans as well. The businesses of Luther and Williams were nothing compared to the illustrious Nicholas's enterprise, of which they were both ardent fans and investors..
• "D-d-do you mean you are truly my father?"