Secret Affair

Eccentric

RICHARD

It may seem as though I don't care about my precious grandson, but I do. I blame myself sometimes for going the extra mile just to prove my point. I should have done this a long time ago, but I thought he would learn it on his own, but he never did. Now, not only did he fail to develop compassion, but he also had a deep-set hatred for me, but that's okay, if he only hated me, at least he would become a better human being. It is a little too late to complain since I brought this upon myself. I hope his parents will forgive me for depriving him of things when I have so much. From the moment he left the mansion, I have had my eyes on him and arranged for certain people to show him kindness in the most subtle ways. Sometimes I send trouble his way. I want to know how he would deal with these things. But despite my best efforts, I doubt he had learned anything considering the reports I got. He was blinded by rage that he wouldn't even come to see me when I was hospitalized following a little procedure. His only desire was to bring me down.

Without any money, Ryan was still as arrogant as he was selfish. Contrary to his belief, that I abandoned him, I didn't. I have been kept abreast of virtually everything going on in his life. I didn't want him to suspect anything. Sometimes he turned them down, but most of the time, he had no idea who was in his life. No matter what, he is still my little boy and I want what's best for him. I want him to make the right decisions when the time comes. My methods might be eccentric, but it is all I have got. I believe it will all be worth it in the long run and that is what counts. I realized now that no matter what I did, he wouldn't change. He never got involved in things that had no beneficial value for him. I had been told he witnessed an injustice but didn't speak against it because it had nothing to do with him and didn't affect him directly.

Just to stay as far away from me as possible, he left town to live in a small town. He attended the college there, a college that was not even recognized, the tuition fee was close to nothing. His grant was worth so much money and was paid to cover all expenses at the best school. I tried to get involved to convince him to change his mind, but he was as stubborn as a mule and wouldn't listen. He seemed to expect that and drifted even further away. I stopped trying and just sent people to watch him from afar. They should not interfere with anything unless it is necessary. He might not know it now, but every decision he was making would have a huge impact on his life in the future. I would never understand how he could throw away his future just to get back at me. I tried not to get involved too much in his life until he started dating a raunchy girl named Cindy. The girl claimed to be an actress, but everyone knew the kind of movies she starred in, everyone except Ryan, who didn't know or chose not to care what she was into. Not that I had any problem with his choice of women, I am just afraid he would get cuckolded by her. I don't want him to get too heartbroken by someone he thought he shared true love with.

Cindy is a real looker in terms of looks, but that is where it ends. She has zero tolerance, zero intelligence, and, most importantly, she is materialistic. How do I know all of these? I have some people planted in Ryan's life, they monitor him at all times and help me investigate the people in his life. I know this is unconventional, but I have so much money and too much free time on my hands. If I didn't do these things, who would? I wouldn't have had to resort to this if the boy had just come back home, but he flat-out refused. I needed to make sure he didn't take the easy way out like he often does just to punish me.

RYAN

I am so excited that I have completed the first step I laid down in defeating my old man. Now that I have acquired a share in the company, I feel that I deserve my prize to occupy the penthouse on the twentieth floor of the ALZ hotel. That's right, the hotel belonged to the man who turned me into a beggar and that was what we bet on. I won it fair and square, and it is only right that I began to enjoy it. This is step two of my plan, plus, Cindy has always wanted to live in a place like this. I know this will make her happy and I can't wait to see her expression when she comes in. I would do anything to put a smile on her pretty face. There are only two apartments on the twentieth floor, the one on the right was already occupied by some big-shot couple when I moved in. I have not seen them and I like to keep it that way. Cindy and I made the plan to move in together, but she got called by her agent as the truck was loading our things, and she promised to join me after her shoot. This gave me enough time to organize our things. I had everything set up already and was only awaiting her arrival. I had spent a few nights here before when I was still the golden grandson to that old man, but that was such a long time ago, I can hardly remember what it felt like. The sense of tranquility that washed over me to be back here was refreshing. I could have bought more shares from ALZ, but there is still time. I plan to start living big going forward. I bet the old man didn't expect that I would actually move here and is probably quacking in his boots right now. Tomorrow is a big day for me at the office. I had finished drafting what I needed to present at the meeting before moving, so I was just lolling around in the lounge, champagne in hand. My favorite music, Life is Good, by Chesney Kenny was playing on the stereo. Everything was going great. I was almost drifting off to sleep when I heard the digital sound of the lock outside. I didn't know if Cindy had already come back. I hadn't even given her the code to the door yet, she could have just knocked or called. I thought as I walked over to the door, the excitement bubbling within me as I went through my plan of how I would show off the interior to her, but as I got closer, I realized the code was not fitted into my door but the one opposite. I was about to turn around but whoever was trying the code was not stopping as it sounded as if every code entered was the wrong one. It became annoying just listening to the device make the ding sound indicating another wrong input. I decided to look through the peephole, to be sure it wasn't Cindy trying the wrong apartment. I would hate to intrude on others' privacy just like I would not appreciate anyone butting in my business either. The person standing with her back to my door was a lady alright, her raven hair was cascading down her back as she desperately keyed in more wrong codes. What is wrong with some people? If you can't remember your code, couldn't you simply call the hotel security to open the door manually? How stupid could you be to forget your door's security code? If she forgot it, couldn't she just ask the hotel security for help? Some people are just annoying. This is supposed to be common sense unless she is a burglar who was trying to steal from the couple next door. With this new thought, I went back to the couch to sit, even though I could still hear the annoying tell-tale ding sound above my music. I was one more ding sound away from calling security when the sound finally stopped. I should set up a rose petal bubble bath for when Cindy gets here. I thought as I skidded towards the bath. It feels good to be rich.