Suddenly, I Am Rich

”Carrence?” The man showed up at Carrence’s side after walking up to him. He gathered all his courage in doing so. He may appear to be confident outside, but he was really scared.

Carrence’s forehead creased as he heard his name being called. He shifted his head to the side and saw a young man who looked to be in his 20’s.

”Who are you?” Carrence looked at him in confusion.

”I’m Gray,” Gray’s decoy introduced himself.

”Gray?” That was a name that Carrence remembered hearing, but he just couldn’t remember where.

”Yes. I’m Alistair’s friend. He sent me here to talk to you.”

That immediately rang a bell in Carrence’s ears.

”Alistair?” Carrence repeated the name slowly, as if he hadn’t heard or mentioned that name for so long.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the man in front of him.

”What about him?” he asked, his tone turning colder.

The casual air from earlier had completely disappeared now. Gray’s decoy felt it immediately.

”He wants your help,” he said, keeping his voice steady.

That changed Carrence’s expression. The faint trace of indifference on his face faded, replaced by a look of unpleasantness.

A subtle sourness settled in his gaze.

”Help?” he muttered.

A scoff escaped his lips. It was as if he almost couldn’t believe what he just heard.

”That bastard...” he added under his breath, just loud enough for Gray’s decoy to hear.

For a moment, silence hung between them.

Carrence looked away. His jaw tightened as if he was thinking about something he didn’t particularly want to remember.

He took a slow inhale from his cigarette before exhaling the smoke. After that, he turned his back on Gray’s decoy.

”We’re not talking about this here,” he said flatly.

Without even looking back, he added, ”Follow me.” The tone of his voice left no room for refusal.

With just one look at the guards, they immediately moved. They went near them and whispered something in Carrence’s ears.

Carrence nodded at that, and like a sign, the guards cleared the path for them.

Gray’s decoy swallowed hard at that. He smiled at Carrence before following them. They walked to the side, entering a private door.

In his mind, he was wishing that this wasn’t a bad mistake. He was already nervous being alone with all these people.

Slowly, they moved deeper into the restricted area where only staff could access. Gray’s decoy kept his pace, making sure that he was walking just a step behind Carrence.

His eyes looked around briefly at the hallway they were passing through.

The hallway was long and narrow, lined with several doors on both sides. Most of them looked plain. They were most likely just rooms for staffs.

”Be careful.”

Gray’s low voice suddenly came through the earpiece.

The decoy’s fingers twitched slightly at his side. He couldn’t respond, especially with how quiet everything was in the place they were walking to.

”If anything feels off, just say ’help,’” Gray continued calmly. He knew that his decoy might not be able to answer him, but he still gave a few reminders. He knew how scary their plan could be.

”Don’t worry, because our men will move immediately.”

Those words honestly helped the decoy’s feelings. The tightness in his chest eased, even if only slightly.

’I’m not alone.’ He reminded himself.

They continued walking straight to the end of the hallway. And there, a single door stood out. One of the guards stepped forward and opened it without a word.

Carrence entered first without even looking back. The decoy swallowed and stepped inside, too. The moment he crossed the doorway, the door closed behind him with a click.

The room fell into silence the moment the door shut behind him.

Gray’s decoy stood still for a second. The office wasn’t overly large, but everything inside it looked expensive. A wide desk sat at the center, with a few chairs in front of it. Shelves lined the walls perfectly.

Carrence walked past him without a word, heading straight behind the desk. Then as he took a sit, he slowly faced the young man in his office.

”Now, tell me again,” he said, his tone flat. ”Why are you here?”

”I’ll be direct,” Gray’s decoy muttered. He calmed himself down as he stepped forward slightly. He has practiced this line in front of Mara and Gray yesterday.

”Alistair asked me to come here and find you,” Gray’s decoy continued. ”He said he needs your help.”

”He said you would know what to do already.”

That made Carrence freeze for a moment. The emotions on his eyes flickered slightly as if there was something uunexplainable passing through them.

Silence filled the room again, and Gray’s decoy caught it.

To ease the awkwardness, he slowly reached for his bag. He opened it, and in there, the stacks of money he was carrying came into view.

”...He also asked me to give this to you,” the decoy muttered as he took the stack of cash inside and placed it down on the table.

Carrence’s eyes immediately flew to it. His eyes lingered on the money for a few seconds. Then slowly, he leaned back in his chair. His gaze moved from the table to the man in front of him.

”Did he not say anything else?” he asked.

Gray’s decoy shook his head.

”Nothing,” he answered honestly. ”That’s all he told me.”

Carrence went quiet again. His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of his chair. Then he pressed his lips together, his expression turning more rigid as if he had decided already.

”I don’t want to do it.”

Gray’s decoy blinked at that.

”What?” he muttered, clearly caught off guard.

Carrence didn’t look away.

”I said,” he repeated, his voice colder now, ”I don’t want to do anything for him...”

”...I don’t want anything to do with my brother anymore.”

That made Gray’s decoy freeze. Even on the other end, Gray became speechless at what he learned.