The hall fell completely silent.<\/p>\n
Every eye was fixed on the young boy.<\/p>\n
The woman in the navy blazer stared at the black card as if she had seen a ghost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis account…\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
Her voice trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat can’t be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager behind the marble counter looked at the terminal again.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at the card.<\/p>\n
Then back at the screen.<\/p>\n
The color drained from his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cMa’am,\u201d he said carefully, \u201cthe account is authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n
A wave of murmurs spread through the crowd.<\/p>\n
The woman took a step backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. That’s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy remained calm.<\/p>\n
He folded his hands behind his back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is it impossible?\u201d he asked quietly.<\/p>\n
The woman couldn’t answer.<\/p>\n
Instead, she stared at the name engraved on the card.<\/p>\n
HARRI HUES.<\/p>\n
A name she hadn’t heard spoken aloud in years.<\/p>\n
The manager cleared his throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir, according to our records, this account belongs to the founder of the Hues Group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gasps echoed throughout the hall.<\/p>\n
The Hues Group was one of the largest business empires in the country.<\/p>\n
Its mysterious founder had disappeared from public life years ago.<\/p>\n
Very few people had ever met him.<\/p>\n
The woman shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe founder is an old man.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became even quieter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d someone asked.<\/p>\n
The boy reached into his pocket and removed a folded photograph.<\/p>\n
He placed it on the counter.<\/p>\n
The manager picked it up.<\/p>\n
His eyes widened instantly.<\/p>\n
In the photo stood the founder of the Hues Group.<\/p>\n
Beside him was the same young boy.<\/p>\n
The date printed on the picture was only six months old.<\/p>\n
The crowd erupted into whispers.<\/p>\n
The woman looked as though she could barely breathe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
The boy finally met her gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarri Hues was my grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hit the room like thunder.<\/p>\n
Several people gasped.<\/p>\n
Others exchanged stunned looks.<\/p>\n
The manager quickly checked the records again.<\/p>\n
Everything matched.<\/p>\n
Every document.<\/p>\n
Every authorization.<\/p>\n
Every security code.<\/p>\n
The account had recently been transferred to a legal heir.<\/p>\n
And that heir was standing right in front of them.<\/p>\n
The woman’s confidence completely vanished.<\/p>\n
Just minutes earlier, she had threatened to call the police on him.<\/p>\n
Now she looked terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cI… I didn’t know,\u201d she stammered.<\/p>\n
Ethan’s expression remained unchanged.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather warned me that some people only respect power when they see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words made several guests lower their eyes.<\/p>\n
Then Ethan looked around the hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t come here to prove who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are you here?\u201d the manager asked.<\/p>\n
Ethan slowly removed a sealed envelope from his backpack.<\/p>\n
The envelope carried the official seal of the Hues Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came because my grandfather left final instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room grew silent once again.<\/p>\n
The manager carefully opened the envelope.<\/p>\n
His eyes widened as he read the first page.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d someone asked.<\/p>\n
The manager looked up in disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis document changes ownership of this entire building.\u201d<\/p>\n
A collective gasp filled the hall.<\/p>\n
The woman in the navy blazer froze.<\/p>\n
The building she managed.<\/p>\n
The building where she had just humiliated the boy.<\/p>\n
The building she believed would soon be under her control.<\/p>\n
Now belonged to someone else.<\/p>\n
And according to the document, the new owner was standing right in front of her.<\/p>\n
But Ethan pointed to the final page.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager’s hands trembled.<\/p>\n
He turned the page.<\/p>\n
Then his jaw dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d the crowd demanded.<\/p>\n
The manager looked directly at the woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt says the new owner has one final condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman swallowed nervously.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat condition?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan finally smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cA full investigation into what has been happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The smile disappeared from her face.<\/p>\n
Because she knew exactly what that investigation would uncover.<\/p>\n
To be continued…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The hall fell completely silent. Every eye was fixed on the young boy. The woman in the navy blazer stared at the black card as if she had seen a ghost. \u201cThis account…\u201d she whispered. Her voice trembled. \u201cThat can’t be possible.\u201d The manager behind the marble counter looked at the terminal again. Then he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}