Chapter 37 Meet Horace Clarkwood
THIRD PERSON’S POV.
“Mr Jonathan”
James called out the moment Jonathan got out of his car. “Mr Horace wants me to escort you to his study.”
“Alright”
“Right this way sir,” James led the way to Horace’s house.
James led him through the house. When they reached the door, he knocked firmly before turning the knob open.
“Mr Jonathan Hales is here for you sir,” he called out.
“Yes, let him in.”
James stepped aside. As Jonathan entered, Horace added without looking up, “Make sure everyone knows we are not to be disturbed.”
“Of course, sir,” James replied.
The door closed, leaving the two men alone.
“Have a seat,” Horace said, gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of his desk.
Jonathan obeyed. “Good morning sir, I was pleasantly surprised when I got your call.”
Horace raised a hand to silence him.
“Leave all that ass-kissing for when you see Clara. I’ve called you here for important business.”
Jonathan straightened, his back stiff.
“What is it?”
“Serena snuck out of the house yesterday, in the dead of the night.”
“Where did she go?” Jonathan asked.
“No one knows. She’s been very secretive lately.”
“She hasn’t spoken with me since Charles' funeral, when I call she rejects my calls. I really think something is going on with her”
“You are right” Horace said. “And whatever it is, I have a feeling her little journalist friend has a hand in it.”
“Do you still think they are planning something to counter my marriage to Clara?”
“ I don’t think, I know,” Horace answered flatly.
“Well, what would you like me to do?”
“I’m glad you asked that Jonathan my boy,” Horace replied, a smile forming on his face.
Jonathan felt a chill.
“You are going to take the Trisha girl.” He finally said.
“Take her to where?” Jonathan asked, confused.
Horace sighed, “I mean you’re going to kidnap her and torture a confession out of her of necessary.”
“What?” Jonathan jumped from his seat like someone had lit a match under his ass. “Are you insane?”
“Oh please would you relax and stop acting like a woman,” Horace said to him with an eye roll.
“I can’t kidnap her, I’ve never kidnapped anyone before.”
“Do you think I did not research you Jonathan?” Horace asked with a laugh, or was it a bemused laughter?
“When my daughter told me about you and googled you and when I couldn’t find what I was looking for I had a private investigator dig into you,”
He paused to relight his cigar.
“And he revealed to me your rather colorful past.”
Jonathan’s throat tightened, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead but he remained quiet.
“So, don’t insult me by sitting there and acting naive.”
“Mr Horace, that was a long time ago. I’ve not been involved in that life in years.”
Jonathan had grown up privileged. He was comfortable and his parents provided everything he needed but he thought their efforts were not enough. You see, Jonathan was rich, but not Gregory rich and he always longed for what others had. It started in school when he would steal other kids' toys or bully their lunch out of them but when Jonathan’s father went bankrupt and lost his company, things got progressively worse.
Jonathan eventually joined a street gang and in his bid to have as much as his rich friends, he started to rob banks, homes, and stores.
It was not until his mother's death that he returned home to finish his education.
But Jonathan’s dreams of becoming a billionaire never died, when he became a stockbroker he found a way to infuse his greed into his work. From lying about magic profits to showing off fake numbers, Jonathan earned his name as the trickiest stockbroker in Monterra.
“Tell me Jonathan,” Horace's voice cut in, dragging him back.
“Why do you think I allowed you to marry my daughter?
“Ehm,” Jonathan stuttered, he didn’t have an answer to this question.
“You didn’t think it was because I believed you two to be in love right?” Horace laughed.
“I don’t know sir,” Jonathan answered.
“I let you marry Clara because I saw a lot of myself in you. You are ambitious and you have the potential to be a very successful man.”
“Successful at what exactly?”
“Successful at everything. But most importantly, I know you will be successful at helping me in my plans.”
“I’m confused, is there anything other than taking the inheritance from Serena?”
Horace laughed again, this time he seemed quite amused.
“You really think I’m doing all this just to steal funds from one daughter and give it to the other?”
Jonathan didn’t say anything, he didn’t know what to say, this had been a very strange interaction.
“I’m going to tell you a story while I pour us some drinks.”
Horace said while walking to the bar.
“About thirty years ago, I was just like you, well almost. My parents were poor, so poor that we only wore hand-me -downs and we ate our food in rations. But I knew life had more for me, I was not going to be mediocre.”
He finished pouring the drinks and walked back to the table, handing a glass to Jonathan.
He went back to his chair and continued,
“I was pushing drugs for most of my teenage life, I yielded so much profit for my cartel that they made me an area manager. That’s how good I was. But then the cops busted our operation in Santa Varela, sending us all
Into hiding.” He paused to gulp his whiskey.
“I had to flee Santa Varela and come to Monterra and that’s when I met Eleanor Gregory, she was a rich girl from a wealthy home, completely out of touch with reality. From the moment I saw her I knew she was my ticket out of the trenches.” He laughed, as if recollecting a fond memory.
“She was already betrothed to her rich boyfriend but I was able to get her to fall in love with me. When she agreed to marry me I changed my name from Horace Clarkwood to Horace Gregory. She had been so excited, she talked about it to everyone who cared to listen, she spoke about it with pride, her husband had taken her family name. She didn’t know it was all part of my strategy for when I took over the empire. It didn’t take long for Eleanor to transfer her shares to my name, it angered her father so much but there was nothing he could do about it.”
“So Mrs Eleanor just gave you all her money?” Jonathan asked, impressed despite himself.
Horace scoffed, “It was like taking candy from a baby. I have been through a lot, I have fought for many years for the title of CEO and I’m not going to let two little girls take it away from me.”
“Does that mean you are going to betray Clara as well?”
“Clara is a means to an end, just like her mother was.”
When Horace saw that Jonathan didn’t like that statement he added, “but she will be compensated of course, after all. She is Mr
Favorite daughter.” He winked.
Jonathan exhaled. “Your story is very intense but I still don't see how I fit into all this.”
“You have to do with Clara what I did with Eleanor,” Horave said smoothly. “After we make her CEO you will have to make her sign over her inheritance and position to me.”
“To you?” Jonathan stared in disbelief.
“Why will I sign it over to you and not myself?”
“Because you’re smart enough not to cross me,” Horace replied. “And I’ll reward loyalty.”
“I won’t do it,” Jonathan said quietly. “I won’t betray her.”
After hearing Horace’s story he was surprisingly no longer as scared of him as he used to, he had realized that Horace was a hustler just like him.
“I thought you would say that,” Horace replied, then he opened his desk drawer and retrieved an iPad. He pressed play and the video on the screen came to life, he handed it to Jonathan.
Jonathan barely glanced at the screen before panic overtook him. He slammed a hand over the screen. “No, how do you have that?” He stammered.
“I told you, I had you investigated.”
“That video was supposed to be destroyed, it was not supposed to exist anymore,” Jonathan whispered in fear, like he had just seen a ghost.
“Nothing ever truly stays hidden, boy. But if you would like this particular video to remain hidden then I suggest that going forward, you do everything I tell you to do. No questions asked.”
Jonathan’s hands trembled.
Horace moved to where he was seated, he bent over and slowly asked, “Is that clear, boy?”
“Yes sir, it is clear.”
Horace straightened. “Good, now first things first, I need to have Trisha Dwayne’s confession today.”
Jonathan only nodded.
“I believe you can see yourself out Mr Hales.”
Horace said to Jonathan, signifying that he was done talking. He was looking out the window, with his back turned to Jonathan, so
He didn't see when he left; he only heard the retreating footsteps and the soft click of the door.
But looking out the window, he noticed something off, a black sedan carefully tucked under an oak tree across the road. It looked oddly out of place because nobody on that street drove a sedan.
He saw Serena's Range Rover drive out the gate and then into the street until it disappeared out of view. He wondered where she was headed so early, then the oddest thing happened.
Six seconds.
Exactly six seconds after Serena’s car passed the sedan followed behind.
It looked like she was being tailed, or not. He decided he was just seeing things and thinking too much.
However, as he sipped from his glass, he hoped that truly Serena was being tailed and that news of her untimely death would flood the media by afternoon.
At least he would be free of his biggest problem.