A homeless and poor Brandon offers his last $2 to an elderly man in need at the gas station store and inherits his company the next day. Brandon thinks this is the start of a new life for his family.

Brandon clutched his paper cup with change as he shuffled into the gas station store. He was near an aisle when a loud voice distracted him. He saw a queue of angry shoppers waiting behind an elderly man who had difficulty hearing.

“I’m sorry, what did you say about the water being funny?” the elderly man asked the cashier.

“Money!” she groaned. “I said you don’t have enough money, sir!”

“Yes, it was a sunny day!” replied the man with a frown.

“You need more cash! For the water!” A younger guy standing behind the man grabbed him by the shoulder and yelled into his ears.

Brandon noticed everything. He was tempted to step in, but he didn’t want to attract the shoppers’ ire. Meanwhile, the elderly man explained he didn’t have enough cash, asking if he could get a smaller bottle of water as he needed to take his pills.

“If you can’t afford to pay, you’ll have to go!” shouted the cashier.

“I can go?” He smiled and turned to leave, but the cashier snatched the water bottle from his hand. “Just get out, old man!” she hissed. “You’re way too much trouble!”

The elderly man requested that he needed to take his pills, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Brandon had had enough. He marched to the cashier and offered to pay for the old guy.

“Have a heart, lady,” he said and emptied his cup on the counter. The woman looked at him in distaste before she counted the money.

“That’ll cover it,” she said, taking all the money, including his last $2. “Now step aside. You’re holding the line.”

Brandon abandoned his can of beans on the counter as he offered the water to the older man.

“Here you go, sir. I got you water,” he spoke slowly and clearly, ensuring the man could see his face if he needed to lip-read. And the man thanked him. They left the store together, and Brandon headed to his tent on the bare patch of ground adjacent to the station, but the man stopped him.

“Wait!”

Brandon turned around.

“But what are your kids going to eat? You left the beans on the counter.”

“We have the last of yesterday’s bread,” Brandon replied. “We’ll get by.”

The man walked away but with a frown. Brandon noticed he got in a gleaming SUV and wondered why a man like him couldn’t afford a bottle of water.

The next day, while Brandon was dividing cold fries among his kids, a silver sedan pulled up near his tent. A man in a fancy suit approached.

“Morning, sir. Mr. Grives’s last wish was for me to deliver this to you,” he said, extending an envelope.

Brandon wiped his hands and took it. There was a letter inside.

The man produced a stack of printed papers and a pen. “Mr. Grives was quite serious. And the moment you sign these papers, it’ll be official.”

“But I just met the guy yesterday. And now he’s dead and leaving me everything?” Brandon asked as he studied the documents.

“I understand your concerns, sir, but these papers were drawn by the finest lawyers. All we need to do is fill in your name, and the lawyers will proceed with the rest.”

This was his chance to provide his kids, so Brandon signed it. Then, the man drove him and the children to their new home.

As they arrived, Brandon stared up at the massive mansion.

For illustration purposes only | Source: Unsplash

Brandon could barely believe it himself. But the moment he pushed the double doors open, he sensed something was wrong. The house was a mess—a table lay on its side in the hallway, and a closet had been toppled over.

Brandon dumped the luggage, ran after the car, and told the driver to call 911. A few hours later, he stood among slashed sofas and broken furniture, speaking to the cops.

“We’ve examined the entire house and found no sign of forced entry, sir,” the officer said. “This, combined with the fact that the security system appears to have been overridden using the correct code, suggests that whoever vandalized this place had a legitimate means of gaining entry.”

“Like a key? So, the person who did this just walked in here?”

“I’d suggest you change the locks, sir,” the officer nodded.

As the cops left, Brandon suspected the elderly man’s son.

The next day, Mr. Grives’s secretary arrived early. She took Brandon shopping and got him cleaned up at a barber before taking him to the company. In the office that once belonged to Mr. Grives, Brandon was about to go through the files on the computer when the doors burst open.

“You must be Brandon!” A middle-aged man in a dark suit entered the office. “I’m Christopher, one of Mr. Grives’s former business partners, and I’m here to save you from a whole heap of trouble.”

“I’m sorry?” Brandon asked.

Christopher explained he handled the sales for one of Mr. Grives’s ‘specific’ businesses. Brandon quickly understood it was something illegal. He refused to continue it, but Christopher was having none of it.

“Listen up, you moron! Grives owed me $2 million for handling the illicit side of his business! You’re now responsible for that,” he snarled. “And if you don’t pay up, I’ll go to the police and tell them everything. Furthermore, as the company’s owner, you will be liable for all damages. So, I’ll be expecting my $2 million by Saturday.”

“Yes, it is. And just in case you think I’m not deadly serious…” Christopher pushed back his suit jacket and placed his hand on the butt of a gun holstered at his side. “…rest assured that if you cross me, Brandon, I’ll make you disappear.”

Brandon said nothing and agreed to Christopher’s demands. But he wondered if Christopher was scamming him. So Brandon searched for any hints of this illicit side of the business.

By that evening, after reviewing the data from all the other departments, Brandon was convinced Christopher was lying. But then, he noticed the filing cabinet tucked into a corner of the room. Brandon unlocked it with the keys he’d found earlier on his desk. And the first thing he noticed was an old-fashioned file box tucked into the drawer.

Inside it was a ledger with entries written in some kind of shorthand, and Brandon realized Christopher wasn’t lying. In despair, he opened a drawer to find some bottles of scotch handy, and found nothing but a photo.

It showed Mr. Grives standing with…a younger guy. Brandon’s eyes bulged in horror when he realized how similar they looked. The young man was Christopher, Mr. Grives’s son!