Chapter 1
The luxury banquet hall was lively, with many people chatting, drinking, and eating together. It was Lady Madison Winston's seventieth birthday, she was the most wealthiest woman in Green Rose City, not just the most wealthiest woman, but the most wealthiest person in the city.
All the top businessmen and women were present in the party and gifts were coming in and in.
Ethan Winston, a top student in Golden Plate university was having a hard time serving the dishes to the new arriving guest, but there wasn't a sign of that in his face, instead he was smiling brightly as he took orders from different tables.
He was lucky to secure this job, and he was thankful for that.
He currently had no money, and his school fee was at the corner, so with his accommodation fees, he had to beg his friend, Billy Hamilton, one of the top rich guy in his school to help with a job, and that was how he got this one job.
The pay was ten times bigger than the normal amount a waiter would receive a month so he was glad that he got the job.
Billy fathers own a big restaurant so getting him this job was probably easy.
According to Billy, his father was in charge of the foods and all the service management for today, which was a big position given this was the party of the most wealthiest person in Green Rose.
Billy boasted about it all through the previous week; he got close to a lot of friends and had so many girlfriends because of it.
Well, Ethan wasn't concerned about that; as long as he could pay his school bills, he would be forever grateful to Billy.
Although Billy hit him quite a few times and even ordered him around, he kept his promise, and that was all that mattered.
Ethan checked his watch, and it was time for him to switch with the next waiter.
He was done for the night; just like that, a crazy sum of money would be going into his account.
Ethan approached the next in line and gave him his waiter badge. He tried to locate Billy before he went back to his dormitory, but Billy was nowhere to be found.
Ethan gave his account number to the person in charge and came out of the banquet.
Just then his phone rang, and he switched it on. He was surprised to see Billy was the one calling.
"Hello man. I wanted to say thanks."
"Ethan, have you left the hall?"
Billy sounded in a raspy tone.
"I just came out, and I am going home. I looked for you when my section was over, but…"
"You are in the compound, right?"
Ethan wondered why Billy was sounding like this; he looked around before answering.
"Yeah, I am in the building. Look, I really wanted to thank you before I leave."
"That is not it, Ethan."
Billy cleared his throat before he continued.
"Go inside the party again, Ethan. Meet the security men putting on a blue tie; he would show you where I am."
Ethan's forehead folded a little; he was exhausted.
He really wanted to go home and sleep, but he wouldn't be able to do that now; he had to meet up with Billy and thank him fully.
Ethan entered the luxury hall again. Without Billy's help, he would be thinking about how he would pay for his school fee.
He definitely needed to thank Billy.
He spotted the security man Billy was talking about, and he approached the man.
"I am looking for my friend, Billy Hamilton; he said I should come to you."
The security man looked around before he turned, facing one of the doors in the hall.
"Follow me"
Ethan and the man entered one of the doors in the hall, and they were greeted with a long corridor. There was a magnificent door waiting at the end of the corridor.
The security man opened the door and gestured for Ethan to enter.
Ethan entered, and the door was shut by the security man.
Ethan didn't take notice of that.
He was shocked that almost half of his classmates were inside the room, and it wasn't just a room but the place where all the gifts were being stored.
'Why are they here?'
Ethan thought to himself, then he noticed the broken golden kettle on the floor.
'Who broke that'
Ethan's heart missed a beat.
Billy's anxiety disappeared as soon as Ethan entered. His face darkened as he spoke out.
"What took you so long, moron? Didn't you see my missed calls?"
Ethan was afraid to be here, but he answered Billy calmly.
"I just got out of work, and I just switched on the phone when the call got in."
He approached Ethan and pointed at the broken kettle on the floor.
"Was this on the floor when you guys came in, or did it mistakenly slip from somebody's hands?"
Billy's heartbeat was fully normal now; the kettle mistakenly slipped from his hands and fell to the ground, and it broke.
He heard that a golden kettle could cost several million dollars, so where was he going to get that kind of money?
He came here because everybody was persuading him to take them to the gift room, and since his father was responsible for all the workers welfare, he would have the keys.
To keep his image, he had to steal the key and also bribe one of the security men.
Nobody wanted to take the blame or face the punishment; it was a good thing that Ethan was still around.
Billy faced Ethan with a deadpan expression.
"What nonsense are you talking about, Ethan? Weren't you the one that broke the kettle?"
Ethan was shocked to hear Billy's words, but he only smiled; he thought Billy was being sarcastic. His thought ended when one of the females in the group voiced out.
"Ethan, don't tell me you are going to deny what everyone here saw clearly. We saw you were coming here, and we followed you, only to see you had smashed the kettle on the ground."
Ethan was flabbergasted to hear Anita's words. He stammered.
"What do you mean, I broke the kettle? I just got here."