The journey felt like an eternity to me. I had so many thoughts in my head. I was distracted. I was worried that I was not paying attention to anything else. But we finally arrived at a big mansion, just like one of those mansions you see on TV and wondered if I was ever gonna be able to step foot in one of them. Me, as a kid growing up in difficulty, those types of mansions were rare to be seen. Rose has a pretty beautiful house and a quite expensive one. But this one was 10 times bigger than her house and I think this property may cost a lot of money. That is how rich the Tiger was.
At the first gate, you have 4 bodyguards staying there. After the first one, you have a big garden full of trees that leads you to the front yard. There were guards in the distance from each other until you reached the front yard. Everything looked just like a movie. The design and the garden looked amazing, well kept and colorful. When you reach the front yard, you are able to see wonderful statues and a huge front door of the house. Everything looked totally insane. I would not even for a second imagine that I would be able to be in a place like that all my entire life.
We stepped out of the car and the Tiger started talking to me:
-"This is the beautiful empire I worked my entire life to build. What you see here at this moment, took so much effort and pain to be built. I have worked every single day of my life to achieve what I do have now. This is one of the most expensive houses you will ever see. And you have just seen the outside part of it. Just wait until you look at the inside. You will be amazed at what wonderful work the best architects of the country did here. Not so many people have the chance to step inside a mansion like this. And not so many people have had the chance to be with me here. Be grateful, you are one of the few people that have that chance."
I was silent all that time. I had no other choice but to listen to him and what he would say to me each time. In this situation, I would prefer to stay silent more and listen to what he will say. I was not in a position where I could talk much. And if I were to say something, I think it would be the wrong choice for me. I needed to learn what type of person he was as long as I was about to stay with him. Sometimes it is better to observe so you are ready for the next move. And I was not there to make the same mistake as my father did a while ago.
-"Look at this magnificent painting. Some of them are quite rare and valuable. I am looking for some French paintings in the future and am willing to add them to my collection. Also look at the statues, they are handmade and are wonderful art. You will rarely see art just like this. It is so beautiful. All of those things have cost me millions and millions of dollars but the hardest part was finding them or convincing the previous owners of the price tag. But since I made a fortune, I have always had by my side the best art dealers and now I have gotten used to it. I understand it myself now the value of something and for what price is better for me to buy it in order that in the future, if I decide to sell it, It would cost double the money I bought it for. Moreover, I want to be one of the few people who has the most insane collection on this planet. And no is stopping me until I feel like I have one of the greatest collections."- said the Tiger proudly of his collection.
To be honest, everything that was there looked absolutely insane. One of the greatest things I have seen my entire life. A collection that big and that valuable and owned by one person. That sounded quite insane to me. I was not used to seeing things like this around me. But before I had to be amazed, I had to ask the Tiger what I was supposed to do here. What was my duty? What had I to do to repay my father's debt?
-"This is amazing. That is something you should be proud of. But before we go to the other things, I want to ask you what I will do in order to repay my father's debt?"-asked carefully without making anything wrong.
-"Your father's debt is a hard one to pay back. It will take all your family's lives together. But I have a perfect solution for you. I have a son. His name is Nicholai. To be honest, Nicholai is nothing like me. Since the early days I was trained by my father to become who I am now, but I see my son being the opposite of what I was. He loves to be an artist or whatever he thinks he wants to do. And to me, it is weird to see my son grow up and not be close to any of us. I think he has no friends either. He just stays in his room most of the time or goes to the art room or gym and just stays there alone most of the day. I was never like this. I am doubting if he is my son. All I need from you, is to help him get out of his comfort zone. We will act as you are a new worker here. He does not have to know anything about how or what happened that you came here. We are going to act cool about it. And you start socializing with him and help him become more friendly to people, socialize with the rest of the world and discover what he does best. I am quite worried about him. He has all the opportunities on this planet to become whatever he wants to but he chooses to stay alone. And I personally do not want to see my boy that way. I want him to be chill, happy and enjoy life. It is not about the family business or anything like that. I worked this hard to provide my only son whatever he may wish in this life and he does not use it. That is what makes me mad, angry and not so happy. If my son is not happy, I am not happy. And I want you to change that. If you do, your father's huge debt will be reconsidered by me and you will probably be free of anything, with one condition, if I am convinced that my son has changed. If he becomes what I think he is capable of, we will discuss it and will decide what is best for both parties. Money in order to change someone, I think this is the best deal for you. But all this time you have to be by my son's side and help him. I do not want to see you fight with him or tell him inappropriate things. Are we good? This is the deal I am proposing to you, and I think that you are able to do that. I rarely miss on my ideas and I am convinced that you have the ability to do that. Do not let me down. Or there will be consequences. For most of the time, you will be living here. Tomorrow we will talk about what the schedule is going to look like and if you are going to meet any of your friends or family. But until then, I wish you a good night and rest well in this beautiful mansion.."-said the Tiger while he left.
Calculating all the choices I had, I think this was a win/win situation for both parties especially for me and my father. I am a very sociable person, I think I could do it well. And time was not a problem. If I would do it early, I would still have to leave early. No choice for me but to accept that deal, that in first sight looks great for me. What could possibly go wrong? Now I had to get ready for a new challenge, that would probably save me and my family from all the pain…