Chapter 403 - 399: Shu's Past
"I won't let the past repeat itself," Shu muttered as he sighed. "I won't be left alone ever again."
" Sir, you know your Elder brother didn't leave you. After your parents died, the company landed on his shoulders, but he didn't wish to manage the company, instead fulfilling his military duties. He disappeared in the line of duty. It's clear that he died. I don't think he left you," the Butler told Shu as he sighed.
"I don't care about how it happened! I was left alone! My brother sacrificed himself for this country. He gave his life instead of spending it with me, taking care of me. It wasn't my fault? I didn't kill my parents? I didn't ask for this company? I didn't ask for money or power? It was all for him to handle! After I lost my parents, all I wanted was the brother who took care of me from little."
"All I needed was my brother to comfort me. To make me feel that everything was going to be fine but he... He died!" Shu exclaimed as a single droplet of tear trickled down his eye.
Seeing Shu like that, the Butler also felt sad. His heart ached. He had been with Shu since childhood. He knew how much Shu and his whole family went through.
When people saw Shu, all they saw was a confident chubby young man who had everything that he could possibly want. They only saw a rich kid that possessed so much wealth that his seven future generations could be spendthrift and still not spend it in its entirety.
They were jealous of Shu. People thought that what problems can such a rich guy have? People thought of him as someone who didn't need to worry about anything.
They didn't know that even when Shu got all this property and wealth, he didn't care about anything. He was broken. He had been broken since his parents died, but his heart wholly shattered once the news of his brother's death and disappearance came.
He started closing himself and became more silent, but he couldn't watch the business empire his father built to fall. That's why even when he was broken, he didn't let it affect the business. He dealt with matters properly and made the Dream Corporation become even more dominant in the business world, so much so that his name was in the mouth of every powerful person as the business genius.
Despite achieving all that, he kept his identity and name a secret. Except for the true high-level people in this world, no one else knew what the owner of Dream Corporation looked like. Even online, no one could find Shu's name since it wasn't public. All the general public knew was that the person was known as Mr. Maxwell, and he was young.
No one else saw the struggles that went behind achieving so much. The Butler had seen Shu going confidently in board meetings and working all day but crying alone in darkness at night.
He had seen Shu suffer alone while not letting anyone see his weaker side. That was the time when Shu started looking towards Video Games to find some comfort and to keep himself distracted when he wasn't working.
Even after all that, his pain and trauma didn't seem to be healing.
The day Shu disappeared from the house without telling him, he knew that Shu went to buy a video game called Divinity, trying to see if a fully immersive world of Divinity can heal him a little. That's why he didn't send any guards after Shu.
He wanted him to be able to enjoy a day out. However, he hadn't expected how that single outing that day would change everything. He didn't know that Shu would meet someone who looked like his beloved brother.
He was so stunned when Shu came back and told him about it.
"It has been fifteen years since he went missing. I know it's hard to get over, but that man is not your brother. He just looks like him," the butler said as he sighed.
"You think I don't know that? That day I saw him, I realized that he wasn't my brother. My brother looked Twelve years ago how Ryder looks now, so there was no way for them to be the same. I had realized that straight away. But still, a part of me was happy, thinking that my brother returned to me in one form or another. That's why I got close to him," Shu muttered as a sad smile covered his face.
"I know, but what you're doing now is..." the butler replied but stopped as he didn't know how to finish his sentence. He didn't want to make a mistake in how he addressed the situation, not to hurt Shu with his words.
"Go on. Why did you stop?" Shu asked as he slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the man sitting near him. "What I'm doing is what? Crazy? Psychopathic? Mad? I honestly don't care. He might not be my real brother, but the way he looks and the way he acts is exactly the same."
"I don't care what happens next. I can't let him leave. My brother will never go away from me. I can't let anyone take him away from me. I won't let my brother leave me ever fucking again! Last time, he left me for duty, but this time, I don't let that happen! He has a best friend who is closer to him than me? I will create enmity between them! Then I would be closest to him, wouldn't I? Then he won't leave me ever, right?" Shu asked as a crazy look appeared on his face.
The Butler opened his lips to say something, but no words came out of his mouth.
He just watched Shu while sitting there.
"I only want him to be close to me like a real brother and no one else. Unfortunately, Alice exists as well, and it's fine. We can be a family of three. I can think of her as an adopted sister. Only us three, closest," Shu let out as he smiled while closing his eyes.
****
" Really? You live at the Estate of Mr. Maxwell, who rules the Dream Corporation?"
Ryder and Herriet were leaving the office after their meeting to go to a bar to have a few drinks when Ryder answered Herriet's question, telling her where he lived.
"Hmm? How do you know about him? I thought not many people know where he lived?" Ryder asked as he frowned. He didn't realize that Herriet would know about the fact that the owner of Dream Corporation lived there.
"Oh, I once accompanied someone to meet him. I also pitched him to buy ACL, but he refused, saying that it wasn't worth his effort to buy a dying company," Herriet replied.
"Hmm? That doesn't sound like Shu. He is always warm and kind as far as I have seen him. He might have been stressed that day, maybe," Ryder said as he thought about it
"Maybe, I am surprised that he let you stay with him. From what I heard, he is a pretty isolated person that doesn't open up to anyone. It's surprising to know that he is so kind to someone. I guess I really misunderstood him," Herriet let out as she smiled wryly.
The two of them entered the lift and pressed the button on the ground floor.
"I am surprised a little as well. I didn't expect the rich people to be this kind. However, he is different. He is just like a kid, if that makes sense; innocent," Ryder said as he smiled.
"Don't you find it a little bit suspicious? Why only to you?" Herriet asked, invoking the curiosity of Ryder as well.
"I can't say that I didn't ask about that before. That question also got me curious a few times. Why me? Or maybe he was always like that, kind, but he didn't find a friend? There are many things that might have contributed to it. Anyway, it's not like he can get anything out of me. He didn't ask me for a single thing. I do think he will have any bad intentions," Ryder replied as he stepped out of the lift with Herriet.
The two of them walked towards the car after leaving the building.
Ryder opened the door of his car while he continued talking, "I don't know how to describe it properly, but the way he talks and acts, I genuinely feel like he treats me as his brother."
"I guess it is possible. I heard of incidents where people become best friends in the first meeting. Maybe it's something like that. Anyway, I can only say that you're lucky. With the support of Dream Corporation, no wonder you were able to establish a company at such a young age and were able to buy ACL," Herriet told Ryder as she smiled. She also stepped inside the car.