Status: Ongoing
Picking Up the Pieces
Investing in the wrong things
“…so you invest the money for 3 years and if you don’t withdraw it during that period, you triple your investment” Antonio, an investment banker Lena had introduced me too, continued to explain as we all ate lunch.
“How much would you need me to invest if I was interested?” I asked as the thought of tripling my personal worth excited me.
He cleared his throat before answering.
“I should warn you … it’s a lot of money” he warned
“I’m sure I can afford it” I bragged as I looked him in the eye. “Now how much would I need to put in?”
“€30 million”
“Excuse me?” I coughed as I thought about it what he was suggesting. “That is my personal wealth in full and you want me to just give it up?” I thought aloud as I tried to understand what Antonio was suggesting.
“I know it’s a lot but think about how much you would earn after 3 years. And with your weekly pay check I doubt you’d struggle to live financially as you waited for your money to grow” he reasoned.
Maybe he is right. What is 3 years of waiting when the rewards would be so beneficial once the money was in?
I looked down at the table, where the papers explaining the investment involved, before answering him.
“I’ll talk to my agent but there should be no problems. You’ll have the money in the trust you’ve set up by the end of the day” I informed him before dismissing him in order to call Rene.
“Sergio how can I help you?” Rene snapped as he answered the phone.
“Well hello to you too. Since we are skipping the pleasantries I’m calling you for business reasons. I need you to invest my money in a trust that my investment banker has set up” I noted without flinching.
“You have an investment banker? Since when?” he asked ignoring my orders.
“Yes. I can afford one now that my pay check isn’t being divided 16 different ways” I smiled as the thought of my parents ran through my mind.
I quickly shook that image out of my head before turning my attention back to the conversation with my brother.
“Now I need this done by the end of the day” I order before hearing him taking a deep breath.
“Sergio are you sure about this? Because I think you…”
“Rene stop right there. I’m not your stupid little brother who doesn’t know how to deal with his affairs. Just do what I pay you and keep your opinions to yourself” I snapped before hanging up the phone.
It’s about time him and the rest of my family recognised that I was a grown man capable of making my own decision. This investment opportunity would be the perfect platform to show them I am better off without them.
****
3 weeks later
“Can you get that?” I asked Lena as she walked around the kitchen in an attempt to make ‘breakfast’. Her version of breakfast consisted of 5 crackers and orange juice.
“You know I’m your girlfriend not the hired help right?” she snapped before hopping off her chair and walking to the living room to open the door.
I rolled my eyes as I recognised the voice of the man in my house. I was tempted to run away but I kept still as I waited for him to make his way into the kitchen.
“Baby look who’s here?” Lena sang as she walked in.
“Rene” I acknowledged without looking at him.
“It’s nice to too you too Sergio” he said stiffly. “Lena I know this is your private time but do you mind leaving me and my brother alone? There’s something we need to talk about” he asked as she sighed.
“Fiiinnne” she whined. “I’ll be in upstairs if you need anything” she smiled before turning around and walking upstairs.
I looked up as I watched my brother walk over to my fridge, open it and take out two bottles of beer. Once he was done he walked to a drawer, took out a beer opener and closed the drawer before walking towards the table I was sitting at and sitting down. He opened both bottles before sliding one towards me.
“Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?” I teased as he shook his head.
“Drink it” he ordered as he looked around the room.
I watched him in confusion before taking two gulps of the beer.
“So you gonna tell me what you’re doing here?” I questioned as he took a deep breath.
“It’s about your investment with that guy Antonio” he began.
“Oh gosh Rene don’t tell me you took some of the money. I’m not supposed to touch it for 3 years” I yelled.
“Calm down” he snapped, stopping my rant and forcing me to sit down. “There is no money” he admitted without looking at me.
“What?” I began to laugh. “Don’t joke around Rene. I invested a lot of money in this and I need you to be smart about how you handle this” I instructed but he merely shook his head no.
“Sergio there is no money” he repeated, this time looking at me. “I have a friend at the bank Antonio claimed to work for. I asked him to keep an eye out and watch what he did with the money in the account. Last night he called telling me that he cleared it out and there was nothing left. He tried alerting the authorities as to what Antonio did but there’s nothing they can do because he was using a fake identity” he explained as I found myself struggling to understand what he was saying.
“No. that’s not possible. He’s a friend of Lena’s and she wouldn’t have introduced us if he was a liar” I attempted to justified but he continued to shake his head no.
“I doubt she real knew who he was” I admitted as anger began to take over me.
“This is your fault” I snapped angrily.
“Excuse me?” he spluttered.
“You heard me. This is your fault. Had you done your research about this man we could have stopped him from taking my money” I continued to go off. “But no … because you are incompetent you just let some cashier keep watch over my money while you did nothing”
“First of all you are the one who demanded that I put the money in the trust before the close of business that dad. And secondly why didn’t you do the research? I would have thought that you would be smart enough to know that you just don’t give your money to someone you don’t know. You look into their history and find out what they are after. But of course that would have been too much for you Sergio wouldn’t it?!” he yelled as he stood up and pointed at me. “You have become so dependent on other people doing things for you that you don’t know how to think for yourself. And to be honest with you I’m glad that this happened to you. I’m glad someone finally took something from you” he snapped before stopping himself by taking a deep breath.
I stood up from my chair before looking at him.
“Get out right now” I glared at him as I pointed him out.
He shook his head disappointed before collecting his belongings.
“I hope you wake up and realise that pushing your family away isn’t the solution to this little crisis you are having at the moment” he stated before looking at me.
“I don’t what reaction you expected from that little speech but I’m not in the mood. Get the fuck out of my house before I throw you out” I yelled while pushing him out.
Once he was safely in his car I looked down at the lamp sitting on top of the table, before picking it up and throwing it against a wall in anger. I wasn’t sure who I was more angry with; myself, for being stupid enough to believe in Antonio or whoever that was, or with my family for not looking out for me.
But one thing is for sure someone will pay for this. That much I promise.
“How much would you need me to invest if I was interested?” I asked as the thought of tripling my personal worth excited me.
He cleared his throat before answering.
“I should warn you … it’s a lot of money” he warned
“I’m sure I can afford it” I bragged as I looked him in the eye. “Now how much would I need to put in?”
“€30 million”
“Excuse me?” I coughed as I thought about it what he was suggesting. “That is my personal wealth in full and you want me to just give it up?” I thought aloud as I tried to understand what Antonio was suggesting.
“I know it’s a lot but think about how much you would earn after 3 years. And with your weekly pay check I doubt you’d struggle to live financially as you waited for your money to grow” he reasoned.
Maybe he is right. What is 3 years of waiting when the rewards would be so beneficial once the money was in?
I looked down at the table, where the papers explaining the investment involved, before answering him.
“I’ll talk to my agent but there should be no problems. You’ll have the money in the trust you’ve set up by the end of the day” I informed him before dismissing him in order to call Rene.
“Sergio how can I help you?” Rene snapped as he answered the phone.
“Well hello to you too. Since we are skipping the pleasantries I’m calling you for business reasons. I need you to invest my money in a trust that my investment banker has set up” I noted without flinching.
“You have an investment banker? Since when?” he asked ignoring my orders.
“Yes. I can afford one now that my pay check isn’t being divided 16 different ways” I smiled as the thought of my parents ran through my mind.
I quickly shook that image out of my head before turning my attention back to the conversation with my brother.
“Now I need this done by the end of the day” I order before hearing him taking a deep breath.
“Sergio are you sure about this? Because I think you…”
“Rene stop right there. I’m not your stupid little brother who doesn’t know how to deal with his affairs. Just do what I pay you and keep your opinions to yourself” I snapped before hanging up the phone.
It’s about time him and the rest of my family recognised that I was a grown man capable of making my own decision. This investment opportunity would be the perfect platform to show them I am better off without them.
****
3 weeks later
“Can you get that?” I asked Lena as she walked around the kitchen in an attempt to make ‘breakfast’. Her version of breakfast consisted of 5 crackers and orange juice.
“You know I’m your girlfriend not the hired help right?” she snapped before hopping off her chair and walking to the living room to open the door.
I rolled my eyes as I recognised the voice of the man in my house. I was tempted to run away but I kept still as I waited for him to make his way into the kitchen.
“Baby look who’s here?” Lena sang as she walked in.
“Rene” I acknowledged without looking at him.
“It’s nice to too you too Sergio” he said stiffly. “Lena I know this is your private time but do you mind leaving me and my brother alone? There’s something we need to talk about” he asked as she sighed.
“Fiiinnne” she whined. “I’ll be in upstairs if you need anything” she smiled before turning around and walking upstairs.
I looked up as I watched my brother walk over to my fridge, open it and take out two bottles of beer. Once he was done he walked to a drawer, took out a beer opener and closed the drawer before walking towards the table I was sitting at and sitting down. He opened both bottles before sliding one towards me.
“Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?” I teased as he shook his head.
“Drink it” he ordered as he looked around the room.
I watched him in confusion before taking two gulps of the beer.
“So you gonna tell me what you’re doing here?” I questioned as he took a deep breath.
“It’s about your investment with that guy Antonio” he began.
“Oh gosh Rene don’t tell me you took some of the money. I’m not supposed to touch it for 3 years” I yelled.
“Calm down” he snapped, stopping my rant and forcing me to sit down. “There is no money” he admitted without looking at me.
“What?” I began to laugh. “Don’t joke around Rene. I invested a lot of money in this and I need you to be smart about how you handle this” I instructed but he merely shook his head no.
“Sergio there is no money” he repeated, this time looking at me. “I have a friend at the bank Antonio claimed to work for. I asked him to keep an eye out and watch what he did with the money in the account. Last night he called telling me that he cleared it out and there was nothing left. He tried alerting the authorities as to what Antonio did but there’s nothing they can do because he was using a fake identity” he explained as I found myself struggling to understand what he was saying.
“No. that’s not possible. He’s a friend of Lena’s and she wouldn’t have introduced us if he was a liar” I attempted to justified but he continued to shake his head no.
“I doubt she real knew who he was” I admitted as anger began to take over me.
“This is your fault” I snapped angrily.
“Excuse me?” he spluttered.
“You heard me. This is your fault. Had you done your research about this man we could have stopped him from taking my money” I continued to go off. “But no … because you are incompetent you just let some cashier keep watch over my money while you did nothing”
“First of all you are the one who demanded that I put the money in the trust before the close of business that dad. And secondly why didn’t you do the research? I would have thought that you would be smart enough to know that you just don’t give your money to someone you don’t know. You look into their history and find out what they are after. But of course that would have been too much for you Sergio wouldn’t it?!” he yelled as he stood up and pointed at me. “You have become so dependent on other people doing things for you that you don’t know how to think for yourself. And to be honest with you I’m glad that this happened to you. I’m glad someone finally took something from you” he snapped before stopping himself by taking a deep breath.
I stood up from my chair before looking at him.
“Get out right now” I glared at him as I pointed him out.
He shook his head disappointed before collecting his belongings.
“I hope you wake up and realise that pushing your family away isn’t the solution to this little crisis you are having at the moment” he stated before looking at me.
“I don’t what reaction you expected from that little speech but I’m not in the mood. Get the fuck out of my house before I throw you out” I yelled while pushing him out.
Once he was safely in his car I looked down at the lamp sitting on top of the table, before picking it up and throwing it against a wall in anger. I wasn’t sure who I was more angry with; myself, for being stupid enough to believe in Antonio or whoever that was, or with my family for not looking out for me.
But one thing is for sure someone will pay for this. That much I promise.