Chapter 1 - The Password

In the eastern part of New York City, not far from the Shelby group, people were roaming here and there in a small park. A man who is still young in his twenties was standing quietly on the bridge of a small lake in the park. He was holding something tightly in his hand which his girlfriend returned to him.

"It's over. It's time for you to call me your ex-girlfriend."

"Brice Turner, I'm sorry…. I think this is our only destiny, you are not able to fulfil what I want…. And I know you won't be able to give me what I want. These are the things which you gave me. Today, I am returning it to you. I already have another man in my life now… Please don't run behind me anymore."

She turned and left.

Lara Jane's words were like a thunderbolt which kept on roaring in Brice's ears.

The image of Lara with a look of disdain on her face for him kept on hovering over his mind….

"Ah…. Damn it."

Brice Turner threw the return gifts he was holding into the lake from the bridge.

Looking at the ripples made in the lake, he jumped directly into it.

"Plop…"

A large amount of water is splashed out. The sound was so loud that people started watching out. But when they saw that the man started swimming they again got involved in their own work.

"Errr… Damn it! If I knew this would happen I would have never learnt to swim. At least, whenever I wanted to die I would have an option to die like this… Hey! Open your eyes. Are you dead or alive?

Brice Turner tried to drown himself but he couldn't. He with his fully wet body sat on the shore and started panting.

Actually, when he jumped into the water to drown himself, he found it was a useless thing for him. How will he sink in water if he knows how to swim?

When he was swimming to get to the shore, his eyes caught an inconspicuous man at one of the corners of the lake.

The man was dressed formally like a gentleman. He was wearing black formal pants with a white shirt and a tie. He also wore a black suit which was looking so expensive that Brice's annual income could not afford it. By seeing the man it looked to Brice that the man has been in the water for a long time.

"Hey!"

Brice shook the man strongly.

The man suddenly spits out blood instead of water while he opened his mouth. He opened his eyes and his eyes directly fell on Brice Turner.

"i think you have suffered serious injuries from inside too. Wait, Let me call an ambulance for you…" While looking at the blood that man spit out Brice said these words nervously.

The face of the man looked too pale like a piece of paper and he hooked his fingers signalling Brice to approach him.

Brice hesitated for a moment, he thought about what his man wanted to tell him instead of letting him call an ambulance for him. Finally, keeping aside his thoughts, Brice lowered his head and put his ears near to the man's lips.

"New York City Bank… Bank safe no. 367. the password of the safe is 1913891422118114" The voice of the man was so low that Brice could hardly hear what he said but to the utmost surprise don't know how Brice memorized the whole string of passwords listening so lightly and that too in a single go.

"From today onwards… You are me! You will inherit everything that belongs to me…. everything… So you can go now, everything that belongs to me is yours now." These were the last words of the man and his head tilted to one side and finally, he lost his breath.

Brice left the park as if a bullet is shot from a gun. The man died just in front of him and he was the first witness Brice's life was already messed up so he don't want to create any more trouble for himself.

While fleeing from the park he thought about what the man said just now, New York City bank…..

Brice looked up where he was. He was just a few metres away from the park and New York City Bank is not too far from the park. Moreover, it can be said it is only about a kilometre away from where he was standing.

New York City Bank is a global chain bank. It is said to be among the top banks in the world. It has branches in almost every country of the world. Only the rich or even it can be said only a small percentage of a country mainly afford to open an account in this bank. The minimum amount to open an account in this bank is also too high that many people even only dream to have an account here are middle or old aged man or those rich spoiled brats who are the heir of big families.

Brice ran about half a kilometre and then started to walk to reach the New York City Bank. After a few minutes of walking, he finally reached the New York City Bank.

When Brice was entering the bank, the security guard of New York City Bank looked at him in a strange manner. Why is this man wet? But seeing him it looked to the security guard that he was not trouble so he ignored him.

"Hey, hey you… yes, I am addressing you. What are you doing here dripping wet? Can you stand outside?" A bank Staff saw Brice and she yelled at him in disgust.

"I have come to pick up something." Brice Turner said lazily.

The number of times Brice comes to the bank can be counted on fingers only. Apart from taking his salary once a month to letting Lara Jane spend his salary when does he ever visit that bank? Why the big account holders have let migrant workers take their salary from this bank? They should have opened a new account in a small bank for letting these migrant workers collect their salary from there. Each month their salary would have been transferred there.

"Take what?"

Sophia Jones was a young beautiful lady in her late twenties. Her charm made many youngsters fall for her in one blink of an eye. Many approached her several times but she casually ignore them. People are still curious to know what type of man she would fall for.

Here, Sophia was quite impatient looking at Brice. There were so many people coming to do business and this made her beautiful jade-like body sweat getting the attention of many passersby - a beauty in summer. Since she was already sweating and tired from work, so, she has no time to pay attention to this migrant worker who came to her.

"I don't know… I'm just here to take a look." Brice Turner shook his head.

Sophia Jones waved her hand impatiently.

"Go and stand in the queue." She scolded.

Brice turned and looked here and there and finally, he saw that there was a waiting area in the hall. So, he took a number and went there to find a vacant seat to sit and wait for his turn.

"Hey! Are you blind or what? You have wet my expensive clothes." The woman next to Brice yelled just as Brice sat down.

Brice turned his head and saw that although his clothes were not dripping as earlier as when he entered the Bank, they were still wet and unknowingly they still rubbed against the woman's body a little. Then also, there was obviously not so much water stain on the woman's clothes.

"I'm sorry about that. I'll wipe those for you…" Brice quickly replied comforting the lady's mood.

"What will you wipe? Do you know how much my dress cost? Just get the hell out of here! Don't irritate me and also don't sit next to me!". The woman stared at Brice in disgust.

Brice then raised his head and looked here and there with his searching eyes for a vacant seat anywhere. But to his loss, there wasn't even a single empty place to sit in the whole waiting area.

"Huh! A muddy-leg boy who came to enjoy the free air conditioner also wants to talk to this girl. Doesn't he even look at his grown beard?"

The woman then looked at the embarrassed look of Brice and then ridiculed him.

"You… I just got your dress wet. That's only na…, Okay fine, tell me how much it is? I will pay it to you."

Brice's face became red as an apple and in frustration, he spoke these words. The people in the waiting hall all started to look at him.

"Fine then…. my dress is a limited edition from one of the top Brands of India "Koai", This one costs dollar 30 thousand!", the woman then started looking at Brice like he was a fool. Her eyes were full of contempt and she was smiling a condescending smile.

"Okay fine, I will give you money. Can you take off your clothes now?

Brice stared at the woman, he forced her to look at him as if his pocket was not empty but filled.

The woman then looked here and there seeing people watching. Then she looked at the sky and again looked at Brice smiling and this time the smile was too cold. She said, "Okay, you give me money now and I will undress now!."

Brice got his head down full of embarrassment and looked out in his pocket. The only hundred-dollar note remaining in his pocket was wrinkled with blisters. The woman can't help to stop herself and she directly put her hands in Brice's pocket and took the money out directly without waiting for a second.

"Is this the money you were talking about? Shi…, Unfortunately, there are still hundred dollars, otherwise I wouldn't be able to say if you even have money or not." She said in a sharp tone.

Brice was then looked at by everyone waiting in the hall. The people there were bored waiting for their number to turn up and it was a good picture to entertain them other than videos or music.

Brice just wanted to get in anyway. He just wanted his number to turn up as fast as a bullet shot from a gun and he will be allowed to go in. He neither wants to walk from there nor wants to stay there.

Fortunately, the security guard saw the situation and came to stop it. Finally, up to some extent, it eased the embarrassment of the ongoing situation.

"What business do you have here? Are you here to deposit money are to withdraw it?" There were few people going to ATM, so the security guard reminded him. The guard was explained that he should not underestimate anyone coming to the New York City Bank. The new wealthy heir can play pranks and deceive them by wearing ugly clothes and no money. So, the security guard although wants to take Brice out directly does not dare to do anything without knowing his identity.

Brice looked at the security guard.

"I want to open a private safe.", He said.

The woman on the other side couldn't help herself from stopping her laughter. She turned to her female companion and mocked Brice, "Hey! Did you hear that this leg in the mud wants to open a private safe? Do you know what identity and threshold a person should need to have to open a private safe in New York City Bank? Even people with high assets are not qualified to do so…"

Brice looked at the woman and then bit his teeth in anger.

"Cut it… Isn't it just a fat man with a big swollen face who is nothing but boasts a lot? Sister, I think we should not sit with this kind of person. Let us find another seat for us far from here. I feel ashamed sitting beside him." A friend of that woman sitting next to her said with a loud voice. Her voice echoed all around the waiting hall area.

The security guard looked at Brice's confined and nervous look. A feeling of kindness came into the security guard looking at the boy. He patted Brice's shoulder. He asked, " Do you have your 16-digit password? If you have then I can take you to try it. But, think about it once more." He said.

"Yes…, Yes, I have that…" Brice nodded ridiculously at the security guard and was very grateful to him.

The woman sitting next to him hummed "Such a big person is between us and is still getting embarrassed here! It is useless to let him encode the password."

Brice wanted to punch this woman with full power using his fists. He really wanted to break her nose and make her face look ugly. But as the thoughts come he also abandoned them as he knows that by doing this he will not only break the law but will also lose all the money that he is going to get now.

The security guard signalled Brice to follow him. The gate of the private safe passage was not too far away from the waiting hall but was closed and had tight security. No ordinary person can go there unless they have a private safe.

"This.." Brice Turner looked at the password lock in front of him. He was a little nervous but was calming himself that a dying man will never tell a lie to anyone.

"Here, look at this. Just enter your password directly." The security guard reminded him and left.

The woman sitting in the waiting hall area looked at Brice with a funny smile, looking at Brice who was still counting digits of password on his fingers.

"He hasn't even compiled the password. Do you think he remembers or even has a password with him?" The woman watching Brice from a distance sitting in the waiting hall area spoke slowly laughing at Brice's movements.

"Pop!"

With a cripsy noise, the door of the isolated private safe area opened.

"Honourable private safe customer, New York City Bank welcomes you to watch!" A sweet electronic voice of a woman came out of the speaker.

The security guard who hasn't yet gone too far looked back at the opening of the door and a person going in. This was the first time in years when someone as young as Brice who owns a private safe opened it and went in since he joined. He even doesn't know whether it happened earlier or not.

The women watching all this from the waiting area hall suddenly got up and looked at the watchman and shouted.

"Hello! Did that guy really press the correct 16-digit password? Aren't you going to take a look? In case you lose something, the bank will suffer great loss and you will be fired and apart from that you won't be able to repay the amount leading you to go to jail. You can't walk around like this." She reminded the security guard loudly and it was also to draw people's attention to it.

The security guard was not a fool. He was perfectly trained to deal with people who show them as over-smart. He rolled his eyes and saw people looking at him.

"Lady… if you have the ability to open the private safe area and go in to look at your private safe and open it. You are also free to enter the private area. By the words, you said, you are not only being disrespectful to our esteemed private safe customer but you are also raising questions on the security concerns of the bank. For this act, the bank can sue you and when you will be found blaming without any concrete proof then you can regret it in imprisonment for your whole life or pay compensation for harming the reputation of our esteemed bank which only private safe customers can afford." The security guard said lightly to the lady but the weight of his words stunned everyone and no one dared to speak a word. The hall become silent and the people started to be busy waiting for their turn.

Brice walked step by step into the private safe area. His every step was full of excitement and his heart was jumping like he was on the top of the sky.

After walking a few steps and searching for his cabinet he finally got the private bank safe no. 367. There was a big cabinet with the letters and numbers inscribed on it.

"Private safe No. 367"

Brice read the No. written on the cabinet. He was a bit hesitant and felt like he was about to open Pandora's box which will decide his upcoming future. Brice's nervousness was at its height, he never felt so nervous even when he proposed to Lara Jane. Today is the day from which he will no longer be called a poor chap and no one will look down on him.

"PLEASE ENTER THE PASSWORD"

Brice opened the password device of this cabinet to enter the password. He once again entered those 16 digits password one by one by one to not to do any mistake while entering it.

After he entered the password and pressed the enter key. A pop-up flashed on the electronic screen.

"THE PASSWORD IS CORRECT"

With this pop-up flash, there was also a pop sound which was the sound of the cabinet lock unlocked.

Brice took a deep breath and all his nervousness cooled down finally hearing the sound. He began to open the door of the cabinet.