Aurum Regium

Olivia and Brandon were dumbfounded. They were feeling so many emotions at the same time that they couldn’t decide what to do. They wanted to cry, they wanted to rejoice, they wanted to shout to the world that they were with their son, but they also wanted to spend all their time with him, just with him.

Finally, Olivia found her voice, tears flowing freely, she said, “You…are…you are my son, our son?”

Michael took her hand and placing it on his cheek, which was moist from tears, he said, “Yes, yes! Mom, dad, I…I’m your son, I am your son!”

His father was sobbing but all he could do was hug his son, his mother kept kissing him on the head and hugging him. They had lost hope of ever seeing their son again, but now, here he was right in front of them, and it did not even cross their mind that Michael could be telling a lie, they knew it was true, they knew like a parent knows their child.

After some minutes, the three of them calmed down a little, but Brandon and Olivia were still gripping Michael as they would never let him go again, never ever. There was a wide smile on Michael’s face, and he looked happier than he had ever looked before, and the same was the case with his feelings.

Walter said, “Aren’t you guys a little confused? I mean, when Michael told me who he was, even I was confused.”

Olivia nodded and looking at her son, she said, “How did you do this?”

“And how did you get in the FBI? They must have done an extensive background check,” said Brandon.

Michael got up and said, “For that, we would be requiring the presence of three other people in the room.”

Michael picked up a small phone from the side table and pressed a button. After a moment he spoke up, “Yes, I told them, come on in.”

Olivia and Brandon were confused, but all their question were answered as soon as another couple, of the same age as they were, entered the room along with a girl who was just a few years younger than Michael. The man had his gray hair cut very short, and his eyes were twinkling, and seemed to be smiling, just as his lips were. Out of the two women, the elder one had long, red hair and was clutching a handkerchief, while the younger woman had her red hair cut a little shorter than shoulder length and her hazel eyes were eagerly looking towards each member of the room. Each of the new arrivals was tanned as though they had recently spent quite a lot of time on a beach.

Olivia’s eyes went wide, “Jasmine? Frank?”

Brandon looked at them and said, “So you kept your promise.”

“We did,” said Frank in his deep voice.

Jasmine hugged Olivia and said, “How could we not? You’re family.”

Michael said, “I guess you guys must have understood most of it by now, but still, let me surmise it for everyone’s sake.”

Everyone sat in the room and looked intently at Michael. When viewed as a whole, they looked like a big, happy family, one that was not bound by blood but by their affection for each other.

Michael began, “Till my thirteenth birthday, my life was very simple, Aunt Jasmine and Uncle Frank were my parents, Mary was my younger sister, and we were a happy family, but everything changed on the morning of my thirteenth birthday. Frank and Jasmine decided that I was mature enough to understand the truth and thus, they saw it as their duty to tell me who I really was. They told me that I was the son of the famous ring thieves and that they were the closest friends of my parents. They told me that my parents wanted to retire but before they could do that, they had to do one last job, but before they could pull it off, I was born. My mother and father decided that it was not safe for them to raise me until they were retired as they led a life which had no place for a child, and it was true. So, with a heavy heart, they made an arrangement with their best friends. To make sure that if something happened to them, no one would ever know who I was, they left me at an orphanage and according to the arrangement their best friends had agreed to adopt me the very next day and raise me as their very own son, which they did.” At this point Michael paused.

All the inhabitants of the room were trying very hard not to let their tears escape their eyes but most of them failed. Olivia and Jasmine were sitting together with their arms around each other to provide support, physical and emotional. Brandon and Frank were staring into space, while Walter and Mary were looking at Michael.

After taking a sip of water, Michael continued, “The arrangement which was supposed to be temporary turned into permanent when a young FBI agent successfully captured my parents and destroyed my life. Naturally, I did not believe any of it at first, but it was only when Aunt Jasmine swore on my life, that I realized that what they had said was absolutely true. From that day, there was only one goal in my life – to get my parents out and make Jefferson Brown pay for what he did. So, from the age of thirteen years, I began formulating my plan, and after years, I was able to bring to a successful conclusion and I ended up the luckiest man in the world, with not one but two mothers, two fathers, the best sister and a friend who is closer to me than a brother could have ever been.”

This time, no one made any attempt to suppress their tears, but this time they were tears of pure joy and happiness.

After some time, All the members of the family were seated around a large table, enjoying a splendid meal, prepared by their chef, who was a member of the local tribe which called the island their home. The chef was not trained like the chefs in metropolitan cities, but he had the gift of preparing the most delicious meals from the simplest of ingredients and thus, on that day, he had presented the inhabitants of the house with a sample of his brilliant culinary skills. Everyone laughed and talked freely, with their hearts full of peace and their minds thinking of nothing else but the conversation they were having. Frank and Jasmine were telling Brandon and Olivia stories of Michael and Mary when they were children, while Michael, Walter, and Mary were talking about how the plan had turned out to be perfect.

“Who did you sell the diamonds to?” asked Walter. “You didn’t even tell me.”

“Yes, who was the buyer?” asked Mary. “From the looks of it, he paid you quite a good price.”

Michael smiled and said, “I haven’t sold the diamonds yet, and I don’t plan to.”

“Then where are they?” asked Mary.

“Just watch,” said Michael as a butler entered the room with a large dish.

“Oh, I don’t think I can eat any more food!” exclaimed Olivia with a laugh.

The butler placed the dish in the center of the table and removed the cover.

Everyone except Michael gasped.

“They’re beautiful!” exclaimed Mary.

Indeed, they were, because sitting in the center of the plate were four of the diamonds, two in the form of pendants and the other two in the form of bracelets. Each piece of jewelry had a name tag attached to it. The four name tags read – Olivia, Brandon, Jasmine, and Frank.

Michael stood up and said, “That is a gift from my side to my parents, the people to whom I owe my life!”

Everyone’s eyes were moist as the ladies wore the pendants and the men proudly wore the bracelets.

“They are the diamonds that you wanted and now, they are in your possession. They are the diamonds that started this, it is only fitting to bring them in at the end,” said Michael.

All the others were speechless. Their emotions were so strong that they were unable to find any words to express them.

After a moment, it was Walter who spoke up. “But what about the fifth diamond?”

Michael smiled sadly and said, “Well, I gifted four to my parents, but you didn’t think I would not get a souvenir for another important person who is not here today?”

“Who?” asked Mary.

Michael reached into the pocket of his pants and extracted a small box. In the center of the box rested the fifth diamond.

Picking up the diamond, Michael turned to Walter and said, “This is for Aunt Claire, as a tribute to her talent and loyalty.”

Walter took the diamond and looked at Michael with grateful eyes. For a few moments, everyone at the table was silent.

Suddenly Mary turned to Michael and said, “But if the diamonds are here, then where did you get the money from?”

“Well, I did not sell the diamonds, which is obvious, but you are forgetting about the collection,” said Michael. “It contained priceless elements from the animal kingdom, skins, ivory, you name it. It was more than enough to get me a fortune.”

Everyone at the table had a smile on their lips, after all, each one of them was a practitioner of the art of deception and deceit, and to witness such a brilliant performance of the same was a rare privilege.

Mary said, “You could have made some more money, Michael.”

“How?” asked Michael.

“By forging the diamonds and selling them to even more people! Everyone would have thought that they were in possession of the original collection, and I could have easily forged the diamonds, I’m quite good, you know.”

“I never doubted your ability for a moment! You are the best, no doubt,” explained Michael. “But the diamonds are unique, it is impossible to get a forgery that would mirror all their qualities.”

“We’ll see,” said Mary.

“Oh, cheer up! all that we have to do now is have fun! We are free, we can go where we want, do what we want, and live a peaceful life,” said Michael as he ran an eye along the people who were seated at the table, his family.

Mary gave Michael a wide smile and once again, the conversion shifted to different channels. When one is happy, one is tempted to talk a lot, and that was what was going on, no one wanted this time to come to an end. They had been separated and unhappy for too long, now was their time to enjoy life.

While the youngsters were in the middle of a conversation on one end of the table, the senior members of the family were discussing something in very serious tones.

Olivia said, “How can we ever repay you for what you have done?”

“There is no need to repay us, as I said before, you are family,” replied Jasmine.

“And there is no need for the phrase ‘Thank You’ in a family,” added Frank with a warm smile.

Brandon just kept a hand on Frank’s shoulder, but no words escaped his lips.

After a moment, Jasmine said, “Do you remember you left something else for us when we had parted?”

Brandon said, “How can we forget, the collection of all of the most valuable items we robbed over the course of our entire career.”

“Correct, all safely stashed away in a locker. Rest assured, it is as you had left it, we made sure of that,” stated Frank.

“But you could have used it! Sold it! Michael could have used the money in his plan!” exclaimed Olivia.

“We would never even think of using it without your permission first, you had left it so that we would keep it safe, not use it,” said Jasmine.

“And as for the question of letting Michael use it, we wouldn’t lie, that thought had crossed our minds but, in the end, we decided that it was your possession and we had no right to pass it on, even if it was to your son,” said Frank.

Brandon and Olivia looked at the couple seated in front of them with grateful eyes. Here were two people who understood the meaning of true friendship and practiced it with utmost devotion. They were the kind of people who proved to be invaluable to anyone they ever formed an association with, and they had just proved the same by their actions so far.     

Olivia said, “You call yourself our family and then divide the possessions? Remember, what is ours is yours, always was and always will be.”

Now it was Frank and Jasmine’s turn to look grateful. No words were exchanged, all the emotions were conveyed by the expressions of the two couples.

On the other end of the table, Mary had just remembered something.

She said, “So what about your friend, does she know?”

Walter looked surprised, “What friend?”

Michael said, “Oh, nobody.”

“Nobody?” exclaimed Mary in surprise. “She was the only person you referred to as a ‘friend’ apart from Walter, and believe me, you have a serious lack of friends in your life.”

“So, what’s the name of your special friend?” asked Walter.

“Just friend and her name is Evelyn Watson.”

“And who’s Evelyn Watson?” asked Walter.

“Like I said, Michael’s special friend,” said Mary.

Michael’s face turned serious, and he said, “I admit she was the only unexpected thing in the plan, the only variable I hadn’t accounted for – romantic attraction.”

“So, what happened?” asked Mary.

“I had to end it. I couldn’t afford to have anyone close to me, it was far too dangerous for me as well as for her. I couldn’t risk the plan for just my feelings.”

Mary looked at her brother with admiration. Placing her hand on his arm, she said, “I’m proud of you, Michael.”

Walter said, “And I am thankful to you, for giving me a family again.”

Michael gave them both a warm smile, but he was thinking about the last gift he had left for Evelyn.

Evelyn’s Apartment:

Evelyn could not help but think about Michael. She tried to focus on other things, but her memories with Michael were far more pleasant than what was in front of her. She was reading a letter from the owner of the apartment, stating that she had to pay the rent as soon as possible as her previous month’s rent was also pending.

Rob came over and sat down beside her. He was smiling and there was a bulge in his pocket. Evelyn looked at him and smiled.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I have a gift for you.”

“What?”

Rob got a small pouch from his pocket and emptied its contents onto the table. After he was done, a small pile of coins and a few notes were lying on the table.

“I saw that you had to pay the bill, so here is my contribution,” said Rob with pride.

Evelyn could not help but smile. “But this is too much!”

Rob nodded his head, “Even I thought so! Here, let me take back five dollars, and you can use the rest of it to pay some rent in advance.”

“That’s a brilliant idea!”

Rob smiled widely, kissed his sister on the cheek and ran into his room, feeling very proud of himself.

Suddenly, Evelyn’s phone rang. The call was from the bank and worry lines creased Evelyn’s forehead at once. Getting a call from the bank almost never meant good news. But as soon as Evelyn heard what the woman from the bank had to say, she could feel her legs trembling from shock and her heart singing with joy. Her hands were shaking and yet, her lips were smiling.

The woman from the bank had said, “Ma’am there has been a transfer to your account. The amount is…”

To put it in an informal manner, the amount of money which had been transferred made Evelyn feel that she was the owner of a fortune.