Insta Empire

The Jones family was still trying to straighten out the mess that Jason had put them in with the exorbitant bill for the banquet. When the hotel owner, Mr. Mitchell Cook showed up, he welcomed Kevin like an old friend and called him "boss." Boss? Everyone was stunned. Kevin was Mr. Cook's boss? The manager of the hotel, who had been working for Mitchell Cook for many years, stood there with his mouth open wide in amazement. He looked at Mr. Cook, who had uncharacteristically lost his composure, and he just couldn't believe it. Was this still the boss who was usually so calm, cool and collected in front of them? "I'm not your boss anymore, Mr. Cook, just call me Kevin." When Mr. Cook straightened his back and offered his hand for a more professional greeting, Kevin quickly pulled him back and whispered something in his ear. Life is strange. When Mitchell Cook first walked into the room, Kevin actually saw him, but he wasn't sure what to do. That's why he turned around. To give you some background, when he was a teenager, Kevin saved Mitchell Cook's life. At the time, Cook was running with a bunch of petty criminals . He had a tough reputation, but after a while, he naturally ended up with a few enemies. Cook had been set up by some of these thugs and they'd beaten him half to death. If Kevin, who usually traveled with a couple of his family bodyguards, hadn't shown up by chance, Cook would have died. And he wouldn't currently be the owner of the Witsler Hotel. Here's how that happened. Some time later, Cook wanted to start a business, but he didn't have enough money. It was Kevin who provided him with almost a hundred thousand dollars, no strings attached, to get his business off the ground. Kevin was shocked to see how his friend Mitch, as he called him, had been able to meet with such great success after just six or seven years. After Cook got the money from Kevin, he cut all his ties with the area, mainly to get away from his enemies and have a clean start. He went to Chicago alone and started from scratch. Finally, he built the enormous and very luxurious Witsler Hotel in Chicago. Cook really wanted to track Kevin down to thank him, but he was worried that he would bring trouble to Kevin and his family. Then, about three years ago, he had finally cleaned up his reputation so he could get in touch with the Williams family so he could reconnect with Kevin. That's when he found out that Kevin had been kicked out of his own family! It wasn't at all what he'd expected to hear. He assigned a few of his employees to search for Kevin, but they were unable to find any trace of him, either online or in the rough parts of town. And now, here they were finally seeing each other in person after all these years. Cook thought about everything Kevin had done for him and said, "It's hard to change an old habit, boss…uh…Kevin. " You could hear everyone heave a sigh of relief. After all, it didn't sound right for such a powerful man to call Kevin "boss." Still, everyone was wondering how Kevin and Mr. Cook knew each other. Kevin asked his friend, "If you could just ask the waiter to add my table's bill to the five thousand, I can give you my card to pay." With a big smile, Mr. Cook shook his head and replied, "Your money's no good here. Put your card away." He was going to give Kevin his meal for free! Then he told the hotel manager that Kevin's meals would all be free in the future. Kevin stared at him for a moment and opened his mouth to speak. But Cook immediately understood and quickly changed his offer. "How about if I give you a discount! A 50% discount!" He turned to the hotel manager and said, "Please go add up Mr. Williams's bill and bring it back to me." The hotel manager quickly nodded." Right away, sir. " Grandma Jones and Jason were shocked to hear that the owner of the hotel actually wanted to give Kevin a 50% discount. This was unheard of! Realizing that the rest of the bill still hadn't been paid, Grandma smiled and walked forward. "Mr. Cook, I didn't know that you're friends with our Kevin. Since we're paying this bill together, may we have a discount too?" He looked at Grandma Jones with a smirk and replied calmly. "Didn't that guy just say that Kevin has nothing to do with your family? I'm sorry, but your bills should be paid separately." Grandma Jones's face froze. She knew that Cook wouldn't give them the same discount. Kevin took a look at the bill. After the discount, it was about twenty five hundred dollars. Jason watched this in disbelief. "Ha! Twenty five hundred bucks. Kevin, you were just bragging. I'd like to see how you could even pay that much." But Jason was livid. How could Mr. Cook give Kevin a 50% discount, but not do the same for him! Meanwhile, Lily and Dorothy were very concerned. They really hoped he could cover the bill!. Kevin looked at Jason, who was sneering as he waited to see this all play out. He took his wallet out of his pocket, pulled out a bank card, and handed it to the hotel manager. "Just a moment, sir." The hotel manager slid the card into his portable reader. When Jason saw Kevin's bank card, he continued to taunt him. "A deadbeat who doesn't even have a Luxbank card should be careful how much he spends." One of the others there added, "Yeah, I'll bet the hotel manager will tell him that his card wouldn't swipe." Another one commented, "Kevin really is a jackass. So what if he knows Mr. Cook? He doesn't have enough money to pay the bill. I don't think he'll get out of this mess." Listening to what they were all saying about Kevin, Cook turned and gave them an impatient, cold stare. He really wanted to go over and shut Jason's mouth for him! When Jason saw how Cook was looking at him, his face instantly turned pale. His voice trailed off and he sat in awkward silence. The rest of the Joneses clammed up too. Lily stared nervously at the hotel manager, afraid that Kevin's card would be rejected for lack of funds. Finally, the hotel manager spoke up, "Alright, Mr. Williams, the transaction went through. Here's your card." He politely returned the card to Kevin, who nodded his thanks and put the card back into his wallet. What? The transaction went through? How was this possible? Everyone was confused. Lily tugged on Kevin's sleeve and leaned into his ear. "Where did you get so much money from?" "Don't worry, Lily. I just hope you enjoyed the banquet." Kevin said with a big grin. Lily didn't press the issue. Now she really didn't know what to think. Kevin thought for a second and said to her quietly, "I have something I need to do later. You and Dorothy can go home first. You don't have to wait for me. Drive carefully!" Lily looked over at Mr. Cook and then she looked at Kevin. She nodded and then left with her mother. After the rest of the Jones family had finally paid the bill, they took off one by one. Kevin got a ride with Cook, but he didn't go straight home. "Boss, have you been in Chicago for the past three years?" Cook was driving while Kevin sat in the back seat. Looking at the view outside the window, Kevin responded. "Yeah, about two and a half years. What about you? Have you been in Chicago all this time? " Cook laughed."That's right. When you told me it would be easier to get a fresh start if I moved, it sounded like a good idea. A friend of mine was living in Chicago, so I decided to come here. It was tough at first, but I've done okay. I hope you're not disappointed." "You've done an amazing job! I never imagined you were the owner of the Witsler Hotel. I was right to believe in you. Also, I told you not to call me "boss." Just call me Kevin. We know each other too well." Kevin looked at Cook, who was still excited. He just smiled and shook his head. Cook kept his eyes on the road. "Alright, and you just call me whatever you want." Seeing that they'd been driving for a while, Kevin asked casually. "By the way, where are you taking me?" "Do you remember Adriana Wright? A couple of years ago, I accidentally found out that she was also looking for you, so I met with her. She founded the West Chicago International Group. I just told her about meeting you in my hotel, and she was really happy about it. We talked it over, and decided to surprise you." Cook turned around and gave Kevin a mischievous smile. Kevin raised his eyebrow. Adriana Wright? What a nice surprise to hear that she was doing well too. Kevin met Adriana when he lost his briefcase in a wine store. She was working in the shop and noticed that he'd left it behind. When she went outside with the briefcase, Kevin had just gotten in his car and left. Adriana ran after him for three blocks to try to catch up with him. When Kevin finally remembered that he'd forgotten his briefcase, he made a U-turn and saw her standing there, out of breath, but holding his briefcase in her hand. Kevin found out that Adriana wanted to start her own business, so he formed a partnership with her. He also fronted her a hundred thousand dollars, just like he'd done for Cook. He didn't really expect Adriana to be so sharp at running a business. What he was sure of was that she was honest and hard-working . After all, she had chased him for three blocks to return his briefcase! In just a few short years, she actually built the West Chicago International Group! After a few more minutes of driving, Kevin and Cook stopped at an enormous office complex in the west suburbs. They got out of the car together and walked into the headquarters of the West Chicago International Group, which was tastefully designed in a blend of modern glass and Greek architecture. After walking into the main hall, they were greeted by one of Adriana's administrative assistants. "Mr. Cook, the president is waiting for you on the third floor. Do you want me to accompany this gentleman and show him the displays on the first floor?" It was a very kind offer, but Cook just shook his head no and answered. "No need. Mr. Williams can take a look around by himself. It will make him a little uncomfortable if you follow him." Kevin quickly agreed. "Yes, you don't need to follow me. I'll go and take a look for myself. You guys can go and do what you want." "Kevin, you can visit the place as you wish. These things in the hall are new products that have just been released. You can take some back for your wife if you want. She should like that." Cook pointed at the various skincare products and makeup on the display stands Kevin thought to himself, "What the heck is this big surprise?!"