C1 Beginning

Francis Gonzalez sat in his uncle's living room with his brothers Tomas, Alejandro, Silas, Juan and Dario. He had a lot on his plate so he took less notice of the awkward atmosphere that lurked around. He texted his secretary concerning the investors he was supposed to have a meeting with right after seeing his uncle. After meeting and finalising the deal with the investors, he planned to go to court to finalise the divorce with his wife. Today was the final hearing and after that, the judge will give the judgement and he'd give his wife an alimony and allow her to leave his life for good. No doubt, Sophie only married him for his money. He'd deluded himself to think that she was different from the others but after she complained over literally everything he did for the past three years of their marriage, he realised that she was just undoubtedly going to be a leech.

And he eliminated every single thing that gave him worries.

The fact that part of his life was literally crumbling down while his brothers lives weren't, made it clear that he shouldn't be in their midst. He and his brothers never bonded from childhood but that didn't stop him from feeling inferior to them sometimes because the Gonzalez name was heard all around the world as his brothers made waves in whatever business they set their minds to. As the second son of the family, he was supposed to be among the richest but he wasn't. His furniture company was quite renowned but what would be left after his soon to be ex wife took half of his properties?

The only hope he had right now was his impending meeting with his investors.

He could have sought help from his brothers; the eldest Tomas owned different fashion companies and museums in several countries, his brother Juan was a famous celebrity, the twins; Alejandro owned hedge funds, malls and acres of land all over the world, and Silas owned a secret mafia syndicate while Dario the last son always thrived on being raised with a golden spoon as he inherited his adoptive parent's company after their deaths and it has been blooming since then.

But he couldn't seek help. He couldn't bring himself to because it was just too awkward a situation.

He and his brothers had been estranged from childhood. They all lived happily together until their parents divorce when Francis turned seven.

His parents dragged him and his brothers through a messy divorce and by the time they were done, he and his brothers were forcefully separated from eachother.

His parents sent him to another country to live with one of his uncles while he didn't know where his brothers were sent to.

And he hadn't seen his parents again until he heard of the news of their deaths, years ago.

As the years went by, he could say that he and his brothers had grown apart.

He felt a little bit of nostalgia creep in as he sat silently in the midst of his brothers. He missed the good old days where he didn't have to worry about making a living or getting married. He thought that he had solved half of his problems by getting married to Sophie early but that was just the beginning of his problems. He hadn't fallen in love with Sophie before he married her, he just liked her carefree lifestyle and it reminded of of who he was or who he wanted to be but didn't have the courage to be. Too bad she hadn't shared the same admiration for him.

A few minutes before his uncle's butler, James called him, he finished conversing with his secretary concerning the meeting with the investors and everything was set. He planned to get on a quick flight to the location immediately after seeing his uncle.

He followed James to the room where his uncle was and he saw his uncle Benjamin, looking frail and small. He briefly wondered how bad sickness was, for it to humble a great Gonzalez like his uncle Benjamin. His memories of his uncle were not much and not vivid enough so he didn't feel miserable to see his uncle like this on his death bed.

"Good day uncle Benjamin" He knelt down beside his uncle as he greeted.

"Francis..." His uncle breathed. "How's life treating you?"

"I'm doing fine, uncle Benjamin" he replied gruffly

"Doesn't seem so to me..." His uncle drawled

"You might think your life, compared to that of your brothers, is the most messy but I assure you, you are wrong"

Francis raised an eyebrow in confusion. He hadn't spoken a word about how he felt to his uncle, in fact, his ability to keep a poker face was one of the best he possessed...so how did his uncle know about the previous thought that bothered him?

"I have a last wish for you and it's the same favour I sought and will seek from you and your brothers"

"What is it uncle?" Francis asked

"The broken relationship between you and your brothers need to be mended. See you it that you take that responsibility upon yourself, alright?"

"Yes uncle Benjamin" he nodded firmly.

He didn't want to disagree with his uncle because it was his dying wish.

The thought of reconciling him and his brothers appealed a little to him but he was just too swamped with personal and work related problems to think about that right now.

Tomas was the eldest, surely he could start something, couldn't he?

Right now, he needed to finish up the divorce proceedings with his wife and focus on his business not make a fool of himself by trying to squeeze out time from his brothers busy schedules. He was the least affluent amongst his brothers and he had to work on that, work on developing himself and nothing else.

"Discuss with Stephen my legal advisor on the huge inheritance I've left for you" his uncle Benjamin said and his eyes lit up instantly. Then his uncle added; "but the inheritance comes with conditions and ultimatums..."