Ch 2 - Surprising the Bank Manager

Does he have no shame? Karen hurried after Alex with a look of chagrin on her face. She tried to open the door to the VIP room, but it had been locked from the inside.

**

"Hello?" Inside the VIP room, Robert Miller, the bank manager, was leaning against the sofa, looking at his phone. When the door suddenly opened, he quickly sat down and hid his phone away. Normally, when a VIP was coming in, Karen would notify him in advance.

As the customer manager, he was responsible for thirty-one VIPs, and he knew them like the back of his hand. He immediately began to launch into his normal professional greeting, hoping to undo the poor impression he'd made by slouching against the sofa, but when he saw Alex, his expression froze.

He was certain that Alex was not one of his VIPs, nor was he a relative of one.

"May I ask who you are?" Robert asked, looking at the young man, who appeared to be around twenty years old. Robert had no idea who he was.

Alex got straight to the point. "I'm here to get my money." 

"You have one of our cards?" Robert asked, suspicious of Alex's calm expression.

"No," Alex admitted frankly.

Robert was relieved to seemingly be proven right, but even more confused. Access to the VIP room required a minimum worth of three million dollars, but this man didn't have any money. Why was he so composed?

"I'm sorry, sir. We can't give out money without a card. Do you require anything else?"

He's crazy, Robert thought. Why on earth did Karen let him in? I'll have to speak to her about this at Monday's meeting.

"You have fingerprint recognition here, right?" Alex suddenly asked.

The fingerprint ID system at the bank was for the wealthiest families and businesses to use. Only a few people had their fingerprints recorded in the system, at least in the New York branch, and no one had used it to access their holdings yet.

"You want to use it?" Robert could no longer bring himself to call Alex "sir."

"Yes." Alex nodded.

Robert was feeling more confused by the second. Why would someone who wasn't even a customer request to use a fingerprint ID?

To be honest, even though he was curious, Robert felt that it was barely worth humouring the request. But after considering for a few seconds, he finally decided to let Alex make the attempt rather than risk making him angry.

He opened the safe and brought out the fingerprint identification device, which he had never used before.

"Place your thumb here." Robert indicated the verification area to Alex, who placed his thumb on the sensor.

[Beep!]

The device lit up with a glaring red light, and the LCD screen displayed the words [Fingerprint not recorded].

Immediately, Robert's expression turned hostile, and he glared at Alex. He picked up his phone, ready to call the police.

"Wait, wait!" Alex said quickly. "Maybe that was the wrong print. I'll try using my index finger this time."

Robert smiled coldly. "What's your plan here? Your thumb doesn't work, so you'll try your index finger. Then, if your index finger doesn't work, you'll try your middle finger. When you run out of fingers, will you try using your toes?"

But Alex had already pressed his index finger on the verification area.

Robert resolved that if the man's fingerprints weren't accepted this time, he would immediately call the police and have him arrested.

[Beep!] A green light appeared on the device and new details flashed up on the LCD screen: [Verification successful. Family account: 01. Verifier: Alexander Ambrose. Account: 01104.]

Robert gaped at Alex in disbelief for a moment, and then hurriedly squeezed out a smile. "Mr Ambrose, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I'm Robert Miller, the customer manager for the New York branch. Please allow me to assist you."

"It's fine," Alex said lightly and stood up. "Can I see how much money I have left in my account?"

"Please wait a moment." Robert sat in front of the computer and typed away for a while. On his instructions, Alex provided a few more fingerprint scans as authorization.

"It's done, Mr Ambrose." Robert clicked the "OK" button on the screen, and Alex's account appeared.

Robert pointed to the computer screen and said, "Mr Ambrose, the balance of your account is currently eighty-sixed million dollars."

Robert couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

This young man had an enormous fortune. It placed him in the topflight of the one per cent. Most people would never be able to even dream of that much money.

Alex felt strange as he stared at the numbers on the screen. He reminded himself that he needed to get used to his status as a rich kid as soon as possible.

"Oh, and you have other assets as well. Let me show you now." Robert clicked through to check several pages in a row. Finally, he clicked the "OK" button again.

The computer brought up a 4 x 4 grid of display screens.

"This surveillance screen displays all the physical assets that you hold elsewhere," Robert explained. He clicked on the upper left corner of the screen and brought up the feed from the bank's branch at The Hague, which revealed a sports car. In the lower right corner, it said, [Ferrari Pagani Huayra].

Robert opened up other screens for Alex, one after another.

The Hawaii branch displayed a Dominica blue pearl bracelet and four stacks of gold bars.

The feed from the French branch in Nice revealed three original Picasso paintings and two Rodin statues.

And the Cape Town branch had fifteen 10-carat diamonds, ten pieces of ivory, and another couple of stacks of gold bars. Robert's eyes almost popped out as he looked at Alex's assets. He had never seen anyone so rich. Maybe not even one-tenth as rich.

"All right, I'd like a card," Alex said before Robert could collect his thoughts.

"Yes, I will see to it right away. Please wait a moment." Robert immediately started to make the necessary arrangements. Within ten minutes, a Supreme Card was produced.

Robert looked at the Supreme Card and thought about Alex's assets. This card wasn't good enough for Alex's status, but it was the highest grade of card they were authorized to issue at the New York branch.

Robert presented handed the card over. "Mr Ambrose, your card."

"Thank you." Alex took the card, stood up, and went to walk out of the room.

"Mr Ambrose, please wait." Robert didn't dare to appear to be neglecting such an important customer. He should see him out personally, but the asset checking system on his computer had not been turned off yet, and the fingerprint verification machine, iris recognition apparatus, and other sensitive equipment had not been returned to the safe. The monitoring system in the VIP room was connected to the district manager's office.

Karen was anxiously waiting in the hall. What's been going on in there for so long? she wondered. Could that brat have murdered Mr Miller in the VIP room?

The more she considered it, the more scared she became. She was on the verge of banging on the door and demanding a response when Alex walked confidently out of the room.

"Stop!" Karen shouted. She walked quickly over toward him and grabbed at his coat. "You can't leave. You broke into the VIP room. Once we confirm that nothing is missing, I will call the police and have them hold you for questioning."

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked. "Let go!"

Karen grappled with him for a while, but she couldn't manage to search his pockets.

What's wrong with this woman? Alex thought. He wasn't even arguing with her, but she was manhandling him.

"What is this?" Karen spotted the Supreme Card that was peeking out of Alex's pocket. She quickly pulled it out and looked at him triumphantly, as if she had found evidence of his guilt. "Oh, you stole a card. This is a crime, and I have to call the police."

It didn't even cross her mind that the card could belong to Alex. She imagined he had entered the VIP room, pretending to be there by mistake, and had then distracted Mr Miller with questions and stolen the card when the manager wasn't paying attention.

"Let go!" Alex was sick of this woman.

"Don't you feel guilty about being a thief?" She was even more determined.

With the two of them creating such a scene, other customers started to walk over toward them, intending to help Karen keep Alex from getting away.

Just then, Robert, who had finished tidying up, strode out of the VIP room.

Having seen Alex's assets, Robert now knew he was the most important customer the New York branch of the bank had ever had. He had also noticed that the system listed Alex's was listed as just one of multiple accounts attached to a family group, labelled 01. If that single account was so lucrative, then what about the rest of the family?

It was rare to meet such important people, so Robert knew he had to be careful to curry favour with Alex. If they got along well, it would be a tremendous success for Robert, and the potential benefits were huge.

So, when saw Karen struggling with Alex, he was enraged. Karen's expression was hostile, and Alex was becoming very angry. Karen was an idiot who was playing with fire, and she might drag Robert himself down with her.

Of all the bank's many, many customers, why did she need to pick this one to try and remove? A simple flick of Alex's finger could be enough to end both their careers.

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