little secret

Navies sat neatly in his school uniform in the grand living room, quietly enjoying his breakfast at the long table. Albert sat silently at the other end, waiting for Navies to speak. Navies cut his food, chewed, and cut again without saying a word.

As Albert was about to ask about Navies' condition, noticing the bandage on his forehead and several bruises on his face, Navies suddenly spoke.

"Do you know who owns the best five-star hotel in this country?" Navies asked without looking at Albert.

Albert, slightly surprised by the question, replied, "Yes, Sir. It's one of the companies we invested ten billion dollars for a 37% stake. His name is Kellery. He's quite successful in the business and owns a network of five-star hotels worldwide."

Navies nodded slowly. "Did you call me to take over his company, Sir?" Albert asked with a bit of excitement.

Navies was silent for a moment, then said, "Who owns the second-best hotel?"

Albert replied, "The second-best hotel is Hotel Vilaria. It has a very luxurious and magnificent ten-story building. However, due to Kellery's cunning, Hotel Vilaria always comes in second."

Navies murmured, "Like father, like son, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Navies finished his breakfast. "Alright, Albert. I need you to arrange a meeting with the owner of Hotel Vilaria. Inform me soon."

"Yes, Sir," Albert said.

Navies rode his beloved bicycle to school, feeling free as he pedaled through the city streets. The fresh morning air and the sight of tall buildings made him happy. Suddenly, someone with a modified bicycle almost hit Navies. He nearly fell, then stopped and looked directly at the cyclist who removed his helmet.

"Navies, check your pocket. Come to that place, we'll welcome you," he said, handing over an address of the Dragon Bike Warrior club headquarters.

Navies took a piece of paper from his pocket and saw the address. "How did he put this in my pocket without me noticing?" Navies wondered but smiled.

At the school gate, Balqis was already standing there. Perhaps she didn't want a repeat of yesterday's incident. As he entered the classroom, Rendra greeted Navies.

"Did you get the invitation? Let's go there later. I'll call you, let you know when we have time," said Rendra.

Navies simply nodded and headed to class. Before opening the door, Navies already knew what the atmosphere in his class was like; the dominance of wealth and power was very evident in this classroom. Navies sat in his seat, and Mada approached him.

"Navies, how about my homework from yesterday?" asked Mada.

"Which homework?" Navies was slightly confused because he forgot to do it yesterday as he was too tired after being beaten by Lily's henchmen.

"What do you mean? I don't understand," said Navies with a flat face, showing no regret.

Mada got furious. "What did you say? You forgot even though it was just yesterday. Don't mess with me, I'm the son of the Finance Minister, idiot!" Mada immediately grabbed Navies' collar with a threatening tone. Several buttons of Navies' shirt came off. However, Navies remained calm and didn't want any trouble in the class.

Suddenly someone shouted, "The class teacher is near!" All the students returned to their seats, and the atmosphere of dominance disappeared instantly, the class becoming normal. Mada, who was annoyed, said, "Navies, I will take your watch and this bracelet. This is a lesson for not obeying my orders."

Sera, who had been silent and felt sorry for Navies, suddenly spoke, "Stop it!" she said with a trembling body and a frightened face.

"What did you say? Don't interfere, stupid girl!" Mada slammed the desk in front of Sera.

Sera immediately took out a book and paper from her bag. "This is your course homework, Mada. Navies left it with me. Here," she said, handing over Mada's homework.

Mada, not wanting to bother, immediately took the homework as the class teacher was already at the door.

Navies was slightly surprised by Sera's unexpected action. Sera took something out of her small bag, a safety pin. "Sorry," she said shyly while fastening Navies' open shirt. Navies just watched what Sera was doing to him.

Balqis arrived in the classroom and started the lesson. All the students just sat quietly, not wanting to get involved or help each other. They were more concerned about themselves than becoming targets of the upper-class students' mischief.

There were many mysterious students from the upper class and officials' children, making Navies a bit wary. He had a desire to find out their backgrounds, but as long as they didn't bother him, he felt no need to invade someone's privacy. That might be considered a crime, thought Navies in his reflection.

Class ended, and all the students prepared to go home. Mada approached Navies. "You're lucky today. If it weren't for this girl, I would have beaten you up and destroyed your family. I would have ruined your parents' workplace and fired them," Mada said arrogantly before leaving.

Sera, with a slightly awkward face, said, "I'm sorry, Navies."

Navies was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "Why are you apologizing? I should be the one thanking you," he said. They walked home together.

While walking together out of class, Navies started a conversation. "Oh yes, Sera. I noticed you really like fruits and vegetables. You even write about them in a book you always carry. Why is that?" asked Navies.

Sera looked at Navies, surprised that someone had been paying attention to her all this time. With a rather sad face, Sera said, "It actually started since I lost my father and brother. My father had leukemia, and my brother was obese. My father often drank alcohol, stayed up late, ate recklessly, and didn't care about his health. My brother was the same. My mother struggled alone to work and tried to prepare healthy food for them, hoping they would abandon their bad habits. However, that often led to fights between my parents. After that, my mother would cry alone in the middle of the night. But as time went by, we lost both of them. My mother was devastated, as was I. My mother was hospitalized, and her health deteriorated. I was grateful my mother recovered, but she was not as healthy as before. So, I took care of her at home and prepared healthy food for her," Sera explained emotionally.

They arrived at the school gate, and Navies, listening to the story, was slightly touched by the girl who had helped him. "Alright, as a token of my gratitude for your help earlier, how about you come with me? Near my house, there are many fruit and vegetable plantations. Let's take a look around, consider it my way of thanking you," said Navies.

Sera hesitated, but Navies then took her hand and said, "Let's go."

"What about your bike?"

"My friend will bring it later. Are we walking to your house? Why not take a bus?" asked Sera.

"We'll take a taxi. Are you sure?" said Sera.

Navies waved his hand, and a taxi stopped. They took the taxi towards Navies' house. Inside the taxi, they didn't talk much.

Soon, vast plantations spread out before them. "Look, those are grape and strawberry fields," said Sera excitedly. She smiled happily, seeing the fields from inside the car.

"Can you believe there are tea and coffee plantations here too?" said Navies.

"Really? How wonderful," said Sera, pressing her hands to her cheeks and smiling sweetly.

They arrived at the large gate of the plantation. "Thank you, Sir," said Navies to the taxi driver. Sera was very happy seeing the vast plantations. "Let's go in," said Navies.

Sera immediately ran ahead of Navies with excitement. Navies just smiled watching Sera's behavior. "Navies, come here," Sera waved her hand, calling Navies to approach her. Beside Sera stood an elderly woman, the plantation keeper.

"Excuse me, Grandma, we would like to look around and buy some fruits and vegetables here," said Navies.

"Don't be silly," said the old woman. "All of this is yours," she continued.

"Huh?" Navies was shocked, and Sera was also surprised.

The old woman realized her mistake. "I mean, you can pick as much as you like because you've come a long way. Take it for free," the old woman smiled.

Before the old woman finished speaking, Sera happily exclaimed, "Yeahhh! Thank you, Grandma." Sera jumped with joy and pulled Navies' hand to explore the entire fruit garden with excitement. The old woman just smiled watching their behavior and muttered, "That girl is very beautiful and kind. Maybe Master Navies will like her."

It was nearing evening, and their school clothes were a bit dirty. At the gazebo by the garden near the gate, they sat together eating lots of fruit.

"I'm so happy today," said Sera.

Navies smiled. "Me too, and take all these vegetables and fruits for your mother. I'm sure she'll be happy, and give her my regards," said Navies.

"Hmm, I'll take everything," said Sera, speaking unclearly with her mouth full of fruit.

Navies chuckled, "Sera, you're something else," while touching Sera's head. Sera blushed.

"Oh yes, the taxi has arrived. I called earlier to have it pick you up. Taking

 the bus might be a bit dangerous. With you taking a taxi, I won't worry," Navies smiled slightly.

Sera, with a slightly surprised and blushing face, just smiled and nodded, entering the taxi. "Navies, I'm heading home. Thank you for today," said Sera, feeling very happy.

That evening, at the Ministry of Finance building, a small party was held by the Finance Minister, inviting various entrepreneurs and bankers. Mada had to attend the event because his father wanted him to build good connections. Lily also attended the party with her parents. Many state officials, entrepreneurs, and financial officials were present.

Saroon sat at the front table, prepared by Mr. Huang, the Finance Minister, Mada's father, to introduce his son to Saroon. Saroon was a major banking director in the country.

Mada, dressed in luxurious attire, walked towards the table where his father and Saroon were seated. Everyone applauded.

"Mr. Saroon, my name is Mada Huang. I am committed to realizing my father's dream of advancing this country's financial sector in the future. Please guide me," said Mada.

Saroon stood and shook both his hands. Everyone cheered. However, Saroon suddenly noticed a familiar watch on Mada's wrist. Saroon asked Mada where he got the watch.

Mada, unaware, replied, "Ahh, this..." but Saroon insisted, "I asked, where did you get that watch?"

"It's..." Mada stammered.

The cheerful atmosphere suddenly turned silent.

Saroon remembered the photo of Navies' bruised face that had been shared in the board of directors group by Mr. Kein. Amidst the crowd, a loud slap was suddenly heard.

Slap! A hard slap landed on Mada's cheek. Everyone was shocked, including Lily.