A black owner of a chain of restaurants dressed as a homeless man and visited the three restaurants to determine his heir. You won’t believe what happened next. Ken left his opulent mansion looking like a stranger to his former self. Cloaked in dirty, tattered clothes with his unkempt shaggy hair and beard, Ken looked like a time traveler from the Middle Ages to everyone who saw him on the road that early afternoon. He was surely another homeless, forgotten soul, but it was all a perfect disguise. The millionaire owner of a chain of restaurants was simply on a mission to his restaurants to find an heir to his empire.
Soon enough, Ken arrived at his first restaurant, and the search began in earnest. Ken was making his way into the upscale restaurant when the two guards posted at the gate stopped him and ordered him to turn away. Ken started pleading with the two guards to allow him in, but all his pleas fell on deaf ears. Just then, the female manager of the restaurant, Ruth, was driving out of the gate. She stepped out of the car and headed towards him.
Once she got there, Ruth promptly screamed at Ken to back away from the gate. She even went further and bluntly told him that the restaurant was not a charity home for dirty homeless folks. Ruth then ordered the two guards to never allow such a dirty old pig into the restaurant before she went back to her car and zoomed off. Ken was petrified. He couldn’t even be allowed to step foot into his own restaurant, he thought, as he slowly walked away in utter dejection and anger.
Ken was still lost in deep thought when he arrived at his second restaurant that was just a stone’s throw from the first one. Fortunately for Ken, he found the gates wide open, and there was no sight of any guard. So Ken quickly stepped inside the restaurant’s premises and headed for the entrance door. Ken entered the posh restaurant and had barely sat down at the table when the manager, Mike, came charging at him like an enraged bull.
“Who let this person into my restaurant? He could be spreading all sorts of germs around!” Mike growled at the terrified-looking Ken. It happened that Mike had seen Ken entering the restaurant as he was watching the CCTV monitoring screen in his office. Mike had wasted no time in rushing down from his office to confront the strange-looking man.
Despite this cold welcome, Ken was about to start begging Mike for some food or alms, but the manager didn’t even allow him to finish speaking before he screamed for the guards to deal with him. The guards rushed to the scene at once and lifted Ken shoulder-high like a log of wood and carried him outside the restaurant. As they did so, most of the richly dressed diners laughed and made fun of the dirty homeless man. Once outside the gate, the guards dumped Ken on the floor like he was garbage. Then they went inside the restaurant and banged the gate closed.
Ken felt like crying. He had never felt so humiliated all his life. As he sat dejectedly on the floor with his hands covering his face, he went down memory lane, reflecting on how he reached the point of looking for an heir in such an unorthodox manner. Ken was born into a poor black family. His poor parents couldn’t afford to send him to high school, so Ken started working odd jobs, like carrying heavy loads for people at the local market in return for little tokens. He also begged for alms in the streets. At age 19, Ken secured a cleaning job in a restaurant. He worked with utter dedication and was soon hired as a waiter. Ken continued working with zeal and determination.
One fateful day, Ken stumbled upon a purse full of money that a female diner had forgotten on a table. He handed the purse over to the manager, who in turn duly returned it to the rightful owner. The woman, Sandra, was so pleased as the purse contained $3,000 in cash and other important documents. She also happened to personally know the owner of the restaurant, Mr. Johnson. Sandra went to Mr. Johnson to show her approval for his well-disciplined workers.
She also requested to see and thank the worker who had found and returned the purse. Mr. Johnson was so pleased that he drove Sandra right down to the restaurant. On arrival at his restaurant, Mr. Johnson promptly demanded the manager bring the worker who had returned the purse. The manager quickly brought Ken over to his boss and Sandra.
The shy-looking Ken greeted the duo, and they warmly replied to his greetings. Sandra then profusely thanked Ken for his steadfastness and gave him $300 for his efforts. Mr. Johnson also thanked Ken for making him proud. He shook hands with Ken and encouraged him to stick to his discipline before Ken went back to his work feeling quite overjoyed.
From that day on, Mr. Johnson kept a close eye on Ken, who continued to work diligently at the restaurant. Five years later, Mr. Johnson fired his manager after a fallout between the two men. He then promptly promoted Ken to the position. Ken was overwhelmed with happiness at his sheer luck. As a manager, Ken began saving a greater percentage of his mouth-watering salary.
He lived a basic life and shunned any frivolities. After he had served as Mr. Johnson’s manager for eight years, Ken took the monumental step to leave the restaurant and start his own with the money he had saved over the years and the little loan he secured from a friend. Ken purchased a small restaurant and gradually built it into a top-notch establishment. Just like the proverbial Midas, everything that Ken touched turned into gold from then on. Barely two years later, Ken had acquired his second restaurant. Ken was gradually but surely on the rise to his zenith.
Ken, who had stayed out of relationships to focus solely on his career, soon met and married a young lady, Michelle. She was 26 while Ken was 38 at the time of their wedding. The new couple lived comfortably and in perfect harmony, but they had one problem: they were childless even after seven years of trying.
They opted for adoption and adopted a beautiful two-year-old black girl whom they named Amanda. Ken and Michelle deeply loved Amanda and took her as their biological daughter. However, tragedy soon struck. Shortly after Amanda turned 11, she suddenly died after a short bout of pneumonia. Ken and Michelle were devastated by their beloved adopted daughter’s sudden demise. By then, Ken had acquired his third restaurant and was extremely wealthy.
As if losing Amanda wasn’t enough trauma already for him, Ken started to get seriously sick just three years later. He went to the hospital, and after a series of tests, the doctors diagnosed Ken with severe hypertension and diabetes. Ken began receiving due treatments for his ailments at once. Barely six months later, Ken was struck with a stroke. He survived it but became so frail afterward. He was in and out of hospitals as a result. Ken had no choice but to transfer full management of his restaurants to Michelle while he battled with his health issues.
Over time, Ken, who was gradually recovering from the stroke, started noticing some subtle changes and telltale signs of cheating in Michelle. He also began to notice that his restaurant’s financial returns kept getting worse with each passing month. Ken put two and two together and suspected that Michelle might be cheating on him. To be sure, he hired a private investigator, Paul, to follow and watch her movements. A month later, Paul met with Ken and confirmed his worst nightmare, presenting numerous pictures and other evidence he had clandestinely gathered of Michelle’s infidelity. Ken was deeply hurt that Michelle was truly cheating on him with a handsome young lover, Henry. He had really loved Michelle; she was his first and only love.
Ken hired a seasoned auditor to look into the restaurant’s accounts and financial dealings since Michelle had taken over general management. The auditor did his job and reported to Ken that about $600,000 was actually missing from his restaurant’s financial returns. Ken was aghast. He confronted Michelle at once about both the cheating and the stealing allegations.
Michelle confessed amidst tears that she had indeed been stealing from the restaurant’s accounts and showering the money in expensive gifts on Henry. Ken had no choice but to divorce Michelle, though he didn’t pursue legal actions against her for the thefts because he was such a kind-hearted man. Ken then hired a renowned management firm to manage his restaurants as he was still battling his health problems. Ken’s financial returns steadily started bouncing back once the firm took over the management of his restaurants, but Ken’s health issues kept getting worse. Hence, he completely withdrew from managing his restaurants to solely focus on battling his health challenges. Ken also chose to remain single as he hadn’t fully recovered from the hurt and betrayal that Michelle caused him.
Eight years down the line, Ken’s health problems had gotten even worse. Without being told, Ken knew too well that he had to put his affairs in order just in case the inevitable happened a little sooner than expected. And that was what prompted him to start looking for an heir.
“You’re still here, dirty old man? Get lost at once, or I’ll deal with you!” one of the guards ordered as he opened the gate and saw Ken still sitting there. The guard’s harsh words brought Ken back to reality. He quickly stood up and walked away. Ken felt miserable, fearing that his mission might fail woefully, as he had already visited two of his restaurants and received the same harsh treatment. His last restaurant, where he was headed, was his only hope. Those were Ken’s thoughts when he arrived at his third restaurant.
At the gate, Ken met one of the young black guards, Josh. The guard refused him entry, though he politely told Ken that the manager had severely warned him not to allow homeless people into the restaurant again or he would get fired. Ken pleaded with Josh to allow him in, but all to no avail. But just as he turned to leave, Josh whispered, “
Wait.” Ken turned around to face the guard, who told him that he would only allow him into the restaurant on one condition. Ken worriedly asked Josh what the condition was. The guard explained that if the manager happened to catch him inside the restaurant and asked who allowed him in, he should lie and say that he met no one at the gate. Ken agreed, profusely thanked Josh, and briskly walked inside the restaurant.
Once inside the posh restaurant, Ken made it to a table and sat down, staring around the whole place like someone lost. All the waiters and waitresses simply ignored Ken like the plague. At long last, it was only one young waitress, Juliet, who walked to Ken’s table and warmly greeted him. Ken was about to respond to the girl’s greetings when he heard a loud bark.
“Stop right away, Juliet! What do you think you’re doing?” Juliet shivered with shock, then immediately turned around and froze in horror as she saw the manager, Tony, hurrying to the table. Once he got to Ken’s table, Tony angrily stared at Juliet and back at Ken for a long while. Tony started scolding Juliet for wanting to serve a dirty homeless man in the first place.
He bluntly asked the waitress how she even thought that the old dirty man had a dime on him. Tony then told Juliet just to wait and see what he meant. Tony turned to the frightened-looking Ken and ordered him to stand up. Ken immediately stood up. Tony then got closer to Ken and rudely started pulling out his trouser pockets while screaming at him, “Where’s your money? Where’s your dirty money?” Ken remained silent.
Tony turned towards Juliet and angrily told her just to take a look at the man she wanted to serve. Trembling, Juliet apologized to Tony. He accepted the apology but warned her that the next time she would try such rubbish would be her very last day at the restaurant. Tony then ordered her to run off and go attend to other human diners and not poor things like this old man. Juliet thanked the manager before she hurried away from the scene.
After Juliet’s departure, Tony fully turned his wrath on Ken. He roughly pulled him by his shaggy hair and dragged him out of the restaurant. Outside the restaurant, Tony dragged Ken to the gates and barked at Josh to come over. The guard ran there, looking surprised. Josh asked Ken how he had gotten into the restaurant like he was just seeing him for the first time. Tony was startled. He told Josh that he thought he was the one who let Ken into the restaurant.
Josh answered, “No sir.” He appeared to think for a few seconds before suddenly telling Tony that Ken must have slipped into the restaurant while he was using the restroom. At that moment, Ken nervously added that he hadn’t met anyone at the gate when he arrived. Tony looked convinced and turned to Josh, warning him to always lock the gate whenever he needed to use the restroom. Josh apologized to Tony and assured him that he would remember his warning. Finally, Tony directed Josh to throw Ken outside the gate before he turned away and briskly walked back into the restaurant.
As Tony walked into the restaurant, Josh turned to Ken and said, “I told you so, didn’t I?” Ken only nodded his head in agreement. Josh then politely told Ken to leave the restaurant. Ken thanked Josh, turned around, and started walking away from the gate.
“Wait, old man. I might have a little something for you,” Josh shouted after him. Ken turned in surprise and slowly walked back to the gate just in time to catch a glimpse of Josh rushing inside the small security post behind the gate. The guard soon came out from the security post and handed Ken a big package of take-home meals and a can of orange juice. Ken looked dazed as he collected the package from Josh, who told him that the package was all he could afford to offer him. Josh explained to Ken that he reminded him of his late poor father. Ken profusely thanked him and slowly walked away with the package in his hand. Josh stood there waving at him, and Ken waved back.
It was already late evening when Ken finally got back to his posh mansion. What a day he had had. The following morning, Ken was right back at the third restaurant he had visited the previous day, but this time around he wasn’t dressed in tattered, dirty clothes. Ken was well-groomed and immaculately dressed in an expensive black three-piece suit. He also didn’t come alone. Ken arrived in an expensive SUV driven by his chauffeur and in the company of his young personal lawyer, Aiden. Josh opened the gate as Ken’s car pulled into the restaurant.
The chauffeur parked the car and rushed over to open the back door for Ken and Aiden. Ken then majestically walked into the restaurant, with Aiden closely following behind him. There were no diners as the restaurant had not yet opened for lunch. Aiden told one of the waiters to get the manager at once. A few seconds later, Tony was seen hurrying over to meet Ken and Aiden. Ken’s lawyer introduced them as the owner of the restaurant to Tony.
The manager was amazed. Tony knew Aiden well enough, but he had never met the owner of the restaurant. He suddenly started doing a small bow before Ken while repeatedly saying, “Welcome, sir,” with a wide smile like a programmed robot. Ken warmly returned Tony’s greetings. He then asked him to gather all the staff in the meeting room for a surprise he had for them. Tony nodded to every word that Ken said, and once he was done speaking, he rushed off to do his bidding.
Merely five minutes later, all the staff were gathered in the meeting room, waiting for Ken. Tony even ordered Josh to lock the gate, place a “Closed” sign at the gate, and hurry to the meeting room at once, just as Ken had demanded. As soon as Ken and Aiden stepped foot into the meeting room, all the staff rose at once and greeted them in unison, just as Tony had directed them to. Ken returned their greetings, then he politely excused himself and went back to his car.
When Ken stepped foot into the meeting room again barely seven minutes later, his immaculate white suit was gone, and in its place was the tattered, dirty garment he had worn to disguise himself as the homeless man the previous evening. Everyone in the meeting room was shocked beyond belief. Tony almost fainted with shock when he recognized Ken as the homeless man he had maltreated the previous day. As for Josh and Juliet, they both stared at Ken dumbfoundedly with a sly smile.
Ken cleared his throat and began his explanations. He simply told all the gathered staff that his disguise the previous evening was all a big test to determine who was worthy to become his heir. Tony was already on his knees and profusely apologizing to Ken even before he finished speaking, but Ken completely ignored him like he wasn’t there. Then, with the sweetest smile he could muster, Ken fixed his gaze on Josh and asked him to come forward. He also told Juliet to come forward.
The young, bewildered guard stood up and slowly made his way towards Ken. When Josh got close enough to him, Ken firmly gripped his arm, raised it, and declared, “This young man, who showed me kindness yesterday, is my heir henceforth.” Aiden took Josh’s hands and with a smile, he presented him with all the legal documents to Ken’s restaurants, houses, and his whole estate right in front of the whole staff. Josh couldn’t believe it. He felt like he was dreaming. From a lowly paid guard to a millionaire’s heir in the twinkle of an eye, Josh couldn’t help but burst into tears of joy at once. Ken hugged Josh tightly and consoled him while urging him to always be kind to others, no matter what.
But Ken wasn’t done yet. He bluntly announced that he was firing Tony as the restaurant’s manager and that Juliet would take over as the new manager with immediate effect. Juliet was overwhelmed with joy. She kept on thanking Ken, who hugged her too. Ken directed one waiter to temporarily take over Josh’s role at the gate until another guard was hired. He then abruptly ended the meeting and instructed all the workers to return to work.
Afterward, Ken left with Josh and Aiden, leaving Tony still kneeling there, sobbing profusely. Ken planned to take Josh to his other two restaurants and introduce him to all his staff as his new heir. He also planned to fire his two other managers, both of whom had maltreated him the previous day, just like he had already done to Tony.
