4 Leaf Clover - ᴹˣᴹˣᴹˣᴹ

37.

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Clover had woken up in his bed on a new day - yesterday, he remembered falling asleep in his shower and awakening at 4 pm, his mother had shoved food through his door and locked him back inside. He sat with his thoughts most of the day and charged the phone Elio had given him. The books sat hidden in his room, he was too scared to have them out for his mother to come inside and rip them away from his hands.

However, when she walked into his room on the new day, he saw she was slightly more dressed up than yesterday. In their household, it was quite customary for everyone to dress in formal attire for various occasions. His mother, a dedicated homemaker, took care of the family while his father managed their thriving business empire, providing ample financial support for the entire family. Yet, today, she looked ready for business and Clover rolled his eyes.

His face was severely discoloured from yesterday's beating - his cousin, in three punches, had managed to split Clover's eyebrow open, although it wasn't a deep laceration, the blood that ran from it was overwhelming. At first, Clover suspected his nose might be broken, but thankfully, it wasn't. Clover's mother didn't even blink at the state of him, she merely just stood in the middle of the room and sighed.

"Get up," She snarked, "You're father's going to teach you about work today,"

Clover didn't argue, he didn't even mutter a word. He stood up on unsteady legs and climbed out of his uncomfortable bed. His wardrobe in the corner of the room was a steady grey and camouflaged into the wall. He pulled out a dress shirt, one of the shirts that had been sitting there in his wardrobe since he ran away, and then partnered it with some black pants. It would be the only satisfactory clothes for the business.

Clover met his father out by the front door, and much like Clover's attire, Martin was modelling a full black and red suit. Even though his father's cufflinks probably cost more than a car, it was not unexpected. Clover didn't know what to anticipate but it wasn't a small wince at the sight of his face. Despite seeing his father's reaction, the older man didn't say a word and departed the house. Clover shadowed behind him, the wind of the day stinging the fresh cuts on his face.

The drive to the building was about 30 minutes away, yet every bump in the road and every abrupt turn reminded Clover that there were bruises on his abdomen too. He could feel the eyes of his father burning into him each time Clover moved to hold his stomach.

"You're not going to be sick right?" The gruffness of his voice set Clover on edge.

"No,"

As they embarked on the journey to the towering building, time seemed to stretch endlessly. Clover felt a sense of relief as he finally stepped out of the car, despite the biting wind stinging his face. The building was the same as any other in the city - a large towering reflective building, made of mirrors and windows. Clover had only been inside once, when he was 15 and he was told he would be running it someday. The building had a majority of offices and large conference rooms on the inside.

The business their family ran was based on housing estates. Clover's father bid on houses, purchased them for cheap, redecorated and renovated them and then marketed them to families. The business dated back perhaps a hundred years in Clover's family and he had heard the story one too many times. Clover's great-grandfather had formed the business in hopes of giving families houses when the stock market had plummeted, he built houses from scratch and sold them for double what they cost.

From then on, he found abandoned houses and retouched them to rehome millions who were displaced by the stock market. Eventually, he retired and his own son carried it on. As time progressed, the Volvics formed a large business around it where they worked closely with the council. If the council found an abandoned home, they would contact the business and pay a fee for remodelling it. The country had a lot of impractical homes that could be salvaged, it cost money but the population spiked after WW2 so Clover's grandfather had one hell of a successful business after the war.