The Greedy Frog
patreon
Marvel: Chapter 24
🕑 Added 2023-03-24 06:51:51 +0000 UTCChapter 24: Hanley Industries (1/2)
[4 months later]
"Are you alright?" Joel asked.
"Yeah, I am… But I am worried about my mother. Will she be alright?" Joel chuckled at my question.
"Don't worry. She is a strong woman, she will be just fine… And in all honesty, you should worry about yourself." He throws a paper towards me. "Read." He said with a smile.
'The world-famous author, scientist and philanthropist Marcellus Hanley announced the opening of his own corporation on July 28, 1947.'
"Apparently many of your fans are going crazy over this information." He said.
"Well, I did donate a lot of money... for multiple charities after the war… So that helped me increase my reputation by a lot." This caused Joel to sigh.
"Indeed, the war destroyed a lot of lives… and you going out of your way to help them… made you look like a messiah in their eyes."
True… The losses suffered by the people were uncountable. So this helped to improve their views and also increase my reputation.
"It is estimated that the number of people that will be coming to see you… will be enough to fill up an entire city." This made me chuckle.
"That's over-exaggerated." He nodded.
"It is, but reporters love to exaggerate. What I mean is… be careful of what you say. A single wrong wording may backfire."
"True. That's why I went through my speech for god knows how many times." I stood up. "Anyways, I am going out for fresh air."
He nodded.
…
…
[[Marcellus]]
"Are you nervous?" Howard asked as he took a sip from his hip flask.
"Not really. I am more concerned about S.H.I.E.L.D." Howard nodded at my answer.
"Don't worry, we will think about that later. But for now… you should prepare your speech." His concerns were unnecessary as I had already prepared my speech.
As a matter of fact… I even made the speech for my mother.
…
…
[Later]
The crowd was going crazy. Marcellus Hanley was a name that was known throughout the country.
The man who donated massive amounts of money for the poor after the war. To most rich people he was just another self-proclaimed 'good guy' but to the poor… He was no less than their Messiah.
He was an author, a scientist, a businessman, and above all a philanthropist… or at least that's what the general audience viewed him as.
But unknown to them, Marcellus was doing this only for his sake… and not for anyone else. His every move was calculated and he executed them with precision.
"Mommy mommy, why are we here?" A girl, barely five years of age asked her mother.
"We are here to see, Mr. Marcellus, sweetie." She said, ruffling the little girl's hair.
She had lost her husband during the war and if not for the funds provided by Marcellus…
Her blood ran cold thinking of the things that she would have needed to do for money.
"Why are we here to see Mr. Marcellus, mommy?" Her daughter's question made the mother put on a kind smile.
"He is someone that helped us, dear." She looked at the poster of Marcellus. "He… is our savior."
"He is a savior for a lot of us, sweetie." The woman turned around to find an old lady coming towards them. "He helped a lot of us."
"it's difficult to find such a kind soul in the present era." An old man followed behind her.
"When we lost our house, he was the one that provided us with shelter." A middle-aged man spoke from the right.
"He also helped our orphanage." A little boy said.
The woman smiled and looked at her daughter. "You see sweetie? He is a hero."
The little girl looked at the poster before mumbling. "A hero."
…
…
[[Marcellus]]
"The crowd is massive." I was quite surprised looking at the literal flood of humans surrounding the stage.
"That's only a fraction of the total amount." Joel shook his head. "Most of the people were sent back as there was no place for them to stand. Even then many begged to just take a look at you."
Maybe I underestimated my popularity. "Damn."
"Yes damn, because if you screw up your speech… you will make the biggest fool out of yourself." He sighed. "And remember, you are now a celebrity."
I nodded and looked towards the stage. "Thank you for the vote of confidence. *Sigh* Hope that she does fine."
"She will be just fine." Joel assured me from behind.
He is the best friend that I couldn't even hope to have in my past life… but now, I cannot imagine a world without my mother and Joel.
The former gave birth to me and the other helped me during my difficult time.
My mother… and my brother.
…
…
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… The CEO of the Hanley Clothing Line, Mrs. Sylvie Hanley!!!" At the announcement made by the announcer, the entire place exploded in cheers and applauds.
After a little while, Sylvie took the stage. If she said that she wasn't nervous… it would be a big fat lie. But she knew far better than anyone else that she cannot screw up now… not after her son worked days and nights to make this dream come true.
Her son made this possible… her and 'his' son.
Thinking about 'him'... A smile appeared on Sylvie's face. 'After all, Marcellus is his son.' She thought.
[10 minutes later]
"Everyone, thank you for being here today. If someone would have told me that I would be standing here… in front of you all, I would have laughed at him and called that person delusional. But today-" She turned around to look at Marcellus's poster. "Thanks to my son, this dream of mine was made possible. The dream of mine to let you all wear the clothes that I designed."
The crowd continued cheering.
Opening a clothing store shouldn't entice this many people… but because of two things, they were excited about the opening of this clothing line.
Firstly… This clothing line was a part of the Hanley Group of Industries and secondly…
Despite being a designer brand… the prices were cheap, extremely so. They only charged the minimum amount that was used in manufacturing.
And for the poor… even the already low prices were reduced. So the people went wild for them.
"In the past, I had to work for 15-16 hours a day just to make ends meet… but thanks to my sweet boy… I don't need to go through that again." She remained silent for a little while.
"I remember 12 years ago… when my son was 12 years old. It was Christmas and we didn't have enough money to buy any new clothing. Few of his friends bought expensive clothes but even after seeing them in those clothes... he didn't say anything to me." She let out a sad sigh.
"But as a mother… I knew that he envied those kids… it pained my heart to see my son wearing years old clothes while all the other kids wore new and expensive ones for Christmas." At this point, she was in tears.
There was pin-drop silence. The crowd listened to every single word that she spoke carefully. Not missing even a single word.
"I don't want to see any other mother having to see that look on their child's face. So, when my son asked me about opening a clothing line… my first thought was to set the price at such a low rate… that even the poorest of the poor could afford it." A smile bloomed on her face. "So for this Christmas and new year, everyone living below the poverty line will get a new pair of clothing for free and above those will get a heavy discount for each item they buy."
The audience went wild at the revelation and their cheers were deafening.
She let out a heavy breath. "Everyone… I wish you a Merry Christmas."
The entire stadium was filled with the echoes of applauding.
______________________________________________________
