Chapter 14: The Call from Athena

After pacing around for a while, Frank finally gathered the courage to call his mum. “Franklin?” she asked, half-worried, half-relieved. “Is everything alright?”

He smiled. That tone—her voice always had the power to ground him. She was quiet, listening.

“Yeah, Mummy. I’m fine,” he said gently. “Actually... I wanted to tell you something.”

He told her he had come into some money—nothing too crazy, just one of the investments he had quietly made had finally yielded results.

He told her it was the solar panel business—something he had put a little money into ages ago. He said one of the managers finally got an investor, and it took off. Now, the returns were coming in.

“I’ll send you a little from the profits,” he said.

When she saw the amount, she called him back immediately.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Frank! This money... where did you get it from? Are you alright? Are you in trouble?”

Frank laughed softly. “Mummy, it’s legit. It’s from the solar business. One investor put in huge money, and the business just exploded. I promise, it's clean. And this is just part of the profit. There's a lot more where that came from.”

His mum, still skeptical but relieved, said, “Don’t waste it all. Invest wisely. Put your money in different places. Start something for yourself.”

“I will.”

Then she prayed for him.

His mother prayed the way only mothers knew how to pray—layered, firm, speaking to heaven with a mother’s fire. She prayed for protection, for wisdom, for friends that would not lead him astray. She prayed against sudden death and strange women. She blessed his hands, his head, his voice, his future.

Thank you,” he whispered.

She sniffled. “Call me more often.”

“I will.”

He ended the call.

Just as he dropped the call, his phone buzzed again.

Athena.

Frank froze.

He stared at the screen for a long second, then tapped Accept.

“Hello?” he said, voice lower than usual.

There was silence on the other end for a heartbeat.

Then came her voice. Calm. Too calm.

“Frank... we need to talk.”

His heart skipped.

He had dreaded this moment since that night. But he also knew—he needed answers