American accent
Ben was twenty-six and always tired.
During the day, he worked in a supermarket. In the evening, he delivered meals to people on his bicycle to make extra money. At the end of every month, he still did not have enough money.
One wet Tuesday, Ben found a wallet on the bus.
It was black and full of money.
Ben looked around. Nobody was looking for it.
He opened the wallet slowly. There was no name inside. No photo. Only money.
A lot of money.
For a moment, Ben thought about keeping it. He needed money badly. His rent was late, and his bicycle was old.
But in the end, he gave the wallet to the bus driver.
“I found this,” he said.
The driver looked surprised. “Most people would keep it.”
Ben smiled a little. “Maybe.”
The next day, Ben got a phone call at work.
“Hello, is this Ben Carter?” a man asked.
“Yes.”
“My name is Adrian Vale. I think you found my wallet yesterday.”
Ben felt happy. “Oh, yes. I gave it to the bus company.”
“I know,” the man said. “Thank you. You are an honest person.”
That evening, Adrian asked Ben to meet him for dinner.
Ben almost said no. He did not like expensive places. But he wanted to know more about the man.
The restaurant was beautiful. Ben felt strange in his cheap clothes.
Adrian was older, maybe fifty years old. He wore simple clothes, but he looked rich.
“You work too much,” Adrian said during dinner.
Ben laughed quietly. “I don’t have a choice.”
At the end of the meal, Adrian gave Ben an envelope.
Inside was €2,000.
Ben looked at the money. “I can’t take this.”
“Yes, you can,” Adrian said. “It is a gift to say thank-you.”
Still, Ben took it.
After that night, strange things started to happen.
A new phone arrived at Ben’s apartment. Then Adrian called again.
“I need a small favour,” he said. “Very easy work.”
The job sounded simple. Ben only had to take a small package from one place in the city to another place.
“No questions,” Adrian said.
After the job, Adrian paid him €1,000.
Soon there were more jobs. Small packages. Short trips. Easy money.
Ben stopped his evening delivery work. A few weeks later, he left the supermarket too.
For the first time in his life, he felt calm.
One evening, Adrian called again.
“This job is important,” he said.
Ben picked up a package from a man outside a train station.
“Take this to Room 312 at the Central Hotel,” the man said quietly.
Ben went to the hotel and knocked on the door.
Nobody answered.
The door was a little open.
Ben pushed it slowly.
Inside the room, a man sat on a chair with blood on his face. Another man stood next to him.
Ben dropped the package and ran.
The next morning, Ben went to Adrian’s office.
“I quit,” Ben said.
Adrian opened an envelope on his desk.
Inside were photos of Ben carrying packages and meeting strange people.
“If the police see these,” Adrian said quietly, “they may think you worked with us.”
Ben felt very afraid.
Then he understood the truth.
Adrian did not choose him because he was kind.
He chose him because honest people are easy to fool.
That evening, Ben went to the police station.
He told them everything.
Two days later, Adrian Vale was arrested.
Ben lost the easy money and the expensive things he bought.
But now he could sleep without fear.
And he learned something important:
If something looks too good to be true, it usually is.
📒 Key vocabulary
- wallet — a small thing people use to carry money and cards
- rent — money you pay to live in a house or apartment
- envelope — a paper cover for a letter or money
- favourBrE, favorAmE — something kind that you do to help someone
- package — a box or parcel with something inside
- trips — journeys from one place to another
- calm — relaxed and not worried
- blood — the red liquid inside the body
- fool (fool, fooled, fooled) — to make someone believe something that isn’t true
- arrested (arrest, arrested, arrested) — to be taken by the police because of a crime
🤔 Comprehension quiz
How much of this story did you understand? Test yourself with this easyEnglish quiz!
Leave a Reply