Adventures of Jake Cullingham

One

Jake walked out of the plane with his suitcase held tightly in his right hand.

He was not here for pleasure but for business.

“Jake Cullingham?” a chauffeur said to him with a large signboard that said his name as the man nodded. “Right this way please.”

“Where is the butler?” He asked the strange driver who shrugged.

“I haven’t seen him, but he should be waiting at the manor, sir.”

That reply was not what he wanted, but he couldn’t do anything to change that.

With a sigh, he followed the man to a black limousine to see his subordinate bowing before him.

“Welcome to Xander, sir. I have been expecting you.”

“So he sends you and does not come himself?”

The subordinate was confused but opened the door for his master to get in before shutting the door and getting into the front seat himself.

Jake had just arrived into the city of Xander for business.

His subordinate, Tom, knew about his arrival and had taken the precautionary measure to make sure everything was ready for his master's arrival.

He had been on strict orders to make sure Jake had everything needed to go about his mission in the city without any hitch.

Within a few minutes, they arrived at the manor as Jake got out of the car to meet his butler who bowed to him.

“Let’s all get inside,” said the heir. “We have serious business to discuss.”

The minute they got into the study, he turned to his butler and his subordinate standing by the door.

“I’m taking revenge for my family,” he blurted. “Everyone who has taken everything from me, from them will pay.”

The butler nodded and stepped forward. “If I may… you should know that revenge is a two way street master Jake. You go against them now, you could lose everything. Is that a sacrifice you are willing to make?”

Jake stared into space for a while. He had just discovered that a family known as the Hendrix family had taken his fathers company and had turned it into theirs.

Why they took it wasn’t important, but how they took it was the main reason for his strong feelings towards vengeance.

His father, Mr Culingham, had taken out a loan from the Hendrix family and promised to pay back. He had placed his multibillion dollar company on the line as collateral and this was a huge investment that the Hendrix family wanted.

They then decided to hold onto it by making sure Cullingham didn’t pay his dues. 

The family sent out spies to destroy certain parts of the company so that he wouldn’t be able to pay his loan on time.

This had Cullingham taking drastic measures to cut off some investments and sell off parts of the company he could sell off. 

When it was time to pay back the Hendrix family and the time had run out, he had no choice but to give off his company and turn away from the city.

This little act had made the man deathly sick for a couple of months.

But while all of this happened, Jake had been seeing them play out before him.

The betrayal, the loss of the company, the destruction and the final relinquishment.

“Master Jake,” the butler brought him back to the present. “I ask again… are you willing to make that sacrifice? Going through this route might not be the best but just know that there is no turning back.”

“With what they’ve done to my family, you expect me to forgive them? I am not my father.”

“Your father knows that going after the Hendrix family would bring nothing but pain.”

“Good thing I’m not my father then. But know this. I will burn that family to the ground. I will make sure they grovel for everything they own. I will make them pay and beg for mercy while I laugh in their faces and make them remember what they did to my family. They want to play dirty? I can do that.”

He rounded the table to sit on his plush leather chair while crossing his leg like a CEO.

“I’ll show them I’m not as laid back as my father.”

“Well, how do you plan to get your revenge?” Asked the butler. “It’s not like you’re going to waltz up into their company and ask for a job.”

“But that is exactly what I’m going to do,” chuckled the heir. “I’m going to waltz up in there and ask for a job.”

He snapped his fingers as Tom got out a document and gave it to him.

He opened it to a page with the picture of a girl in it.

“This is Camilla Hendrix,” noted Jake. “She’s the eldest daughter of her family and right now she’s in need of a bodyguard.”

“Don’t tell me you’ll stoop that low?” The butler sighed.

“Haven’t you heard the phrase if they hit you low you go lower? That is exactly what I’m going to do. Show em how it’s done. It would be an inside job. An easy one and one that would require finesse and skill. I have both. So don’t you worry about me.”

“And how long have you been planning this? This level of commitment would take…”

“…years which I’ve been doing with Tom here so don’t you worry,” he smiled evilly.

The butler dismissed Tom before walking closer to the table to talk to his master.

“Jake. You’re not Batman. You do this and nothing good would come out of it.”

“I don’t need to be Batman before I get revenge for the same people who destroyed everything my father had built. Those people will pay and I’ll make sure they pay with blood. They messed with the wrong Cullingham when they infiltrated the company and played dirty.”

“If you’ll do this, you’ll need a new name and a new identity.”

“I already have that,” the heir smiled. “My name is Micheal Black.”