“Get on your knees and kiss my boots!” Reeves commanded.
Everyone was watching the scene in silence, all eyes fixed on Barry. Barry plastered his hand on his face, his eyes misty. He had just been slapped across the face from Reeves Nightingale, first son of the Nightingale clan. It was Laura's birthday party and the entire North Hills had turned up to celebrate with her. Among the guests were eligible wealthy bachelors who clamoured around Laura, hoping to be the lucky guy she might consider to marry. Reeves was more aggressive than the rest of the other bachelors. He followed Laura everywhere like a dog, bothering her with his loud, boring stories. Barry couldn't take it anymore and interjected when he shouldn't have. “You're bothering my wife, Reeves, give it a rest already,” Barry said, standing between Reeves and Laura. That was when Reeves slapped him. “How dare you speak to me like we're equals?” Reeves snapped at him. “You're nothing but a cheap loser who got lucky to be close to Laura. Know your place, you piece of trash.” Barry felt the sting of the slap burning on his face. He clenched his jaw. “I was only trying to—” “I know what you're trying to do,” Reeves raised his voice. “You're acting like the jealous husband. Don't get your foolish head stuck in the clouds. The only person you're fooling is yourself.” Before Barry could respond, Reeves pointed at his leather boots. “You've offended me tonight. I was having a wonderful evening until you barged in. Get on your knees and kiss my boots!” Reeves commanded. In North Hills, a kiss to the feet is a humiliation punishment to an offender. It was popularly called the kiss of shame. Barry glanced at Laura, hoping she would come to his aid, but she looked away, her arms crossed, and her lips pressed into a thin line. Barry's heart sank. His marriage to Laura was a loveless, non-consummated marriage. Laura's grandmother, Evelyn Raven who had always been fond of Barry had arranged their marriage. Evelyn Raven saw the good in Barry and decided he would be the best husband for Laura. The trouble was, Laura hated Barry. He was a typical nobody. Barry worked for the Raven family as a servant. He gets paid $200 every month for doing house chores and errands. That's not the kind of man that Laura found attractive, but because she respects her grandmother, she went along with her wish. “Barry, you fool,” Laura's voice rang out. “Who asked you to get involved? Do you have any idea what you've done? You've embarrassed me and the Raven family in front of everyone here.” Barry’s voice croaked. “But I was only trying to help. He was troubling you—” “Nobody asked you,” she barked at him. “Sheesh, take a hike, would you? Quit being nosy. It's none of your business if he's troubling me or not. Go wash the plates in the kitchen or something.” The humiliation seeped deep in every pore of Barry's body. He hung his head and apologized. “I'm sorry, my beloved. I didn't mean to cause you any troubles.” Laura groaned and brushed past him. “I told you repeatedly, don't call me your beloved. It's cringy and makes my skin crawl.” As she left the scene, Jonathan, Barry's father-in-law and head of the Raven family, stepped in. “Reeves,” Jonathan placed a hand on his shoulder, a tight smile spread across his face. “I saw what happened. Pay no attention to that useless son-in-law of mine. I'll fix him.” Reeves sneered at him. “I will not be satisfied until that loser kisses my boot.” Just like his daughter, Jonathan didn't like Reeves either. Reeves was an annoying asshole who grates on everyone's nerves. Regardless of that fact, the Nightingale clan was one of the powerful families in North Hills, with a potent influence in politics. Moreover, Reeves is the future head of the Nightingale family. Jonathan would not let Reeves leave his daughter's birthday party in a foul mood. It could jeopardize any favour and alliances they might need from the Nightingale clan in the future. “Certainly, leave this to me,” Jonathan assured Reeves then he walked up to Barry. Without warning, Jonathan slapped Barry across the face. The slap sounded like a gun fire, sending chills down everyone's spine. “If you know what's good for you, Kneel,” Jonathan asked, his eyes squinting dangerously. “Kiss Reeves boots and make him happy, or else I'll crucify you.” Barry's eyes were shaking. This is the second time he has been slapped, and by his father-in-law. Laura stared at him from across the hall. Her face was a mask of indifference. Finally, Barry dropped to his knees. He crawled forward and pressed his lips to Reeves polished boots. The room buzzed with whispers and laughter. “I can't believe he's actually kissing his boot. Oh, I must record this for my I*******m.” “Ugh, I'm disgusted. How can a loser like that be Laura's husband? He's more like a family pet.” “I heard he earns $200, slaving for the Raven family. Even $200 can't feed my dog for breakfast.” “What a pathetic fool. Laura should divorce him. She deserves better. Such a disgrace.” Laura couldn't stare at Barry's humiliation. She turned around and left the hall. Barry kept his head down. His nails dug into his palms and his teeth gnashed bitterly. The kiss of shame had sealed his reputation as the useless trashy Son-in-law of the Raven household. Reeves smirked, enjoying the laughter at Barry's humiliation. He looked down at Barry as if he were a bug, he could squash under his expensive boots. After Barry was done, Reeves turned to Jonathan and clapped him on the shoulder. “I feel better now. You handled this bastard just right.” Jonathan returned a grin. “Of course. I wouldn't want to ruin the relationship between our families.” “It would make more sense if you give me your daughter's hand,” Reeves smiled knowingly. “I could make an amazing son-in-law, better than this piece of crap.” Jonathan sighed. “Unfortunately, we are stuck with him. But I'm sure when the time is right, Laura would make her decision.” “I'll be patient,” Reeves licked his thick lips. “Laura would be mine soon. I won't give up on her.” Jonathan turned sharply to Barry. “Get out of here. Go help in the kitchen.” Barry gathered whatever dignity was left of him and shuffled towards the kitchen.North Hills was a thriving metropolitan city which uses the ranking system in its social status and hierarchy identity. There were six ranks, A rank to E ranks, with E rank being the lowest rank. E ranks were individuals who had little to no money. They're poor and ridiculed by society. Barry was an E rank. He was born to an abusive father and a sick mother. After his mother died from her illness, he took his kid sister, Snow, and ran away. Homeless, Barry did what he could to provide for himself and his kid sister. During one of his odd jobs, he ran into Evelyn Raven. Her purse had fallen down on the walkway. It contained $10,000 in cash, an ATM card, and some previous jewelry. When Barry returned her purse, Evelyn was smitten by his transparency and decided to take him in. She gave him a job in the Raven household, rented a small apartment to shelter him and snow. Then she enrolled them in school. Evelyn's kindness is the only reason Barry could endure the insults and abu
Evelyn Raven's funeral was a big event as she was a well respected and loved woman in North Hills. High-profile individuals and even the first lady of the country graced her funeral. After Evelyn Raven was laid to rest, the Raven family gathered the next day for a brief hearing of her will. Evelyn Raven founded Raven enterprises, a global e-commerce company. It's the third-largest e-commerce company in the world with a net worth of $400 million. Evelyn Raven has two sons, Jonathan Raven and Francis Raven. Jonathan and Ingrid had three offspring: Curtis Raven, Laura Raven and Betty Raven. Francis, with his wife Helga Raven had two offspring, Gregory Raven and Jasmin Raven. Mr. Woods, Evelyn's trusted lawyer, adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. Jonathan Raven, being the first son, was appointed chairman and CEO of the company, controlling 35% stake in the company. Everyone nodded in approval as Jonathan had dedicated decades to Raven enterprises.The family estate was
Barry froze as he stared at the papers in her hand. "Laura, what is the meaning of this?" He whispered. "You can't divorce me.""Whatever gave you the stupid idea that I couldn't divorce you?" She laughed. "Everybody knows our marriage is a sham. I only pretended to be your wife for my grandmother's sake, but now that she's gone, I don't need to pretend anymore."Barry felt hot and cold at the same time. "But Laura.... I-I love you. I've always loved you since the day I set eyes on you. Please give me a chance. I made a promise to Evelyn.""Screw you and your love," Laura spat, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Don't tell me you love me. It makes my skin crawl. I hate you. I've always hated you since the day you walked into this family."Barry's heart broke in half after hearing her words. He wanted to say something but no word got out. Laura turned to face her family, waving the divorce papers in her hand. "Now that I'm divorcing this useless husband of mine, I'm entitled to 80% of w
Barry lived in a two-bedroom apartment situated in the district zone. The district zone contains individuals with D ranks. People in D ranks were regular folks, earning average salaries and holding common positions. They're literally average Joes. But Barry, who was an E Rank, had no hopes of paying the rent nor enrolling his sister in school all by himself. As Barry headed home, his head was spinning with the additional responsibilities on his hands. With his benefactor, dead, there was no one to support him anymore. The Raven family would only pay him $200 if he continued to slave for them. But $200 was barely enough to feed himself, pay the rent or see his younger sister through school. Standing outside his apartment, Barry took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The door opened to reveal a cute sixteen-year-old high school girl wearing shorts and a sweater. “I'm home, Snow,” Barry said, forcing a wide smile on his face. “Here, I bought us dinner.”He stretched ou
The first cock crow woke Barry up. He groggily lifted his head, blinking against the light coming from his laptop. Barry was startled his laptop was still on. The time was 5.am. Expecting to see a modest gain or a loss, Barry peered into the laptop screen. “Let's look at how much I've earned today.”Suddenly, Barry froze as he saw his account balance. $375 TRILLION!Barry staggered back away from the laptop as if it had suddenly turned into a cobra. He backed himself against the wall, his heart pounding wildly against his ribs, but not for once, did his eyes left the numbers on the screen:$375 trillion. “I don't believe it,” he muttered, his breathing laboured. “This is a dream. It has to be a dream.”Barry pinched his arm, hard and twice. The pain he got told him he was wide awake, and this wasn't some dream. He slowly approached the laptop, his legs wobbling. When he was close enough, he peered at his account. The balance ticked up again:$375,010,420,000,000.00Barry gas
Veronica Phoenix took her private jet from headquarters and flew to North Hills as soon as she received Jeremy's message. When her private jet finally landed in North Hills airport, she rushed over to the Phoenix Bank. A staff was waiting to welcome her. They all inclined their back at angle 90 to greet her as she walked past them. When she was ushered into Jeremy's office, she was surprised to find a shabbily dressed young man seated opposite Jeremy. “What's this about, Jeremy?” She demanded, oozing an aura of confidence that overpowered the room. Jeremy stood up, bowing respectfully before her. “Miss Veronica. Allow me to introduce you to Barry. Barry, here, came into my office with his Forex account, which he thought was fluctuating. But after examining it… You need to see this for yourself.”Veronica moved to the desk as Jeremy spun the laptop towards her. The balance read: $450.144 Trillion. Veronica stiffened in shock. Are those numbers real?Another second passed, and th
The landlord revealed he sold Snow to the Nightingale family at an underground slave auction. He revealed Reeves Nightingale ran the transaction, buying Snow in cash. Barry almost went nuts as the thought of Reeves claiming ownership of his sister's life filled him with cold dread. “You cold-hearted bastard,” Barry bawled at Barnes' face. “How could you do this to me behind my back? You didn't have to sell my sister just because we owe you rent.”Barnes was scared of the viciousness in Barry's eyes that he lost most of his colour. “I-It's not my fault,” Barnes retorted nervously. “A member of the Nightingale family needed a heart transplant. They took your sister to the Central hospital, and she was a perfect match. I couldn't resist the price Reeves offered me.”Barry smacked a blow to the side of Barnes' face, dislocating his jaw. “You're evil,” Barry said breathlessly, his voice laced with malice. “When I get back, I promise you, I'll have this apartment torn to the ground. Ma
“You rotten piece of trash,” Reeves roared, slamming his fist on the desk. “How dare you ignore us and make such an outrageous demand? I'll have you skinned alive.”Before Reeves could make a move at Barry, Kane Nightingale stood up and raised a hand, stopping him immediately. He gazed at Barry with growing interest. “Don't push it, Reeves. Barry, you've piqued my interest. Do you really think you can buy this hospital which is owned by the government?”Barry looked straight into his eyes. “I will. Once I acquire it, the surgery won't happen.”Kane threw his head back and laughed as loud as he can. “This is just remarkable. You? Buy Central hospital? You're the same broke bastard who couldn't pay rent without the assistance of a dead woman.”Barry gritted his teeth. “Don't make mockery of Madam Evelyn.”Kane's smile widened into a smirk. “This is really entertaining to say the least. I'll humour you, Barry. Here's a deal. If you acquire this hospital this very night and prevent the s
Barnes heart skipped a beat when his wife delivered the bad news. “What do you mean they destroyed our house?” Barnes asked, grabbing her shoulder and giving her a little shake. His wife snapped angrily at him. “Are you deaf? Our home was demolished five minutes after you left. They said they were given orders and permission to demolish all our properties. As at this moment, they're currently demolishing our shopping complex. Do something, Barnes. They'd ruin us all.”Barnes eyes widened in shock. He glanced at Barry and saw the seriousness in his eyes. That was when he realized Barry wasn't fooling around. “Barry, what have you done?” Barry wore back his dark glasses. “I kept my promise to you, landlord. You never should have sold my sister in the first place. This is your punishment for your wickedness.”Barnes owned the block of apartments which his twenty tenants lived in. He also owned a small shopping complex and a private house. If what his wife was telling him was true,
“Take it easy, that's painful,” Barnes groaned as his wife tended to his busted jaws. His wife hissed as she removed the ice bag from his jaw. “How could you let your tenant hit you that hard? And Barry for that matter.”“I didn't expect such a reaction from the kid,” Barnes barked, feeling humiliated at being punched by his tenant. “I can't believe you'll let that bastard get away with it,” his wife ranted. “You're a disgrace if you allow Barry to walk freely around without fixing him.”Barnes knew his wife would talk about this for weeks. She would definitely gossip to her friends and her friends would in turn tell their husbands.Soon, word would circulate and Barnes would end up becoming a laughingstock. His other tenants won't respect nor fear him. If Barry, a nobody could punch him and get away with it, the other tenants could feel the need to do the same when Barnes demands for his rent money. No, he can't allow that. No matter what, he must find Barry and make an example
Barry didn't want to reveal the entire truth. “I made a call to someone I knew.”He made it sounded so simple. As if he just pressed a few buttons. “Bullshit!” Kane Nightingale bawled angrily at him. “There's no way you could have pulled that off. Not only was the hospital bought out, but the government also forbade us from proceeding with the surgery. How did you pull it off?”Barry dug his hands in his pockets and gazed down at Kane. “What's this? I thought we had a deal? If I'm able to prevent the surgery, my sister leaves. That was the deal, or are you backing out on your words?”“You bastard!” Reeves yelled at Barry. “You had better start talking, or I'll rip you apart right here.”Barry frowned. “You can't do anything to me, Reeves. We had a deal and that's that. I won't disclose how I pull it off. I owe no one any explanation.” Barry approached the doctor in charge of the surgery and placed both hands on the desk. “About my sister, doctor. Where is she?”The doctor cleared hi
“You rotten piece of trash,” Reeves roared, slamming his fist on the desk. “How dare you ignore us and make such an outrageous demand? I'll have you skinned alive.”Before Reeves could make a move at Barry, Kane Nightingale stood up and raised a hand, stopping him immediately. He gazed at Barry with growing interest. “Don't push it, Reeves. Barry, you've piqued my interest. Do you really think you can buy this hospital which is owned by the government?”Barry looked straight into his eyes. “I will. Once I acquire it, the surgery won't happen.”Kane threw his head back and laughed as loud as he can. “This is just remarkable. You? Buy Central hospital? You're the same broke bastard who couldn't pay rent without the assistance of a dead woman.”Barry gritted his teeth. “Don't make mockery of Madam Evelyn.”Kane's smile widened into a smirk. “This is really entertaining to say the least. I'll humour you, Barry. Here's a deal. If you acquire this hospital this very night and prevent the s
The landlord revealed he sold Snow to the Nightingale family at an underground slave auction. He revealed Reeves Nightingale ran the transaction, buying Snow in cash. Barry almost went nuts as the thought of Reeves claiming ownership of his sister's life filled him with cold dread. “You cold-hearted bastard,” Barry bawled at Barnes' face. “How could you do this to me behind my back? You didn't have to sell my sister just because we owe you rent.”Barnes was scared of the viciousness in Barry's eyes that he lost most of his colour. “I-It's not my fault,” Barnes retorted nervously. “A member of the Nightingale family needed a heart transplant. They took your sister to the Central hospital, and she was a perfect match. I couldn't resist the price Reeves offered me.”Barry smacked a blow to the side of Barnes' face, dislocating his jaw. “You're evil,” Barry said breathlessly, his voice laced with malice. “When I get back, I promise you, I'll have this apartment torn to the ground. Ma
Veronica Phoenix took her private jet from headquarters and flew to North Hills as soon as she received Jeremy's message. When her private jet finally landed in North Hills airport, she rushed over to the Phoenix Bank. A staff was waiting to welcome her. They all inclined their back at angle 90 to greet her as she walked past them. When she was ushered into Jeremy's office, she was surprised to find a shabbily dressed young man seated opposite Jeremy. “What's this about, Jeremy?” She demanded, oozing an aura of confidence that overpowered the room. Jeremy stood up, bowing respectfully before her. “Miss Veronica. Allow me to introduce you to Barry. Barry, here, came into my office with his Forex account, which he thought was fluctuating. But after examining it… You need to see this for yourself.”Veronica moved to the desk as Jeremy spun the laptop towards her. The balance read: $450.144 Trillion. Veronica stiffened in shock. Are those numbers real?Another second passed, and th
The first cock crow woke Barry up. He groggily lifted his head, blinking against the light coming from his laptop. Barry was startled his laptop was still on. The time was 5.am. Expecting to see a modest gain or a loss, Barry peered into the laptop screen. “Let's look at how much I've earned today.”Suddenly, Barry froze as he saw his account balance. $375 TRILLION!Barry staggered back away from the laptop as if it had suddenly turned into a cobra. He backed himself against the wall, his heart pounding wildly against his ribs, but not for once, did his eyes left the numbers on the screen:$375 trillion. “I don't believe it,” he muttered, his breathing laboured. “This is a dream. It has to be a dream.”Barry pinched his arm, hard and twice. The pain he got told him he was wide awake, and this wasn't some dream. He slowly approached the laptop, his legs wobbling. When he was close enough, he peered at his account. The balance ticked up again:$375,010,420,000,000.00Barry gas
Barry lived in a two-bedroom apartment situated in the district zone. The district zone contains individuals with D ranks. People in D ranks were regular folks, earning average salaries and holding common positions. They're literally average Joes. But Barry, who was an E Rank, had no hopes of paying the rent nor enrolling his sister in school all by himself. As Barry headed home, his head was spinning with the additional responsibilities on his hands. With his benefactor, dead, there was no one to support him anymore. The Raven family would only pay him $200 if he continued to slave for them. But $200 was barely enough to feed himself, pay the rent or see his younger sister through school. Standing outside his apartment, Barry took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The door opened to reveal a cute sixteen-year-old high school girl wearing shorts and a sweater. “I'm home, Snow,” Barry said, forcing a wide smile on his face. “Here, I bought us dinner.”He stretched ou
Barry froze as he stared at the papers in her hand. "Laura, what is the meaning of this?" He whispered. "You can't divorce me.""Whatever gave you the stupid idea that I couldn't divorce you?" She laughed. "Everybody knows our marriage is a sham. I only pretended to be your wife for my grandmother's sake, but now that she's gone, I don't need to pretend anymore."Barry felt hot and cold at the same time. "But Laura.... I-I love you. I've always loved you since the day I set eyes on you. Please give me a chance. I made a promise to Evelyn.""Screw you and your love," Laura spat, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Don't tell me you love me. It makes my skin crawl. I hate you. I've always hated you since the day you walked into this family."Barry's heart broke in half after hearing her words. He wanted to say something but no word got out. Laura turned to face her family, waving the divorce papers in her hand. "Now that I'm divorcing this useless husband of mine, I'm entitled to 80% of w