James Stefflon The Gifted Heir

Chapter 02

Welcome to Atlas City"  a soft voice boomed through an implanted mega phone as a multitude of passengers ranging from male to female, all slowly alighted from a plane.

Among the multitude was a young man in his mid twenties clad in a white tank top and joggers. The shirt he wore didn't bother concealing his well chiseled abs and biceps.

"I'm finally home.. after so long" James smiled emotionally as he walked down the stairs of the plane.

Three years.. it's been three years since he last saw such a bustling crowd. Now that he was finally able to witness this scene, tears nearly dropped from his eyes.

Picking up his bag, James slowly walked out from the airport premises. He had not gone very far when a taxi pulled over in front of him.

"Where to?" the windscreen slid down, revealing the earnest expression on the taxi man's face.

"I don't have any cash" James chuckled as he shook his empty wallet.

"Hmpfh" the taxi man merely snorted before driving off, in an attempt to look for legit customers.

"I really am so broke" James shook his head as he continued trekking.

"Apart from this bangle, the only thing of value are my clothes. However I doubt if someone would be even willing to purchase them as second hand goods " James shook his head as he glanced at the multi colored bangle wrapped around his left wrist.

On the day Becca divorced him, he had been so heartbroken that a car had almost run over him. The good Samaritan had then rushed him to the hospital. Upon waking up, he encountered a strange old man who had volunteered to take him as his apprentice if he wished to change his fate as a nobody.

The both of them had then journeyed away from Atlas City, travelling around the world by transversing mountains and large rivers for three years. During that time, James had learnt a lot of things from his mysterious master including martial art techniques and medical skills and knowledge.

However a week ago, his mysterious Master had suddenly given him a plane ticket as well as this mysterious bangle, telling him to return back to Atlas City and use the skills he had learnt to shake the world with his name. As for the use of  strange bangle, his mysterious master had merely said he was to never let it leave his wrist and that in the future, he would understand.

.

.

"What.. What happened here?!" James voice trembled as he stared at the decrypt house before him. The walls of the house had several thick cracks and the lawn surrounding it was overgrown with long weeds that could reach all the way up to a grown man's waist.

However even with these shortcomings, James could still recognize the house as the place where he had lived for most of his childhood. His last memories of this place was a sharp contrast to what he was currently seeing.

With trembling hands, he knocked on the old wooden door.

"Who is there? please wait a bit I am coming" at that third knock, an old voice filled with weariness rang from behind the door.

Creak..

Seeing the one who had opened the door, James lips trembled as his eyes went misty.

"M-Mom!" at that moment he seemed to have forgotten he was a grown man as tears gushed out from his eyes.

Stella Stefflon. From James fondest memories, this was a strong vibrant hustling madam who owned her own restaurant. Although she wasn't rich, she wasn't poor either. However currently she was all skin and bones with protruding cheek bones and sunken eyes.

"Who.. Who are you?" Stella squinted her eyes, finding it difficult to recognize the emotional young man before her.

Wiping off the tears, James beamed as he held her hands which were as thin as a toothpick.

"Mom, it is me James. I have finally returned. Your unfilal child has finally returned" he sniffed.

"James? oh my God! it is really you!" Stella finally recognized James voice, pulling him into her embrace.

The embrace didn't last long as James tactically broke it. He was afraid of mistakenly crushing his mother's bony frame. 

 "Mum, what happened to you? I mean the house, your health.." James asked the one question that was tugging at his mind.

 "Have a seat" Stella sighed helplessly as she led James to sit on one of the three wooden chairs in the house before she began to explain the current situation.

 Apparently in the last three years that he was away from Atlas City, things had not been going well for his mum. The Blue family had suddenly sued her to court. According to them, James had embezzled ten million dollars from the family budget and had escaped. As such, all the responsibility fell on Stella who was James mother and next of kin. Stella was just a nobody in the society and as such, the Blue family won the case.

 With the huge debt hanging over her neck, Stella had to sell her restaurant, however that was only enough to pay a small quarter of the ten million dollars debt. Out of options, she could only sell one of her kidneys, however that was only enough to pay off half. Hearing this, James eyes blazed with fury as he clenched his jaws, trying to suppress the fury he was currently feeling.

 "The Blue Family accused me of stealing ten million dollars?" He smirked, however the disappointment in his eyes was very apparent.

 "Naturally I didn't believe that. However the Blue Family has grown even more powerful in the last three years. They are now one of the city's top families and due to their large influence, I lost the case at court " Stella replied sadly.

 "Those bastards! to think they would end up being so pretty!" James snorted.

 Although he had never stolen ten million dollars from the Blue family, he recalled borrowing one million dollars from them to help his mum start up her restaurant business. However at that time the Blue Family Patriarch had merely waved it off as a betrothal gift for marrying into the family. However even with that, James has been planning on paying the debt back once he had enough money.

 However in just three span of three years, a one million dollar debt escalated all the way to a ten million dollar debt. Not even the cruelest loan sharks had such high interest rates!

 As such, James realized that this was the Blue family's way of making things difficult for him. Looking at his mother's malnourished state and the fact that she was now missing a kidney, James became sorrowful..

 "I am so sorry mum. It was selfish of me to leave the city and allow you to bear this huge burden by yourself alone. However now that I am back, I swear to the heavens that I would never allow you to be bullied by anyone!" James swore solemnly.

 He had been so preoccupied with pleasing Becca that he had forgotten about the one woman who really mattered; his mother.

 However now that he had learnt his lessons the hard way, James swore never to make that same mistake for the second time.