King Ambrose: The Rise of the Bastard Son

03: Fall Into A Trap

Everything changed after that. Father made sure we make a great statement that I was the best son that should marry the only daughter of the de le Fontaine family.

I was transferred to the same school where Darion and Henry go. Turns out, it is where Olivia is going too. And another thing I found out was that Darion and Olivia used to be a thing. They did not date but Darion made it clear to the whole school that he likes Olivia. It explained a lot about his outburst when father announced the marriage.

The school where rich kids go was totally different from the school where I used to go. We didn't have a pool, a tennis court, or any facilities to accommodate the student's interests. The whole school is posh and everything just screams extravagance.

"Hey," called someone but I did not dare look. I have made it a rule to myself that I will not look unless my name is called. I learned that the hard way before.

I continued walking and perhaps it was another unlucky day for me as I saw Darion walking towards my direction too. Judging from the frown on his face, he didn't seem to be in a good mood. Which means I could either get beaten up or thrown outside the building.

Then again, it's been months since he last picked on me. Henry was the same. Father's warning was tattooed on their minds perhaps when he said they're going to regret it should they bully me again.

I was about to continue walking when suddenly, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me inside an empty classroom. It took me a while to realize that it was Henry. Was he the one that called me earlier? But what does he want?

"I don't want any trouble, Henry," I said and the dim room did not conceal the smirk on his face. There was no one else with him in the room. It was literally just us.

"I don't want any trouble, either," he said and raised both his hands as if to tell me he was telling the truth. He is two years older than me. I am eighteen, he's twenty, and Darion is twenty-two. It's unbelievable how childish they can get whenever they want to bully me.

"Then what do you want?" I asked. After all those years of getting bullied, I somehow developed the immunity not to be scared. Especially now that their father actually threatened them if he hears they're picking on me again.

Henry took something from his pocket and gave it to me. It was a piece of paper. He didn't say anything else and walked out of the room. I unfolded the piece of paper and realized it was a handwritten letter. I walked to the window to get some light and read it.

By the time I reached the end of the letter, I realized it came from Olivia. I stared at it for a good long minute until it was time for me to get to my next class.

For the whole three periods, the letter was the only thing on my mind. Henry might have just written it and given it to me as a prank. But the handwriting was delicate and elegant. Something that can only be achieved with constant calligraphy lessons and practice. I was positive the really indeed came from Olivia.

That is why when my classes were done, I went immediately to the place where Olivia wanted to meet. It was at the soccer field. I got there early and watched the students have fun playing football. By the time it was almost sundown, I was the only one left on the bench, waiting for Olivia to arrive. She did say in her letter that she wanted to meet at half past six. I arrived at five and waited.

It was then that I heard a noise coming my way. When I turned to look, my brows furrowed when I saw they were outsiders. How did they get in here? As far as I know, the entrance has tight security. There must be some route they used.

I was about to ignore them but then one of the man's gazes went in my direction. And then he pointed at me while saying something to his companions. I looked around, trying to see if there was anybody in the area but it was just me. I was alone. And they are walking straight in my direction.

It was too late for me to run. They were already standing at the only exit I have.

What have I gotten myself into?

They were not just ordinary outsiders. They were holding baseball bats. It was bad news. I knew I should run but where? The soccer field was fenced. There was only one exit and they are blocking it.

Before I knew it, they were already in front of me. There are around six of them surrounding my position and the one in the middle grabbed a fistful of my hair, forcing me to look up at him. He smelled of smoke and everything bad and I knew I was in trouble. Really bad trouble.

"Are you Kingsley?" the man asked. There was no use denying it when my name was literally on my ID. He took a pocket knife and used its tip to take a closer look at my I.D. He grinned, showing two gold canines, and then he looked at his other companions.

"It's our guy," he said. I knew what was going to happen. I know what is happening. Henry and Darion somehow set me up here making me think I was meeting with Olivia. They clearly hired these men to beat me up if they can't do it.

I gritted my teeth. "I know who put you into this and I can double the amount they paid you—"

My world seem to have spun the moment the baseball bat connected with my temple. I felt myself fall to the ground. My ears were ringing and everything was hazy. I couldn't feel my body and all of a sudden, the ringing stopped and waves of pain came pouring like a dam.

"We don't care. We just want this job done, that's all," one of them said, and before I could even recover, another bat connected with my arm. I screamed in pain. And as if it wasn't enough, they started raining kicks and punches on me. Some were hitting other parts of my body with the baseball bat and I couldn't do anything but cover my head with my arms.

Everything in my body was screaming in agonizing pain and they continued to rain attacks. Someone grabbed my arm and burned a cigarette on the back of my palm. Even as I try to take my hand away, there were two of them, holding me down while the other continued to burn my skin. The rest were raining down punches and kicks.

By the time they were almost done, I heard the sound of the knife before I felt it pierce my stomach. I gasped and my eyes widened at that. Realizing what one of them had done, the others stopped punching and kicking me. Someone muttered a curse but I was in too much pain to care who was the one who stabbed me.

The next thing I heard was them running away while I lay there on the cold ground. Every fiber of my body was in agony. Every movement send a sharp bolt of pain and I could barely open my eyes when I decided to close them. I could my blood seeping out of the stab wound I got. There are no other people in the school now. It was only me. If Darion and Henry wanted me to die then this was a perfect plan. I was stupid enough to fall from it and at that moment, I knew I wouldn't make it.

Just when I was about to lose consciousness, I heard someone screaming. My head was too fuzzy to even know if it was real or just my hallucinations—part of the process of dying. But then I felt hands on the back of my neck and pressure on my wound which made me grunt in pain.

I couldn't identify who the stranger was. It was a guy but I couldn't open my eyes to see him. He sounded like he was talking to me but I couldn't understand what it was. What I wanted to do at that moment was just give in to the sleepy feeling. Someone was slapping my face gently as if stopping me from losing consciousness but the pain in my body felt lighter the sleepier I get.

Maybe... maybe if I just give in to sleep, the pain would disappear.

"Stay with me, Kingsley," said the man who was there with me but I was already diving into oblivion to recognize his voice, whoever he was.