King Ambrose: The Rise of the Bastard Son

07: Hell Is Where It Begins

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Olivia and I surprisingly got along well. For almost two years of being married, we started to get along. Despite the fact that she can become quite intimidating, I got used to it and I could see that whenever she was around me, she drops the mask of being a girl boss and just being an ordinary woman. She enjoys painting, I found out. She wasn't planning on telling me and was secretly painting on one of the vacant rooms in our house. I accidentally found out about it and saw her artwork. They were mostly landscapes and I told her they were amazing.

I could tell she is not used to receiving compliments about her artwork as she was never given the opportunity to express or share it with others. Somehow, I could relate to her. As to how her whole life's controlled by her parents.

"I just...do it whenever I have free time. They're nothing special, really. They're just amateur work—"

"Olivia," I said as I stared at her flipbook. I looked at her and smiled. "They're amazing. They don't look like an amateur's work."

She bit her lip and looked down, genuinely shy at what I said. All of a sudden, my heart warmed at the sight of her like this—vulnerable and shy. The kind of Olivia that the world will never see.

I closed the flipbook and laid it gently on the table. She looked at me with those eyes full of questions. I crossed the distance between us and held both her shoulders.

"Your business is doing great," I said and she smiled.

"It's all thanks to you. If you hadn't asked me to give you my books then it wouldn't happened. Even my father was amazed at how I turned it around. I told him it was all you, of course."

I smiled as I watched her talk about it. The proud look on her face, the way her mouth curved as she delivered me the sweet news, and the way her eyes twinkled in delight. This woman has something more than what meets the eye. It's a pity other people don't get to see this side of her. Even her parents don't see this side of her at all.

However, there was also one thing that made me satisfied when I turned her business around. Harold de la Fontaine trusts me more than ever as he saw what I did to her daughter's business. That's the thing about powerful people. You need to make see you. And by doing so, you need to do something remarkable. It's hard but I had the perfect opportunity. I asked Father to help Olivia with the business. I don't know what father did exactly but in a matter of days, the sales on Olivia's business skyrocketed. I told her to improve her promotional method. It couldn't have done any changes on the sales but I needed a front. Father was the one who made her business successful again. I impressed the one and only Harold de la Fontaine--as what Father tasked me to do. 

"He told me that you're a genius. And that he did not regret marrying me to you." She bit her lip as she smiled.

"I don't regret marrying you, either."

Her eyes widened at my sudden confession. Even I was surprised I blurted it out.

"Even if...Even if it was arranged?"

"Well, at first, I didn't like the idea of marrying anyone at such a young age. You were quite intimidating too. It's like you were ready to devour me whole."

She gave me an incredulous look before she jokingly hit my shoulder. We both laughed. The sound almost sounded so foreign as I couldn't remember the last time I laughed like that. And it seemed like it was also the same for her as we continued to burst out laughing.

I suddenly had the urge to caress her face and I didn't stop myself. She didn't stop me either.

"Kiss me, Kingsley," she said. Her voice sounded breathy and I let out a silent curse as she closed her eyes. I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and leaned to kiss her.

The kiss was short but it was the sweetest. When I pulled back, she still had her eyes closed but she was smiling. Slowly, she opened her eyes and I wiped the tear that threatened to fall.

"This is the only decision of my father that I did not and will never regret. Let's stay like this forever, Kingsley," she said and took my hand to kiss the back of it. I pulled her to kiss her forehead and hugged her as tightly as I could.

But then suddenly, we both heard a noise from our living room. Immediately, I went out to check but then I did not expect what I saw in the living room. Three armed men just entered our house and they were pointing their guns at me.

All I could think about was Olivia. These men are here to do one thing and that is to kill me and my wife. I ran back to the room just when I heard a gunshot and felt a blinding pain in my shoulder.

Olivia went out of the room and saw me clutching my shoulder.

"Kingsley—"

"Go!"

"What is happening?"

"Olivia, please! Run!"

I heard the footsteps next and the next thing I knew, the three men were already behind me.  I managed to stand and land a punch to one of the men but the other two did not hesitate shooting me on my two legs. 

My back fell to the ground and I saw how Olivia was frozen on her feet, watching my blood pool underneath me. 

"R-Run," I croaked out but there was only horror on her face. I heard another gunshot and I saw her fall down. 

I heard the three men let out a laugh as they walked over to her. They made sure I wouldn't be able to move as they started to remove her clothes. All I could do was scream as they started violating her in front of me. 

She was screaming and it broke my heart to pieces as tears rolled down her cheeks. At one point, she stopped screaming and her face was just blank. She was still breathing but she might as well have died for what they have done. When they were done with her, one of the men pointed his gun at her head. Before I could even scream, the gunshot echoed through our hallway and Oliva was dead. 

The three men stood over me and pointed their guns at me. My eyes were only on Olivia. Her eyes were open but they were void of life. A tear slid down my cheeks as the sound of her laughter rang inside my head. 

"I will come back, Olivia. I will make them pay," I whispered. 

"What is this bastard mumbling about?" said one of the men.

"Just shoot him and we will be on our way." 

"The de la Fontaines are in for a surprise for what happened to their beloved daughter."

And they laughed. Like it was just a normal day of their lives. 

The next thing I felt was the gun in my hand as one of the men placed it there. It was all a setup, I realized. And there are only two people I could think about that could possibly do this thing to me. 

"Kill him," I heard them say.

The sound of another gunshot was the last thing I heard before I felt the scorching pain in my chest. My vision blurred and it was getting painful to breathe. My mouth tasted like iron and I felt the liquid dripping down from my mouth down my neck.

I don't know what I did in this life for me to go through this kind of hell but before I surrendered to the darkness, I swore I will come back. 

And everyone who did this to us shall pay a heavy price. 

I swear this for you, Olivia.