Daniel knew what that bastard Arthur was doing. Entice Damien with insane strength so he would forgo the medical secret. To be honest, Daniel wouldn’t blame Damien if he went with either of the other two options. He was a young man once and he definitely understood the allure.Garth too was anticipating Damien’s answer. He always knew Damien was a selfish scumbag. Him falling for Arthur’s trick would only confirm that notion.By now, it was pretty obvious to everyone that Damien was going to go with either a martial arts secret or a Mystic art secret. How could he not? It hadn’t been a hard decision for them at all. It shouldn’t have been for him either but then Arthur had pulled out all the stops and had a demonstration done for him. A ripple of mocking snickers came from the crowd; he must have been feeling stupid now for choosing a medical secret.“I’m confident that I can fulfill any tasks you throw at me in record time, so the other secrets are within my reach anyway. Give me a m
Daniel levelled a glare and Arthur. “Control your grandbrat!”Arthur shrugged a smug smile on his face. He had stopped the last fight between the two young men too soon and knew Garth was eager to get his revenge. “They are men. Let them settle their issues between themselves. And it is suspicious how he seemed to find it so quickly, isn’t it? I’m sure you must have helped him.”“I did not. He is a capable young man. How long did your grandson take to find him again?” Daniel asked, now wearing his own smug smile.The news that Damien had found his Celladona in a month had spread around the society like wildfire. Daniel himself was shocked beyond belief. He knew that Damien was proficient – he was his blood after all – but even he had been surprised. Arthur’s frown made Daniel even more proud of his grandson. “You helped him. Stop lying,” Arthur seethed. “It’s not against any laws to do that but he can’t go around claiming merit for something he didn’t do. Own up!”“Ask him yourself,
I was on my bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about my life and how things got so complicated.Jesse had practically gone off the deep end, asking to be part of my revenge on Oscar. I was delaying telling Deandra because I knew how much she loved drama; she would welcome Jesse with open arms, potentially other open things too. And then there was Sadie. She had been calling and texting, but after my meeting with Deandra and the soft- reveal that Sadie wasn’t how she seemed, I decided I’d keep my distance.My phone rang again. I was at my limit with her. I picked it up to scream at her to stop calling me but froze when I saw the caller.Sighing, I answered. “Hey, Tristan.”His voice was calm and soothing. Such a jarring contrast to the storm of thoughts and emotions going through my mind. “Hey, Remi. It’s been a while. How are you holding up?” he asked, his words laced with genuine concern.My heart started racing. I knew this wasn’t a casual check-in because Tristan never called w
Tristan gave me a questioning look but dropped it when I gave him a sweet smile.“I heard you're still working with Deandra,” Sadie said. Her tone was neutral but the implication was crystal clear.“You heard?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “Well, Tristan told me. He said he warned you against it. You would think your mentor's words would be enough to convince you, but I guess not.”This woman was hellbent on getting on my nerves. But Tristan stepped in, stopping me from speaking my honest mind.“Oh stop, Sadie. I'm her mentor, not her micromanager. She's an adult. I'm sure she knows what she's doing. Sadie scoffed, casually taking another sip of wine. “If she's working with that… woman, I'm not sure she does.”This bitch. I wanted to rip her hair right off her scalp. I didn't realize how long I was glaring at her until Tristan touched my arm, jarring me back to consciousness.“Remi, are you sure everything's okay? You seem… distracted,” he said.My heart ached at his concern.
It had been a hectic couple of days so I decided I was going to shut everything out and actually enjoy my vacation time.Dad, once again, was hounding me to wrap up my me-time and get back to work. The whole point of vacation was to de-stress. As far as things went, it had been nothing but stress.I was trying to relax in a lounge chair in a hot spring resort when my phone rang, jarring me and everyone around me.“Sorry,” I whispered, seeing all their pissed off faces.The caller ID showed it was dad. I hesitated, wondering if I should ignore the call, not wanting to be lectured about ignoring my responsibilities. But I ultimately picked it up.“Hey, Dad.”“Get home. Now!” his gruff voice boomed directly into my ears, making me cringeEven though he was my dad and I knew he would never hurt me, I started panicking. What could have made him so serious? The fact that he was so direct, with no explanation whatsoever made it even worse.My mind raced faster than my car as I sped home, fig
Damien Delaney walked into his home tired and weary from a long day of work. Hauling the massive bag of groceries into the kitchen, he checked his phone – no replies from his wife. It was another fight over yet another vacation she knew he couldn't afford.The nagging had gotten worse in the last couple days. If it wasn't a diamond necklace she wanted. it would be a pair of heels so expensive they could comfortably feed a family of five for two months. The worst part was that she could afford all her luxuries on her obscene salary. But even though the mere sound of his breathing now seemed to annoy her, he loved her with all his heart and to make it up to her, he planned to cook he favourite meal, steak and fries, for her birthday.Damien checked his phone again, still no text from Courtney. The day was turning tonight and the food was ready, all that was missing was the birthday girl.He decided to call her when his phone lit up showing the face of his least liked person, Courtney'
"Are you here to embarrass us?""Look at you," said Beth Alistair, Courtney's mother as Damien got off the ground. "Must you display your worthlessness publicly? I am so glad my daughter's eyes are open and she's out of your chokehold. I don't know how you did it but it's over now. Take your filthy self out of my sight."She sky hated the sight of the young man, besides his good looks, he had nothing else going for him. How could her daughter have been so blind all these years?"Where's Courtney,"Damien asked, ignoring their biting words.Andy's blood was beginning to boil in his veins. Why couldn't this bastard just accept he didn't deserve a woman like Courtney? “You deadbeat, do you realise she had a work emergency she has to attend to? As my woman, she wouldn't have to do anything because I can take good care of her. Don't you see she deserves better than you?”Alison was swooning at Andy's words. She had always tried to show her feelings for him but he always had eyes for Courtn
He was surprisingly fast and agile for a man his age, but not as fast as Damien who saw his balled fist coming a mile away and ducked out of the way. Damien leaned back as Saul launched another punch right for his head. After a few missed punches, the older man was gassed out and Damien took one measured step forward. His fist, fast as lighting, connected with Saul's unguarded upper belly, sending the man writhing on the ground in pain. "Stay out of my way, old man." He reached for the drawer and pulled out a necklace with a Yin pendant without the Yang part, then headed out of the house."You're fired. If I ever see your face again, you're dead." Saul bellowed. That bastard Damien had crossed the line and even if he burrowed into the deepest hole, Saul was determined to find him and make him pay.Of course he was fired. The perfect end to his night. No wife, no money, no family, no job. It had been months since he had a drop of alcohol but as he walked through the doors of the rowd