Xander eyes widened in shock as he looked an older copy of himself. He felt like he was looking into a future mirror. The only difference was their eyes, his was green and his father was brown.
Now he noticed that the camera never caught a clear photo of his face. It was always a side view or a far sight. A smile creeped into his face as he felt happy feeling of hope burn in him. He felt like there was someone in this world that cared about him because their resemblance was uncanny but why didn't he show up to see him. "You didn't visit me in the hospital" Xander stated, his voice came out more calmer than he expected. Max faceplamed himself as he knew the answer that was coming. "The yearly shareholders meeting took place so I didn't have time to pay you a visit, it wasn't need as I was going to meet you later" Cameron answered, surprising Max who thought he was going to give a short reply. Xander nodded as what his father said meant more sense but it made him feel like he was hungry for affection. He looked into his father brown eyes as he tried to determine what kind of person he is. The conclusion he came up with was that his father was calculative as a business man is supposed to. Very different from me, I wonder if meet to his standard. He thought. Some down in his mind told him he wasn't worthy of anything even his father's love. "Your eyes are filled with questions, it's about time you knew what happened between your parents that led to this moment, Max could you leave us for a moment" Cameron ordered, his dominant aura feel the air and it was a little scaring to been around him. Max nodded and left. He spoke again after Max left them. "I and your mother, Julia were in love so we got married, contradicting my social class rule, rich marries rich to maintain their wealth, if my calculations are right that was twenty seven years ago" He started. Xander had a gnawing feeling now, he was curious but he wasn't sure if he want to know. "Our first year was an happy one, we had you but things changed when your mother started getting death threat in her emails and voicemail. I am rich and powerful so I traced them and sent threats back. It didn't change anything it only got worst, they started harrasssing physical. She refuse to leave the house after that. One day she got enough of it and left, I didn't worry too much since her father called to tell me to inform me of her whereabouts" Cameron clenched his jaw and looked out the huge windows. This memories came with whirlpool of emotions. "So where did everything go wrong? You could have gone to see her secretly" Xander said, clearly invested in the story about his parents. His father chuckled and continued. Something about that chuckle sounded bitter to Xander. "That's what she wanted but I refused, her safety meant everything to me, I did everything to keep her safe, even bought an apartment for her father as an apology to everything that happened to his daughter. No matter how much I wanted to see her, I was scared that someone might follow me and endanger her. I don't know how her location got known, she was beaten up by some girls and they injured you a bit, since them she had been on a run. She spent five years hiding from place to another, tried to keep in touch with her but that only made her move to another place" "We got into a big fight when I asked her to bring you to me to prevent you from being in danger since you were my successor. She angrily refused and made claim about me only caring my money and company. I did try to reason with her but it was going nowhere. One day she showed upon at my door step alone, right there" The older man said, pointing at the door Xander came in through. Xander turned to the door and tried to imagine his mother standing there but nothing came up. He doesn't remember her, her face, her scent or anything. He never once felt like he lost much after he survived the fire until now. He closed his eyes for a brief moment to dig into his deepest memories but all he saw his wife humiliation and daughter's cries. He opened his eyes when he felt a splitting headache. He clenched his jaw to endure the pain and turned back to his father. Cameron noticed his actions but kept quiet about it and continued. "She complained about life been tough and she couldn't take it anymore. When I asked about you, she said that she would never tell me and left." "Why didn't you find me?" the question left his mouth before he could stop it "I did, I got the name of the orphanage just when I heard that the orphanage got burned and you were the oy survivor, tracking you wasn't easy since you were always on the run from debtors. You were better at hiding than your mother. Max doesn't know I found you few weeks before your incident, I was curious to see how you would handle the Dally" His father concluded and smirked grimly. He felt the back of his eyes burn. Why those this annoying tears have to fall now. He looked at the ceilings and tried to blink the tears away before turning back to his father. "I spent my life trying to fit in somewhere, I was so desperate to have somewhere I belong to that I put up with everything they did" he stopped as it was hard to breath and talk with so much feeling brewing inside. "When I heard I have a father, I felt like I have a root. I can only blame myself for thinking I was worth it" Xander ended as he dug his finger into his palm. He looked at his father and was surprised to see a smile on his face. "Always remember this feeling, the humiliation you went through that's the way you be a business tycoon" Cameron said and placed his hand on the hand Xander was clenching. "Don't forget to add the neglecting from your biological parents, no wonder my mother couldn't live with you" Xander said and Cameron felt like he had been bathed in acid. He knew what Xander didn't know. He knew his mother shot herself in front of him, Xander didn't need to know. Even if he didn't know, he felt triggered and could only act before thinking. His raise his hand to hit his son. "Cameron, Don't you dare!"Related Chapters
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 4
"Cameron, don't you dare!" Max said angrily from the door.He had been behind the door the whole time eavesdropping on their conversation and to make sure things don't go out of control.Max was a precautious person and knew the topic of the chairman's dead wife was a taboo in the mansion. He knew what happened to people that mentioned his dead wife. The last person to do that is in a graveyard but this was his son and wasn't about to allow him to do what he would regret.Xander eyes widened and moved he shifted away from the horror in front of him. His father was about to hit, just like strangers hit him.By the time he realized what was happening, Max had pulled him behind him. Cameron eyes also widened in horror as he saw Xander behind Max. He stared at his hand like it wasn't part of his body but someone else."I'm sorry, Xander. Please try to understand I didn't mean to respond like that" Cameron plead. His cold impression was broken as he pleaded for his son forgiveness. Xander
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 5
"Mind if I accompany you""I don't, I kind of need a break from this old man" Xander made a slight joke and was surprised when she laughed. Nobody ever laughed at his joke except his daughter, everyone else always raised an eyebrow then shook their head. "I understand you" the attendant said and I eyes left Xander to Max. "He remind me of my grandfather, you know how Mexican grandparents can be, so overprotective and rarely let you have a life" Max raised an eyebrow at that statement. He stared down at his knuckles it dew winkles on it but not enough to be referred as a grandfather. He stared at his reflection on the showcase, his face showed no sign of winkle thanks to his wife who nagged him on eating healthy food. "I'm not even sixty!" he wanted to say but he bit his tongue and swallowed his word. "Tell me about it" Xander smirked and looked at Max fuming through the corner of his eyes as he walked deeper into mall, the sound of his footstep followed after him. "Max" Xand
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 6
"Do you know her? " Randy asked, her eyes on the three ladies who were about her age in front of them. This ladies dressed extravagantly from the jacket to their shoes. Helena stood in the middle of her two friends, she wore a pink jacket over a gray tight gown. She looked taller than when Xander saw her around his wife house with the aid of a pink boot heels. Randy's statement got her attention as she was yet to notice her. "Oh, new girl, that fast. I didn't think you get over my sister so quick" Helena said with a giggle that didn't sound normal. Her words slurred slightly and she looked at them with a sloppy smile. Helena held unto one of her friend to steady herself as she took one step closer to Xander. "Ex girlfriend? " Randy asked, her voice coming out at bit anxious as she watched Helena twirl a strand of her brown wavy hair around her finger. "No, ignore her she is high" Xander replied, he didn't want to stay in that uncomfortable situation so he took Randy's hand to lea
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 6
Helena stared at the receipt then Randy's back as she followed the men out and again at the receipt. A lump came in her throat as her eyes welled up and blurred her sight. She was high and too disoriented to say why she was reacting like that. Her friends didn't notice until a tear dropped on the receipt, staining it."Hel, are you crying?" the blonde, Lizzy asked."No, I'm not, I think I'm too high" Helena responded and furiously wiped her eyes, drying every trace of tear."Why are you crying, I thought this is a happy news and he is single again" the black haired, Kati said and whispered the last part."Hands off him, he is mine" Lizzy shunned and glared at her friend"Were you girls blind he got a new girlfriend!" Helena said and lump reappeared in her throat again. "Gosh, something is wrong with me" she choked. She looked at the celling and blinked continously to clear the tears."Hold on for a minute, I thought you said he was poor that's why sister divorced him" Lizzy said, her
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 8
Xander stood in an empty familiar space, his in laws house. Everything looked well arranged and not a speck of dust can be noticed. The couch and sofa were cleared of any spot, including the spot Helena had stained with red wine. The sky blue tiles sparkled under the chandeliers and lights but the familiar pine scent was absent.He stood and looked around at the place he called home for three years. He remembered the burning feeling the first time he entered the house as a son in law. It lacked safety but it was okay as long as he had a roof over his head.A strange sound brought him out of his thoughts, when he listened more it was a muffled cry."Emily?" He called, searching for the direction the sobs came from. He walker into the kitchen and check the cupboards and cabinets in case she was hiding there.With no fruitful effort he left the kitchen back to the living room. The muffled cry got clearer when he reached the staircase that led up stairs to-"Why did I not think of this fi
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 9
"How was the meeting" Cameron asked his son. His voice came out more steadier than he thought."They are not the most accepting crowd but it was good" Xander replied and waited for his father to say something to ease the awkwardness."That's good" Cameron said and mentally facepalm himself. He didn't know what he was doing, he only did what Max told him to do."They can't do anything about your position but if they think otherwise you can strip them of their position." Max added and Xander returned with a smile.The new chairman watched the two older men converse with their eyes so he used this period to admire his father's office, now his, and mentally noted things he needed to change. Maybe change the black couch to red, it's more suitable for his aura."Hm-hm" Cameron cleared his throat to get Alexander's attention. He leaned forward and dropped something on the table. Xander stared at the key placed on the table then gave his father and Max a pointed look."Uhm, I suspected that
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 10
"Mr. Rinwon, you have a visitor" Mike secretary told him through the office line."Does this visitor have an appointment?" he asked, already irritated."No, sir, he said he is from XL headquarters" Mike's demeanor changed as he ordered her to send him in.He stood from his seat and straightened his clothes before he met someone of high authority. He also wondered the reason for the sudden visit since he was yet to send a prohect proposition to the new chairman. Worries away, he hoped it was a fortunate visit.His train of thought stopped when his office door opened and Hunter stepped in. He would have yelled if someone entered his office without knocking but XL was a different category. They could render his company useless in a twinkle of an eyes so he had to play right."Welcome, have a seat" Mike greeted and led him to the brown leather couch. His office could only take two couch or there won't be any walking area."Are you Mike Rinwon" Hunter asked"Yes, the only one" Mike said an
RISE OF ALEXANDER CAGE Chapter 11
Xander always thought he was just unfortunate that only bad things happens to him. That's also what he thought about the incident Max rescued from. He had a tugging suspicion that Hermia was involved with the incident but couldn't get himself to admit that someone he loved would almost kill him because he didn't sign a divorce paper.Max also thought the same and brought it up once. He had shunned him for thinking that way because he knew Hermia wasn't brutal. To clear all suspicion he asked Max to find out. "I found what you asked for" Max announced immediately he entered the office. He abandoned the pending documents he was attending to, to meet Max halfway."How did you find this?" Xander asked as he collected the brown envelope from Max."I told you the Cage Family if powerful enough to control the court" Max replied vaguely as Xander unsealed the envelope to see what's inside.Max noticed Xander expression changed and peered into the paper Xander was staring at. He saw it, the r
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Chapter 38
"Alex, wake up, Alexander wake up!" Xander heard a childlike voice called his name with such urgency.He forced his eyes open to see someone hovering over him. The image of the person was blur until he rubbed his. It stung like he rubbed all night."What?" he groaned and sat up before opening his eyes again to look at the person disturbing his sleep."We need to leave" The person stated. Xander's image of the person cleared and he looked at the teenager that disturbed his sleep.He was taken back. It felt like he staring in the mirror. The person looked so much like him the only difference was his mismatched eyes.He looked at his surroundings, it was different to what he remembered before passed out. The room was small and it almost empty of belongings. An old lamp sat on a make shift table made from bunch of books. Something felt wrong, this was not what he remembered. He remembered the Hunter, fire and the snake bite.Snake bite.He recalled and reached for his pants legs to inspec
Chapter 37
Xander sighed for the nth time and it visibly worried Hunter who was beside him."Can you stop sighing? You are making everything hopeless" Hunter complained and Xander halted and turned to him.The anger and sadness he had kept down since they enter the woods rose up again."Hopeless? Everything is hopeless. We have been wandering woods with no sense of direction and you keeping calm like everything is alright. But guess what, it is not. We lost! Hunter, we are lost in the woods and would die from starvation without anybody to find our dead body. That's so bad because Emily is going to live thinking I'm out somewhere but I would be dead" Xander ended his rant breathing heavily."Nobody is dieing, Do you hear me nobody is dieing" Hunter said and placed his hands on Xander shoulder."This what I'm saying you are calm when we are danger" Xander said calmly and looked into Hunter eyes. His face was stoic but there was a feeling his eyes, Xander couldn't pinpoint."Look" Hunter said and t
Chapter 36
"You can stop here" Hermia told her driver from the backseat.The driver silently noted and parked outside the XL headquarters.She was about to get off the car before her phone rang in her purse. She opened her white leather purse and took out her phone. The caller ID read Mike and she sighed tiredly before she answered the call."Where are you Hermia? I hope you didn't forget about our post honeymoon date" Mike said annoyed."Oh, I forgot" Hermia replied calmly. She had forgotten about the date when she was busy making plans for the day. "I would have to rain check something came up in my company""I'm at your company and you aren't there, quit lying and tell me where you are" Mike said, anger present in his voice."I would tell you everything when the time comes" She said and hung up without another word from his side.She couldn't get interrupted by her attention seeking husband. She had come this far. She had humiliated Randy with the hope that the unknown texter does something t
Chapter 35
"When is daddy coming back?" Emily asked Trente in a tiny voice. Her face was turned to the window, ignoring the cartoon playing on the television. It was already dark, later than Xander had ever been. "Very soon" Trente said for the fifth time and was also worried.He picked up his phone to call Max and heard a loud thump on the door."Stay here" Trente told Emily and covered her with a blanket before heading for the door.Carefully, he open the door and saw a body laying on the pouch. The sharp of the body and clothes were awfully familiar. He complained about the leather clothes being hard to breath in."Randy!" he shouted and rushed to her. She was laying face planted on the floor so he turned her over."Shit!" he gasped, shocked at her bruised face and bursted lips."Help" Randy groaned painfully as tears wet her bruises causing them to sting before she fell unconscious.She woke up the next morning with pain coursing through out her body especially her head. She looked around a
Chapter 34
"Alexander! Xander! Where are you?" He heard a worried young voice call his name. He blinked his eyes open and felt one of his was too heavy to open."I'm down here stop screaming" he respond to the voice."Oh my god, Xander" the voice was from a teenage boy same age like him. The looked down at him from the third floor balcony of the building he sat across. The boy disappeared into the shadows and Xander guessed he was coming down.Xander took that moment to stand with the aid of the walls. A sharp pain shot through his foot, he looked down to see that he step on a broken glass."Shit" he cussed.He looked at his reflection on the broken glass and noticed he was younger. One of his eyes was so swollen that it had to stay close while the other one function."Xander!" the worried voice called and ran to him, divertinf his attention from his reflection. The boy was around fifteen but was a inch taller than him since he was also fifteen. Both of their clothes were worn out and they looke
Chapter 33
"They aren't normal thugs" Hunter quickly replied. He stepped into the highway and almost got hit by a car."Hunter! Have you lost your mind!" Xander screamed from the pedestrian road but his assistant ignored him. Instead he pulled out the gut and pointed it to the driver."Get down, if you don't want to die" the frightened owener immediately unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. He was replaced by Hunter who started the engine but didn't drive.Xander saw the door they just came through open and he ran into the car Hunter had stolen still holding his injured arm. "Come to my office for compensation" the chairman said to the frightened driver and threw his business card out the window.Hunter zoomed off, driving recklessly and changing lane randomly as the men stole a car to follow after them."How is your arm?" Hunter asked, eyes still on the road."It was just a graze, nothing I can't handle" Xander said and chuckled to hid the fact he was scared to death.If it were thr
Chapter 32
Xander woke up to his daughter beside him, she curled up next to him with an amount of his shirt squeezed loosely in her fist. He stood up quietly and noiselessly did his morning routine without waking her up. He kissed her on the cheek before he left the room, leaving the door slight open.He saw Randy preparing breakfast and Trente playing some game on his phone. It wasn't long Hunter got in and accepted Randy's offer on eating breakfast."Is she awake?" Trente asked when he finished a round in his game."She is still asleep, let her sleep till 10 before waking her up, Randy could you wash her up?" He said to the only woman in their mist. Hunter noticed her tensed up."Uhm, I don't know how to and I'm not good with kids" Randy said hoping they didn't noticed her tense up."I would do it, I'm good with children, Randy can assist me" Trente equipped.It was a Saturday so Xander allowed it. He made a mental note to hire a nanny for the weekends since he would take care of her during th
Chapter 31
Hermia layed quietly on her bed while her husband was as sleep beside her. It has been two days since she was released from police custody and a day since her honeymoon began.She should be happy that all the storms was over and she was happily married to someone who can cater for her, her family and company. She wasn't all she felt was anger and defeat. Their honeymoon did nothing to distract her from the fact Xander have her daughter and as a partner that might become his wife one day.She wanted her daughter back and for him to suffer in loneliness but she she is powerless compare to him.Her phone chimed from where plugged it beside her. She turned the phone and saw a message from a private number.Hello, it reads.She sighed and dropped her phone. Who could be messaging her around one in the morning.Her phone chimed again and curiousity drove her to check it.Don't ignore me I know you are still awake.Fear gripped her heart and she left the bed from the bathroom, careful not to
Chapter 30
Maybe a few minutes is the highest.His gaze was cut short as the figure he was staring at literally rolled into the water."One, two, three" he counted as he waited for Randy to surface but the pool water was still.Panicking, he rushed down the stairs and took the detour through the backyard. The few seconds it took for him to reach the backyard felt like a tormenting hell. For once he hated that his house was huge. Finally, he reached the backyard and ran to the swimming pool hoping to see a female figure surface.There was still no show so he pulled off his shirt, not caring where it landed and jumped into the water. He saw Randy clutching her kneel under the water. He thought she was having a cramp on her leg and was drowning because of it. As this thought went through his mind, the arms of fear ran down his spine.Another lost, he thought.He hurriedly brought out of the pool and played her on the ground to perform CPR. He started with mouth to mouth, blowing air into her mouth