“The best looking places are not always where we feel Comfortable.” Bruce said as he looked around the room with classic walls and very formal guests. He turned to his left and saw a lady smiling at him. It was obvious she was just forcing a smile and she could also tell that Bruce wasn't falling for that wack fake smile “Y'all don't like me in this family, so just stop pretending already.” He mumbled and turned away in disgust.
The grand dining room of the Salvator estate was not just intimidating, it had become the worst place for Bruce to be at any time of the day. The Salvator family were his in-laws but he never loved spending time with them, “A bunch of arrogant creatures” he'd always call them. The room was filled with the sounds of low murmurs, laughter, and the clinking of glasses. Despite the splendor around him, Bruce couldn't wait to “get the fuck outta here.” He was already feeling out of place. “I don't belong here.” And It wasn’t the first time he felt this way. He tried to distract himself from the voice that kept reminding him that “these punks just let you marry their daughter but that doesn't mean they respect you.” In fact, giving their daughter, Cassie to Bruce in marriage was a trap but they always tried to make it look like they did him a big favor for giving him a wife as beautiful as Cassie. Across the table, Cassie’s father Mr. Forbes Salvator leaned back in his chair, observing Bruce with a critical eye. Bruce turned to meet his gaze and he immediately knew the old man was about to start a conversation that would just end in mockery. “So uhm… Bruce,” Forbes drawled, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. “You're still working in the dirty mud?” He wanted that to sound as bad as possible. All the guests at the table immediately turned towards Bruce in shock and a woman asked “Mud? Bruce works in the mud? Ew…” “That's disgusting isn't it? Bruce, why would you choose to work in the mud?” “Isn't that some kinda dirty work for low life people?” A round of questions flew across the table, making Forbes smile because that's exactly what he wanted; to make Bruce feel uncomfortable and belittled. But Bruce kept his face calm, he was a builder and a plumber too. He did all the hard jobs and anything possible to be able to provide for his wife Cassie who was the most ungrateful human on earth. And he wasn't going to give his wife's father the satisfaction of making fun of him in front of everyone gathered for the family dinner. “So Bruce, how's your work going? Hope you don't have any infections from working in the dirty areas yet?” Bruce did all he could do to steady his voice. “Work's been good.” Cassie’s friend immediately turned to him in shock as she asked “Did you just say it's been good? You mean you enjoy working in the dirt?” She then turned back to Cassie who's Bruce's wife. “Hey Cassie you didn't tell me your husband was some trash man working some hard jobs in some stupid dirty mud and shit.” Cassie buried her face in her palms laughing seriously, she was never proud of her husband, the only thing they all liked about him was how well built he was, just so ripped and perfectly masculine, a few friends of hers had already tried to seduce him behind her back but talked trash about him in public. “Come on stop laughing just tell me why you decided to marry a man this fucking poor.” Cassie’s friend insisted. Cassie looked around to make sure that Bruce couldn't see her talking, then she whispered to her friend “Hey, we all don't want him, this marriage was done for a reason but he doesn't know, he thinks I'm in love with him. But he's gonna find out soon enough when we get what we want from him.” “Oh that's interesting, you beautiful devil.” The friend gave out a devilish smile with so much satisfaction, then she asked “What exactly do you guys want from him then?” “Nah we ain't exposing that to nobody.” Bruce took a look around seeing how his wife kept whispering things in her friends ear and laughing. He knew they were gossiping about him, calling him names like ‘the sexy church rat’ as they always did. All that just made him smile, scratching his head as he mumbled to himself “If only they knew that I have my own plans for marrying Cassie. Y'all think I'm just stupid and you're using me, but I also have my own plans.” Having his own plans didn't change the fact that he truly loved Cassie and wanted the best for her. But the more they underestimated him, the more his own plan came closer to perfection. Underestimating him was part of his plan and he loved seeing them look down on him, it was perfect for his plot. Bruce just finished drinking from a glass of water, but immediately he took the glass off his mouth, he couldn't see Cassie anymore “Where did she go?” he asked, confused. He turned to the other side only to discover that Cassie’s friend had left the table too, “Where have they gone to?” turning to his back, he saw them heading towards the bathroom. “I know they're up to something.” He immediately stood up to follow them. Everyone else continued drinking and chatting, not caring about anything else. Bruce took stealthy movements to the bathroom door and he didn't need to get close enough before he could hear the sounds coming through the holes on the door, there were two female voice and a male voice. “I wish we was on a bed and I'd ride you to my satisfaction.” Cassie’s friend said behind the closed door. “Hey Cassie, come and suck me baby, I bet your husband isn't this big ha ha.” Bruce could hear them laughing, but at a point he heard his wife say “Put that wood inside of me” then the bathroom was filled with moans. “What the shit is happening inside there?” Bruce kicked the door open and right there, before him was his wife Cassie and her best friend Leila, all naked as they kissed one of the male guests who sat on the toilet with Cassie proudly on top of him. “Oh my World!”“What the hell is going on here?” the voice of Bruce echoed through the walls. And Cassie immediately got off the man she was humping, adjusting her dress quickly as though it'll make Bruce forget what he just saw. “So this is what you've been doing? Huh? After everything I've done for you and your family, this is how you repay me? By sleeping with other men?” Bruce had always known she was doing something like this, but he didn't have evidence. “What have you done for my family?” Cassie snapped. “You did nothing for us. But we are the ones who helped you Bruce!” She added, while trying to zip up her gown from the back. “You said you helped me? You must be outta your mind!”“You're the fool who's outta your mind!” She raised her voice even more. Cassie’s friend also turned to Bruce, telling him “Oh yeah you're the dumb fool that I know in this family.”“Shut up you dirty whore! You know nothing but to sleep with men all around, not caring if they are married or not. And now you've
The smell of those prison walls was familiar. Bruce had definitely perceived that before. The walls smelt of betrayal! “Fuck! Here we go again. Thrown in prison just like my father who did nothing wrong.”Bruce couldn't believe Cassie and her father would do such a thing to him. He'd always known they really didn't love or care for him, but he didn't know their hearts were filled with so much evil, so much darkness that they would frame him up, send him to prison just to get rid of him. “I swear to God I'm gonna make them pay for everything they've done to me!” It was already one week since Bruce had been in prison and he found himself trying so hard to hold in his tears as he remembered the day Cassie walked in to see him behind bars, but only to present the divorce papers for him to sign. “Sign the damn papers you stupid thief! I can't be a wife to someone who steals money from my father's company.”“First of all, I'm not a thief and you know that y'all just framed me for this. S
It was already two years after serving his term and Bruce smiled casually as he shook hands with the police officer during his final hours in that God forsaken place “Mr Bruce Ortiz, you're now a free man. Try not to live a life of crime when you go out there.”“I can't even say I'm a changed man because I never was a bad man in the first place. I've spent two years in jail for a crime I never even committed.” As soon as Bruce took a step outside, the air immediately felt different. “This doesn't smell like that prison walls no more. This? This smells like freedom.” He couldn't help but crack a smile. Just when he was about to clean the dust on his shoulder, his phone buzzed in his pocket with a new message “I guess it's that Bitch Cassie tryna mock me. She must have heard I'm outta prison.” He reached for his phone in his back pocket but was puzzled with a message from a new number “and who might this be?” He clicked on the message with a curious finger “and what do they want from
Neighbors heard the gunshots and they immediately knew something was wrong. Rosa was a female Italian neighbor who lived with her dog after the death of her husband. Bruce was her favourite neighbour and she couldn't believe the shots came from his side of the big compound. She rushed to open the window, trying hard to see if she could spot someone in Bruce's house. “Is Bruce back from prison? Who the hell is in his house and why are they shooting?” She didn't know Bruce was back already. “Oh my God I gotta call 911” She rushed to get her phone and dialed a number. The shooter was cold and confident. “Rest in peace you big fool.” The assassin said to Bruce's body before kissing his pistol. “The problem with y'all is that you're all infected with a main character syndrome. You think this is some movie and you tryna be some kinda hero. All you had to do was beg me, and I might have let you live.” He said putting his pistol back where he'd removed it. He took out his phone from the bac
Two weeks after the incident, Bruce was discharged from the hospital. “I'm truly glad you survived this.” Jonathan Gusman said, taking a spoonful of rice into his mouth. They were having dinner at his house where Bruce had been living for a while after being discharged from the hospital. Jonathan insisted that “ Hey Bruce, you gotta stay at my house for a while now cos your home ain't safe. Who knows when the assassin might come again looking for you after knowing you survived the attack.”“Thank you so much for everything Mr. Jonathan.” Bruce smiled carefully as though too much of it would break his weak ribs. He still didn't know why Jonathan picked interest in him. Why he was nice to him despite having no connection with him. It was all so strange, and the super rich Jonathan Gusman was yet to tell him the business proposal he wanted to make on that day Bruce got shot. “How are you feeling now?” Jonathan asked. “I'm all good I think.”“Can you kick a soccer ball?”“Aha ha… I can
“Alright,” Bruce said as he leaned back in the wooden chair, his patience visibly waning. He was obviously tired after waiting in the police station for so long. He glanced at Jonathan, who sat across from him with his arms crossed, staring blankly at the white walls of the police station. “Jonathan” Bruce called. “Yeah man what's up?” “I'm just wondering what's is taking them so long”Jonathan let out a slow exhale. He was also tired of waiting to get the results of the fingerprint. “They said they’d get back to us as soon as they finish the fingerprint analysis.”“I'm already exhausted right now.”“We’ve already waited for so long, a little more patience won’t kill us.”Bruce was slowly getting angry and impatient. “Two weeks, Jonathan. It's been two damn weeks and they’re just checking something as obvious as the cigar.Before Jonathan could respond, the door opened, and Detective Martinez walked in with a file in hand. His expression was completely unreadable, but the slight tig
Bruce had already forgotten how to feel comfortable. He couldn't believe Jonathan got shot just a few days after he was discharged from the hospital. He was shot and now Jonathan Gusman also took a bullet. “This is all happening so fast. I think there's a connection to all this. There's a reason why all these shootings are happening.”The dimly lit hospital hallway felt like a scene from a nightmare. Bruce paced back and forth, the soles of his shoes squeaking softly against the tiles. “I just hope he's gonna be alright.”A nurse finally emerged from the operating room, her face calm but serious.“Yes!” Bruce rushed towards her asking “How is he?”The nurse shook her head and that's all Bruce needed to know that everything wasn't alright.“Is anything wrong?”“He’s lost a lot of blood. We’ve managed to stabilize him for now, but he needs a blood transfusion urgently.”“Then give him one. Do whatever it takes.”The nurse hesitated, looking at Bruce with sympathy as she said “the proble
Bruce felt completely different knowing that he was sitting right there beside Jonathan not as any other person anymore. He was sitting right there as his brother. “You're gonna be alright.” He said about the hundredth time while leaned back in the hospital chair, exhaustion evident on his weak and tired face. He hadn’t left Jonathan’s side since the transfusion. Jonathan was still weak but stable, and Bruce finally felt a faint glimmer of hope. “Honestly I don't see any improvements yet but I hope they'll be soon” He's been speaking to himself a lot. He looked at his brother’s pale face, the thought of losing him twisting like a knife in his chest. Bruce was already feeling sleepy, but his eyes suddenly opened wide as he heard something disturbing. The sound of hurried heels clicking against the tiled floor interrupted his thoughts. “Who the hell wears high heels in a hospital like that damn! That's annoying” He turned towards a direction only to see Cassie approaching, her face p