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. Second of all, I wanna sell my shares of the company.” Bruce said as a drop of tears fell from his eyes, making the divorce paper wet at the edge. Selling his shares of the company was the best thing he thought of doing for himself. But Cassie’s reply came as the biggest shock he'd gotten in a long while. She looked him dead in the eyes as she said “Spoiler alert, you don't have no damn shares with that company.” “You must be crazy! This is a company I helped built from scratch!” His eyes turned red, full of rage and Cassie could feel the fire burning inside him. But she didn't care, she had already discussed everything with her father who told her every secret about why they let Bruce marry her in the first place. She looked Bruce deep in his soul and said “You are a fool to think you have shares in the Salvator company, you were screwed over! The papers and every document you signed in the Salvator company is fake! According to files and documentation, you are not even a member of the Salvator company!” “You devil! You and your father are a bunch of Lucifers from the pit of hell!” “You were so stupid to fall for me weren't you? You should've been wise enough to know that a good looking lady like me can't befriend you without a motive.” “What are you talking about?” Bruce was obviously trying to hold himself from doing anything stupid, the veins on his hands said it all. “Me and my dad ran checks on you. We discovered you're from some poor ass background and you're good with hard jobs, so he gave me the idea to lure you into marriage. And that way, we would be able to use your low life influence and muscles to build a construction company in our name, and you foolishly fell for the trap in the name of love.” “It's not yet over! When I get out of prison, I'm gonna make sure I talk sense into all my friends that I convinced into joining that company. Every single one of them is going to leave. The company will be left with nobody and they will all sell their shares!” Cassie laughed demonically “You just never process any information real quick do you? If you of all people don't have shares in the company, what makes you think your stupid ass friends have shares? Every single paper all of you signed is fake. That company belongs to me and my father hundred percent.” “We're all gonna get revenge for this. I'm gonna screw you and your evil dad who framed me up!” “Save your tears Bruce. You'll need them when you get outta this prison and your entire life falls back to the trash that you've always been meant to be.” Bruce looked up at her and he still couldn't believe it. A marriage scam was not even enough for them, they had to scam him about every single thing he got involved with them. He had always wanted to be underestimated as it was part of his plan, but everything happening wasn't anything he'd even thought about, he didn't see that coming “Oh my God!” Bruce signed the divorce papers furiously before turning back to Cassie “Mark this day, you and your entire family are going to regret every single thing you've done to me.” “We ain't gonna regret shit! Fuck outta ma face dirty man! You better worry about not dropping your soap while you're in this dirty prison. This is where you belong.” She turned away as she walked out the door with fast and heavy steps, making the tiles cry to every touch of her high heels. “You're gonna regret this Cassie!” Bruce gave a final yell before he was being pushed back into the metals. The next early morning newspaper arrived and Bruce rushed to get his hands on it as he'd always been doing. When he saw the headlines, he wasn't expecting it but at the same time, he wasn't shocked to see as it was boldly written “Estate Millionaire, Jonathan Gusman buys Lamborghini for his newly wedded wife Cassie Salvator” He looked at the newspaper closely and nodded like he'd just accepted whatever life throws at him. “Alright, she didn't waste no time after the divorce. Cool.” Cassie was just waiting to get the divorce so that she could quickly marry the Estate Millionaire. “How long before she does something terrible to her new husband and the marriage ends?” Bruce flinged the paper away angrily and kicked the tray of food in front of him. “Shit!” The Next three days in those prison walls felt different, Bruce couldn't get himself to eat good as he'd managed to do since his arrest. All he could do was think about things that had already happened and couldn't be changed. Finally, a newspaper came after a week and Bruce found himself smiling as he read it to himself “Millionaires wife, Cassie Salvator caught cheating” The news became more interesting when Bruce found out that Cassie demanded for half the property of her new millionaire husband only to find out that the whole marriage was faked! The marriage certificate was all a joke and Jonathan Gusman only did all of that to avoid any heartbreak and losses that he believed would surely come if he married Cassie who has a very poor history of keeping her ex husbands. “Hot Damn!”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
Gernacho wasn't scared of being arrested and everything about his looks just made it clear that he wasn't even remorseful. “I'm a broke man in a world where we the broke people don't matter, I clean the floors and nobody pays me good money, I became a hitman and I got $15,000 in a few hours.” He spoke to himself like someone who was mentally ill. At the station, Detective Martinez sat across from Gernacho in the interrogation room which was dimly lit on purpose. The janitor-turned-assassin looked ready for whatever was about to come, he knew the consequences of what he did. But for some reason, his hands kept trembling in cuffs. Two officers flanked the door, their eyes fixed on him like hawks. “That crazy son of a bitch might run away if we relax for one second.” One of them said. Martinez leaned back in his chair with his normal unreadable expression. “So, Gernacho, let’s make this easy. We’ve got enough to bury you, but if you cooperate, maybe the judge will go lighter on you. St
Bruce and his brother had been told about Gernacho “He was arrested and he confessed to a whole lot of crimes.”“That guy is some evil mothafuka!”Bruce was standing in front of the mirror and he just couldn't stop admiring himself. It was a special day and the charcoal gray suit Jonathan had ordered for him fit perfectly, hugging his broad shoulders and tapering neatly at his waist. The silk tie gleamed under the soft light, and the Italian leather shoes just stepped in to complete the ensemble.“Damn, man I look good!” Bruce muttered, running a hand down the lapel of the jacket. “Hey bro, I look like one of those billionaires in the magazines.”Jonathan smiled from across the room as he adjusted his own tie in the mirror. He was also getting dressed and his suit was equally impeccable, a deep navy with subtle pinstripes. “Tell me Jonathan, don't I look like the Billionaires in the magazines?” Bruce asked. “That’s the point, Bruce. You’re representing the Gusman name now. No more o