“Mr. Humsworth, do you care to address this man’s claims?” One of the reporters asked.Camera lights flashed as Wilhelm and his son walked to the podium.“We all know that these are false accusations. Luke and his lawyer are only making baseless claims which they have no means of proving. I’m a respected London citizen. I will never stoop to that level.”Luke ignored Wilhelm’s fake anger and turned to his attorney,“Marcus, where’s the evidence tape for the orphanage?”“It’s right here.”Everyone looked on in shock as Marcus provided a small flash drive. Luke lifted the flash drive so they all could see, his eyes burning with fierce determination.“This here is the evidence that proves that Humsworth and his company are in-fact responsible for the collapse of the orphanage.”He handed the drive over to the clipboard guy and he quickly inserted it into a laptop connected to the big screen. Tense silence reigned in the room as the video began loading.Finally, a dull, grainy scene appea
Wilhelm was almost livid with rage. “If you do not explain yourself right this minute, you will lose your job.”His secretary lifted her chin, her lips twisting with disdain.“I’m sorry, but you no longer have the power to fire anyone in this establishment, Wilhelm Humsworth. Only he does.”She stepped aside and revealed a tall, brown haired young man behind her. “Meet your current boss and the new owner of Elites Construction.” She bowed slightly to the newcomer and stepped back to watch the drama unfold.Wilhelm collapsed into his seat as he took in the person before him. From his luxurious shoes and gleaming wristwatch, he could tell that this was one wealthy young man.“Hello, Mr. Humsworth. We meet again.”“L-Luke?” Wilhelm stuttered, his eyes gleaming with disbelief.Luke spread his arms.“In the flesh.”Wilhelm finally recovered from the shock and shifted to a better sitting position, puffing out his chest.“Who the hell let you in here? My attorney had specifically said tha
Back at the Humsworth mansion, David paced from one end of his father’s study to the other, his fists clenching and unclenching with rage. When he could no longer hold it back, he grabbed a five thousand dollar flower vase and threw it against the wall. Wilhelm slammed his palm on the table.“Get a hold of yourself, David. Don’t trash my fucking office.”David turned cold, angry eyes at him.“We can’t just sit back and watch that worthless prick take over everything we’ve worked for! We have to do something, Dad.”“Don’t you think I know that? Turns out, he’s the heir to the Diamond empire. Those people own London, son. How on earth do you reckon we stop them?”David collapsed into his seat, his brain whirring in a billion different directions. “Let’s just hope the fool will return the company to us once he’s generated the fifty million dollars.”David didn’t reply. He was completely lost in thought.Then it hit him.He leaped to his feet.“That’s it, dad. I got it.”“You got what?
Nina hadn’t seen Luke for the past five days and she was extremely worried. Of course she’d heard about the building collapse from TV and they had spoken about it, but that was almost two days ago. She was becoming increasingly worried with each passing day.She stepped into her kitchen to fix herself a cup of cofffee and realised the trash needed to be emptied. She readied the garbage bag and proceeded to the downstairs trash can to empty it.The sound of her phone ringing startled her. She looked down and realised it was nearly nine PM. It was not safe to be outside this late. The caller ID read “Luke,” and her heartbeat hitched with excitement.“Hey, Luke”“Nina. How are you?” “Good. Good. How are you?”She pressed the phone against her ear as she listened to Luke talk about the developments on the case.“The Humsworths are very horrible people. Serves them right.” She chipped in.She arrived at the trash can and was about to dump the trash when she felt a prickling sensation on
Luke was worried.It’s been twenty four hours since Nina and her friend, Kayla were last seen. The police were currently questioning Lacy, but she’d already told them everything she knew, nothing which proved useful.The last time they were seen was when they both went to the alleyway. The police had conducted investigations but other than traces of Nina’s vomit and suspicious footprints, nothing else had been recovered.Luke was currently questioning the manager of the place.“Why on earth would you allow two unprotected women to go to an alleyway alone. Didn’t you realise how dangerous that was?”“Once again, sir, I sincerely apologise. Please exercise a bit more patience. They will be found soon.”Luke paced from one end of the office to the other. This was all his fault. He should’ve never allowed Nina to go to that party alone at such a late hour. He should’ve accompanied her.Just then, an officer barged into the room, appearing out of breath.“Sir, there’s been a development.”
“We’re unable to track the number, sir. It’s been badly scrambled.” One of the hackers said to the deputy.The hackers had been trying to trace the number which delivered the kidnap video for hours. Apparently, there was still no luck.“That’s not good. Send it to our hackers at headquarters. Let them give it a shot.” The deputy ordered.“From the state of the building, it doesn’t look like they’re in the country.” One of the officers observed.Luke turned to him,“What do you mean?”“I’m just saying.” He walked over to the computer, restarted the video and zoomed in on the plants peeking from the ceiling,”this kind of vegetation will never survive in the London cold. That video was probably shot in warmer areas, like Las Vegas.”“Wonderful job there, Kent.” The deputy clapped him on the shoulder and turned to Luke.“I think he’s right. This means that our investigations may not be centred on London alone.”Luke could not believe this.“Are you telling me that within twenty four hours
Luke watched closely as the trackers, the size of a grain of rice, were planted into the bag.“How does it work?” He inquired.The deputy was happy to explain.“The trackers are wirelessly connected to our central computer right here. Not only does it tell us where the money goes, but it’s also fitted with a tiny camera that even though isn’t wide ranged, helps us with hints on what the environment where the kidnappers are operating from might look like.”Luke was awestruck.“Cool stuff.”“Thank you. Oh, and Mr. Luke?”“Yes?”“Have you perhaps received another video from the kidnappers? We need a drop off location for the money.”Shit. That was true.“No. No, I haven’t. Maybe they’ll send one later.”Luke paced the room nervously and tried to do some homework while they waited for some kind of message from the kidnappers. He tortured himself with countless images of Nina probably lying dead and broken somewhere. All that did was shoot up his blood pressure even more.Seconds ticked i
Luke watched helplessly as the kidnappers drove away. Right there and then, he vowed to have his revenge. He slumped to the hard concrete floor, totally weak from all his wounds.The officers gave it a full minute before they swooped in to help him.“Call 911 immediately. I need an ambulance here ASAP. He’s losing blood.”Luke tried to explain that he was fine and it was Nina he was worried about, but of course, they refused to listen. If anything happened to him, Lord George would have all their heads.The ambulance finally arrived but he refused to get in.“I’m telling you, I feel fine. It’s just a few injuries. Nothing a bandage and some pain meds can’t fix.”“I’m sorry, sir, but we need to take you back to the hospital and run a full scan. It appears you were hit pretty badly. There could be chances of a concussion or even internal bleeding.” The EMT argued.After much persuasion, Luke finally allowed himself to be driven to the hospital with the officers following closely behind
One year later“…to end this broadcast, here’s a recap of the major stories.Former Mrs. Fiona George, ex wife to one of London’s most successful trillionaire businessman, Luke George, along with her mother, Mrs. Carmichael and ex-boyfriend, David Humsworth have all been sentenced to different years in prison. After a long year of legal battles, the court finally announced their sentence today, bringing months of crime and criminal conspiracy to an end…”A sense of satisfaction settled over Luke’s heart as he watched clips of Fiona, her mother and David being led into a police van, already handcuffed. Fiona was screaming and crying while David and Mrs. Carmichael lowered their heads to avoid being captured by the cameras.Beside Luke, Nina, his five months pregnant wife, snuggled deeper against his side, placing her small hands atop his chest.“It’s finally over.” She whispered, her gentle voice already soothing his soul. “It’s really over. Are you happy now?”Luke twisted to the si
For five long seconds, a thick blanket of silence reigned in the room. Lord George stared at Nina in shock, obviously unable to believe his ears. Lucas’ expression was filled with awe while Fiona and her mother looked like they’d just been forced to swallow a bowl full of fart.“Luke, she’s lying. This bitch is lying to you. I didn’t bribe the doctor. How could I do that when I didn’t even know the hospital until you took me there? How can I betray you like that?” She sniffed and hiccuped, looking every bit the victim.Mrs. Carmichael was enraged.“All you’ve done for the past few minutes is go around yapping that little mouth of yours and spewing lies.” She spat at Nina. “Where’s your evidence, huh? You’re claiming that my daughter bribed the doctor. Where’s your goddamn evidence, you shameless homewrecker?!”“If you’re looking for evidence, don’t ask her. Ask me.”Everyone turned towards the door, searching for the owner of the new voice.Mrs Carmichael’s face dampened with fear an
Luke’s heart thundered like a runaway train as Fiona came closer and closer, thrusting the baby towards him.When she was just a hair’s breadth away, Nina intercepted her, blocking her from reaching him.Fiona’s scowl deepened, her eyes already burning with rage.“What the heck do you think you’re doing, Nina? Get out of my way.” She snapped angrily.“And what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nina countered, folding her arms.Fiona raised her chin.“I was just about to introduce Luke to his son and heir before you rudely interrupted. As you know, my Cameron is a bonafide member of this family. You’re not. Therefore you have no right to be here. Why don’t you just give up on your plans to destroy my marriage, Nina? Can’t you see that you’re already failing?”Nina smirked.“Since we’re all here and you seem to have so much to say today, Fiona, why don’t we play a little game?”Luke stared at the back of Nina’s head with confusion. What was she doing?“In addition to being blind, ar
SIX MONTHS LATERPain. He was in so much pain.His arms, legs and back throbbed and burned. His head felt like a wailing banshee had taken up residence. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids seemed to be glued shut.“His vitals seem okay but he’s no longer responding to treatment. I’m afraid his coma might become worse. His injuries are nothing like we’ve ever seen before.”He heard noises above him and tried to alert whoever it was to the fact that he was actually awake. He tried to blink or even move his finger, but his body refused to listen to his brain as usual.“I’m sorry but you and your family will have to consider taking him off life support. I don’t mean to be pessimistic but it doesn’t look like he’ll get any better than this.”His heart tightened with panic as he listened to the doctor go on and on about how he’ll never recover. Someone was crying in the room. He could hear the whimpers. Her whimpers.He struggled to stay awake for a moment longer but his brain was spi
THREE MONTHS LATERThe day was dark and gloomy. Rydling soldiers and Elders gathered around the glass casket, their faces pinched in tight frowns.“We’re gathered today to celebrate the one person who sacrificed his life to save all of us. We’re here to witness the end of the reign of our chosen one.” Elder Tomako said quietly.“We watched him fight a good fight. Now, it’s time to bid him farewell. We tried our possible best to bring him back, but I believe this is really the end of the road for our hero. Lower the casket.”The casket was lowered by four heavily built soldiers into the already dug earth. The moment it touched the ground, the death bells started ringing.The forlorn sounds of the bell were followed by flashes of lightning and the deep, rumbling sounds of thunder. That was the king of the Rydlings himself, saying goodbye to his chosen one. The Chosen One had fought a good fight. Now, it was time for him to rest eternally.
THE END OF HIS REIGN***Have you ever gotten the feeling that you’re about to die and no one can save you even if they tried?Have you ever looked death straight in the eyes?That was all that went through Luke’s mind as he stared at the red eyes of the demon-beast before him. His knees and heart quaked with fear and blood whooshed loudly in his ears.Luke knew he was powerless without his amulet. Even if he’d trained for physical combat, those skills wouldn’t be of any significant help against Malcolm.Malcolm took a step forward and Luke gulped in deeply.“I heard Rydling had chosen a weakling to save his people.” He growled, his voice dripping with disgust. “I thought my people were bluffing. But looking at you, I guess they weren’t.Which makes me wonder why my own brother would, out of the millions of experienced and well-trained soldiers at his disposal, choose a good-for-nothing scaredy-cat to lead a war against me.” Malcolm burst into loud, booming laughter. “I mean, what w
A month later…Something was coming. Luke could feel it.For the past month, his anxiety rate had tripled. During the day, he felt followed, stalked. At night, he felt watched.. He could barely sleep these days. His amulet glowed all night and he was pretty certain he’d heard whispers in the dark two nights ago. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. His guts burned with suspicion. There was something wrong somewhere.Something was coming. Something dark…and very, very ugly.****“Focus, Luke. Focus! Channel your amulet’s power. If you’re distracted, the enemy will definitely find an opening to strike.”Luke took a deep breath, trying to calm his raging nerves. Today’s training was on mobility. His ability to dodge the strikes of evil spells or possibly, gun shots from the enemy.“There’s an unwritten rule that guns are banned from all supernatural wars but Malcolm’s followers are evil. We should not underestimate their inclination to cheat.” Elder Tomako had said ea
FOUR MONTHS LATER“It's all about concentration, Luke.” Elder Tomako said for the umpteenth time. “Close your eyes and focus on the power within your amulet. Channel it. If you can do that, the amulet would do anything you want. Close your eyes and feel the magic. Command it.”Luke shot his eyes and focused. Gradually, he felt the familiar energy begin to build. His amulet glowed and throbbed against his chest, sending spurts after spurts of power through his entire frame.He chanted the power codes he was taught throughout his first month of training and the tips of his finger began to burn. “Ancient spirits please arise. Lend your power and your might. Victory over my enemies, I pray thee. Ancient spirits please arise!”Finally, the energy within him became so powerful, shards of dangerous light shot through his fingers and sliced all the targets in front of him, reducing them to puffs of dust.The room erupted into a flurry of explosions and the stench of smoke filled the air.Whe
“How did you kill him?” Luke asked as they both settled down on the Italian sofa.Lucas’ expression became guarded.“Well, turns out, grandpa isn't the only person Edoardo was indebted to. The bastard was involved with a lot of shady people. He gambled a lot and lost loads of cash in the process.Unfortunately, he borrowed money from an organisation that doesn’t believe debtors should walk around scot free.”A slight chill crawled up Luke’s spine at Lucas’ dark expression.“What organisation was that?”Lucas took a few seconds too long to reply and Luke instantly knew that Edoardo had fallen into deep, deep shit before his death.“Edoardo borrowed money from the Russian crime syndicate. The Bratva.”Luke froze as shock shot through his entire system. “D-did you just say…?”Lucas nodded.“Yes. Unfortunately for him, he borrowed half a million dollars from them and couldn’t pay back after a period of six months like he’d promised.”Luke's heart thumped wildly as he asked;“How did they