“Uncle, it’s just for some time, promise” Damien pleaded
“I’m sorry, Damien. You chose your coat” With that his uncle stepped back into the house leaving the young man standing outside without a means to get a place
Damien had nothing with him, extra clothes, money, food and not even a place to stay. In a blink of an eye, Damien had nothing. He had no wife or family. They all turned their backs on him. He did not blame his uncle for turning him away
Damien’s father had a strong hold on everyone in the family. If anyone went against him, they should be ready to take the consequences of their actions. A clear example was Damien himself.
His father's wrath was not spared from him after he went against his bidding. With nowhere else to go, Damien wandered around until he got to one of the city’s bridges and took position under it. It was early in the afternoon and the sun was at its peak so he had to take refuge under the bridge.
Sitting there idle for a few minutes led to him feeling sleepy and he laid down on the concrete ground and then fell asleep. An hour later, he got up, wiping his eyes to clear them. While thinking of how best to get himself out of the situation he found himself in, he spotted Rebecca.
She was not alone. Alex was with her and they were holding hands smiling at each other with Rebecca smiling the most with each sentence Alex uttered from his mouth. They walked passed him and the new couple, spotted Damien.
Rebecca did not even spare him a second glance and walked away with Alex. Damien got up quickly. “Rebecca” he called, giving her the benefit of the doubt that she did not see him
“Rebecca” he called again, running towards them but still, his wife did not acknowledge
Damien ran across the road on a red light and almost got hit. Luckily, all he got was the driver yelling at him as he zoomed off which was normal in New York.
“Rebecca” again, he called
They got into the black jeep but before they could zoom off, Damien rushed to the other side of the car, the driver’s side. He knocked on the window aggressively which prompted Alex to step out of the car with a bored look on his face.
“That’s my wife,” Damien said
“Ex-wife” Alex said to him
“You took her from me. You don’t deserve her. She is mine. Just because you have money does not mean you would go around taking people’s wives”
“Well, maybe you should have gotten money so you could keep and take care of her”
Damien was taken aback for a moment. “You would leave my wife alone. You get me?” he pointed “Or I’ll deal with you” he said
It hurt his pride that a poor man, not just poor but his employee would dare him so Alex got angry and hit Damien. Damien was not having it too, so he hit Alex back which ended up with them punching themselves at the side of the road with Damien having the upper hand.
Damien was stronger than Alex who only had his money but lacked enough strength to even hurt a fly. Rebecca had to step out of the car to stop Damien from hurting Alex even more. A few people came around and helped take Damien off Alex.
But Damien was frustrated and seeing Alex insult and take his wife away from him hurt him so much. Alex had no idea what Damien had sacrificed. How much Damien had sacrificed just to be with Rebecca and he just stepped out from nowhere and took her away like that.
Worse, he had nothing. Absolutely nothing on him. Alex took the little he had on him and Damien made sure to relay that with every punch he made to his face.
“Damien, stop it!” Rebecca screamed
She kept trying to get Damien off Alex. Some other passersby tried to help but eventually gave up and just walked away. Despite the injuries that he had already created on Alex, Damien was not satisfied so he did not stop.
He hit Alex on his stomach, his arm, everywhere. “Stay away from my wife” Damien said after he had gotten his fill
Damien turned to Rebecca but she ran to Alex who was bleeding. “Baby, are you okay?” she was close to tears as she looked at Alex
Alex could only manage a small smile and a nod as Rebecca placed a kiss on Alex’s cheek in front of Damien. She does not care about what Damien thinks and hurts him continually by showing affection meant for him to another person.
Damien stood there frozen by Rebecca’s actions. Why would he get the memo that she does not care and would never care about him again? Blinking rapidly the tears that were forming in his eyes, he turned around and went back to the bridge where he was before all this started.
He sat down, brought his knees closer to his face and hugged his legs. The feeling of loneliness washed over him like the air around him. Rebecca was gone all because he had no money. But he did have money.
Damien had money. He was from the Alfredo family. He was not poor. He just lost it when he chose her. When he chose her, Rebecca over his family’s wishes and this was how she treated him.
Thirty minutes after, sirens came to his hearing but he did not bother about it as it was normal here in New York. When a group of police walked up to him. One grabbed him by the shirt prompting him to stand up.
“What’s going on?” he asked
No one spoke to him and one of them cuffed him. While he was taking the police vehicle, he spotted Alex grinning. Alex arrested him.
“Babe, please” Rebecca pleadedShe was with Alex in his office. It was a new day and a few hours after Damien’s arrest. At first, she let Damien be arrested as that might teach him a lesson not to interfere in her matters again. However, she thought his arrest would only last for the night.When morning came, she asked Alex if he had released Damien but he replied that he had not. Alex had said he would release him later but after a few hours, he told Rebecca he changed his mind.He wanted Damien to rot in jail for all he did so he was moving Damien from detention to prison. He deserved it. But Rebecca kept on pleading with him to change his mind. “Please, baby. You know how his poor people behave. They always feel entitled” she said“And that’s why he needs to stay in there. Prison is the best place for him”“No, Baby. Please, just release him. I promise he will not bother us again. I’ll make sure of that” she said playing with her index finger on his chestAlex thought for a little
It was finally official that Damien had nothing. His wife was gone. She went to be with another man. Her family threw him out of the house.His uncle could not take him in be his father and his father did not also want him back. Damien left the mansion dejected. There was not a single idea of how to go about his life.He could not even start up something. Not a penny was with him, there was no roof over his head. It was slowly turning dark indicating the close of the day.This was the second day of him being homeless. Damien wandered around for a while until he decided to find refuge in a nearby church.He walked in with his hands in his pockets then took a seat at the last row of the bench. His eyes were glued to Mother Mary who was at the front, close to the altar.There was no one in the church except him. The plan was simple, he would stay in the church until he got something to do or at least a better place to stay.He did not even have friends he could call to help him at this p
“Hey," the lady said and looked away from him, wiping her face with her handDamien stood awkwardly for some time before he sat beside her. “I could not help but notice you were in a bad mood," he saidHe kept his distance so as not to scare her away. One thing a crying lady would not want was to feel threatened at her lowest emotional point. It worked when he dealt with his sister, mother and Rebecca so he believed so to be true.“What? You want to mock me?" she snapped at himDamien shook his head. “No, no. Everyone can break down once in a while. It's normal. I just thought you needed someone to speak to. You know, listen to you" he saidShe studied his face for a while then looked away. “I'm Damien" he placed his hand on his chest“So what now? I should tell you my name so you could question my weakness"“I can never do that. You can choose not to tell me your name. It's your choice. I won't force you"They both turned silent as she began to sob, her chest rising and falling. “I…
They had just stepped out of the male boutique where Joana spared no expense in getting him any clothes she thought would be good for him.Damien did not try to make a choice. He was not planning on having a choice when someone was helping him. Though at the back of his mind, he wondered what he was going to do with the clothes since he had nowhere to stay.Surely, Joana was not going to give him a place to stay because he coaxed her when she was down. He could not be walking down the road with nice clothes but empty pockets.But Joana had other plans and she asked the question after they had placed the bags in the back seat. Damien froze because he was not expecting it.“I'll pay you a thousand a month, plus a room in my house and meals every day" she added to her questionThat was an offer of a lifetime for him right now. He did not have a job anyway so he accepted. “I accept," he saidIn his head, he was taking a billion somersaults because now he did not have to worry about a roof
It has been three days since Rebecca finally settled down with her boss, Mr. Alex. The days leading up to their marriage and the three days after their marriage were bliss.Alex was all that family was looking for. He did everything they wanted and needed. Money was not the issue with him. Alex did not mind spending it on Rebecca's family and even Rebecca.He showered her gifts. Every day, Rebecca got new things. Clothes, shoes, new gadgets, anything she ever wanted. For her mother and brother, they got money every single time.Alex gave them all they needed. He bought them properties. He furnished the buildings for them. It was a dream come true for the family.Rebecca's mother would always make side comments about Damien. It was either 'If you had stayed with that fool, we would not have gotten to this point' or 'Glad the poverty that man brought left with him' and many more thingsRebecca said nothing. Even though she did not fully agree with what she said. Damien was a good person
Damien on the other hand was having a peaceful time of his life. All he did was follow Joana everywhere and protect her. It had been a month and he had noticed a few things.Apart from being surrounded by riches, she had no man in her life. Well, one man, her ex-boyfriend has continued to be a pain in both of their lives.Joana had said she blocked him but he kept loading up her phone with other people's numbers and threatening her. He was nothing but obsessive and overprotective.Sometimes it led to Joana crying most times that would require Damien to soothe her. They slowly began getting close. He got to know a few things about her. Her likes, her dislikes but they kept it professional. Damien was there to work and he concentrated on that.It was a Saturday morning, and Damien was busy working his way around the kitchen. He recently began cooking because he did not want Joana to spend money just for a meal when the money could save them a bunch just by cooking it at home.Because he
Damien knew he was not meant to say that. He acted out of impulse. He was just tired of seeing this annoying little man called Gabe. Damien saw him as nothing but annoying. Could he not get the memo? Joanna was done with him. If she wanted to continue with him, then Damien would have thought Joanna had gone crazy and did not value herself.He stiffened a little the moment he realized what he had done. Not only did he just call himself Joanna's boyfriend, but he pulled her closer to him. This was his boss. His saviour. The one person who made sure he did not die on the streets of New York with nothing on him aside from the clothes he had on.His mind travelled to several things at once. What if she denied him? What if she fires him? What if she sent him out of the house because of this? The thought made him more tense. He bit his tongue, cursing at himself for making this terrible mistake. Joanna definitely would not be happy about this.Joanna placed her hand on his chest. Yes, it too
The shock was quite evident on Damien's face as his fist almost collided with Joanna's face when she stepped in between him and Gabe. Damien wanted to teach Gabe a lesson and for some time, he lost his sense of reasoning. All he could think about was the things he had gone through over a month ago.It has been that long but it still has a great effect on him. He still felt the pain of it. He still could not take the memories away from his mind. What was crazier was he loved Rebecca still. But he should not. Rebecca cheated on him, insulted him and her family did the same.Just when he thought things would go smoothly, Gabe came out of nowhere and began degrading him, opening wounds that had yet to heal completely. Joanna could see how aggressive Damien was as he beat up Gabe. She was happy that there was someone to defend her.No one was open to doing so. Maybe because she brought it upon herself. She was meant to leave Gabe a long time ago. She did not have the mental energy to tell