After Ryan left the courtroom, the only question that seemed to be on everyone's lips was "what the hell just happened?"
Stephanie's mother stood up, her hands and legs trembling as she walked to the disoriented judge in the front."My Lord, this is an act of tampering with justice!" The lawyer who seemed like he had just woken up from a deep slumber shouted.The judge managed to go back to his seat, trying as much as possible not to fall on his face.He thought it was perfectly covered. He had made sure every information about what his son did was destroyed years ago. All the people that knew about the incident are long dead. Other than himself and his son, he could swear that no one knows about what happened. No one knows about Blake.Just how did Ryan find out?If Ryan... If that guy could find out about something as covered as that, that means... A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. If RyanJust as she predicted, Ryan turned off the car's engine and came out."Are you out of your mind?" He asked, his voice wasn't raised. Even though she could feel that he was mad at her, his voice was still quiet. Just like her mom?"I said we have things to talk about.""I don't have anything to say to you," Ryan said."At least listen to what I have to say!" "I don't have time to listen to your ranting anymore. I did that for six years and look what it caused us? I'm being sued to court for raping you.""Exactly, Ryan. I knew you were going to misunderstand, that was why I said we needed to talk."She watched Ryan's lips curve in a smile. "Misunderstand?""Ryan, I didn't do this. I swear, I tried as much as I could to stop my family members from taking matters to this extent but they were so adamant. Don't you trust me?""Sorry, Miss; the woman
Landon applied the last piece of plaster on Ryan's bandage and stood up properly. "I'm done," he said."Thanks," Ryan muttered."Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" "I didn't lose a lot of blood, why should I tie myself to some boring bed and allow some doctors to keep making a fuss over something as little as this?" Landon wanted to tell Ryan that he did lose a lot of blood, some other person would have fallen into unconsciousness if they encountered that same accident that Ryan encountered but Landon closed his mouth. Very tight. All his life, he's never met someone as stubborn as Ryan and if Ryan says no to hospital, then it's no.Besides, the last thing he wanted to do to Ryan was to force him to go to the hospital. He was pretty sure the guy has a lot of stuff going on in his head right now."Alright," Landon said. "Since you already used a pain re
He could hear Landon's distant coughs from the bathroom. By the time he got to the bathroom, poor Landon was vomiting like crazy. "Sorry," Ryan said.Landon washed his face. "How long will the vomiting stop?""It should be over tomorrow."Landon wanted to say something but another hysterical cough stopped him.Ryan pat Landon slowly on the back. "It will be gone soon, buddy.""Where are you going?" Landon asked, looking at Ryan dressed in black."I found the bad guy who ruined my GMC.""You should call the police..."Ryan placed a finger over his lips. "Don't try to. I can go to jail for illegal possession of ammunition." Even though it was a lie, the lie seemed to scare Landon a little. The last thing that could ever happen to Ryan was to go to jail. No prison would even dare to lock him up but he saw no reason w
"His business card is on the table over there."Ryan took the business card from the table. He also got the number of the person who had sent the guy."Sorry, man, but I have to do this," Ryan muttered. He took out his gun from his pocket and shot the guy dead.The guy's existence is already a threat to the guy's sister and if Ryan doesn't end the guy's life, several other people will take advantage of the guy's murder incident and force him to do similar things he did to Ryan earlier today. All those will only happen if the guy will be able to recover from the injuries he sustained when Ryan dealt with him.So, Ryan concluded as he left the guy's house, it's way better for the guy to die when things are not too complicated.By the door, Ryan took the pizza box he had used in tricking the guy to come out. Back inside his car, Ryan dialed the number on the business card. There was no answer on the first ring.
Ryan tried to examine his clothes through the glass door. Nothing looks out of place. "Hey!" The first security guy cautioned the second one but it didn't look like the second security guard was ready to listen."Of all the people who come here, how many of them have you seen wearing clothes like this?" The second guy asked."Excuse me, can you tell me where I can get the membership card?" "Sorry to tell you this, but go look for another club, we don't allow paupers here," the security guard said."Do I look like one?""Look, struggling people don't come here. Only very rich people. Besides, we don't allow payment made in installments because..."Now, Ryan was running out of time. The lawyer can be here any moment from now and that lawyer seeing him here arguing with some security guards wouldn't be a good impression.Ryan walked closer to the second security guard. He looked the guy straight in the eyes.
"You don't expect that I would come to the den of lions without being armed, do you?" The lawyer asked, a smirk on his face.Ryan also smiled. "I love your spirit, attorney.""Don't flatter me, what do you want to talk about?" "Shall we drop the guns first?" Ryan asked."I'm afraid, no. You can drop yours but I can't drop mine because you're more advantaged here than I am. You know me but I don't know you." Ryan smiled. "The guy you want to defend in court...the one who murdered someone and you want to help him reduce his jail terms...""What about him?" "Who consulted you to help the guy?" Ryan asked.The lawyer laughed. "You think I'm going to tell you?" Ryan slowly took off his face cap. "I almost died today...""Oh... You're the one the guy hit with his trunk?" "That's right.""Well, this has nothing to do with me. I was only going to defend him in court.""M
Back in his car, Ryan sent the information the lawyer sent to Cooper. He called him. "Is there anything you can find out with that information?" Ryan asked."I'll try first. I must get something even if it means going to the end of the earth, Sir.""What would I have done without you, Cooper?" Cooper chuckled. "I'll get back to you later on." "Okay." Ryan ended the call and drove home.By the time Ryan got home, his head was already sending warning signals of possible shut down. He managed to check up on Landon in the bedroom to see if the guy had not died from having a drag of cigarettes.Thankfully, Landon was sleeping, a gentle snore coming from him.Ryan dragged his feet to his room, swallowed some pain reliever and laid on the bed.The next time Ryan opened his eyes, it was morning. The pain in his head was gone too. In fact, if not that his head was in a bandage, he would have been ab
"Good morning, Sir," the butler greeted."Good... Wait... Why are you here?" The butler smiled. "Can I come in, Sir?""Of course. Come in." Ryan opened the door more widely to allow the butler in.The butler dropped the two briefcases he was holding on the table."I'll go straight to the point without beating about the bush," the butler said."Please, do." Ryan thrust his hands in his pockets, looking at the butler, at the same time wondering what he came to do."Master has an assignment for you.""Oh... Dad sent you?" Ryan laughed. "I'm not ready to carry out any assignment for him. Please, relay my message to him." Ryan started to the refrigerator. "You care for a cup of water?""Sir..." Ryan slowly turned to look at the butler. "I said I'm not carrying out any assignment for him. Can't you say that?"The butler bit his lower lip. He walked closer to Ryan and lowered his voice. "Yo
“I was coming to check on you, sir,” the butler said. “Are you the one waiting for me inside?” The butler nodded. “Yes, sir.” For some seconds, it didn't make sense for Ryan. The butler…did the butler cause him to lose his memory? The butler took out a gun from his pocket and handed it over to Ryan. “There are forty bullets in there, I'll be waiting in the party. I saw a guy who caught my attention.” He winked at Ryan before walking away. Ryan sighed in relief. It really wouldn't have been funny if it was the butler who caused his amnesia. Slowly, Ryan walked in. In the center of the empty room were two men on their knees. He couldn't recognize one of them but he knew fully well who the second man was. His mother's only brother. The same man who had been by his side and comforted him when his mother died. Ryan adjusted the gun and pointed at the other man's head. He shot him dead with two bullets. He held the gun against his mother's brother's temple.
Ryan stood rooted in the spot and tried to process the information. The girl he saved when he was eight was Stephanie? His father knew but still made a fool of him by making him carry out stupid assignment by using the Hill family to threaten him? He stared at his father. “You know what, dad? You're unbelievable.” He started toward the door. “Ryan…you are not the only one affected by your mother's death! You get it?” “Like hell, you were affected. Like hell, you missed her way more than I did. But what…?” Ryan laughed. “You made no attempt to find out who murdered her. What a way to miss someone.” “We have different ways of handling losses. This is just my way.” Ryan turned to look at his father. “You handled it in a very pathetic way.” “Thank you, but what would I have done? Left all the work and cried all day? Would that bring her back?” “Dad, stop, will you? Nothing will ever bring her back, yeah, but you are just making excuses. You allowed the fact that you thou
Ryan ran his hand through his hair. “I'm sorry I lied to you.” “No problem, man. Things might have been awkward if you told me straight up that you were Lopez's heir,” Landon said. “By the way, what clothes do you wanna wear? I could choose for you if you are confused.” “I'll really love that.” Landon checked the clothes one after the other. He took out five pieces of clothing and dropped them on the bed. “You can try those,” he said. “Was it the butler who invited you here?” Ryan asked. “No. Your father called me a week ago and made me promise to come with our neighbors.” “Are our neighbors here too?” Ryan asked in surprise. “Yeah and don't worry, your father sponsored their transport fare.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “Of course he's supposed to do that since he invited them.” “We arrived last night.” “I'm really disappointed in you guys. Abbie too? She kept it a secret from me…” Ryan grumbled as he tried one of the clothes. Landon chuckled. “Um…Lewis came with Brenda too.
Ryan stared at the worker for a few seconds. Has she lost her mind? “What did you say?” Ryan asked some seconds later. “Master had collapsed, sir.” “Where is he right now?” “At the hospital, sir.” “Which hospital?” Ryan grabbed a car key from the top of the drawer. “I don't have an…” Ryan didn't hear the rest of her words as he ran outside. A driver was waiting for him. He got in and the car sped on. “Does this happen often?” Ryan asked the driver. “No, sir. This is the first time something like this has ever happened, sir.” Ryan tried to control his knee jerk but it was impossible. Why should his father collapse on his birthday? The thought of losing the only family he had left brought numbness to his whole body. The car came to a halt in front of a big building. Ryan opened the car door and ran toward the gate. He ran inside. He stopped and looked around. This place looks nothing like a hospital. He was about to go back to meet the driver when he saw people coming out
A really bad headache was what Ryan woke up to the next morning. What a way to start a birthday, he thought. He took the phone beeping on the bed. He checked the time. Seven a.m. He had a thousand messages from strange numbers. Yeah. He's back to this kind of life where he cannot have a private number. All the messages were congratulatory messages from people he had no idea who they were. Just as he clicked on one, ten more messages appeared. Ryan tossed the phone on the bed and got up. Just how people always figure out his number will remain a mystery to him. He went to the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. An idea came up in his head. “Ryan, we are no longer a kid…” he scolded himself but still, he dropped the toothbrush and walked to the end of his room where the digital scale was. He stood on it. He hasn't gained any weight. He went to the stadiometer his height hasn't increased too. He started laughing. What the hell is he doing? He is really not trying
Ryan glanced at his father. He wanted to remind him that he was supposed to hand over the Right Life to him when he is twenty five but the man doesn't seem like he was ready to listen to anything else. Ryan looked at the men still on their knees. “I promise to do my best as your leader and not let you down.” There was the sound of gunshots, then total silence. For some seconds in which everyone processed the change of leadership, there was silence. At once, all the men got on their feet and together, they bowed at Ryan. “I should have known you guys were planning something dangerous when you told me a surprise was waiting for me,” Ryan said later that evening as he went with butler to the lounge. “That isn't a surprise. Your birthday is tomorrow.” “If that isn't a surprise, what the hell are you guys planning to do with me again?” Ryan asked. “You'll love it, sir. I'm sure of that.” The lounge was already set with tables filled with drinks. After they sat down, the butler
“Is this an interview?” Ryan asked without looking at the man.“No…”“Stop asking me questions then.”Since the spread of the rumor about Anderson having something to do with the drop in the stock market, people have been coming out and talking about one bad thing or the other that Anderson did to them. The FBI had checked his house and he has been declared as wanted but since Ryan discarded the stupid guy's body, no one has been able to find him.Ryan tried to sleep throughout the rest of the ride to keep off the annoying whispers about him flying around the plane. Some people have an annoying habit of never minding their business.As soon as the plane landed, Ryan hurried out. Even with that, some people still managed to follow him. The guards that the butler had come with at the gate were the ones who rescued him in the end.The butler opened the door to a white Lamborghini for Ryan before sitting beside hi
Ryan dropped his cross bag on the sofa and walked to the fridge. He opened it. He was still deciding on what to drink when Landon came into the sitting room.“You're ready?” Landon asked.“Yeah.” He finally settled for a bottle of water.“You're not inviting Stephanie?” “I already told you there is no party for me. I'm just going to see what my old man planned to surprise me with this time around.” Landon nodded rather vigorously. What's up with that smirk on Landon's face?“How's Abbie?” Landon waved his hand. “I hate her with all my heart. Don't mention her name around me anymore.”Ryan opened the seal of the water, he tried not to laugh as he drank the water.“Why is she getting all worked up over nothing?” Landon asked, anger on his face.“Why did you make the prank? How'd you feel if you heard her making a call to another guy and telling him she loves him?” “This is different,
Stephanie frowned. “What are you talking about?” Cathy gave a white paper to Stephanie. Stephanie collected it and opened it carefully. In it was the neatly written handwriting of her father. ‘Dear, Stephanie. I am assuming you are twenty two now. How do you look? Beautiful? I'm sure of that. I have always been proud of you and I'll always be. Your skills and your curiosity to know more is something that makes you my favorite— I'm hoping Stewart has overcome his jealousy issue and won't throw a tantrum because of this. ‘Stephanie, you are to take this letter to Carlos Lopez. He and I agreed that you and Ryan Lopez, his son, would get married once you both turn twenty two. I would have told you this earlier but I don't want you to feel pressured. If by any chance you already found someone you love before coming across this letter, discard this idea. But if not, you could try dating Ryan Lopez. If you find out he's someone y