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2024-10-29 19:42:56The battleground fell silent.
The thud of a body falling to the ground was heard, other than that, the silence was palpable.
Sebastian blinked and blinked again, then looked below him. He didn’t know when the scream escaped his mouth -
“Gramps!!!”
“Gramps? Gramps! Gramps!!!” he bent down and held Gramps. He applied pressure to the gun shot area. “Someone call an ambulance!” he screamed
“No one would do such!” Leonard who recovered from the shock of what just happened barked out. He had gotten the perfect aim for Sebastian and Sebastian could not escape because the men were pinning him down.
When he pulled the trigger, he suddenly saw the old man jumping in front of Sebastian! What a man! Was he not scared of death? Was Sebastian that important to him?
Max immediately pulled out his phone completely ignoring Leonard. Leonard turned to him, “I said no one should do such” he repeated. Max completely ignored him, dialling the emergency number and it began to ring.
Leonard pulled up his gun and shot at Max without blinking. He had had it with low lives ignoring his commands, who exactly did they think he was?
Sebastian turned to his best friend; he could not react. He pulled Gramps close to his chest, quietly sobbing while his eyes were on his best friend, watching blood pool on the ground from below him.
Sirens rang out – three police cars appeared on the scene. Who called the police? No one knew.
The following events that occurred were a blur in Sebastian’s mind. All he knew was the police arrested Leonard’s men, Leonard ran away and Gramps and his best friend were in the ICU.
As Sebastian was waiting in the corridor for the news of the operation, he noticed someone standing by the hallway. He recognised her as the girl who often stalked him in school but recently, she stopped. For her to be here now, was she the one who called the police and ambulance? Did she witness what transpired in the parking lot? Was she the presence he felt on the roof?
She did not get close, and was not completely hidden but was at an angle which the CCTV camera could not see. It felt like she was waiting for the news of the operation too but why? Or was she there because of him?
Sebastian did not let these thoughts linger long and his mind drifted back to his Gramps and Max.
After a few minutes had passed, the doctor came out and said “I’m very sorry he was shot in the heart before he arrived and he lost a lot of blood. We could not save him…” Sebastian stopped listening to the doctor and walked out aimlessly, his eyes were vacant and lost, he walked past the girl in the hallway, not uttering a word to her.
He was on the streets, walking home. It was a long journey back home.
After he walked few steps, the clouds rolled and a mighty thunder struck angrily in response to the events of that night. Immediately, it began to rain heavily, the rain beating him mercilessly. Sebastian looked up at the sky, he could hear the weather lady’s report from this morning echo in his head again,
“There will be a heavy downpour tonight, endeavour to get home early to avoid the thunderstorm.”
He remembered telling Gramps that morning to close early for the night to prevent the rain from keeping him in school. Gramps had laughed him off, saying the rain always reminded him of his youthful days and he didn’t mind it beating him – now Gramps would never feel the rain beat him ever again, he would never stare at it with nostalgia again.
He crossed seven streets before he couldn’t hold the tears in any longer. He knelt down at the centre of the road and screamed, crying loudly.
The rain and thunder accentuated as well as drowned out his screams. With every shout, thunder struck and the rain seemed to pour harder. He kept shouting all night long, letting the rain thoroughly soak him. By the time he found himself home, it was 2 am in the morning.
He stepped into his home - a rundown extension of a warehouse people feared getting close to because it looked like something that would collapse the moment you blew on it. He sat on the floor, dripping wet and all, staring at the still pouring rain outside. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep on the floor but before his eyes finally closed, he heard his phone ring lightly with a notification pop, then sleep claimed him to its abode.
…
When Sebastian woke up the next morning, by 6 am, it was still lightly drizzling outside.
He thought he dreamt the incidents of last night till he looked down and saw washed-out blood stains on the precious clothes Gramps gifted him. His head started banging as memories came flooding into his head –
“Hey dude, please don’t hit the car…”
“I will not be your bodyguard…”
“What the hell do you think you are doing to him, Leonard you bastard!”
“Don’t worry son, what would they do to an old man like me?”
The sound of a gun shot
“Gramps!!!”
“I will not be your bodyguard…”
The image of Max on the flood bleeding out
“I want to hear, ’yes, I will be your servant, master’ not a bloody excuse!”
“Gramps!!!”
“To think a low life like you would also dare talk down to me! The world must be turning upside down….”
“I will not be your bodyguard…”
The sound of another gunshot!
The scenes kept flashing in his mind very quickly in a loop. A tear ran down his eyes; he held his head with his two hands, eyes tightly shut, the headache was splitting and the scenes wouldn’t stop flashing in his mind.
He was a hair’s breadth away from falling into depression. Gramps had been his motivation to keep pushing forward, to bear those insults and the beatings, all because he wanted to give him a befitting retirement. He had never known his parents, if he did, he no longer remembered or cared. The only thought that kept him sane was the thought of revenge and a dark glint gradually formed in his eye, he was gradually losing himself.
His phone rang with a notification sound pulling him out of his trance
He thought he imagined it but then the notification sound rang again.
Where was his phone? And why was it ringing? Who was messaging him?
He looked around, searching for it a bit before finally pulling it out of his pants pocket.
His room was dark, the light drizzle outside and the cloudy sky which hid the rising sun cast a gloomy shadow in his room. He squinted, looking at the messages that displayed on the screen of his outdated phone. He couldn’t comprehend what he was reading at first. He could see the words, they looked like they were important but he wasn’t comprehending its meaning. The words went in and out of focus.
He finally closed his eyes, pulled his mind together and willed himself to focus. He breathed out, picked up the phone again and read the messages one by one:
“You have been selected for the Guerrieri trials. Congratulationi! Come to the location that would be sent to you. Be there by 8 am.”
“In recognition of your talents, and being selected to join the Guerrieri trials, you have been credited with one million dollars to do with as you please”
“Credit: 002XXXX09; Amt: $1,000,000, Bal: $1,000,010, Date…”
“Dear Guerriero, for briefing, come to the Cozy Café at Wall Street by 8 am”
…
He read the messages with disinterest. He looked at his time, it was 6:30 am. He thought about school and the fact that Leonard might be there, not to mention the police, spectators and gossipers. He was not ready to face whatever the aftereffects of yesterday were yet. He needed time to be alone and mourn Gramps.
He suddenly recalled that he needed to retrieve his belongings from the hospital, especially his bag. He recalled Gramps leaving something in his bag – he was going to hold on to every last memento from Gramps.
He took a hot bath, picked an umbrella and made his way back to the hospital.
As he passed by the parking lot of the hospital, he saw two people furiously making out. This scene would not have mattered if he did not mistakenly see the face of the girl the guy couldn’t get enough of sucking her lips.
She was the very trigger that led to the events of yesterday, Anna, Leonard’s girlfriend, and she just so happened to see him too, great!
He passed by like he saw nothing and went into the hospital. He checked on Max first. Max was out of danger; the shot missed his neck by pure luck and landed on his left shoulder blade. Max was still sleeping so he decided to let him rest and find his belongings.
He looked around for a while before he recalled he had left it at Gramps’ little post at the school gate before he went to wash the cars. He ruffled his hair and sighed, trying not to let his mind wander to the fact that Gramps was lying still in the cold mortuary of the hospital at that moment.
A nurse walked up to him
“Excuse me, sir, are you the one who came in with the old man and young man who was shot yesterday, accompanied by the police?”
“Yes, that would be me. How may I help you?” Sebastian asked
“Sir, this is the hospital bill for both patients and the bill for holding the dead patient in the Morgue for a month.” The nurse replied.
He took the bill and looked at the amount. His eyes widened.
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THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 4. I owe them five hundred thousand dollars
His eyes widened for a second, then he regained his composure. “Umm, can I make an instalment payment? I do not have the full amount at the moment” He only had ten dollars to his name at the moment. Where was he to get five hundred thousand dollars from? Sebastian thought to himself “Come with me to the counter to process the necessary documents for instalment payment.” The nurse replied. They went down to the counter. As Sebastian was filling in the necessary details, a lady walked in, looking in Sebastian’s direction. She looked at what he was doing, wrinkled her nose and asked, “Who dragged a dead dog in here?” No one responded or acknowledged her presence. She stomped her foot on the ground and yelled in a loud screeching voice, “How dare you low-lives ignore me?” The nurse looked up at this point. She didn’t recognise her still but on scanning her outfit, she was donned in limited edition wear from head to toe. If she could afford to dress like that, she must not have
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 5. Did he know?
Sebastian stood at a corner opposite the café he was supposed to meet the Guerriero guys. He was on time but he was not about to walk into what he did not know; in a place he was not very familiar with.For all he knew, this could be all a cruel joke by a rich heir and he had had his fill of rich heirs for a while. The next time they cross him, he may really lose it. He picked a newspaper on the floor, opened it and used it as a shade, standing by a dark corner to monitor the Cozy Café. Nothing was happening inside, everyone was carrying on with their business normally, nothing was out of place and no one was waiting behind from his point of view. It was already 9 am, and he considered going back home and sending them a text to meet him in a place of his own choosing. He at least wanted to pay them back for the money he spent and draw up an instalment payment plan. For someone who just spent five hundred thousand of money that was not his, he wondered where his effrontery was comin
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 6. Lecturer Grizzalo
“Listen carefully, Sig Sebastian…” “Sebastian” “Fine. Listen carefully Sebastian, you must have already guessed the purpose of those messages so I will go straight to the point. The Guerriero Family is having a trial to select a new leader for the family, not merely members. Five contestants have been carefully vetted and selected to participate in the trials and there will be a series of tests and challenges. During the duration of this trial, any contestant has the right to mobilize the full force of the family, as much as they can command to do whatever they want, however, it must be within reason and for the benefit of the family. At the end of the trial, the Boss and the family will choose the next leader. Did you follow all that?” Alessandro finished “Why was I selected?” Sebastian asked “Our vetting team found you worthy” “What did they find worthy in me? I am an outsider and from what you are saying, this Guerriero trial sounds very important to your family” “It is inde
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 7. Bellissimi Tre
The three ladies who are ranked the most beautiful in Evertrise College are always called the beautiful three, with time it took an Italian variation, Bellissimi tre. And since last semester till now, the current Bellissimi tre were all from Sebastian’s class – Cecile, Zzemona and Anna. As Cecile walked to sit beside Sebastian, the grumbles got louder and the voice of the lecturer was heard once more, “Gentlemen and ladies, one more peep and the class will go in for it, especially the rich” No one made another sound after that. Cecile’s expression was indifferent, she was the kind of person that did not stand out too much yet was never hidden. In contrast to the heiresses in the hall, you could say she goes unnoticed, yet, she still draws attention, like a mysterious shadow that is always present but somehow blends in. She was the talk of the school when she enrolled just last semester which was very rare. The school hardly accepted such special students, given that she would grad
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 8. I will make you pay for killing Gramps!
He was practising his Judo in the evening, after school when he was sure most of the school had gone home or to their various engagements. Even if anyone was lingering behind, his practising what everyone thought was loose punches would not make any difference to them or raise suspicion.Suddenly, he felt he was being watched but ignored it. It could have been anyone and it didn’t matter what their intentions were since they did not approach him, or so he thought.From that day forward, he kept feeling that peculiar gaze. The person was highly skilled because they managed to conceal themselves well from him. One day, he was finally able to use a detour to identify the stalker and it turned out to be the new student, Cecile!He ignored her initially, when her curiosity of his poor condition waned, she would naturally stop following him but she never stopped. He had to readjust his routine because of her to avoid mistakenly revealing his proficiency with Judo and martial arts.Despite ch
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 9. Sorry Seb, my application has already been accepted.
“I will never understand why you choose to bear their unjust treatment all the time without reporting it.” The lady asked, scanning him from head to toe, seemingly searching for another injury.Sebastian wiped his blood-stained mouth and asked, “Do you want a polite answer or the truth?”The lady glared at him, “What do you mean?”“Nothing Doyenne.” He bowed“Speak”“If you cared about the scholarship students, you would not turn a blind eye to their suffering despite knowing about it with the excuse of it not being reported. I dare not tell you how to run your school but if you insist on mixing high society with commoners, you have to be ready to bear the consequences that come with it, including death.” Sebastian kept his head low“Excellent! One of my best students is actually so ruthless with his words! If it were not for me, you wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn from the crème de la crème! What would your genius mind amount to in the face of sub-standard education?”“With al
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 10. Tampering with someone’s sleep is just plain evil
“Dear Guerriero Numero Uno, your side quest is to bring the leader of the Red Rats gang to the headquarters tonight. He must be delivered alive. Goodluck”“Alessandro, I just got a message, what is up with the side quest? Haven’t we been given a task already?” Sebastian had barely arrived home before he got the message.“Oh, I forgot to tell you, other than the main tasks for the trials, you will be assigned side quests at random. The side quests are different per contestant but the main task is to be completed by all the contestants.” Alessandro answered nonchalantly over the phone, the sound of a punch landing on a sandbag audible over the speaker.“What other important information have you forgotten to tell me, Ales?” Sebastian asked, his tone a bit annoyed.“What’s the rush, you will eventually know all with time, let’s just hope you don’t find them out late.” He chuckled.“For a Consigliere, you sure are careless and grossly undisciplined!”“Judging a book by its cover now, are we
THE RISE OF THE ABANDONED HEIR 11. All that was heard was the sound of breaking bones...
Lorenzo planned to completely sabotage the mission and alert the police, completely ruining the quest and making Sebastian look incompetent before the family.Sebastian was taken aback by Lorenzo’s actions and seeing the recent turn of events, he didn’t take action. He observed the battleground for a bit before he ran out of the den. After some time, he returned to the den where the battle was still intense but instead of joining the fight, he sat back on a wall, crossed his legs and relaxed, watching the fight and eating some nuts he found on a nearby tree.From the looks of the fight, the Red Rats gang and the men assigned to him did not have arms on them. It was understandable why the Red Rats gang would not have arms, they looked like a small gang and arms were crazy expensive but it did not make sense why the men assigned to him only held weak knives, not one decent weapon.Lorenzo looked up amidst a fierce battle to see Sebastian lounging on the wall without a care in the world.
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30. I would Never let you win Leonard, Never!
Expatriate Wilson held Sebastian’s angry gaze with his own, there was a mini-starring contest between the two as he considered all the possibilities.Brushing off the situation was not an option as news of what happened would still reach Country B. And if they knew he was here and did nothing about the situation, there would be a pound of flesh to pay.Secondly, if he used Sebastian as a scapegoat, the possibility of Cecile intervening was very high, judging from her disposition.If he used any other person, apart from Alexo as a scapegoat, he had a feeling Sebastian would do something to make the situation escalate even further. The only option was to do as Sebastian wanted. The boy weaved the trap perfectly and he could only dance to his tune as a pawn in his plan.With what just happened, if he had doubts before about Sebastian’s academic standing as he had heard, or even doubted his capabilities from the drama that was happening with his project, all the doubts evaporated with Seb
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29. Drag her out of the stage!
“How is it not the same thing? The scale model of Sebastian’s project is exactly the same as that of Leonard!”“Yeah!”“If it weren’t the same project, how is it possible that it has the same features as that of Leonard?”“Exactly!” There were mixed reactions among the students in the crowd.“I guess we’ll find out after my presentation if the two projects are truly similar or not.” Cecile gave a charming smile that sent millions of hearts melting, male and female. All their attention was fully on her now and the room was still.Everyone was paying rapt attention to hear what she would say, and how she would turn this project, which was a replica of Leonard’s own into something different.“I would like to point out a few things about Elemour. Just like Leonard rightly mentioned, it is indeed a hilly and mountainous terrain. One so scary-looking, it was written off as a waste land, laying bare for any constructor who would be daring enough to make something of it.”“However, the mounta
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28. Who said our Projects are similar?
The more Cecile thought about it, the stranger it was.Why would Leonard be so confident in presenting the stolen design without making any adjustments to it? The pairs were to be called up randomly, so how was he so certain that he would present before her and Sebastian?Her guess was, that Leonard didn’t just tamper with the timing of the presentation, he also tampered with Lecturer Grizzalo’s shuffling program. With that realization, she smiled as she wheeled up their prototype. It was covered with a white cloak.“Where is Sebastian?” One of Leonard’s minions shouted from the sidelines.“Yeah, it’s supposed to be a team presentation, not a solo presentation.” Yet another minion added.Cecile looked to Lecturer Grizzalo and he clarified, “Sebastian took an excuse from me this morning to get a report which he needs for this project. He mentioned he would be back before his partner was done so let’s wait and see, shall we? In the meantime, Cecile, please proceed. If he’s not back by th
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27. But they are not protecting you now either, are they? What’s the difference?
A distance away from Evertrise, Sebastian was running at full speed towards the location of the Ministries in Skymin City. It was located in the heart of the city but getting there required covering a considerable distance. And Skymin City was large.Sebastian’s speed, paired with his martial arts could surpass that of a horse at full speed, but even with that speed, it was nothing compared to the speed of a car which would have gotten him there in less than fifteen minutes. The distance he covered with his current speed felt like a drop in the ocean compared to the distance he still needed to cover. The city was just that large. He mentally laughed at himself upon recalling how he confidently told Cecile not to worry, and that he would be back on time.At this speed, if he made it back in time for lunch, then he was a living human rocket! Poverty wasn’t a good thing, and as Sebastian ran, the irritation of being poor gnawed away at him. In that moment, he began to consider the Guerri
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26. A Stolen Praise
“Leonard, what do you mean by you’re cutting all ties with me?” Anna asked, her anger and irritation from last night still simmering on her skin. She was physically recovered thanks to Wintore Hospital’s expert care, but the same could not be said about her mind.“Exactly what you heard. I have no use for a has-been, a violent one at that. You should be grateful I didn’t put you in jail for assault.” Leonard was still nursing the stinging pain on his bandaged right cheek from the injury Anna inflicted on him last night in Wintore Hospital.“You have no right to throw me out now!” Anna’s voice was rising in decibels, just outside the conference room to be used for the project presentation, “Not after everything you made me do for you! Now all of a sudden when I need you the most, you’re leaving me to hang dry?!!!” A mini crowd was gathering around them.Leonard dragged her away from prying eyes into a corner, he pinned her with his elbow at her neck to the wall, “Listen and listen caref
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25. Projects 3: The Plan
Silence descended on the lab, everyone was thinking.For Lecturer Grizzalo’s project, they still needed to do the scale modelling of their blueprint, and that was a lot of work considering it hadn’t been started already. For Gavriel’s project, between completing the prototype design and building the prototype, they still had a lot of work to do.“I’ll take care of the scale modelling Seb, you can concentrate on Gavriel’s project,” Cecile spoke up.“But…”“It’s a lot, I know. I’m not confident I’ll finish it before the time for the presentation but we never know until we try right? And I’m quick with my fingers.” She wriggled her finger at Sebastian as she smiled at him. There was no hesitation in her eyes, instead, there was a gleaming fire in her eyes, a fire borne from the challenge. If there was one thing Cecile enjoyed, it was taking on challenges and overcoming them! And she so loved this particular challenge.“That would be pushing yourself too much Cecile…” It wasn’t that Sebast
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24. Projects 2: The Wrench
Sebastian turned to Cecile who was on her phone and said, “Thank you for being here till this time and sorry for keeping you for long only for me to focus on another project.”“You sound like it was you who made me stay back; I chose to stay back to work on the project of my own free will Seb. The apology is unnecessary, don’t make the atmosphere uncomfortable for everyone. Gavriel is tense enough as it is.” She raised a brow at him and then continued what she was doing.Sebastian was at a loss for words. He scratched his head awkwardly and said,“There’s still a lot remaining for the project to be complete, I’ll feel guilty if you’re doing it alone. How about we continue working on it next tomorrow? The project is not due for another four to five days at least.”“She chuckled lightly, “Relax Seb. Don’t worry, I don’t plan to do everything by myself tonight. That’s a lot of work to complete in one night. I just need the distraction of working on something for a bit so I’m staying back
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23. Projects 1: The Lifeline
At Leonard’s apartment, in a luxurious district of Country A, Leonard was on a call, his tone was angry and dangerous.“I suffered great humiliation today, thanks to Sebastian and Anna. Sebastian must not be allowed to continue studying at Evertrise. He must never amount to anything! So, find a way to make the project presentation tomorrow! I don’t care what you do, make it happen!” And he cut the call.Leonard looked at the completed project work that was in his room. Everything was there, the blueprint, the simulation and the physical model, it was all done to perfection. The only thing of concern was, it was a stolen idea from Sebastian. He was irritated at how excellent the concept Sebastian came up with was, it was almost like a sneer in his face as he stared at it.Leonard had put one of his minions to tail Sebastian and get his idea for Lecturer Grizzalo’s project, as well as pictures of the rough sketches. The minion did a perfect job in fulfilling the task because what was bef
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22. Cancelled Sponsorship
Despite being nighttime, the city was abuzz with discussions, ridicule and laughter. Various versions of what transpired at Wintore Hospital spread like wildfire across the city and eventually the entire Country A in one night!The broadcast of the scene from Wintore hospital, starting from when Anna was pleading to Alessandro to spare her to when Leonard scurried away spread across social media and was reposted over and over. Memes were made with Anna’s unsightly crawling and Leonard’s scurrying away; wild exaggerations were added to the memes and there were the butt of every joke. Headlines began to flow one after the other:“BREAKING NEWS: Five Conglomerates just cancelled their decade-long partnership with Celestine Conglomerate. The various representatives of the companies say they are willing to pay the exorbitant severance f*e than have Celestine Conglomerate as a business partner!”“JUST IN: From Nation’s Husband to Demon Reaper. Leonard who once caused millions of hearts to m
