Chapter 1

"Please don't let them take Father, please do something. He's all the family has got, the family business would crash in his absence if they take him away for a month." Melissa, Ric's wife cried to her husband.

Melissa's desperate plea tugged at Ric's heartstrings. Ric's deep love for Melissa fueled his determination to bring peace to her distressed heart. 

Despite enduring mistreatment as a live-in son-in-law, his commitment to their relationship remained unwavering, he had always loved her whole heartedly. 

"Please Ric, it's just going to be a month and you'll be granted the opportunity for bail and Dad will get you out of there, please!" Melissa sobbed even harder as she asked the impossible from Ric.

"In that month, Dad's campaign would be at its peak, if they take him he'd never become Mayor with the record of an Ex convict, please." Despite Melissa's earnest pleas, Ric shook his head in dejection, torn between his love for her and the weight of accepting responsibility for her father's crime.

"What you ask of me is very difficult," Aware of the enduring stigma attached to being an ex-convict, Ric struggled with the harsh reality that accepting responsibility for his father in-law's crime would cast a long-lasting shadow on his already miserable life and credibility.

"I promise to love you better afterwards." Melissa added.

~~~~~~~

Time passed and 6 months later found

Ric standing at the gate of the Steffanina Mansion staring at a large poster, his emotions held tightly in check though anger brewed within him.

His hands trembled slightly as he looked at the couple on the poster and read out the oversized heading "Marital Bliss". The words burned into his vision like he had been given a hard slap on his face. 

What was more aggravating was the picture of a beautiful lady holding a man romantically, he recognized the lady very well because she was the same lady he had endured 6 months jail term to see. She was none other than Melissa, his wife.

He felt a lump form in his throat but he managed to drag himself inside the mansion to the wedding venue.

"What are you doing here you wretch, who set you free in the first place?"Roseline Steffanina was the first to notice Ric's presence and she made no attempt to hide her disapproval. "I want to see my wife,"Ric replied, gritting his teeth to subdue his rising temper.

"What wife? Are you blind or did you intentionally come here to ruin my daughter's happiness?" Roseline continued to deny Ric any audience with Melissa when the couple suddenly emerged from behind Ric.

"Mother, you look stressed. What's the matter?" Melissa inquired as she closed the distance between her mother and her, Melissa's arm was locked in another man's.

There was a slight frown on her face when she noticed the haggard, beggarly looking man her mother spoke to but to her greatest surprise she recognized the man when he turned in her direction.

Ric could feel all the blood in his body rush to his fist as he turned and found another man holding his beloved wife so intimately.

"You!" Melissa queried when she took in Ric's full profile. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes were wide in shock and evident disgust.

"Melissa you promised me that —-" Ric started off but was interrupted by Melissa.

"Oh! Come off it. What did you expect? That I, a mayor's daughter, would be addressed as being married to an ex-convict? You really have no brain in that empty skull of yours." Melissa scolded Ric like he was a plague she had to get rid of.

"Is that why you never for once visited me in the cell?" Ric was heartbroken but a part of him still wanted to believe that Melissa had not intentionally abandoned him.

Hahahaha Melissa laughed sarcastically before glaring at Ric.

 "Wait a minute, did you believe those letters my secretary drafted and sent to you? Look around, do we look like we have any financial troubles?" 

In the five months of his extended confinement period, Ric repeatedly attempted to call his family upon learning about the opportunity for a lawyer and bail. However, despite his efforts, each attempt to reach his wife's number on his cell phone went unanswered, leaving him with only letters as a form of communication from his wife.

The letters from his wife painted a bleak picture of the family's financial downfall, She claimed the family business had crashed and they couldn't afford a lawyer for his bail leaving him trapped in a situation where securing legal representation for his release seemed increasingly elusive. 

Puzzled and longing for connection, Ric couldn't help but wonder why his wife never visited him during his time behind bars, adding a layer of emotional strain to an already challenging situation.

Determined to be patient, he clung to the belief that she would eventually secure a lawyer to pave the way for his freedom.

What Melissa just said implied that she had fooled Ric into accepting blame for her father's crime and deceived him while he was in Jail. Ric felt dejected.

"I wish you had died behind those bars," Melissa's words were adding salt to an already open injury. Ric thought he could bear the pain of enduring extra jail term just to see her warm smile but he soon figured out that he was wrong.

"I wonder who was unfortunate enough to let you roam the streets in the guise of setting you free because that's where you belong." It was Alessandro, Melissa's new husband that spoke. He was a rising billionaire who had managed to secure his union with the soon to be Mayor's daughter and the sight of Ric irritated his guts.

Ric squeezed his fist tight, his blood boiled in his vein as he launched a calculated attack on Alessandro; Ric's fist made contact with the groom's finely sculpted nose, he could bear to be ridiculed by members of the Steffanina family for years but he couldn't endure a sentence from the man who had taken his most prized treasure in all of his life from him.

Ric was only able to get married to Melissa because her grandfather had insisted on the union before releasing his will on his deathbed and Ric had accepted to go to jail in exchange for Melissa's Dad on her request.

He felt a hand grab him by the shoulder causing a sharp pain to course through his body, he winced in pain as another arm forcefully pulled him away from the groom with a punch in his belly. 

Another punch and his vision blurred, he recalled the day Melissa had made a promise to love him better if he accepted the crime and his pain intensified, a fist collided with his nose bringing him out of his reverie, then with his jaw and he tasted blood in his mouth as the same substance flowed freely from his nose.

"I don't want to ever see you in my life," A familiar voice that had promised to love him better barked and it broke Ric beyond repair.

"He's so selfish, he had to show his face on her wedding day to ruin her happiest day,"

"He's rather shameless, how would he ever think the beautiful Melissa Steffanina would remain married to an ex-convict like him."

"I heard he went to jail for driving carelessly and killing someone, David Steffanina was too kind to let them charge him for manslaughter instead of actual murder."

"He probably just needs a place to eat, sleep and a family to leach on as usual. He's so poor and useless."

Different guests made side comments as they watched the scene before them.

"Take him away, you know what to do with him. Teach him a lesson he wouldn't live to remember." Alessandro ordered the guards and they dragged Ric away.

Ric had a broken rib already at this time but before the men beating him would continue outside, someone intervened.

Everywhere went dark.

~~~~~~~

Ric woke up to find himself in the VIP ward of the most prestigious hospital in Avrilla city. Perplexed, he studied the vast expanse of open space draped in white curtains and beeping machines, finally his eyes fell on a slightly burly man who sat by his bedside.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Ric asked, still uncertain of his environment and the man's identity. 

"You're awake," the man hopped to his feet and hurried to Ric's side. It was only then Ric noticed the similarities, he had seen this man many years ago and even lived with him all his formative years.

"You! Who let you come close to me?" Ric furrowed and asked coldly as if he was a different person. Although Ric was in pain, he had the strength to scold this man. The Elderly man who was in his 50s was the butler in Ric's father's house.

The man grimaced sorrowfully and said "I'm Benhardt, Your father has sent me here with his sincere apologies. I'm glad you still remember me. Your father would like for you to claim your inheritance and the family business as he is about to retire."

Ric startled slightly and murmured "I definitely remember you and how my mother and I were abandoned on the streets by that man." Ric shook his head "I have no father and I want nothing to do with the Maximiliano family." 

Benhardt gaped in shock "Young Master, Lord Maximiliano had done it with your best interest at heart so you would grow up and fight back taking your rightful position as the only Dragon heir left. It was a hard decision for him as well. Please consider his request but first take this." Ben held out a unique black card to Ric.

Ric replied coldly "My mother is sick and he dares send you here. Please just go."

"Two million dollars from your mother's medical Bills have been paid but you still have about Three million dollars to balance the hospital, there's enough money in this card for you to do so. Also, you have been kicked out of the Steffanina Mansion and would definitely need a place to stay when you're discharged so please take it."

"Are you threatening me? Is this what this is about?" 

 Ben shook his head in Surrender and held up both hands "Never, Young Master but your father wants to compensate you for all you've been through by putting some pocket money in this card for you. The pin is your birthday. Please don't reject it."

"How much?" Ric asked nonchalantly but the response Ben gave him was a shocker.

"Not much, just Three Hundred million dollars."