The phone in Lucas's pocket vibrated again, not long after the first time, and he quickly brought it out to check the caller.
His brother in law, Peter, yelled out. "You son of a bitch, how dare you even try to breathe?"
Lucas rolled his eyes in disbelief. What had he even meant! "Hello, Peter. Good evening." He greeted in the most nicest tone he could find.
Peter still wasn't pleased. "Hi? Is that all you can say to your brother-in-law?" the voice of Peter, shrill and filled with hatred spat out.
Before Lucas could speak, his brother in law continued. "I can't even believe my dear sister would marry a poor sad man like you! First thing tomorrow, if you don't let go of her, mother will denounce my sister Ivy, her daughter, and disown her and her unborn child. Can you hear me, huh?! If you know what is best for you, leave her alone!" His brother in law threatened.
When Lucas was about to speak, his brother in law yelled out again. "I'm still talking, so shut up! Just listen, alright?" There was a pause, then a menacing chuckle. "Can't you even see this is the reason you don't get jobs around? We don't like you!" Then he hung up.
Lucas paused, thinking of what he'd meant. How is that enough reason for him not to get a job? Then again, his wife's mother was a very powerful woman and she had lots of connections around the city. Could she really have been hindering his job search?
See! The Mochi family were truly evil and disgusting. So terrible people.
But he would not falter. He would succeed no matter what.
How could he successfully get a job and prove his enemies wrong? He stood by the road side, thinking of his next step.
Unaware to Lucas, a Lincoln limousine had driven straight past him, and some men had sighted him. Having fully confirmed that he was their target, the car pulled over just a few meters away from him. Some huge bulky men, just a few of them, stepped down, and quickly brought out a black bag with them, then hurriedly pulled it over Lucas's head.
Whilst fear overwhelmed him, he struggled and tried to scream for help, but the men dragged him straight into the car.
✩★✩
Lucas's heart pounded heavily in his chest as his vision darkened. Nothing made sense. He heard no sound except for the quick jerking of the car's tire sweeping the ground as it accelerated to motion. Could he have been kidnapped?
No.
It wasn't right. It had to be a dream. If it wasn't, then he was truly done for. There was nobody who'd care for him except for Ivy. A sudden wave of fear instantly gripped his heart tight as he feared the unknown. He was suddenly worried about his wife. An unborn child? He really hoped no harm would come to the child.
More importantly, he silently began to pray that he survived the incident so he could live to see his child.
He couldn't see anything but he could hear some voices.
"We need to hurry up, our boss is waiting." One of the men said out, and another agreed.
"Well that's true. How about you talk to the driver then?" another one said.
Lucas was patiently listening, but they were only speaking about a boss. Who the hell was he!
"Hello?" He finally managed to say. "Please who are you guys? My wife must be really worried." He said, and none of them replied.
Until later, another man said. "Please wait a little. Our boss will see you soon."
And so, Lucas hoped it would all end.
After what seemed like a long drive, the car suddenly pulled over.
He heard the struggling of men's feet pounding against the ground, and soon, a firm hand gripped him, pushing him down. Where he was being dragged to, he didn't know. He only hoped for one thing and one thing alone. That he would be safe.
The creak of an iron door instantly sent shivers to his body, and he began to wonder who his kidnappers had truly been. The soft wind whispered what sounded to his ears, a mournful song, and although he knew he'd only been exaggerating, he was still shaken.
In a flicker of a second, the blackness that clouded his sight from the dark sack was instantly pulled off, and he could once again, see clearly, the blinding sun piercing through his eyes. His eyes opened, and the exquisite view of a mansion stood before him.
The mansion stood there as if the surrounding nature had embraced it, that the flora flowed within it as much as around it. For the architect had loved the trees so much that there was a mighty oak in the center, centuries old, and the great house had been built around it.
Its windows were as shy as eyes, large to welcome any ray of sun. The rock walls belonged right where it was, as if perchance it had grown up right from that hallowed ground. It was as if it had been called into existence to protect those who came to dwell within, to quell the elements and allow a heat to build from hearths into the inhaled woodland air.
He just caught a glimpse of the people who had, and he couldn't bring his eyes to face them. They were massively taller than he was, and their huge and muscular shapes frightened him. They each wore suits so they resembled bodyguards of a very expensive billionaire. Then, just at the front as he squinted his eyes, he could make the figure of a man ambling towards him. He was walking much fast and Lucas feared he would come straight and smack him with the walking stick in his hands.
The old man, Grover, had been no other than the butler to Lucas's family, years ago. He was a man in his mid sixties, pretty old but the man was a stubborn man who didn't always want to believe he was already old.
Grover couldn't believe his eyes, and just as quickly as he'd seen them, he was aroused with rage. He shouted as soon as he saw that he was close enough for them to hear him.
"How dare you treat our young master this way?"
Young Master? What had he been talking about?
"Young Master?" Lucas asked,
"Please let him go. Free him!" The old man ordered, and immediately, they began to set him free. "Free our young master!"
There was a light shade of blue-gray along with clean-lined furniture made for a polished backdrop while the woven chairs, light wood side table, and tree stump coffee table ensured a laid-back atmosphere. It was the living room inside the mansion, the perfect balance of approachable and formal. The architect applied hardwood floors in a Hungarian point pattern wood panels to the wall for an extra surge of warmth. The whole area was sparkling neat and clean, all around its vicinity scenting with a soft essence of jasmine. Lucas suddenly had a flash memory that he always loved jasmine flowers. "You used to love the jasmine air freshener," said the old man who'd pronounced himself as his butler. It was as if he'd been hearing Lucas's mind. He chuckled. Lucas asked, straightening his posture. "Who are you exactly?" He was certain he had no ver met the man before. He had Viking-gold hair and bristly eyebrows. "I don't think I know you." Lucas added. The older man was happy to re
The cold in the room suddenly snapped at Lucas, his whole body shivering. He was happy, but at the same time, it was almost too much. "You want me to reclaim the family's fortune, now?" He asked, his pale blue eyes staring brightly at his butler. Of course that would someday have to happen, if truly he was the son they'd all been searching for. Only, he wasn't ready yet. It wasn't really something he'd ever prepared himself for. After all, no one had suddenly woken up to the realization that they might be the son of an insanely rich family!Grover on the other hand, he begged to differ. "Sire, this household has been waiting for you for years now. It is time." In his voice came confidence and determination. He knew he could die anytime soon, in fact, he was ready to. Only, his promise had to come to fulfillment. And that would only happen if Lucas agreed to reclaim his family's fortune. "Okay, if that's true then," the younger man said, leaning forward in the comfortable chair. Wh
A quote once said: “The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.” Ivy Mochi was exactly that type of strong woman. There was no doubt she learnt well from her husband, Lucas Williams. Somehow, they had both grown to understand each other, and it was difficult to break their connection, otherwise, Ivy would not have still been married to him. Her skin was copper-brown, like a windfall autumn leaf and her eyes were bliss of wonders with an electrifying smile that made Lucas fall in love with her. Ivy's hair was coral-black and it crashed over her shoulders. She had been blessed with a smoldering, doe-brown eyes and a queenly figure. She had been waiting patiently for her husband's returns, and since she trusted him, she knew he would be fine. They never kept secrets from each other, so her min
The door creaked open, and just in that moment, her mother rushed out in anger, pushing Lucas out of her way. "Get out you filthy rag! Bitter excuse of a son in law..." She muttered on her way outside. Ivy was furious. A bit more related to frustration in fact. Her mother never acknowledged her and respected her, and it was a sad fact to Ivy. Which mother doesn't acknowledge her daughter's wishes and even tries to make them come true? When she turned—which she didn't even have to—the face of her husband smiled wearily at her. "Where have you been?" A tinge of anger mixed with her tone of voice. Lucas managed his way over to her, then, displeased by the frown on her face, his hand met with her face to dry the tears away. "I'm sorry, I received a news." He said, as casual as he could. But his wife was not moved. "I received a call from my mother, she said there was a problem." Still wearing the frown, Ivy managed to say to her husband. They never kept secrets, so she knew
Peter passed down the message to his sister and she couldn't believe her eyes. Her mother, Blanche was an arrogant and proud woman, and the thought of her having to give up the position of the family CEO must had absolutely displeased her. The family was truly in trouble. No matter how arrogant and pompous Blanche could be, she was still her mother. She still felt pity for the woman. Lucas had been staring from over the room's entrance, the petrified face on his wife's face. He also over heard their conversation, and that was when it suddenly hit him. He was going to make his wife the CEO of her family. "My love?" He said, finally announcing his presence. "Are you alright? What is the matter?" "It's my mother. She's really in trouble. The entire family is!" Her eyes misted over and a sob rose in her throat. "I feel numb with disappointment, Lucas." She said, finally admitting to her husband. "You know I'm working now. It'll be fine, I promise." Lucas promised, hoping he could
Lucas purposely played dumb in front of his family in law, but told his wife how to place the bid. He told her to trust him, announcing to her that he found a job at the same company her brother had been talking about, and that he has inner information. That Monday morning, he had hurried straight to work, and entrusted his wife to place the bid. Of course she didn't understand anything, but she would have to trust her husband. She trusted Lucas with her life. She was not sure about Lucas's instruction, but having decided to trust him at last, she placed the bid for her family without noticing the others. ✩★✩ Thirty minutes later after Lucas had left work, he was already home. To his surprise, his wife hadn't been the only one at home. "Blanche? What is my mother in law doing here now?" The word shockingly emitted from his lips as a soft whisper as soon as he opened the door to catch her view. She was scolding Ivy, as usual. And her bodyguard—and son!—Peter, had been standing
"I have told my wife to place the bid. And here's my proposal. If she wins, you must all promise to make Ivy over here," he paused to steal a glance at her, and the worried state on her face propelled him to speak faster, "the family CEO, and never ever, mention us divorcing again." "And if she doesn't win?" Said Peter, almost instantly. He was losing his patience already. "Then, I'll leave her and never bother this family ever again." There was a loud gasp from Ivy, a slender hand covered on her opened mouth. This reaction followed a raucous laughter from Blanche, and Peter followed in the footsteps of his mother. Her mouth twitched with a smile, and let out a triumphant yelp. "Oh... So you, you want to tell me that... Seriously?" Another series of thundering laughter followed. "You think that she would win? That you can win this bet? Ha!" A faint tremor of amusement was on his lips. Lucas watched in silence all through their drama. He was certain that his wife would win.
Ivy sat next to her husband, fingers crossed and silently prayed the bid would be in their favor. She glanced over to her mother and saw that she had a smug smile plastered across her face, probably pleased that they would lose the dare.Lucas on the other hand looked completely calm, he must have really high hopes in his connections. She just hoped he knew what he was doing.They all sat patiently awaiting the announcement of the winner but the announcer never mentioned it, instead he kept going around in circles, refusing to reach the essence of the matter. "On behalf of our generous CEO, Mr Williams, I say a big thank you to all the individuals who took part in this bidding and I hope that even after the results are out, your relationship with the House of Freddie will continue to flourish and to those who didn't take part in this bidding, we hope to see you all next time."Peter and his mother leaned forward in anticipation of the winner announcement but the secretary kept going b
"Lucas! Lucas!! You'll never guess what doctor Julie told me!""Okay." He replied casually and went back to the show he was watching."You're supposed to guess." She hit him on the chest."But you said I'll never guess what it is.""You were supposed to be more interested, darn it!""Right sorry. What did she say?""I'm not telling you anymore." She pouted and folded her arms."Aw come on, tell me.""No.""Come on, okay I'm sorry.""No. I'm not telling you. You'll have to wait nine months to see for yourself."She watched eagerly as his face went from confusion to excitement while he did the math. "Nine months- wait, you're pregnant?!""Yes!""Oh my goodness, that's wonderful.""I know.""Congratulations to us!""Yeah! I'm gonna be a mom… again.""Come on, let's call the guys so we can celebrate."★★★"Hey sis,""Peter?" Ivy's eyes widened as she saw her brother after all these months."Long time no see huh?""Oh come here." She pulled him in for a hug. "How've you been?""Good, I see
"Ivy, there's something important I would like to talk to you about.""Okay, go on.""I need to ask you a favor.""Anything honey.""Okay. I want you to be my next of kin.""What?""You know, in case anything bad happens to me-""No, zip it!""What? why?""Why the hell are you sounding like that?""Sounding like what?""Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Grover already did his worst and he failed terribly. The court has officially given you full rights over your parents fortune again, so why the hell would you talk like this?""I don't know. I just can't help but feel that Grover hasn't done his worst.""Well let him, we're going to be fine. Lucas , we have come a long way. Just look at all the nemesis you've had over the years . Smelly Andreas, yellow diamond guy, your COO- turned nemesis- turned best friend, my mother… and yet, none of them could defeat you.He's just a butler, he can't do anything. All that power he had was when he was in control of your wealth, he doesn't hav
"So, what are you planning on doing about the super mall? I mean, you can't just leave it vacant forever."Ivy was right, he hadn't really had the time to worry about it due to all the recent events that had been happening in his life. "You're right. What do you think we should do?" He threw the question back at her."I don't know. But for starters, I think you should probably employ some staff there. At least get some people to make you money.""I guess you're right. Do you have anyone in mind?""Um no, I actually don't. But I'm sure if you let your staff at the company know, they could make some recommendations.""That's true, I almost forgot I had a company.""Hehe, that's what happens when you're too rich." The couple laughed at her joke, forgetting their troubles for a brief moment. Moments like this.His life would be unbearable if it wasn't for moments like this. The time where they would just forget about their worries, times when they would pretend like their world was okay
Mia stretched as she stirred from her nap. She slowly sat up, yawning slightly."Did you enjoy your nap?"She smiled as she noticed detective Jones. "Yes, I did." She replied energetically, nodding her head."Good to know." He barely knew her but detective Jones found that he was already getting attached to her. Everything about her was utterly cute, her tiny voice, the way she smiled, the way she walked and even the way she snored lightly in her sleep.She folded her legs on the couch and hugged them to close her chest. "Now I'm hungry." She pouted as she rested her head on her knees.He laughed at her comment as he moved to sit next to her. "Well what do you want to eat?""I don't know, can we order pizza?""Sure."When the pizza finally arrived, she accepted it eagerly and rushed to the living room to show it to him. "Pizza's here.""Great." She set the pizza on the center table as he went to get drinks from the kitchen."How's master Lucas doing?" She asked with her mouth half ful
"What?!!" Grover barked at a young man who immediately dropped to his knees."I…I am truly sorry sir. They actually believed me at first, but then… uh…" The man stammered, unable to speak calmly."Will you quit stuttering and tell me what happened?!" The young man quavered at the sound of his voice."I'll tell you what happened." Festus intervened. "Milo! That son of a bitch double crossed us." He spat out, his face scrunched up in displeasure."Milo? Is he unaware that his wife works with us?""Of course not!. Haven't we all been in on this from the very begining?""How dare that nobody try to double cross me?""We have to teach him a lesson.""Of course we will. But first, you." He turned to the young man who was still on his knees."B… but s.. sir… I… I'm innocent.""Are you now? I gave you a simple task. Get the people to see the bad side of him, I even told you what to say… and yet you failed woefully. Can you see now that you deserve to be punished?""Please sir, I didn't do any
"What?!!" Grover barked at a young man who immediately dropped to his knees."I…I am truly sorry sir. They actually believed me at first, but then… uh…" The man stammered, unable to speak calmly."Will you quit stuttering and tell me what happened?!" The young man quivered at the sound of his voice."I'll tell you what happened." Festus intervened. "Milo! That son of a bitch double crossed us." He spat out, his face scrunched up in displeasure."Milo? Is he unaware that his wife works with us?""Of course not!. Haven't we all been in on this from the very beginning?""How dare that nobody try to double cross me?""We have to teach him a lesson."Detective Jones saw his opponent draw a weapon but he was too focused on the little lady in front of him to do anything about it. He felt the bullet pierce through his stomach and he clutched the wound, trying to minimize the bleeding. It wasn't the first time he would be getting shot but somehow, the pain was different this time around, prob
"You keep saying he won't show up, what are we going to do if he does? That boy can be unpredictable, you know.""Relax Festus, I already said he won't show up. And even if he does,I already have a plan for that as well. You know my dear friend, rumors are so easily spread among people,and our young friend here has some dirty rumors about him… all we have to do is dig it up.""Right, I see what you mean. We get someone to bring up all the rumors that had been spread before, and thanks to Marco Platana, we have quite a lot.""Exactly!""You know, now I actually hope he shows up. So I can watch him get really humiliated.""Indeed. And we'll be there to watch it all happen."★★★The announcer called his name and Lucas froze up. It was actually happening, he was the winner. He was getting an award.As he made his way to the stage, he noticed that some people were staring at him. Some with shock, some with envy, others just stared, wide eyed and expressionless.He took the mike and decide
"Mother, hey, it is so nice of you to show up." Ivy said with a fake smile as she approached the woman who birthed her. "You know, it warms my heart that you two are here to support Lucas as well."Blanche's response was a hard glare and she scoffed at her daughter's words. "Oh Please, you know why your brother and I are here.""Of course, you are here to support your loving daughter and her hardworking husband.""Ivy–""It's okay mother, you don't have to say anything. I know exactly how you feel." Ivy was loving the look her mother had on her face, taunting her was making her feel so much better. Ivy was very unsure about the outcome of the event as well but she had been trying to put on a brave facade to reassure her husband. While it was true that Lucas was a good person and he always did the right thing, it was also very true that the world was a cruel place. And in some unfortunate situations, good people tend to suffer unjustly… especially if they were going up against powerf
Detective Jones saw his opponent draw a weapon but he was too focused on the little lady in front of him to do anything about it. He felt the bullet pierce through his stomach and he clutched the wound, trying to minimize the bleeding. It wasn't the first time he would be getting shot but somehow, the pain was different this time around, probably the brand of the pistol was a high one. Slowly, his legs gave in and it was suddenly impossible for him to stand. He went down on his knees as he felt his blood wetting his shirt and down to his pants. He was losing blood… and he was losing too much of it. From the corner or his eyes, he noticed his attackers running off, probably to prevent people from seeing them and the young lady ran towards him.He tried to lay down gently, to prevent himself from hitting his head on the hard ground or else that could cause another crucial injury. Before he lost the strength to stay awake, he noticed her making a call. Hopefully, if the ambulance arr