"Stop." Cory said to the cab driver. The cab pulled over at the front of a shabby building. He got down from the cab and paid. He walked away as the cab drove off. He headed towards the building. It was a small bungalow. Its exterior was very unkempt. The flowers at the front of the building were outgrown and mingled with weeds. Everything seemed really terrible. He walked to the door and gently pushed it open. But instead, the door fell out of the way, making a very loud noise. This startled Cory himself. The last time he was here, the door was intact and very strong. What had happened since then? He could only but wonder. Walking into the parlor, everything was displaced. There was food thrown everywhere. Clothes slashing across the sofa, a spoon at the top of the olden TV. He almost tripped over a stool that he didn't see when he stepped in. If it was not because of the stream of light coursing through the broken window of the parlor, he probably wouldn't be able to see anyth
Cory's presence when he got to the door intrigued the group of men who were about to march into the parlor. He stopped at the doorstep, looking from one person to the other. There were five of the men. Cory shut his eyes for a while as he tried to suppress all the combustion of emotions rippling in his body. He needed to figure out what the situation was before deciding how to eventually react to it. "Who is this?" One of the men asked with a tone of mockery. Cory still didn't react, yet he was at the door, staring at them. "Are you deaf or something?! Our boss just asked you a question, and you would just stand there and say nothing?!" One of the men barked at Cory. Cory took a glance at the person who had barked at him. Then he slowly looked away at the person who was referred to as the boss. His eyes lingered on the boss for a while. Suddenly, a screen appeared right in front of Cory. [Ping! Odds Clearer loading.][Ping! Cuprit details loaded.]>> Donald Richie >> 42 years
Cory stopped by the roadside as he scanned the road for a cab. There was no cab at all in sight. Mara was still in his arms. He held her tightly with one arm as he waved the other to attract a cab. Luckily, he saw a cab coming his way. He started to wave even more frantically. It would seem as though he was looking to part ways with his own arm. The cab stopped. He opened the door and stepped in. "I'm going to the popular estate. I'm sorry, I don't know the name." Cory said to the cab driver. "Do you mean Eagleville estate?" The man asked, looking through the mirror. "Eagleville?" Cory wondered. The only Eagleville he knew was the mall he just bought. He threw the thoughts off. It could just be a coincidence. Even people have the same names to talk more of places. Plus, this was not a time for him to be distracted by such thoughts. "Yes, I think so." Cory answered. "That's the only popular estate around here. Does it have the Lush restaurant or ---" The man suddenly stopped ta
Cory was quite stunned by the reaction of Elaine. He didn't know how to place it. He just kept staring, trying to figure out the possibility of the events. Elaine was all over Mara now. She was sobbing as she held on to the face of the blind girl. Cory stood aloof quite gobsmacked, still struggling to understand. He was waiting for them to have a breathing space so that he could finally get the question out, but there didn't seem to be a loophole at all. Elaine looked like someone who had been waiting for this moment all her life. "Where have you been? What happened to you? Are you alright? Who did this to you?" Elaine was running from one sequence of question to the other. She didn't seem like she cared about the response to the question. Instead, she was just curious and jumpy. From her reactions, it was obvious that she was having trouble with her emotions. Initially, Cory had wanted to take Mara to the penthouse and get her cleaned up. At this moment, he thought that this wou
Cory inspected the stranger carefully. It wasn't the man from the restaurant. It was not that man who belonged to the bronze party. It was a total stranger. "Excuse me, may I help you?" Cory called the person. "I'm in a haste. If you need my attention, you need to speak up quickly." He didn't hide his intentions. The stranger started to move closer to him. Cory's squinted his eyes as the stranger approached him. The closer the stranger approached, the clearer the details were. It was a very old man. Like someone's grandfather. But that was not all. The old man looked tipsy, really drunk. His walk steps gave him away. As Cory stared at the man in confusion, he noticed that there was a mark on the forehead of the man. The mark looked like the mark of a wound but dried, yet it was very obvious. It was as though the healed wound had a highlight. Cory really didn't know how to explain how weird it was. "Sir? Did you lose your way?" Cory asked. Although he was in a haste, yet he would
Cory had been beaten almost to a pulp, yet he didn't retaliate. He could feel pain in every corner of his face. At one point, it felt like his eyes would fly out of his head. The pain scaled altitudes and became even more excruciating. A flying kick came out of nowhere and finally unbalanced him. He fell away, landing on his back. He almost crushed his head against the hard floor, but somehow, his instinct helped him evade the chaos. He was breathing heavily and was hardly able to catch his breath. His body was positioned towarsd the sky, and he could see the dark lining of clouds idling in the well-lit sky. He heard approaching footsteps headed in his direction. He didn't need to be told to know whom it was. Of course it was the old man! The old man who has been beating him all along. He had allowed all these beatings. He had allowed the old man to exhaust his skills and power on him. No matter how hard Cory thought about it, he didn't see himself lifting his hand against such an
Cory turned in the same instance in the direction of the voice. He took a firm stance in case it was another call of battle. But when he saw who it was, he dropped the vigor. Walking towards him was Elaine. She looked quite worried and annoyed at the same time. The fusion of both emotions on her face made her look quite funny. Cory was almost tempted to laugh because of her face, but he couldn't fuel the mirth. His mind was too bothered and boggled to entertain such a light feeling. "Where have you been? Where did you go?" Elaine stopped right in front of him, akimbo. Her face stiffened even more, making it very hard for Cory to hold it in. To distract the odds, Cory looked away from her. When he looked away, his gaze fell on the box of meals. Something hit it at once. "Oh shit! Mara. Her food!" Cory finally remembered. "Now you know? Why did you leave both of us alone? You couldn't even inform either of us before leaving? Is that the right way to -"Cory picked up the box and
Anna had just finished answering a call. She looked a little bit stunned as she let the phone slide down her ear. It was quite obvious she was passing thoughts around quickly in her head. Without uttering a word, she turned around and headed out of the exotically furnished room. She headed through the hallway and into the elevator. The elevator led to another hallway, which led to a very spacious living room. There were several art of marital artists hung in several corners of the living room. Anna did not stop in her tracks until she walked into a group of people. A couple of the board members of the Eagleville mall were present in the mansion, discussing the aftermath of Cory's ridiculous purchase. "Sorry to interrupt." Anna stopped in the midst of the group. All the men lifted their heads at once. None of them seemed to hold contempt against her anymore. Just a couple of hours ago, Cory had announced her as the manager of the mall in the presence of everyone. Wasn't it only ri