Adrian sat in the courtroom, his hands cuffed and his body tense. Today was the day that he would know his fate.
Everyone’s gaze was focused on him. He hardly heard the murmurs of the people around him or the rustling of paper from the legal teams. All he could concentrate on was the gnawing feeling in his chest. Evelyn didn’t even bother to get him a lawyer, and he had to make do with a public defender. The judge, an older man with a stoic face sat on the high table in front of the room and read over the case details. “Mr. Adrian, you stand accused of vehicular assault and obstruction of justice. How do you plead?” Adrian swallowed hard. His eyes glanced to the back of the courtroom where Evelyn sat, her face looking cold and detached. She had done this to him, yet she sat there not looking affected at all. "I. I plead guilty," Adrian managed to speak. There was a collective shift in the room, a low murmur of voices as the judge nodded and scribbled down something. Guilty. It was the word that now defined him. The rest of the trial went by in a blur. His mind was elsewhere-his mother. He was doing all this for her and all he could hope was that Evelyn kept her end of the deal. Her surgery was all that mattered. Finally, the big moment arrived. It was time to announce his sentencing. The judge cleared his throat and looked down at Adrian, his expression unreadable. “Given the nature of the crime and your plea of guilty, I hereby sentence you to seven years in a federal prison. The sentence is to take immediate effect. Those words felt like a bomb. Seven years. He was going to give seven years of his life for something he didn’t even do. His heart sank as he struggled to wrap his mind around the reality of the situation. This was really happening; he was going to prison. It wasn't until the gavel fell, marking the end of his trial, that Adrian felt his world start to break around him. The guards came closer, ready to take him away, but before they could, he turned back toward the chairs where his wife Jane sat, but she looked away. Evelyn, on the other hand, smiled with wicked satisfaction. He was taken out of the courtroom into the transport vehicle that would take him to prison. He took one last look at freedom before the vehicle took off arriving at the prison in no time. As he stepped out of the vehicle, the bitter air hit his face, sharp and unwelcoming. Guards flanked him, leading him through echoing hallways of concrete and steel. The sounds of clanging metal doors and distant shouts sent shivers down his spine. He was in the belly of the beast now. The bed, if it could be called that, was just a narrow slab with a thin, discolored mattress. It smelled of mildew, sweat, and despair. From the moment he was locked inside, Adrian knew this wasn’t a place for someone like him. This place was meant for predators, men who had spent years sharpening themselves into weapons of survival. He was just prey. He could feel the eyes on him from the other cells, sizing him up, testing him without a word. The first few days were full of fear and confusion. Adrian kept his head and tried to avoid any situation that could lead to trouble for him. However, trouble found him first. He was sitting alone in the prison cafeteria after receiving his food tray. He had hardly taken a spoon when a large man approached him. He could see tattoos all over the man’s arms. The man was known as ‘crusher’ and was definitely someone to be wary of. “Hey, pretty boy, Hand over your food.” He demanded. Adrian pulled his tray closer, trying to protect his food. “No. this is mine.” he said, his voice shaking a bit. “What? I told you to hand it over!” The man grabbed him onto the table and slammed him down, giving him hard jabs in the face and stomach with force. Some of the other prisoners watched with interest; others could care less. Just when Adrian thought he couldn’t take any more, a voice cut through the chaos. “Enough!” A tall inmate with a hardened face stepped forward. “Leave him alone” he said firmly. Crusher glared at the man but let him go, leaving him bruised on the floor. “Thank…you” Adrian struggled to speak through the pain. “Don’t think that this is the end. If you don’t learn how to stand up for yourself here, you’re going to get chewed up.” Adrian nodded weakly, his body still shaking from the beating. He realized he had a lot to learn about surviving in prison, and he had to learn it fast. “Who are you?” Adrian asked the strange man, wondering why he came to his aid.Related Chapters
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 8
“My name is Javier.” The man said as he helped Adrian up. Javier would come to be one of his trusted friends in prison. The coming weeks were difficult for Adrian as he tried to adapt to prison life. Each day seemed like hell, but he consoled himself that he was at least able to save his mother. But he hadn’t heard anything about his mother since he got into prison. No one from the Sinclair family had bothered to visit him, not even if his wife Jane. He was finally relieved when one of the guards called his name and informed him that he had a visitor. On getting to the visiting room, he saw that it was Jane. Of course, no matter how angry she was at him, she would definitely not leave him there without visiting. His wife must still love him. So he thought. He sat across her as she looked at him with a blank expression on her face. “Jane…I knew you’d come to see me.” Jane’s gaze swept over him. She could tell that prison life was already taking a toll on him, and part
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 9
Chapter 9 Adrian dropped the phone as his hands trembled. He couldn’t believe his ears. His mother, his whole world was gone. Everything he had done was all for nothing. Evelyn had lied to him. This couldn’t be true. His mother couldn’t be gone. He picked back the prison phone and dialed Evelyn. “What happened to my mother!” his voice sounded violent. “You should mind the tone you use with me.” Evelyn said coldly on the other end of the line. “You lied to me. I went to prison for nothing!” “You went to prison for a crime you admitted to commiting. How is that my fault?” she laughed over the phone causing Adrian to wonder how a person could be so heartless. “Did you really think I’d spend my money on that mother of yours? You are really a bigger fool than I thought. I hope you enjoy your vacation in prison.” With that she ended the call leaving Adrian in tears. He would go on to spend 7 years in prison, but that night was the worst night of his life. His chest felt tight and h
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 10
“If what you are saying is true, and you did work for my father, I don't care.” Adrian replied with a dismissive tone. “He was never there for me and my mother so I don't give a damn about him!” He thundered before walking away. The man let out a sigh. “If you ever change your mind and you want to find out more about your father, here's my card. I promise i can explain everything” He said, handing Adrian his business card. Adrian barely glanced at the card and put it into his jacket pocket. He got on to a bus going to a Niklon, a neighbourhood in Oakcity. he was going to see an old friend who had got out of prison two years before him-Javier. Adrian trusted him, and now that he did have a plan after seven long years, he needed Javier's help. Javier had been the only one he told about how the Sinclairs had wronged him. The bus ride was quiet, the soft hum of the engine the only sound as Adrian stared out the window. On getting to Niklon, Adrian went to a dingy bar Javie
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 11
The Sinclair mansion stood tall, casting long shadows in the late afternoon light. Indoors, the air was filled with a silent tension that had become usual ever since Evelyn became CEO. Ethan sat in the living room, with a glass of whiskey in his hand. he swirled the amber coloured liquid in the glass. The past few months had left him extremely discontent. As the first son, he was supposed to be the CEO but things hadn’t gone the way they should have, and now he was forced to play the supportive brother while she took the limelight. No one knew why he had stepped back even when he was rightly supposed to be CEO, and he preferred to keep it that way. The sound of clicking heels interrupted his thoughts. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. “Ethan” Evelyn’s sharp voice came through. “Have you seen the latest projections from the finance team?” He took a slow sip of his whiskey, holding off on the answer just long enough to annoy her. "I've looked them over." "And?"
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 12
Adrian pulled the janitor's uniform over his head; the plainness of the clothes felt strange to his skin. Javier had gotten him the cleaning job at Sinclair Industries. He would finally have the opportunity to once again see the woman who betrayed him. He walked down the halls of Sinclair Industries with a broom in his hand, almost invisible, a shadow moving through the building, unseen. People went on with their business and nobody gave him as much as a second glance, which was precisely what he wanted. He was just another cleaner going about his work. But Adrian had something else on his mind, he wanted to get into Evelyn's office. He needed to find something-anything-that could help bring her down. As he reached out to her office door, Adrian reached for his keycard. It was a standard issue for employees like him, a pass to the areas he needed to clean-including the executive offices. Slipping the card through the lock, the door unlocked with a soft click. He slipped in
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 13
[Javier’s House]“Were you able to find anything at the company?” Javier asked intently as they shared a bottle of whiskey.Adrian exhaled, leaning back on his chair. “I couldn’t find anything important. However, there’s a safe in her office. I’m sure there must be something there I can use.”Javier sat up straight, interested in the safe. “So we just need to get into safe?”“Yeah. But it’s going to be difficult to get in,” Adrian replied, taking a long sip from his glass. “It requires either Evelyn’s fingerprint or a code to open it.”Adrian shook his head. “There’s no way we can get the code, and getting her fingerprint will be just as difficult.”“What about you? Was she suspicious about you stepping in as a driver?”Javier shrugged. “No, I don’t think she suspects anything.”“By the way, I knew they were rich, but I didn’t know they were that rich.” Javier expressed his surprise.Adrian leaned forward, concern on his face. “What about her regular driver? What happened to him?” Adr
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 14
“Who’s there?!”The voice caused Adrian, Javier, and Coder to freeze mid-motion, their hearts pounding.They quickly put their masks back on before the guard could get a good look at their faces.“Intruders!” the guard shouted loudly, his voice echoing down the hallway. Adrian rushed forward, quickly closing the distance between him and the guard, and with two swift strikes, he knocked the guard out.Buy that was not before the guard pressed the emergency button on his radio. A loud alarm rang with red lights flashing all over the room. “Forget about the safe. We need to leave now.” Adrian motioned to Coder.Coder stared at the safe, still tempted to gave a go at it, but he snapped himself out of it and quickly put his gadgets back in his bag as they burst out the door.Soon, guards were rushing towards them as they ran through the executive hallway. Adrian led the way as coder pulled up a live feed of the cameras on his tablet.“Which way?” Adrian asked, as they came to a stop at a
The Return of Adrian Scott Chapter 15
[Sinclair Industries, the day after the break-in]“What? Break-in?” Evelyn’s angry voice rang through the phone. She had just received the news that some men broke into her office the night before.“I’m on my way.” She hung the call wondering why someone tried to get into her office.“To the office.” She instructed Javier as she got into the car.“Are you okay ma’am?” Javier asked, noticing how tense she was. Although he had an idea what the problem was, considering he was one of the men who broke into her office.“I’m fine. Just drive.” She replied coldly.Not long after they arrived, and Evelyn made her way to the security office where the chief security officer, Walter was waiting.“What happened?! How did they get into my office? Why can’t you fools do your jobs properly” She wasted no time in sharing insults.“We’re sorry ma’am, they hacked into the security cameras, so we didn’t see them when they came in.” Walter tried to explain to her but she was having none of it.“Did you a
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 34
Adrian's head banged with a sharp headache as he woke up. His body felt heavy as he sluggishly sat up on the bed. His eyes widened suddenly when he realized that he was naked. He turned and was shocked to see a woman lying beside him. It was Jane. She was still asleep, the sheets barely covering her body. “What the hell?” he exclaimed as he tried to wake her up. “Jane, wake up!” he shouted angrily. Jane stirred as she slowly opened her eyes. She frowned with confusion when she saw Adrian in front of her. Her face turned red as she quickly realized she was naked as well. She quickly pulled up the sheets to cover herself. “Adrian? What's going on? Why am I here?” “That’s what I should be asking you!” Adrian snapped. “What did you do? What the hell happened last night?” Jane looked horrified. “I didn’t do anything! You’re the one who told me to come here!” Adrian’s jaw tightened. “I never told you to come here.” It was at that point Adrian realized that it mu
CHAPTER 33
Lana stepped into Adrian's office with some questions on her mind. Since the incident with the shooting, Adrian had become more familiar with her. She felt this was an opportunity for her to find out more about his issues with the Sinclairs. “Excuse me sir? Do you mind if I ask you something personal?” she said, breaking the silence. Adrian turned his chair to face her. “You can just call me Adrian when we're alone. What's your question” “Why did you make that deal with Mr. Richardson? You didn’t really need it. Was it just to ruin the Sinclairs’ deal?” she asked, searching his eyes. Adrian gave a faint smile but didn’t answer right away. Instead, he tapped his fingers on his tablet “You think I’d waste my time just to mess with Evelyn?” Lana raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you? You knew how much the Sinclair family needed that deal. You swooped in at the last minute and took it. It wasn’t about business. it was personal.” His smile faded, and his expression turned cold.
CHAPTER 32
Evelyn’s grip tightened on her tablet as she stared angrily at the news article. The Dave case had brought more negative attention to the family. She clenched her as she scrolled the article. Ever since Adrian had returned, it had been one issue or the other. A sharp knock snapped her out of her thoughts. Her personal assistant walked into the office. “Ma’am, your meeting with Mr. Richardson is in an hour.” She informed her softy. Evelyn took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “Alright. Tell the driver to get ready,” She instructed, trying to hide her frustration. Sinclair Industries had been trying to get into the renewable energy sector. Initially she had planned to strike a deal with the Delaney family, but with Adrian taking over as CEO, the deal couldn’t happen. He would have no business with the Sinclairs. She decided to deal with the Richardson family instead. They were not as wealth as the Delaney family but they were bigger than the Sinclair family. Evelyn had spent
CHAPTER 31
About an hour later, Dave’s phone rang. He answered and heard Adrian’s voice on the other end of the line. “What do you want?” he said sharply. “I know you threatened that man to commit suicide.” Adrian said calmly. Dave froze. “You don’t have any proof. Stop making crazy accusations” he tried to sound confident. Adrian chuckled darkly. “Really? I have a recording of you threatening him on the phone.” Dave swallowed hard. There was a long silence before he finally spoke. “You’re bluffing.” Adrian opened a recording and played it. Dave’s eyes widened in shock, his fingers trembling. How did Adrian have a recording of his phone call? Beads of sweat ran down his head. Just then officers barged into the room. “Dave Sethwood, you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder.” “It seems the police has arrived. Enjoy your time in prison.” Adrian smirked before ending the call. Dave’s face twisted with anger. “What? This is ridiculous! I have nothing to do with it!” As the office
CHAPTER 30
Adrian and Javier took the man to the police station. His appearance matched the person the police had seen on CCTV footage around the area the shooting took place. Detective Grey, the detective in charge began the questioning. “Who sent you? Why did you try to kill Adrian Delaney?” The man refused to answer any of the questions he was asked. He demanded to make a phone call. Dave paced around his room nervously. “You what?” he hissed. “How could you get caught?” The man lowered his voice. “It wasn’t my fault. I was set up.” Dave’s eyes widened. “Set up? How?” “I received a text claiming to be you asking to meet up.” “You have to help me or else I'll confess to everything.” The man threatened. Dave stopped pacing, his grip tightening on his phone. “You listen to me,” he said through gritted teeth. “You won’t say anything. I’ll send my lawyer, and he’ll take care of it. You’ll be out soon.” The man hesitated, fear evident in his voice. “You better not leave me hanging
CHAPTER 29
Adrian had stepped out to make a call, leaving Brianne and Lana alone in the room. “So,” Brianne started, crossing her arms. “Why did you do it?” Lana frowned, pretending to be ignorant. “Do what?” she asked. “You know what I mean,” Brianne said. “Why did you save Adrian? You could have let someone else take care of him and rid us of the problem.” Lana stiffened. “It wasn’t like that. I couldn’t let him die so easily.” Brianne’s eyes narrowed. “Couldn’t let him die? You told me you hated him. What are you playing at?” Adrian stepped out of the hospital room, the door clicking softly behind him. The faint hum of the hospital corridor filled the silence as Lana turned her head to the sound of approaching heels. Brianne strolled in, her expression sharp and questioning, as if she had been waiting for this exact moment. Lana exhaled sharply, her tone cold. “He needs to suffer. Just like my father suffered. Dying quickly would be too merciful for someone like him.” Brianne studies h
CHAPTER 28
The hospital light cast a glow over Adrian has he sat on a chair beside Lana’s bed, his head in his hands. The events of the previous night kept replaying in his head. His hands were still faintly stained with Lana’s blood. He hadn’t left the hospital since Lana was rushed in. he had refused to. A nurse passed by, trying to give him a reassuring smile that did little to put him at ease. He never wanted anyone to get hurt in his revenge plan. If he suspected correctly, this must have been Dave’s doing. Hours later, he was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of the rustling bed. He turned to see Lana slowly opening her eyes. Her face was a bit pale but she was awake. “Lana,” he said softly. The sound of relief evident in his voice as he helped her sit up. She blinked at him, a bit disoriented. She winced a bit still feeling the pain from the bullet wound. Her gaze settled on Adrian. “What…what happened?” Adrian managed a small smile. “Thankfully, the bullet went straight
CHAPTER 27
They spent the whole day working on the proposal, and by time it was ready, it was already late at night. “We’re finally done.” Adrian gave a soft smile towards Lana. They both went down to the ground floor and Adrian moved towards his car. “Have a goodnight” Adrian said as he inserted his car key into his car “Goodnight sir.” She replied softly. Adrian noticed she was walking home alone. “Would you like a ride?” he offered. “No. Thank you. I prefer to walk. I’ll get on the bus.” She replied politely, declining his offer. Adrian closed his car door. “Well. If you’re not going to take my offer. Then I’ll walk with you to the busstop.” Lana paused for a moment. Not sure how to respond. “Oh. You don’t have to.” “I insist.” Adrian said with a charming smile. The night air was crisp and quiet as they walked side by side, the sound of moving cars filling the silence. Adrian glanced at Lana. She looked like she was in thought, her hands folded tightly. “You know” Adrian start
CHAPTER 26
“Sit,” she said with an icy tone. Lana obeyed, sitting promptly in the chair opposite her. “I must say” Brianne began, her voice laced with disappointment. “I am unimpressed with your progress. I offered you the chance to get revenge for your father but so far you have given me nothing” Lana’s hands clenched in her laps. “I’ve been trying-” “You’re not trying enough” Brianne cut her off sharply. “I don’t care if you have to seduce him to get information, just do what needs to be done!” “Yes, ma'am,” Lana replied softly. [The Sinclair Mansion] Dave’s attention was drawn to his buzzing phone, Tyler’s name on the screen. “Hey Tyler, what’s up?” Dave greeted casually. “I wasn’t sure whether to tell you this, but I saw Jane at the company yesterday. It seems she came to see Adrian.” Dave’s expression hardened “Are you sure?” “I’m positive.” Tyler replied. “Alright.” He said before ending the call. Dave clenched his fists, evidently furious. He had asked Jane wh