Chapter 2

There’s an emergency.

George smiled wryly. His bodyguards pulled Thomas by his hair and made him fall face flat to the ground, then George moved closer and stood his heavy boots on Thomas’ head. Thomas’ mouth gushed out more blood, and his face had bruises from the boots slammed against it.

‘You are beneath me, and that is exactly where you belong." George spoke as he rumpled his boots on Thomas' face, causing it to swell alongside his lip. Thomas gritted his teeth in agony, his eyes bloodshot red, almost bulging out of their sockets.

George wiped the tiny stain of blood off his nose. “I shall teach you a lesson." He said that and pulled out a dagger from his pants.

The moment Thomas saw the sharp dagger coming towards his chest, his eyes turned red like a burning fire, and his veins popped and turned green like a demigod. He has always noticed this part of him whenever he is under attack. He focused his gaze on the knife, and with one blink, he threw it out of George's grip. The knife flew into the drainage just by the entrance. 

Thomas struggled to get up; a sudden surge of strength enveloped him, and in one move, he flipped his leg towards George’s chest like a pro in martial arts. He has never, for once, gone for any training in martial arts or superpowers, and he still has not mastered the art of fighting with the power in his body. Although his grandma had told him that, at the right time, he would understand why his eyes burned like fire when he was provoked, He had this necklace; she had told him never to take it off his neck it kept blinking yet no one noticed it.

He punched George in the face, and George fell to the ground. His aid ran forward to fight, but Thomas punched all three of them down one after the other. He sent a heavy blow to the first one’s arm, and it broke instantly. Then he knocked the other guy to the ground and broke his leg.

"Oh, damn you!” The aides cursed and tried to run, but they all had one leg and one arm broken. 

“I shall teach you all a lesson, so next time you don’t try to oppress a poor person." Thomas said and punched George again and again, and the crowd watched in surprise. As George tried to run away, Thomas caught him right on time and broke his arm too.

“Oh sh*t, my hand." George cried in pain.

"Thomas, what have you done?” Tricia began to cry.

********

Later that evening, when Thomas’ wounds had miraculously disappeared and Thomas was sleeping in his room, he heard a heavy knock on his door.

“Thomas! Thomas! Open up, your grandma is having a  crisis." It was Grandpa who was calling from the tiny hallway. He had managed to climb on his chair and wheeled down in front of the door.

Thomas ran out of his room, but he was being careful so he did not hit Grandpa off the wheelchair with the force from the door. The door creaked open, and when he came out, he found his grandfather sitting on the wheelchair with panic maring his features.

“Thomas. I don’t know what is wrong with your grandma, and I think she needs to be taken to the  hospital." Grandpa started this as he snapped his fingers repeatedly.

“The hospital”. Thomas didn’t wait to say one more word; he ran to his grandmother's room and found her almost lifeless.

“Grandma!!”. He called and shook her aggressively, but she didn’t respond, so he rushed into his room and picked up one of his rugged shirts and quickly strapped his body to it. He scurried to a neighbor to call for help. The man had an old Camry.

“Please help me take my grandma to the hospital; she is dying.” Thomas banged on the man’s door until he came out, mumbling some words to himself.

“I can’t help you, young man. Go look for someone else.” The man replied as he opened the door. He wore a frown on his face.

“Please help me,” Thomas begged as fear gripped him. He has never been this scared in his life. He didn’t have any parents to call him, and now he was going to watch his grandmother die in his hands. No! He shook his head and ran into the man’s house, and just as he entered, he grabbed the man’s car key and took off.

“Oh no! My car! The old man cried and wailed, like his destiny had been stolen from him. “My car!” The old man cried again and began to roll on the dust.

“I shall report this to the police." He hurried back into his house to call 911.

Meanwhile, at that exact time in Walton’s Tower, Maven was having a serious argument with her grandmother.

“I don’t care what you have to say, Maven, you shall marry Sabastian Garcia, and that’s final.”

“Grandma, you know that’s not possible. I don’t feel a thing for Sabastian, so how do I even get to marry him in the first place?”.

“You shall marry him in three days, and that’s final,” Grandma Clara said without mincing her words. She knows that the moment her granddaughter gets in the Garcia family, business it will boost them again.

Maven looked left and right, puzzled at her grandmother's sudden decision for her to marry a man she doesn’t even love. “That’s ridiculous, she thought in her mind, but Grandma’s voice got the jilting out of her reverie. 

‘You shall marry him in three days or lose all your inheritance,” Grandma said without blinking her eyes. She looked at Maven with disdain for the fact that she had not bore Maven’s father herself. 

Grandma Clara has been the Matriarch of the family since their grandfather Wilson passed away. The Waltons are very prominent in society, and their name is spread all over the nation. Grandma and her two sons, Patrick and Damon, have been supportive since she lost her husband, while Maven was just a replacement for her late father’s position in the company, and she is restricted to a lot of things.

“I can’t marry Sebastian,” she cried and growled as her heart shattered to pieces. Grandma had a stern look and definitely wouldn’t give her a chance to defend herself or even decline the decision. 

Over the years, Maven has lived her life just the way Grandma wanted it, but this time she thinks Grandma has gone off limits; there was no way she would give in to Grandma’s decision this time. Besides, she has held the company even stronger than her two sons had done in the past five years. She grabbed her bag and walked out of grandma’s mansion while wiping the tears off her face.

She got into her car and drove off.

‘Sebastian Garcia was the last person she would ever be married to. If Grandma wants her to get married, she could find a husband eligible in the city to marry, not Sabastian.

She drove as fast as she could and then settled down in a bar to grab a drink. The lights in the bar stood very colorfully above her head, resting the radiance on the chairs and tables in the little hall. 

“There is no way I am going home to meet my mom tonight,” she thought in her heart as she signaled the barman to bring her a shot of tequila. She loosened and freed herself from the cooperative mood she had been in all morning.

 As far as she knows, going to her mom tonight would be a very bad idea. She inhaled and exhaled heavily, and after she took the first shot, she signaled the barman for another shot and then another shot. By the time she was done with all the shots, she could barely stand.

She managed to get up, grabbed her bag, and staggered her way towards her car. But as she was about to get into the car, a stranger snatched the keys from her.

“I am not going to let you drive home in this condition." Thomas said it in a thick, masculine tone.

“Who the hell are you? Give back my  keys." Maven slurred her speech as she squinted her eyes to get a better view of him, but all she could see was a tall young man restricting her from dabbling herself home.

“I won’t let you go home drunk and driving. You could call a friend or family member to come take you home if you really want to go home, ma'am." Thomas answered politely.

“And who says I want to go home? I can’t go home,” she pouted her pink lips and began to cry. Thomas had hoped to get someone to drive her home, but since he couldn’t find anyone, he was forced to do it himself.

“I shall take you to a hotel, and by tomorrow your head should be clear enough to think straight,” he said, punching in the open button on the car key. 

The car clicked open, then he helped her into the car before turning to the driver’s seat. He quickly turned on the ignition and zoomed out of the premises. He drove as fast as he could, knowing that his grandmother is still lying in the hospital and needs a good amount of money before treatment can be done for her.

He had planned to come out to look for a shift so he could work for the night in addition to his jobs as a sales boy at the store, and now he is here trying to help a total stranger. He pulled up in front of a hotel and helped with leading her into the reception. She had already slept off, and there was no way he could leave her all by herself in the reception, as he didn’t have any trust in those workers.

‘We need a room, please." Thomas said as he held Maven by the waist so she wouldn’t fall to the ground.

The receptionist, seeing the condition of the lady, quickly arranged a room for them. Thomas rummaged through her bag and searched for her card.

‘What is your pin?” he asked her calmly. 

“One, nine, nine. Seven”. She slurred her speech with her eyes closed. Thomas swiped the card into the debit machine and paid for the room. He carefully put the card back into the bag and carried her on his shoulders upstairs.

The moment he got to the room, he threw her on the bed and fell on one side. He laid there and waited for a while as he enjoyed the total tranquility and coziness of the room. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he would raise the money to pay for his mother’s medical bills. He checked his wristwatch for the time.

“Shit!” He sprang to his feet, and just as he was about to jump out of bed, Maven grabbed him.

“Please stay with me." She said she was breathing alcohol into his face.