Few seconds after the call, two muscular men appeared in the reception area.
“What is the matter Ms. Lucy?” one of the men inquired with a thick voice. “This beggar won’t get out despite asking him to leave multiple times. You should beat the hell out of him before throwing him out. Let him know this is a business company not an IDP camp”. “Hey beggar! Lucy said you should leave, why do you play stubborn?” The security guard said arrogantly. Ryan stared at the two men and frowned. “I’m no beggar,” he snapped under clenched teeth. “I came here to see the CEO and I’m not leaving until I’ve seen him,” he declared firmly. One of the security man curled his fist into a fist and approached Ryan. His eyes narrowed with anger and his gaze cold. Despite the man’s imposing physique, Ryan looked indifferent and didn’t panic. Once the man was close enough he growled, “When I’m done with you, you’ll know this is no place for stubborn beggars”. With that, he swing his fist as hard as he could at Ryan. With an effortless move, Ryan seized his fist mid-air. “I have no problem with you. All I want is to see the CEO,” Ryan said expressionlessly before lowering his hand roughly causing him to stagger momentarily. The security man was stunned. Did this beggar just seize his hand mid-swing? Maybe he only used a little of his power! “What are you doing, Mark?” Lucy snapped. “Stop playing around and kick this filthy beggar out,” she spat disdainfully. Mark was furious. This time, he bit his lower lip and unleashed a flurry of punches at Ryan with all his strength. In response, Ryan moved with cool precision, dodging each blow as Mark found himself striking nothing but air. The harder Mark tried to land a punch, the more frustrated he became. Out of the twenty punches he threw, not a single one connected with Ryan. Mark paused momentarily as he discovered Ryan was embarrassing him in front of his colleague and Lucy. He attempted a trick, pretending to walk away as if he’d given up. Then suddenly spun around and threw another punch, aiming to catch Ryan off guard. But Ryan wasn’t fooled. With a quick move, he caught the punch in midair. Mark's cheap trick only provoked Ryan’s anger. He twisted Mark’s arm sharply, causing him to wince in pain. Ryan then calmly slapped him across the face with the back of his hand. The force of the blow sent Mark sprawling to the floor, a tooth rolling away on the tiles. He lay motionless, knocked unconscious, without even a twitch. “Damn, you bastard!” yelled the second security guard as he charged toward Ryan. His fate was sealed. Before he could raise a hand, Ryan delivered a precise, calculated kick just below his left ear, sending him crashing to the floor beside Mark like a felled log. Lucy was dumbstruck, she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She couldn’t believe a single man took out two security men without breaking a sweat. She quickly grabbed the telephone. “Security, I need all of you at the lobby now!” Immediately she hung the telephone, a group of seven security men ran into the reception area. “What’s the problem, Lucy?” “This beggar knocked out Mark and Godwin. He’s a dangerous man, you should make him pay,” she said quickly pointing at Ryan. The man who seemed to be the head of the security looked at the two men laying on the floor and frowned. He snapped his fingers and together with his men they surrounded Ryan. “Don’t show any mercy boys, let’s beat this beggar to a pulp!” The head of security instructed coldly. Ryan gazed at the men with a murderous stare, only the almighty knew what would happen next. He clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles made a cracking sound. Just as the men prepared to attack, a voice called out from the stairs. “What’s going on here?” A rotund man with short legs descended the steps, a security guard following closely behind. It was Halbert Singh, the CEO of Pinnacle Investment. Seeing him, Lucy rushed over and bowed respectfully. Forcing a smile, she said, “It’s nothing serious, Mr. Singh. A beggar broke in and caused a disturbance. But don’t worry, the security team is about to teach him a lesson he won’t forget.” “I’m not a beggar!” Ryan snapped, his temper flaring. “I’ve told you repeatedly, I’m here to see the CEO of this company,” his voice rising with frustration. “Shut up! Do you even realize who you're speaking to?” Lucy spat. Gesturing toward the security guards, she snapped, “What are you waiting for? Throw this trash out!” “Wait!” the man shouted, stopping them in their tracks. “Mr. Singh, don’t waste your time on this—” Lucy began, but Halbert silenced her with a raised hand. Slowly, Halbert approached Ryan, eyeing him from head to toe, his expression thoughtful. “Who are you, and why do you want to see the CEO?” Ryan met his gaze boldly, pausing for a moment before replying. “I’m Ryan Wolf. And who are you?” he asked, his tone sharp with arrogance. Lucy clenched her fists tightly, struggling to hold back her anger. If her boss hadn’t intervened, she might have slapped Ryan herself. Even she didn’t speak to Halbert like that, let alone this man she thought was a beggar. But Halbert remained calm, unfazed. “I’m Halbert Singh, the CEO of this company. Now, tell me—why do you want to see me?” Ryan’s tense posture softened slightly, and he unclenched his fists. He stepped forward, but the security guards moved to block his path. Halbert gestured for them to stand down. Stopping a few feet away from the CEO, Ryan spoke firmly, “I’m here to claim ownership of this company.”Lucy stormed up to Ryan, her face twisted in anger as she slapped him."How dare you say rubbish to Mr. Singh? You delusional creep! Take it back and apologize now, and I'll reconsider telling security not to beat you senseless."This time, Halbert didn’t interfere. He just stood there, watching Ryan with a frown. Maybe Lucy was right—he should've let security throw him out.Ryan glared at Lucy barely trying to contain his rage. He wasn’t the type to hit women, or he’d have slapped this irritating woman into next week.“Why should I apologize when I’ve said nothing wrong?” he spoke firmly."Oh, I see," Lucy sneered. "I thought you were a beggar, but turns out you're a psycho. Just so you know, this company is worth $100 billion, even if you are given ten lives you couldn’t afford to buy five percent of its shares, to speak less of owning it,” she spat disdainfully.Halbert sighed and pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket. He counted out a few hundred-dollar bills and held them out
****Back at home, Catherine and Sydney sat in the living room when Ryan walked in."Well, look who's finally back!" Catherine said, eyeing him. "I was beginning to think you'd vanished for good. Now, sign these papers and leave." She gestured to the divorce papers on the size stool.Sydney leaned forward, scrutinizing him. "Where’s the money from Barnes? You should give us seventy percent for feeding you all these years."“I didn’t take any money from Barnes, and I never will,” Ryan replied firmly.Catherine scowled. "So, you didn’t go to Barnes?""No, Mom," Ryan shrugged."Then where have you been all day?" Sydney asked, frowning.Ryan stared at the two women and hesitated, he wouldn’t possibly tell them he went to claim ownership of Pinnacle Investment.He had resolved to keep it a secret from everyone including Kim. Besides, even if he told them, they wouldn’t believe him anyway.“I went to see a friend,” he lied.Catherine glared at him, irritation clear in her eyes. “Does it not
At the entrance of an apartment complex, a woman glanced at her wristwatch for what felt like the thirtieth time in the past two minutes."Come on, Kim, we need to go. We're already running late, and you know how much Mom hates it when anyone’s late to her events."From the driver’s seat of the car, Albert, Kim’s father, drummed impatiently on the steering wheel.“One more minute, Dad. Ryan will be here soon,” Kim responded quickly, her eyes darting to her watch once more.“You’ve been saying that for the past ten minutes. If we leave now, it’ll save us all from the embarrassment of showing up with that loser”.Catherine snapped from the front seat, her tone sharp. She was Kim’s mother and never shied away from voicing her opinions, especially when it involved Ryan.“I don’t know why you keep insisting he comes. He’s just going to make a fool of himself again,” Sydney, Kim’s younger sister, chimed in from the backseat, crossing her arms in disdain.Ryan was Kim’s husband and the three
Ryan froze. His mind struggled to catch up with what he’d just heard. Kim—his wife—stood right beside him, yet this guy had the nerve to declare he wanted to marry her.Without missing a beat, Ryan took Kim’s hand and forced a smile. "I’m sorry, man, just in case you don’t know, Kim is already married to me”.Barnes shot him a cold, dismissive glance, then scoffed. "So, you’re the joke I heard about. How does a woman like Kim end up with someone like you? You appear more disheartening in person than my friends described over the phone.”Ryan’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, his hand still gripping Kim’s. The guy knew she was married, yet, he acted as if her husband didn’t even exist. Unbelievable!Barnes sneered and turned back to Hannah. "Grandma, I’ve heard how hard your company has been trying to secure an Investment deal with Pinnacle Investment Company. My dad’s friends with the owner," he said casually."If Kim agrees to marry me, one phone call and the deal could be done b
Albert’s jaw dropped, eyes wide in disbelief. Had his mother just disowned him and his family? Everyone in the hall was equally shocked.“Mom? Did you just…”“Don’t call me Mom—we’re no longer related,” Hannah cut him off coldly. “Until you secure the investment deal, I don’t want to see any of you here.”“Guards!” she called. In seconds, four men appeared at her command. “Throw them out of my house!” she ordered firmly.“Huh!”Even the guards hesitated, stunned by the idea of evicting her own son and his family. But the fury in her eyes left no room for defiance.Kingsley and Natasha smirked in satisfaction as Albert and his family were unceremoniously thrown out of the hall, humiliated before all.Outside the villa, Catherine’s hand swung sharply across Ryan’s face, delivering a stinging slap.“This is all your fault, you filthy swine!” she hissed. “Why won’t you just sign the divorce papers and end this miserable marriage? Because of you, we were humiliated in front of everyone—and
Ryan’s eyes narrowed as a man in military uniform stepped out from the backseat of the car.“General Ryan!” the soldier said, snapping to attention with a crisp salute.Ryan frowned, recognizing the man immediately—Kane, his inferior from five years ago in the military. He wasn’t exactly thrilled to see him.“How did you find me?” He inquired under clenched teeth.Kane stared at him eyes widened, a bit of doubt on his face. “General, it is really you!” he exclaimed as he scrutinized him.But Ryan didn’t seem to share in the excitement. He gave him a dismissive glare and looked around suspiciously.“What are you doing here? Or did Kublai send you to assassinate me?”“No, general,” Kane shook his head. “General Kublai is dead! He sustained major injuries on the battlefield and passed away a few days ago”.Ryan’s jaw dropped to the news. General Kublai the supreme general of the country’s army was dead!Five years ago, Ryan and Kublai were two lieutenant generals under General Hansson in
****The next morning at Albert's family home, all the members gathered around the dining table for breakfast—except for Ryan. “Where has your good-for-nothing husband gone to, so early morning?” Asked Catherine, gesturing at Kim.Kim looked at her mother and blinked. Actually, she didn’t know where Ryan had gone so early. All he said to her before leaving was that, he had something important to attend to.“He’s gone to… Maybe he went to grab something,” Kim responded dejectedly and buried herself back in her plate, hoping to end the conversation.But it didn’t!“Are you afraid to admit he went to Barnes’ place to take the money for divorcing you? He probably stayed up all night thinking about it. What a shameless man!” Sydney sneered.Kim remained silent. In as much as she didn’t want to believe Ryan would collect money from Barnes to divorce, she had no idea where he had gone to.Who knows, Sydney could be right, especially considering how confident Ryan had been when he promised t