“Frozen as how?!” Paul yelled.
“I understand your frustration, sir, but I suggest you calm down because you are making a noise and disturbing the other customers,” said the banker who Paul yelled at. Paul looked at the other customers and saw the embarrassed and annoyed expressions they had towards him. “What the hell is wrong with that guy? Can’t he address his issues more calmly?” “Does he think he’s in his living room or something?” “And here I was thinking that he was a cool guy, but he’s just a hothead with a loud mouth and what is this about his account being frozen?” The other customers started gossiping about Paul, which infuriated him more and made Mary feel embarrassed standing next to him. Paul turned away from all of them and focused on the banker who he had decided to pour all of his anger on. “Who gives two shits about these other idiots?! I’m a fucking multimillionaire, which means that I’m the most important person in this goddamn bank, so you better treat me like it!” Paul threatened. “Sir, nobody is saying you aren’t an important customer, but if you don’t calm down right now I’ll be left with no choice but to call security on you,” the banker said, and Paul chuckled. He remembered all the guards in the bank, especially the two security guards he met outside, Melvin and Owen, who he had basically bought with his ways of giving money whenever he came to the bank, and he became even more confident. “I don’t care if you call the president of the entire fucking country! You’re going to fix this nonsense and reactivate my account if you know what’s good for you or else!” Paul grabbed the banker’s collar and yelled. The ruckus had gone on for too long, and it had become so embarrassing that Mary tried to get Paul to calm down as a way to save face. “Baby, please listen to him and relax a little. I’m sure that this is all a simple mistake that can be fixed with—“ Mary said as she held Paul’s arm. She thought that her feminine voice and charm were going to be able to pierce through Paul’s rage, but sadly, she got a rude awakening. Not wanting to hear any nonsense from her, Paul grabbed her dress by the shoulder strap and glared at her. “Who told you that you could open your mouth and tell ME to calm down, huh, you stupid bitch?!” Paul asked angrily. “B-but baby, I thought I could just—“ Mary stuttered, but Paul interrupted her. “I asked you a question, you dumb bimbo? Who gave you the guts to think that you could tell me what to do? Did you forget that I’m the one who made you and your job is to shut up and be pretty?” “Babe, you’re frightening me,” Mary said with a scared look on her face. “Oh, shut up and get out of my sight!” Paul pushed her away, causing the strap on her dress to tear as her heel broke, and she fell on the floor. Because of the type of dress it was, the moment the strap was no longer functional, Mary’s breast became exposed for everyone to see. “Look at that!” “I can’t believe what I’m seeing!” The other customers said as they took out their phones and started taking pictures and videos of Mary. It took some seconds for Mary, who was in pain, to realize what was happening and when she looked down at her damaged dress, she shouted and rushed to cover herself. Mary looked at Paul to give her his jacket so she could cover herself, but the man who didn’t care ignored her and focused on the banker. “Do you know how much I have in this bank? Millions upon millions of dollars and you’re telling me that I can’t access them? Do you want to die right now?” Paul asked. “I’m sorry, sir, but your account was flagged for fraudulent activities and until we get to the bottom of it, we can’t reactivate the account,” the banker said. Just then, Paul’s phone started ringing and when he checked who it was, his eyes widened. He pushed the banker to the counter and answered the call. “Hello, dad—?” [“You lousy idiot! What is this I’m hearing about the family’s account in Polaris bank being frozen?!”] Paul’s father, Malcolm Ludwig, yelled. Paul grimaced in confusion. “The family account? What are you talking about, Dad?” Paul asked. [“I just got a message from Polaris Bank saying that your account was flagged for fraudulent activity and, because the family’s account is linked to it for easy transactions, it has also been frozen!”] Paul’s eyes widened. [“Do you know how much we’ve lost because of you?!”] “B-but Dad, I didn’t do anything. I never did any—“ [“I don’t want to hear any excuses! Find a way to fix this nonsense or else you’ll regret the day you were born!”] “Dad—“ Paul said, but Malcolm cut the call on him. Enraged about being yelled at by his father like that, Paul squeezed his phone, almost crushing it in his hand, then he glared at the banker who was trying to recoup after hitting his back on the sharp edge of the counter. “Listen here, you bastard. You have ten seconds to reactivate those accounts or else—“ Paul said, but was interrupted. With tears in her eyes, Mary said “Babe, please give me your jacket. My dress is ruined and it's very embarrassing” Paul took all his anger and faced Mary, who dared to interrupt him while he was talking. “You stupid bitch! This whole mess is your fault”, Paul said, and Mary’s eyes widened. What did he mean the whole mess was her fault? What did she do? “Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, but the first day I brought you here my account got flagged and frozen. I think your bad luck is the cause of all of this, but what did I expect from a bottom-of-the-barrel lowlife like you?” Paul said, and Mary’s eyes fidgeted. “Babe, what are you saying?” Mary said as Paul’s words cut like a knife. “What? Did I stutter?” Paul asked as he picked her up by her hair, and then he looked at her from head to toe. “You know what? Give me back all these things I gave you” he said as he ripped the necklace off her neck, which resulted in a cut and slight bruising. “And this dress too,” Paul said as he grabbed the dress and was about to rip it when, suddenly, he was stopped. “That’s enough,” Jeremiah said as he held Paul’s hand“Jeremiah?” Mary said as both she and Paul looked at him. “Look who it is. The disgusting husband had come to save his whore of a wife. Tell me fool, how on earth did you manage to get in here?” Paul laughed, while Jeremiah looked pissed. Though Mary was a disgusting human being for what she did to him, he still couldn’t stand there and watch Paul do what he was doing to her. He had to step in and put a stop to it. “I think you’ve done enough for today, so let go of her,” Jeremiah said, and Paul frowned. “And who’s going to make me? You?” Paul scoffed “What a joke. Did you forget what happened last night? You’re no match for me.”Jeremiah shrugged.“That might be true, but nobody said anything about me being the one who stops you because there are people paid to do just that,” Jeremiah said, and Anthony arrived with multiple tall and muscular security guards.“I think you’ve overstated your welcome, sir, and it’s time to leave,” Anthony said to Paul. Paul looked at all the secur
Jeremiah got out of the taxi, paid the fare and as he watched the driver drive away, he thought 'Maybe I should buy my own car. I mean, I have the money now. All I need is a good enough place to stay with a garage and—' He turned around to face his apartment building and, to his surprise, he saw his front door wide open. This time he was certain that he locked the door before he left, so that could only mean that someone opened it when he wasn’t around. Jeremiah hurried over and checked the lock to see if it was broken, but it was perfectly fine, which meant that whoever opened it had the keys and there was only one person he could think of. The landlord. Jeremiah went into the living room to see if the landlord was still in there, but to his surprise, everything was gone. The couch, table, curtains, television, and even everything in the dining area had disappeared. Jeremiah's eyes widened, then he remembered something and rushed to his bedroom. "No, no, no, no!" With his han
Henry pushed Jeremiah away, then he rushed to the floor and tried to help his father. "Dad, are you alright?""No, my waist hurts! I think that bastard has turned me into a cripple" the landlord said and Henry’s eyes widened.He glared at Jeremiah.“You crippled my father you asshole!” Henry yelled and Jeremiah grimaced in annoyance."No, I didn't. How could I have crippled him when his legs are still moving—?" Jeremiah replied, but the landlord cut him off."Shut your trap boy! I said you've turned me into a cripple, and you're going to pay for it!" The landlord yelled.Just then, one of Jeremiah's neighbors rushes to the scene."What's going on here?" The neighbor asked. The landlord saw the neighbor and he smirked mischievously."Oh Denison, my favorite tenant. It's a good thing you're here." The landlord said, and Denison rushed inside. "Landlord, what's going on? Why are you on the floor like this?" Denison asked.The landlord pointed at Jeremiah and said "This bastard beat me
The military lady refused to answer any of the questions Jeremiah’s neighbors asked her. Meanwhile, Jeremiah, who was also curious to know the identity of the lady who had just saved his life, asked the same question. “Who are you?” Jeremiah said, but also got no replies. However, unlike his neighbors, her response didn’t look like she was ignoring his question. It was more like she couldn’t answer him at the current moment and would do so when things had settled. Jeremiah groaned and then looked at Henry who was on the floor unconscious, then he looked at the military lady again and was lost for words. Henry was not only more muscular than the average man, but he was also six feet two inches tall. On the other hand, the lady who defeated him in an instant was about five feet ten inches tall. The power to kick someone like him and send him flying for many feet blew Jeremiah’s mind, and he wondered just how much power the woman’s slightly above-average height frame could hold.
Not wanting to be the one who got thrown out, the remaining thirteen neighbors attacked the military lady, and one by one, she took them down, leaving the floor a bloody mess littered with injured and unconscious men when she was done.Jeremiah was amazed by what he saw. Meanwhile, the landlord who no longer had anyone to fight for him, was terrified by what he witnessed.“What the hell happened?” Denison asked as he was barely hanging on to consciousness. His arm and leg had been broken, but he hadn’t felt the pain yet because of adrenaline.“So you’re still awake. I guess I didn’t hit you hard enough” the military lady said, then she started walking towards him.“No, no! Stay away!” Denison cried as he tried to crawl away but couldn’t with his one good arm and leg. He was only able to get a couple of centimeters away from her before she got to where he was, stumped his back and broke his spine. Then she went down and turned him on his broken back.“What did you do to me? My legs.
“My father?” Jeremiah asked.“That’s right, young master.” Silver replied, and Jeremiah smiled.“So that’s what his name is. Reginald Garrick— wait a minute. Why does that name sound so familiar?“ Jeremiah grimaced.It wasn’t like the name was special or uncommon as there were most likely over a million people bearing Reginald Garrick as their name. However, something about it seemed oddly reminiscent.Just then, Jeremiah remembered a moment when he was little.A week before the accident that killed his “father” and put his mother into a coma, child Jeremiah noticed that his parents were beginning to act strange and paranoid like they were afraid of something.At first, he thought nothing of it, as he was just a child who shouldn’t meddle in adult business, but then it became overly apparent.A day before the accident, he walked past his parents' room which they had forgotten to close the door properly, and by accident, he overheard a conversation they were having.During the conversa
“Young Master, what’s wrong? You stopped walking” Silver said, after noticing Jeremiah’s daze.Jeremiah shook his head.“It’s nothing. Let’s continue.” Jeremiah came back to his senses and began to walk again. As they walked closer, Jeremiah assessed every person standing by the cars, wondering who among them was the boss Silver was talking about, but none of them seemed like they were that boss.“So where is this boss you mentioned—?” Jeremiah asked, but was interrupted when, suddenly, the bodyguard standing by the car in the middle of the convoy, opened the back door.The first thing Jeremiah saw come out of the car was a pair of Tom Ford black leather shoes priced at sixty-five thousand dollars, both so well polished and sparkling that they could eclipse the sun.Already impressed, Jeremiah looked up and saw who wore the luxurious shoes. The person who the bodyguard had opened the door for.It was an elderly-looking gentleman with a full head of white hair and a dignified look abo
“Look over there! There are so many beautiful cars coming this way— wait! Isn’t that a convoy?!” Yelled a pedestrian who was pointing at the approaching cars in the distance.“You’re right, it is a convoy! Who do you think is being driven inside such amazing cars?!” Another pedestrian asked.“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t doubt if someone told me that it's one of our senators. A normal person could never get that level of protection!”“Those many cars for an ordinary senator? Don’t be ridiculous! Even in a million years, something like that is never going to happen!”“Then who do you think is in it since you’re so smart?!”“Isn’t it obvious? It’s the president. No other person besides the president could be worthy of such a convoy.”“Are you stupid?! What on earth would the president be doing here when he has more important things to deal with? I mean, have you ever seen the presidential convoy drive by here before? Because I haven’t!”“I don’t know, but President or not, whoever is in
Inside the Study, Reginald, who noticed that Jeremiah’s mind was elsewhere, asked him what he was doing.Jeremiah had actually been eavesdropping on David, wondering if he would say anything that would expose his involvement in the gas processing plant’s explosion and prove to Jeremiah that his suspicion was right. However, that didn’t happen and Jeremiah got annoyed that David stopped talking all of a sudden. From the last sentence Jeremiah heard David say before abruptly cutting himself off, he concluded that David knew he was onto him and was actively trying not to expose himself. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence, and Jeremiah was wrong about the whole thing—meaning David wasn’t involved in the explosion at all.There could only be one answer to the two possibilities, and time would reveal which one was correct because sooner or later, David was bound to slip up.All Jeremiah had to do was wait for that moment to come. Jeremiah replied “Nothing. I was just listening to what D
David, looking at Jeremiah, blinked multiple times to emphasize his shock.Even though he had once thought that Jeremiah had joined hands with Dean and Adam to kill all the guards—after seeing the dismembered bodies when he escaped the plant—the fact that this was only an assumption and was never confirmed left him with some doubt that Jeremiah had ever gotten blood on his hands.That assumption quickly vanished after he heard about how Jeremiah saved everyone at the welcome ceremony from the Rubik's Cube bomb and even traveled a great distance to save him.However, when Jeremiah admitted outright that he had killed Dean—and went on to elaborate on how he did it—it sent a shock through David's body. He realized he might have been wrong about who Jeremiah had killed, but not about the fact that he had killed someone.‘So he really is a cold-blooded murderer’ David thought and gulped.Just then, David noticed something that felt concerning.He looked at Reginald and the three other men—
David tried standing up but before he did, Kingston offered him a hand. David looked at Kingston’s hand but instead of accepting, he felt insulted. The fact that he had just heard that Jeremiah, his one competition for the throne, was a powerful being who could do whatever he wanted, made him feel weak and useless in comparison, and seeing Kingston’s hand annoyed the hell out of him.Still, he had to maintain composure.“No thanks. I can stand on my own” David said, feigning a smile.“As you wish, Sir” Kingston replied then retracted his hand and stood upright while David went on his feet and walked back to where he once was.“Are you okay?” Reginald asked.However, David, who was annoyed that Reginald felt it necessary to ask that question out of concern for his earlier reaction, forced a smile.“I am Uncle, so please, continue,” David said. Reginald looked at Jeremiah and said “You should also listen to what I’m going to say because it involves you as well” “Okay,” Jeremiah grim
Reginald started by revealing the history of Crimson Fall to David, who at first was confused as to why he was telling him an old folk tale but soon realized why when Reginald told him the part that only the king and a select few knew. The moment David heard about reincarnation, his eyes widened, asking himself if such a thing existed.Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only bombshell he was going to hear as the story continued to unfold.Reginald told him that it was the Garrick family's mission to make sure that Lord Crimson, the powerful dragon who ruled over Crimson Fall for centuries, reincarnated and like that wasn’t enough, he gestured at Jeremiah and told him that Jeremiah was Lord Crimson, reincarnated.“I’m sorry what?” David asked, trying to make sure he wasn’t mishearing things. “You heard me right. Your cousin, who we all thought was dead, is our one true ruler. The all-powerful, Lord Crimson” Reginald said passionately. David’s eyes blinked multiple times as he looked at
The boldness with which Jeremiah said “Yes, I did” demoralized David. It was like he was telling David that he didn’t regret what he did and was daring him to reprimand his actions. Knowing that he couldn’t lash out at Jeremiah for what he did, David had no choice but to gulp and accept what happened and move on— making him more mad because he hated being made to feel small and insignificant. “I’m sure you had your reasons but can you please tell me why you hurt my friends,” David asked, making sure to choose his words carefully so as not to sound like he was confronting Jeremiah. “Friends? I think you’re misunderstanding something, David.” Reginald said and David quickly looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. “Jeremiah didn’t hurt your friends but your friend. Only one person was hurt by his hands” Reginald clarified. David grimaced. He reflected on Reginald’s words and remembered that the king had said “friend” instead of “friends” when he revealed that the per
That’s right, he had completely forgotten about his punishment because of the night he had, but it’s a good thing Reginald was bringing it up now.What was his uncle going to say? Hopefully, something along the lines of, he had seen that David had learned his lesson and because of that he had decided to bring the punishment to an end. David thought and started smiling discreetly.“After the aftermath of the explosion at the welcome ceremony, I have decided that—“ Reginald said, but David cut him off.“Explosion at the welcome ceremony?! What explosion?” David asked and Reginald paused.“You haven’t heard about the explosion yet?” Reginald asked. “No, I haven’t. There was another explosion but at the welcome ceremony?” David replied.David had been so anxious to find out what Jeremiah knew about the gas processing plant explosion that he was tunnel-visioned from everything else. He had just gone to his room to freshen up, changed clothes, and then went to Reginald’s study for the mee
After looking at everyone in the Study and seeing how they were staring at him— especially Jeremiah’s whose stare was like a predator’s to a prey— David, who realized that he was in a hot mess, thought of how to get away from the situation.How could he spin the story and change the narrative in his favor? He wondered and his brain started working at a million miles an hour in search of the answer.Soon enough, a thought came to his mind and he decided to go with it.David started chuckling, making everyone wonder why he was doing that.What did he find so funny?“Uncle, what gave you the impression that I knew about the explosion before it happened?” David asked.Reginald, who thought about the question, grimaced and adjusted how he sat.“Well, if I remember correctly, you were rambling about how we should leave the area and were adamant about it for a good minute before the building exploded, so I thought that your behavior was because you beforehand that the building was going to e
Once inside the study, the first thing Jeremiah did was pause and groan when he saw David standing in front of the desk. Kingston, who was just as surprised as Jeremiah at the sight of David, jolted and asked “Sir David, you’re already here?”“Yes, he is. Truthfully, even I was surprised when he arrived before you two did, but for some reason, he seemed eager to have the meeting which I guess is a good thing because I have so much to ask him” Reginald said.David, who was trying his best to keep his cool and act normal, turned to Reginald and smiled. “I just wanted to tell Uncle what happened because I know how worried he was about my disappearance and maybe that will calm his mind a little,” David said.Reginald, who didn’t know the young man’s true motive and believed his words, smiled. He took David’s feigned concern for him as a sign of David changing and attributed it to the punishment he gave him working. Speaking of the punishment, what was going to happen now that the guard
Jeremiah, Kingston, and Steven went to Reginald’s study while Elizabeth went back into Jeremiah’s room to spend some more time with Lynette’s corpse.Since the body would most definitely be kept in Jeremiah’s room until the funeral tomorrow, this was going to be her only moment of privacy with her former protégé. Though it would be a one-sided conversation, as Lynette could talk back, Elizabeth was going to say everything she had in her chest and hopefully feel at ease with losing someone she cared about so soon.A couple of minutes later, after finally being at peace with Lynette’s passing, Christabel came to the room and she too got her chance to say goodbye to her friend and fellow protégé.After that, Christabel and Elizabeth reminisced on past moments they and Lynette spent together when she was alive and the experience made the remaining two form a stronger bond than what they had before.Just then, the room door was knocked. “Who is it?” Christabel asked after Elizabeth used