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
“My apologies for speaking out of turn.” Rogan apologized.“It’s fine.” Jeremiah replied for the Captain. “Anyway, what do you want? Why were you running over here?”“About that. I saw a video on social media about a spectacular convoy driving down this street and parking in front of this store. Guessing that whoever owned the convoy was planning on coming in here, I ran out of my office as fast as I could to come welcome them— I mean you, sir” Rogan said.Jeremiah groaned, wondering what the point of that was. Just because he came in a convoy doesn’t mean he wanted any form of special treatment.Also, the manager’s antics could have resulted in him getting shot and killed, so it wasn’t worth it in Jeremiah’s eyes.“Alright then. My name is Jeremiah Garrick. It’s nice to meet you, Rogan” Jeremiah said.Rogan bowed his head.“It’s nice to meet you too, sir. I assume you’re here to buy some clothes, so please have a look around. We have everything you want, and I’m more than happy to sh
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