Fall from grace

Chapter four. Fall from grace 

Luke and Rudolph arrived at Kenny’s well guarded mansion. They were stopped at the gate by Kenny’s guards. 

“Greetings, sir Luke. I have to inform master Kenny of your arrival. Please hang on a minute.” Said a giant guard at the front gave.

“Sir, I can knock them out easily and secure the passage,” Rudolph leaned towards Luke and whispers into his ears.

“Save your energy for Kenny,” Luke whispered back at Rudolph.

One of the giant guards pulled out a walkie-talkie and contacted Kenny. “Master, Luke is here. Can I let him in?”

Kenny responded by asking, “How many guards does Luke have with him?”

The guard leaned closer to the car to confirm how many people were accompanying Luke. “Sir, only Rudolph the boogeyman is with him.”

“Haha. I didn’t expect this level of bravery from him. He came with only one guard. Let him in,” said Kenny, followed by his usual obnoxious laughter.

They went through the compound straight to Kenny’s living room. They found Kenny seated with his legs crossed, smoking a Cuban cigar, and he was surrounded by half-naked women. He also had four muscular guards standing in guard position right in front of him.

“Stand aside if you value your life. I’m only here for Kenny,” Luke growled at the four guards, but all they did was chuckle and remain in their position.

“Kenny, you bastard, the rivalry was about trying to outdo each other to see who the better entrepreneur was. You were my closest friend, and I never did anything to hurt you,” Luke spoke passionately.

“I have always been loyal to you. Even though you were my rival, I help you with your business. I gave you access to the Von Aleister trading network. I made you most of the wealth that you now possess. This is the thank you I get. Argh Kenny you....” as Luke growled intensely, he got interrupted sharply by Kenny.

“Yes, you did all of that, so what?” Kenny screamed angrily as he stood up and threw away his cigar. The surrounding girls got startled by his loud emotive response and fled the living room.

Kenny continued, “Everything you did for me doesn’t nearly amount to what you took from me.”

Luke was surprised by Kenny’s words so he asked, “what are you talking about? What did I ever take from you?”

“Rose, you idiot. You took Rose Ashton from me. I told you that I loved her and you responded by saying, let’s see who has better game between us. You couldn’t just let me have her.” 

“So this is all about Rose,” Luke was shocked by Kenny’s motive.

“Yes, it’s all about Rose,” 

Luke was befuddled. He never suspected Kenny’s jealousy. “That was eight years ago. Rose is the most beautiful woman and everyone wanted her. I never took Rose from you. She simply never chose you. She chose me, but your weak, treacherous heart couldn’t handle reality.”

“Luke, I’m in love with Rose, I still am helplessly in love her and she is going to be mine sooner or la...”

Luke’s roaring voice interjected, “Kenny, I trusted you and you hurt me. Am here for payback. The game is different now. We are longer friendly rivals, we are now enemies.”

“I’ve always seen you as an enemy. From my perspective, nothing has changed,” Kenny responded.

Luke took off his coat and cracked his knuckles, “in that case, no hard feelings as I’m about to give you a beating you will never forget, and then use my might as the divisional chairman of the Von Aleister companies to destroy your business,”

Kenny chuckled, “can’t you see that you are outnumbered,” he sighed and looked in the direction of his four guards, “beat the crap out of them and throw them outside.”

“Stay back, master, I can easily handle them,” said Rudolph, who jumped in front of Luke as the four guards approached in rage.

Both Luke and Kenny stood behind and watched as their guards collide in a fiery display of martial arts. Rudolph seems to be the better fighter as he moves around quickly, avoiding their attacks and also avoiding being in a position where they gang up on him.

Rudolph responded to their barrage of punches with perfectly timed counterattack. His attacks were destructive. After a while, Rudolph successfully knocked out two of Kenny’s guards, then sent one of them crashing into a glass table. The fourth one ran away.

Kenny’s jaw dropped to the floor. He paid good money for high-level security guards. He never would’ve imagined that one person would beat them like that.

Smiling from ear to ear, pleased with Rudolph’s performance, Luke said, “it’s your turn now, Kenny.”

Kenny stood in utter shock, unable to manifest a response as Rudolph approach him when suddenly, Rudolph’s phone vibrates. 

Rudolph does not delay checking his phone no matter what, because only Luke and Connor Von Aleister are able to contact him. After looking at his phone, he turned around and walked away from Kenny, who was frightened to his core awaiting to be mauled.

“What are you doing? Come back and give him a beating to be remembered,” Luke said in a commanding manner but was ignored.

“How dare you ignore my command? Are you out of your mind?” Sternly uttered by Luke.

“I have just received a message from the Von Aleister companies mailing department. It says you are no longer a divisional chairman. Which means I no longer have any business serving under you,” Rudolph said as he walks towards the exit.

“I’m going to go find the newly appointed divisional chairman and serve him. No hard feelings Luke, I’m only doing my job,” he exit the compound without looking back, leaving Luke alone with Kenny and the three injured guards.

Kenny was pleasantly surprised and let out a joyous scream, “whoo! What a day. I’m I lucky or what. You just got demoted and then deserted by your guard!”

Demoting Luke from his position as the divisional chairman on his wedding night must have been Connor’s way of punishing him for bringing shame to the family’s name.

Luke was devastated by the news because in the Von Aleister companies, losing a position also means losing all your assets. One is only allowed to own costly properties in the name of Connor Von Aleister. That way, any act of incompetence result in the loss of everything the employee owns.

It looked helpless for Luke. He had the upper hand just moments before. “This isn’t over, traitor,” he turned around to leave the mansion.

“Of course, it isn’t over.” Said Kenny, then he pushed a button on a small controller he pulled out of his pocket. 

“EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN ACTIVATED,” words coming from the security system.

All the exits were sealed before Luke could get out. Two of the guards had regained consciousness and got up. “It’s three vs one now. It’s unfair, isn’t it?” Said Kenny with an air of confidence around him.

“You can’t leave before receiving a wedding gift from me,” he then signalled his guards and said, “subdue him.”

The guards charged at him, trying to subdue him. Luke resisted as much as he could but was no match for three giant-like professional body guards. Soon enough, they held him tightly, rendering him incapacitated.

Kenny sat down, crossed his legs, and lit a big cigar. 

“My gift to you is number one, a beating you will remember for the rest of your life or number two, a more merciful option, you grovel at my feet begging me for mercy while you refer to me as your lord,” uttered Kenny as he blew the smoke from his cigar at Luke’s face.

Luke was terrified, shook to the core, but his pride did not let him loose face. “no way I’m going to grovel at a rat’s feet. Do the very worst you can, you inferior specimen,” Luke said firmly, concealing his fear perfectly.

Kenny was displeased by the response he got, so kick Luke’s head. “Pummel him until he’s barely alive,” he growled, then the guards also joined in punching and stumping Luke repeated.

Luke grunts and moans as he lies on the floor, not allowed any room to escape. He coughs and occasionally lets out a sharp scream, but despite all the punishment, he never begged for mercy or behaved in a sorry manner. Few of his ribs were cracked and his face was bloodied with a few swelling at different part.

The beating continued until Luke passed out