A WEEK had passed, and everything was silent— something that August didn’t expect to happen. He thought that Bruce would make a way to humiliate him or destroy his reputation as he made before, but he didn’t make any move.However, August didn’t let his guard down. Still, he continued on his physical training, not just for the part of Charles’ planned training for him, but also to prepare himself for whatever was coming in the future.“Fuck,” August muttered under his breath as his knuckles hurt because of one hard punch he made, making him stop punching for a while as he stretched his hand, relieving the pain in it.Fortunately, all his wounds, including the severe wound on his stomach last time, were healed— Thanks to the advanced medicines the Remin
“FATHER,” August greeted as he entered Charles' office. “Maxine told me that it's an urgent matter,” he added as he continued walking, and stopped as soon as he was in the near distance with Charles' table.Charles nodded before he pointed at the couch. “Take a seat, son.”Even if August thought that all their conversations as father and son were all pretendings and a part of his training, Charles was still delighted every time he could call August his son, without any fears that August would get weirded out.“Did something happen?” asked August as Charles sat in front of him, and placed the crane on his side. “You look paler than the last tim
“Samantha!” August exclaimed loudly as his eyes widened. “What are you saying? Are you out of your mind?!”Some maids looked at him because he shouted, but for now, he didn’t care about that.The shock was evident in his voice. He knew that Samantha might be stubborn sometimes, but she was not the type of person who would say something like that.It may be because of two things— she was threatening him, or something happened to her.“I’m glad that you still know me,” said Samantha. He could hear the mixture of sadness and amusement in her voice.“How will I not? We were together for a long time,”
“AUGUST…” Samantha muttered as her gaze traveled onto his fists.Her mouth formed into an O. She wanted to explain— remembering the times when August repeatedly asked her about the bruises— but she couldn’t force herself to do it.Samantha didn’t know what to say, and she couldn’t understand what she felt as she saw August in front of her. It felt like she could now sigh in relief— like a person who will always take her side already arrived.However, she was the one who placed him in danger… and will continuously do it for her greed.On the other hand, August could only look at her with annoyance.“Hey,” Bruce
“DID HE lose his mind already? Or… did you beat him up too much?” Harvey asked Bruce as he stared intently at August who acted like he wasn’t beaten up by them earlier. He found it odd that although August acted like he was in deep pain earlier, but now, he could even walk properly without holding his stomach. Harvey’s face went into a grimace— feeling irritated and confused at the same time. “Maybe it is.” Bruce shrugged, ignoring August as he didn’t care about him anymore. “Maybe my hard punches have shaken up his brain. It will be good if that’s the case.” Bruce was already satisfied that he made August his punching bag. Whatever he would do next would not concern Bruce anymore. “Forget about him, man,”
INSIDE THE Rosehouse, where everything turned upside down for August, a grand gathering was held.August was on the second floor of the place, hiding in one of the rooms there, as he watched all people with their expensive gowns and luxuries while obviously hating each other with their pretentious smiles and gestures.“Hah.” August couldn’t help but smile.It felt like he was back in the previous time. The only difference is that he wasn’t on the stage anymore, but somewhere in hiding. On top of that, he wasn’t as pathetic as before.“Saw something interesting?” Sapphire, who was fixing her silver dress with a slit on her right thigh, asked.She
AFTER HER conversation with Mona, Daphne went to the restroom to calm herself down. She washed her hands, fixed her make-up, and breathed heavily as she stared at the mirror, forcing a smile.“She had the guts to call me a bitch? Hah.” Daphne snorted as she fixed her pouch and placed some strands of her hair to the back of her ears.If there’s something she realized at this party, it’s the fact that most people will annoy her, if not all.On top of that, some people would really have the guts to ask for someone’s help and make it look like it’s an opportunity to help them, even if it isn’t.Daphne made one last heavy breath as she was about to go outside the restroom to find someone, but stopped when her ph
A FEW SECONDS had passed, and yet, Francis didn’t even avert his gaze somewhere. Clicking his tongue and tilting his head, he continued staring at the man on the second floor, who also did the same.They couldn’t see each other properly because they were far away from each other. Still, both of them could feel the tension running in their veins.‘How brave,’ said Francis at the back of his mind, smirking. ‘I wonder why he is hiding.’Francis narrowed his eyes, wondering who the man would be. His smirk widened as decided to climb onto the second floor and go onto that specific room where the guy was.“Sir—”“I’ll climb alone,” interrupted Francis as one of his
TWO YEARS LATER…The waves on the water splash on the yacht where August was standing right now. Both his hands were holding onto the rail as his gaze fixated on the sunset in front of him. It was beautiful, ethereal, and breathtaking… Just like the woman who was walking toward him.“August,” Daphne called her as she gave her husband a fruit shake. “You’ve been there for an hour already. Would you want to spend this day with fish than me?” she asked, pretending to be pissed as her lips curved into a smile.“No need to be jealous of nature, my dear wife. I just want to appreciate how beautiful the sunset was.”August laughed, pulling Daphne gently closer to him using his other hand. Now, both of them were staring at the sunset with genuine smiles plastered onto their faces. August’s hand was resting on Daphne’s waist, while the latter had her head leaned on her husband’s shoulder.A year ago, both of them got remarried, for real this time. At that moment, both of them couldn’t help bu
COUPLE DAYS later, August was able to heal from the beating he had endured when Raquel took him down. He was now as good as hell, and he could now work tirelessly to catch up with all of the deadlines and meetings he had neglected while he was at rest. Fortunately, the press, with a lot of help from Daphne, didn’t know a thing about what happened to August, or else he would be bombarded by the press in front of the Remington Corporation. However, it would not be for long, as something grand would happen now. August had been waiting for this day—The day when the final showdown begins. This day had come down to this moment, where the tables would turn, and justice would finally be served. This time, August made sure that Francis would not be able to run away from his crimes, nor frame someone up to escape from it. Inside August’s office, all of his allies, Daphne, Sapphire, and Maxine, were inside the room. The air was thick with tension as they were looking at the wall clock from ti
RAQUEL, at that moment, was too stunned to speak. Shivers sent down his spine as the unexpected news lingered in his mind. His shoulder was aching because of the pain, but suddenly, it became numb as the pain struck his heart.“W-What?” Raquel asked, blinking his eyes twice. “Are you… fooling me?”“No… It’s the truth.” Sapphire shook her head, the pain registering through her rounded, brown eyes. “We’re Maxine’s children—Her lost twins.”“But how?” Raquel’s brows furrowed in confusion and annoyance at the same time. “If she is my brother, and you’re my twin, and you knew everything about it… Then why didn’t you approach me?”“Maxine only knew it recently, the same as mine.” Sapphire heaved a sigh and bit her lower lip afterward to contain her emotions.After a few seconds, she spoke again.“August informed me recently by giving the birth certificates Master Charles hid in his cabinet. It turns out that Maxine didn’t want to know us at that time because of the complexity of her job… Sh
AUGUST WAS in a daze when he woke up from his not-so-peaceful slumber. He didn’t wake up naturally, but he woke up when someone poured him cold water placed in a bucket, causing August to jolt in shock… Only to realize that he was tied to the chair.Same situation. Same abandoned room.Shivers sent down his spine because of the uncanny coincidence both of the situations had.‘Fucking shit. This is déjà vu,’ said August at the back of his mind when he realized that this is where everything started—When Charles had his people take him so he could have a one-on-one talk with August about being a pretend heir.However, the only difference between the event before and now, is that the person in front of him looked like he was eager to kill him in an instant, but he was just taking his time to do it.“R-Raquel…” August mumbled, slightly stammering, as his gaze fixated on Raquel.“How’s your sleep, August?” Raquel threw the silver bucket on the floor in force while wearing his most sardonic
[RICHARD WELLINGTON]August blinked his eyes twice, trying to confirm if what he was reading on the paper was true, or if his eyes were just playing with him. However, a few seconds had passed, and he still read the same name.“H-How…” August was at a loss for words. It wasn’t something that he expected. He almost thought that it was Francis, but turns out that the lead scientist is Richard, the Wellington family’s original heir.“Are there—”“Greetings, Sir August.”August was about to ask the lead engineer if he found more documents other than the white folder he was holding now, but his words went midway as three cleaners who were wearing personal protective equipment suddenly bowed in front of him.“One of your employees called us to clean this room,” one of the cleaners said as she glanced at the mess August made earlier.“A-Ah. Right.”August only nodded at them, not knowing what to say. His mind was so shocked that he didn’t even notice his employees leaving him alone in the ro
TWO WEEKS LATER, the event about Bruce being confined to the Remington Mental Hospital scattered around the country. According to the doctors, Bruce was diagnosed with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and he would need long-term medication and treatment to heal.While some people sympathized with Bruce for it, some people say that it was karma because of what he had done to August.However, August didn’t care what those people think about now. He had work—A bunch of them—And it was never-ending.It was already one o’clock in the morning as August had finished meeting with the different departments, and reviewing business proposals. He wasn’t eating his lunch yet but he was determined to finish everything first. August wanted to have free time so he could take care of his other business that he neglected because the work became surprisingly overwhelming.“Maxine…” August called, causing Maxine, who was sitting on the couch, to look at him. “Do I still have any urgent matters
“MR. JAKE SANDOVAL, the head of the Sandoval family, was arrested for torture against his son, Bruce Sandoval. The police said that they were investigating thoroughly about this matter and that they will preserve results with fairness and no biases—”Before the reporter could finish her sentence, August already took the remote and turned the television. Daphne, who was immersed in watching the news, jolted in shock as she turned around, only to see August smiling at her.“I’m home,” said August in a sweet tone as he extended both his arms, asking for a hug.Daphne couldn’t help but laugh a little. She went toward August and wrapped him in her embrace. “How was it? What happened to Samantha?” she asked in curiosity.“I think Samantha and Bruce divorced… But I’m not yet sure.” August caressed Daphne’s hair lightly and gently pushed her head more onto his chest. “Stop watching the news, okay? It’s already enough that you know anything, but don’t think about it too much.”Daphne only nodd
“WHERE DID you go? Why do you look like shit?” Nicole asked as Bruce went inside the room, all his clothes were soaked because of the rain. “Take a bath first before you go to the dining table. You know that your father didn’t like seeing you like that,” she added, shaking her head. “Yes, Mother.” Bruce nodded as he was tired to explain everything. He went to the bathroom to fix himself. Bruce wore a simple white shirt and sweatpants before he went to the dining table, joining Nicole and Jake for their late dinner. Samantha was already out of the picture as his parents were also informed of what she did earlier. However, they weren’t aware that Bruce felt hurt because of the same reason. “Did you chase that bitch away?” Jake asked while they were eating. “Y-Yes, Father.” “That’s good,” Jake commented, and Bruce only smiled subtly in response. Bruce ate his steak, but because of his stomach churning and his heart thumping rapidly, he felt like that piece of steak was hard to sw
SHE IS the most stupid person in the world, and she knows it. Samantha couldn’t help but look at August in disbelief, the pain and betrayal registering upon her facial expression.“August… You can’t do this to me…” Samantha mumbled as her knees went wobbly. If not only for the table in front of her, she might be sitting on the floor now. “This isn’t what we have talked about…”“I know,” August said, and Samantha didn’t notice that he was just done talking to someone on the phone. “That’s why it is called betrayal. It’s painful, especially when you’re feeling desperate.”“How can you do this to me? I am your girlfriend!” Samantha exclaimed, gritting her teeth and clenching her jaw.“Ex-girlfriend, Samantha,” August corrected before he heaved a sigh. “Our relationship was over years ago.”As if on cue, two guards entered August’s office and took Samantha away, just like what he did yesterday. He could even hear Samantha cursing and begging him at the same time before the guard closed th