PROLOGUE

     “Brick, bring your lazy ass over here! Bring us a beer and some food too and make it quick. Here, Tire, sit with me and tell me what you did yesterday.” This is what Devlin has heard most of his childhood life, from the moment he wakes up to the time he is allowed to sleep. Well, he decided as he turned 12 today, no one even bothering to greet him, he will change all that. The man who stole him from his family in Ireland and brought him here to New York told him, he is his biological father and the other boy, older than him by two years is his half-brother or so he’s been told by Muckie, shortcut for Marcus. Muckie seemed more appropriate as he is a monster just like his namesake, an Irish mythological water monster. He also looked like he had been drowned and resurfaced because he’s so bloated from lack of movement. He lorded over the two boys. Tire or Tiernan was a quiet boy, he looked timid but he’s hardened like him although he rarely showed his emotions. While they felt the connection that brothers have, they had difficulty showing it. Today, the 25th of December is Devlin’s birthday. So ironic that while most of the Christian world is celebrating this occasion, he is planning his escape. He planned this escape for months, he has already acquired enough funds to survive. He did not give Muckie all the money he earned by selling the things he pickpocketed. He kept majority of them. Muckie was as stupid as he’s cruel, he never bothered to count the money the boys turn over to him. Devlin doesn’t know if Tiernan kept some for himself. He waited for Muckie and Tire to be be too drunk before he made his move. Although his limbs were still too bruised and painful because of Muckie beating him the night before for not giving him anything as he did not want to sully people’s Christmas eve, he still managed to move stealthily. He went to his corner on the filthy shack he shared with his so-called bastard of a father and his half-brother and gathered whatever meager belongings he has, two pairs of rags he calls pants and two heavily patched shirts and a denim jacket he stole from someone, not that he was proud of it. He vowed he will better himself as soon as he is able to get a good start. He was busy with his thoughts that he did not notice Tiernan moving away from Muckie. Tiernan has a plan of his own. He pretended he was drinking with Muckie but Muckie did not notice him emptying the beer bottle in a hidden can in his loose patched-up shirt. Like Devlin, he also prepared for this night. He made his escape faster than Devlin. By the time Devlin turned around, Tiernan was gone but he didn’t care. He stuffed all his belongings in a beat up backpack and left the shack filled with Muckie’s loud snores. He was not a stupid boy, he remembered his stepfather reminding him of the importance of education so when Muckie thought he was busy stealing from people he actually sat outside one of the windows of a public school. Whatever school supplies he managed to steal or buy, he kept them in the keeping of a kind old man working in a park nearby. The old man also helped him learn to read faster than the average kid. So in essence, as the regular poor kids in the neighborhood went up the learning ladder, he did too although there was no formality. 

     He asked the old man if he could work with him, after giving it some thought, the old fellow nodded. As he is too tall for his age, he looked like a 16 year old kid unless one looked closely. Devlin was able to buy a cheap fruitcake and a candle so he can blow it on his birthday. When he arrived at the old man’s tidy shack at midnight, he knocked once. He was so cold that his teeth were chattering, seeing him shivering in the cold, the old man grabbed him gently and ushered him in. When he saw what devlin was holding, he quirked his eyebrows. 

     “Today’s my birthday too.” After singing him a birthday song in his raspy voice and Devlin blew the candle, they sat down and enjoyed their simple meal. For the first time in 6 years, Devlin felt free. He stayed with the old guy for 8 more years before the man died. Devlin was heartbroken because he taught him so much. He reminded him of his stepfather whom he learned died when he was 15. He learned this from his mom whom he was able to communicate with when he found the courage to do so. After two years had passed and Muckie unable to find him, he rummaged in his belongings for the toddler shirt he was wearing when he was taken away. In the inside of the shirt was a written note saying in case he got lost, an address was written. He took a risk by writing to that address but was rewarded with an emotional reply from his mother who sent him a photo of the family left behind. He keeps that photo with him wherever he goes. He learned that his stepfather blamed himself for losing Devlin and so started the decline of his health. He still worked for his family being a very responsible father but that is what killed him. He worked to rid his mind of the guilt of losing Devlin. He loved Devlin as his own son because he only had daughters with Devlin's mother. The death of his father and the death of the old man he just called Bubba left Devlin with more hatred for Muckie. He stopped doing illegal stuff when he started working as Bubba’s apprentice. He also started attending school. Because of his bright mind, he finished vocational school. He took up business courses because that is where he excelled. He used this skill to move to the top of the business world. His company’s name Sean Devlin Enterprises was associated with ruthlessness and power that most rich businessmen wanted to be in partnership with him.

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     Mabel just won the City Muse and she was ecstatic. She also met one of the American businessmen in the city as he was a judge in the pageant. She did not know he was the guy who chatted with her on her social media account until he told her so after the coronation. He was a handsome man, tall, with the usual blue-eyed blond moniker. Mabel did not know if he was married because he flirted with the contestants openly and nobody seemed to mind. For some reason though, he seemed to have set his sights on her. He was constantly showering her with flowers and chocolates everyday until her coronation night. Mabel was so besotted with him that she allowed him liberties. With no real girlfriends because of her beauty and popularity, and only having two brothers and two cousins, one being a hoydenish girl who always hung out with her best friend, Mabel’s other cousin Rain, Mabel was an innocent bordering on being too naive to notice that Carter was just playing with her. After the coronation and knowing no better, Mabel asked her brothers to leave her as she and the other winners were attending a victory party hosted by the judges and the organizers. His brothers thought she was safe so they left her. They did not know that the party was only for her and Carter was the host. She went with him willingly thinking they would be meeting the others. She was surprised when they arrived in his hotel though. There were only the two of them. Seeing her hesitation, Carter plied her with love words and endearments until Mabel got comfortable. He served her champagne until she was tipsy. When she was tipsy enough, he took the opportunity of bedding her. He did not really rape her as Mabel went with him willingly though under the influence of alcohol. She thought it was a pleasant experience as Carter made sure she was fully aroused with all his tricks until she couldn’t refuse him. He took her virginity that night. He took her over and over every night since. He also made Mabel do weird sex stuff with him. She was not aware that he was a porn and con artist until it was too late. She found out the truth about him when her menstruation was delayed. When she took the pregnancy test and confirmed that she was pregnant, she went to him only to discover him filming himself with another woman. Mabel was disgusted but she waited until the woman left glaring at Mabel. 

     “What do you want, baby? You should have joined us, it would have been fun.”

     “Carter, do you really love me?” Mabel asked with foreboding in her voice.

     “Of course sweetheart, whatever have you been thinking.”

     “But you just had another woman with you.”

     “Ahh, you poor thing, aren’t you just jealous? Come here and I will make it better. Did you like what you saw? Would you like me to do that to you? Actually, it was more fun doing wicked things with you than her. You are just too delicious. “ He approached her with an evil glint in his eyes that Mabel was afraid all of a sudden. She could always use her martial arts skills on him but being in a delicate condition left her feeling afraid for the baby.

     “No Carter, wait.” She said trying to ward him off. “If you say you love me, why don’t we get married?” hearing her say marriage, Carter burst out laughing. 

     “You must be kidding, me, marrying you, a Filipina?” he spat the words out in disgust.

     “Why not, you said you loved me over the past few weeks and besides, I am pregnant Carter. You’re going to be a father.”

     “Huh, and how are you sure that baby is mine? I don’t know how many men you have slept with over the past weeks.”

     Mabel was so furious that she did not stop herself letting fly a vicious chop to his neck. Carter was stunned, “You beast! You knew you were the only one I slept with, unlike you it seems who probably slept with all the women in the world. You, horrible, deceitful and lying vermin. Mabel was hysterical that she started hitting him until Carter caught her hand and pushed her roughly. She was basically thrown. She was thrown face down on a couch and her stomach hit the hard edge of the couch. She was in horrible pain and she could not stop the cry escaping her lips. She felt something wet oozing down her legs and she was horrified to see blood pooling on the floor. The sight of her blood prompted Carter to flee the hotel in haste not bothering to collect his filming materials. Mabel slumped on the floor clutching her belly in agony. Not wanting to disappoint her mother who was beaming with pride with her win as the city muse, there was only one person she trusted enough although they were not really close. She dialled Ami’s number.

     Ami was surprised to see her cousin’s number. Mabel was not very close to her and she did not know why. Upon seeing the number flickering on her phone though, she thought it must be an emergency. When she picked it up, she heard Mabel gasping for breath on the other end.

     “Ami, please come help me, I am in Pacdal Hotel right now, please come quickly.” Mabel managed to gasp her address before she passed out. 

     Ami felt like she was in a nightmare. She went to fetch Rain who was thankfully in the manor. It was 8 AM so he did not go to the city proper yet. Telling him the emergency that was Mabel and giving him the hotel’s name, they sped out to the city. Upon reaching the hotel room, Ami burst in and found Mabel lying in a pool of blood. Both her and Rain were disappointed in the hotel staff’s inability to detect that something horrible had happened to one of their hotel guests. Seeing the filming equipment though, Rain had the gut feeling about it so he stuffed everything in a duffel bag they saw and then carried his bloodied cousin to his car. They brought her to the nearest hospital. Ami stayed with her cousin recognizing the fact that she was female and Rain was male and Mabel probably needed a female friend right now. Ami felt guilty because she did not really take the time to get to know her cousin. When Mabel came to, she was lying on a hospital bed. When she saw Ami, she gripped her cousin’s hand so hard that Ami had to suppress her grunt of pain. Mabel started crying and Ami was worried she might get worse. Seeing where the blood came from she and Rain looked at each other and the horror in their eyes confirmed their fear. Mabel had miscarried. They didn’t even know she was pregnant until they saw her lying there unconscious nearly bathed with her own blood. 

     Rain wanted to phone his aunt but Ami stopped him. She told him, only Mabel can decide if she wants her family to know. If she did, why didn't she phone her family in the first place. Nobody knew Mabel was hospitalized until Mabel thought it was time to confess all to her family but she wanted Rain and Ami to be there with her. On her second day at the hospital, Rain phoned his aunt at Mabel’s permission. Even his mom arrived. Since it was a private ward, nobody bothered them. When her family were all present, Mabel started with an apology and asked for everyone’s forgiveness before she started telling them all what happened. She was crying so hard that Ami had to hug her every now and then. 

     “You shouldn’t be apologizing ading,” Robert said. “I should have protected you. I am going to find that American and kill him for what he did to you. “ Robert and Jerry were shaking with fury while Antonia, Mabel's mother, was so heartbroken for her only daughter that she couldn’t control her angry emotions. She was not angry at Mabel, she was angry at herself. “If only I had not pushed you into joining that pageant, you shouldn’t have met that monster.” 

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     “Mabel, can you please bring us some coffee, Habibti and stay for a while as well. I have a few important details to discuss with my partner here. Devlin, may I introduce my PA, Mabel Abelanco from the Philippines. You should hire assistants like her. They are very efficient in their jobs.” Mabel nodded her head and went to prepare the coffee. As she was done placing the coffee on the table, she accidentally tripped and landed on Devlin’s lap. As she squirmed to get her bearings, something nudged her from below which caused her to gasp and stand up awkwardly. She looked down and glared at the Sheikh’s business partner before she turned her head hastily and took notes while the two were discussing. After making sure that she wasn’t needed anymore, she left the two men and hurriedly got away from the Sheikh’s office as fast as her legs could carry her. Her encounter with her employer’s partner sent fear and hatred in her gut.