Rain down hell

The looked of terror that settled on Zane's face when he realized that the old man was Mr. Alfred was raw.

The guards immediately started panicking, and one of them spoke with his ego instead of his head, “You turned away Theo Briggs, so we thought you wouldn't want to see Zane either... After all, he is not someone  worth wasting your valuable time on...”

“You four are fired!” Mr. Alfred firmly said, and then he looked at Zane, continuing, “You... Get in the car. I am taking you out for dinner.”

The guards were speechless as Zane was, and before they could get over their surprise, Mr. Alfred and Zane had gotten in his car.

When they finally woke from that stunned feeling, the Modernized H2 Hummer had already sped up with the two security details SUVs, following it, and still, the four security decided to chase after the cars, knowing how much their pay was, and screaming, “Mr. Alfred, we didn't know he was someone you know!!”

Soon they were chasing the cars’ dust because the three vehicles had vanished into traffic, leaving them breathing like pigs that had asthma.

As Zane and Mr. Alfred sat in the private room of Royalty Restaurant, Zane's eyes darted from the crystal Chandeliers, hanging above them, to the paintings, sculptures, vases, and then the table covered in food.

“Do you know what the cause of your mother’s death was?” Mr. Alfred abruptly asked, cutting into his steak, and Zane immediately focused his gaze on him.

“My sickness was not due to natural causes. It turned out that I was slowly being poisoned with very tiny doses of Botulinum in my food occasionally…” Zane said.

Then he reached for the glass of wine and sipped it slowly, his mind remembering the terror of his childhood and then he said, “Doctor Ben said that symptoms of botulism usually start with weakness of the muscles that control the eyes, face, mouth, and throat. The weakness may spread to the neck, arms, torso, and legs, and the poison weakens the muscles involved in your breathing, which can lead to difficulty breathing and even death.”

Holding back his breath, Zane shut his eyes as his jaws tightened and his fists clenched tightly at his sides while the memory of his Mother's death flashed in his mind.

“My mother and I had the same symptoms… I know that because I watched her die slowly, struggling to catch her breath until she just stopped.” Zane choked out.

The silence was all that followed his words, and when Zane raised his eyelids, his wet eyes rested on Mr. Alfred's tear-stained face.

“If I knew... I never would have allowed her to walk away from me that day, when she rejected my feelings, claiming she was in love with another man and couldn't accept the arranged marriage her parents had made with mine.” Mr. Alfred cried, his face red and contorted with emotion.

Silently, Zane couldn't bring himself to look away, seeing that the old man was tearing up like a child, and then he finally pushed himself to ask, “You knew my mother?” 

“Rosalie Grimes, your mother is not from here. She's a citizen of Oceania... The sole heir to Mr. Alexander Grimes and Mrs. Rose Grimes. We were arranged to be married as the heirs of two of the wealthiest families in the country, but...” Mr. Alfred trailed off.

After he finished wiping his tears away with a tissue, he took a deep shaky breath, looking Zane straight in the eyes. 

“I loved your mother from the very moment I rested my eyes on her, but she had fallen from another man, a foreigner... that was all I knew of your father back then... and a few days to our wedding, she eloped out of the country with him.” Mr. Alfred said.

Hearing how his voice broke along with the last word as his eyes stared down at his plate, Zane could tell that what Mr. Alfred felt for his mother still lives in his heart till this very moment.

“Rosalie left me alone without so much as a single goodbye, so I tried my best to find a way to bring her back, but the longer she was gone, the less I found hope of ever seeing her again. Then her parents passed, and since she was their only heir, I fought to take over their companies and properties... to save them all for when I found her, but...” Mr.  Alfred continued.

“But...”Zane whispered.

“I never found Rosalie... The last tip that I got about her whereabouts was that she was here, in Florin. So, I packed up my things, moved from Oceania, and established here, in all hopes to find her. I never did... But I always believed she was happy with  the man that she chose. Who knew-“

“She wasn’t. She was miserable and helpless till her very last breath, and I want to know why... why Damion treated her the way he did, and who was behind her death.”

After a couple of minutes of silence, Mr. Alfred met Zane's eyes, saying, “I was too late to help your mother, and I am too old now, death could knock on my door anytime. But I am happy about this second chance... I want you to be my heir since I have none. After all, half of my wealth belongs to your mother.”

With this determined look on his face, Mr. Alfred  reached over and grabbed Zane's hand. “So please, give me the opportunity to repay my debt to her. Let me take you under my wing and make you the greatest bastard alive... And when you find out who dared to hurt Rosalie, I want you to rain down hell on his or her name. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir...” Zane said.

Smiling through his tears, Mr, Alfred patted the back of Zane's hand and said, “Good. Now, let me see what's in the file.”

The dining hall of the Briggs mansion was peaceful as Damion, Deborah, and their kids, Jason, and Austin ate quietly.

But the moment the sound of footsteps, approaching the room, echoed in their ear, everyone tensed up with worried, confused, and angry faces. 

Like they all anticipated, Zane walked through the doorway, and all of their faces grew cold like they were ice sculptures.

Seeing the shift in their expression, Zane smiled at them as he held his hands high with the folder in between his fingers and said, “Mr. Alfred is going to sign over the project to us. NewEra has been chosen to authorize the electrical engineering design of Blueprint Inc. new software.”

“You are lying.” Sophia sneered at Zane.

But he ignored her, dragged a chair out, and sat down, relaxing in his seat as he counted in his head, ‘Five, four, three, two-‘

Immediately, Mr. Briggs' phone started ringing, and he glared away from his son, staring down at the unknown number on his screen.

Hesitantly, he picked  up the phone, answering without any greetings, and then he heard, “Mr. Briggs, this is Mr. Alfred. I would like a meeting with you tomorrow to further discuss the terms and conditions for signing the contract for Blueprint Inc. Can you be available at ten tomorrow morning?” 

“Yes! Of course, Mr. Alfred, I will be there .” Mr. Briggs said before the call ended.

Then he darted his eyes around the table, at the faces of everyone, and then lowered his gaze as he mumbled, “We got the project.”

The room went cold like death news had been announced, instead of something that was about to make them millions of dollars.

Suddenly, Mr. Briggs stood to his feet quietly and walked out the dining hall, heading to his study.

A couple of minutes passed and then the room door opened, revealing Jason as he walked inside, and then he closed the door behind him.

They all exchanged looks and then, Damion sighed, mumbling, “I know… I got to get rid of him from this house and give him something else to distract him with.”

“But what?” Jason asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

The moment Zane stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, his father bashed into his room, frowned at him for a moment, and then said, “Get dressed. We are going out!”

“Just the two of us?” Zane asked, skeptical of  his father's sudden decision.

“Yeah! You and me.”

“Why?”

“Stop asking so many damn questions and put some clothes on.”

A couple of minutes later, Zane sat in the backseat of the car with Damion, running over ideas in his head of what his father was up to.

Soon, the driver brought the car to a stop at a white mansion, parked by a large fountain, and Zane exited the car with Damion.

Calmly he walked after his father, keeping alert of his surroundings, and eventually, they arrived in this enormous living room occupied by a bunch of people Ethan didn’t know.

But then his eyes rested on Emma, and he froze, looking into her nervous eyes with shock.

“Mr. Briggs, what is so urgent that you would call me and leave your house at such an hour just to talk business with me?” Mr. Taylor exclaimed.

“Well, Vex Co. has been trying to collaborate with NewEra on a project for the longest time, and I have the perfect project on hand. Blueprint Tech Inc...” Mr. Briggs boasted.

“You got the contract?!”

“Yes. Mr. Alfred called me directly to inform me about his desire to work with NewEra, and I was thinking about bringing you on board. You know that any company that works with a corporation like ‘Blueprint Tech’ is bound to have a brighter future.”

Silence fell upon the room, and then Mr. Taylor's gaze met Damion’s eyes and asked, “What’s the catch?”

“An arranged marriage between my oldest son and any of your granddaughters and for you guys to accept him and take him under your roof as your son-in-law.” Mr. Briggs stated bluntly.

‘Taking your trash and throwing it over to us, I see.’ Madam Taylor thought, scowling at Zane.

The fact that his father was abandoning him with another family in the name of marriage left Zane speechless, and yet he didn't hate the idea.

After thinking things through for a while, Mr. Taylor sighed and said, “My granddaughter Ava is of age to get wed.”

Ava, who had been glaring at Zane the whole time, scoffed and was about to reject Zane when he beat her to it and said, “If I am to marry a woman in your family, I want the hands of your granddaughter, Emma.”

The room fell silent, and Emma could feel the eyes of her family on her as she cried in her head, ‘Why would you say that.’

“Emma is still young... A nineteen-year-old girl will make an amateur bride and would be nothing more than a burden, than a wife.” Mr. Taylor responded to Zane, not even bothering to glance over at Emma.

“Grandfather, please don't marry me off to this waste of space. He is just a lowlife that is sick, carrying diseases around, and being gross!” Ava  said, getting more and more enraged with each word coming from her mouth.

“That's enough! Ava, stop that right now!” Mrs. Taylor said. “Don’t order your grandfather!”

“If you insist on giving Ava to me, I would walk out of here now and never look back. A woman like her is not something that interests me.” Zane said, his voice steady as he met the old man's eyes, his words pissing Ava and her parents off.

After an intense staring contest between Mr. Taylor and Zane, the old man sighed, looked over at his granddaughter, and said, “Emma, what do you say to this?”

“If it will help our family's future, then I am willing to marry him,” Emma said, knowing she couldn't defile her grandfather, not in the slightest.

“Then it is settled. Emma and my son will get married a week from now, and our families can become one on this project.” Mr. Briggs announced with a big smile. 

Staring at his father, a faint, half-smirk carved on Zane's lips as he thought, ‘Think you can get rid of me. You are in for a treat, old man.’