Faded Grey

Chapter 1

If someone wanted to pinpoint the moment in Elias' life where everything went to shit, it would probably be when he discovered his father, John Hampton, snorting coke with his business partner inside of his office. Elias was only sixteen at the time, when he got a glimpse of them through the door he had just opened to announce that he got an A in English.

Needless to say, the perfect image he had constructed of his dad came crashing down. Some people would say that doing drugs is hardly something to make a fuss about. After all, a lot of people have at least tried it once. Especially since rich business men often use their money to indulge themselves in the finest pleasures of life.

Elias agreed, He could've gotten over this incident. Only, the truth of it was worse. So much worse.

As it turns out, his dad was dabbing into a few illegal trades.

Elias discovered his shady business when he went snooping into the man's office while he was gone. He probably didn't suspect his son would search through his things, since it was an unwritten rule that the room was off limits. Unfortunately for him, Elias had inherited his mother's curiosity, which allowed him to come upon all sorts of documents proving his dad's involvement in illegal activities. 

When he showed his mother, Nadia, all of the documents, she didn't want to believe it. Yet, the proof was right under their nose. She spent a week living in denial before she presented his father with divorce papers. A month later, the mother and her son lived in a modest apartment in the middle of the city. 

Elias' mother was heartbroken. The man she loved had lied to her all those years, and the worst part is that she also learned that he had been cheating on her ever since they got together 20 years ago. 

She tried to keep a strong front, but Elias knew his mom was feeling depressed after the whole thing. Her son didn't blame her, and he tried his best to help her around the apartment along with keeping up with his grades at school so she didn't have to worry about him. 

Elias always kept a smile on his face, but deep down inside, the wound his father had inflicted was still fresh and bleeding. The hurt that he felt slowly turned into hatred, and that's when he promised himself he would do everything he could to ruin his father the way he had ruined them.  

//

It was the most damning evidence Elias had received until now. 

Since he was sixteen, he had gathered evidence on his father's illegal affairs, and now 8 years later, he finally had enough evidence to bring the man to justice. 

He had to give it to him, John Hampton was good at covering his tracks. He never met any of the shady people he did business with in person, and Elias had never been able to link him directly with them until now. 

Elias worked closely with one of his good friends, Noah, who was a detective, and a few days ago, he had received intel that John would be meeting with one of the most influential crime lords of the city. The pair couldn't inform the police of their growing case because it would most likely be buried by the government, so Elias had to go himself yesterday at the meeting place to take photos.