THE DESTINED FOUR

Chapter 3: Leo's Escape

Leo Ricci was suffocating. His family's expectations were a noose around his neck, tightening with each passing day. He loved his parents, but their rigid plans for his future left him feeling trapped, like a bird in a gilded cage. They wanted him to follow in their footsteps, to become a successful businessman or a scholar, but Leo's heart yearned for something different.

He was a natural with numbers, able to solve complex equations with ease, but his true passion lay in exploration. He spent his free time reading books about far-off places, imagining himself trekking through jungles, climbing mountains, and sailing across oceans. The world was vast and full of mysteries, and Leo wanted nothing more than to explore it.

But his parents didn't understand. They saw his dreams as foolish, a waste of time and potential. They wanted him to focus on his studies, to prepare for the future they had planned for him. But Leo couldn't shake the feeling that his destiny was tied to something much larger than the life his parents had mapped out for him.

One evening, after another argument with his father, Leo climbed out of his bedroom window and made his way to the old ruins on the outskirts of the city. The ruins were his sanctuary, a place where he could think and dream without the pressure of his family's expectations. As he sat among the ancient stones, he felt a strange sensation—a pull, as if something was calling to him from beyond the city walls.

The feeling was so strong that it took his breath away. For a moment, he felt as if he was standing on the edge of a great adventure, with the world at his feet. But then the sensation faded, leaving him with a sense of longing and anticipation. He knew then that his life was about to change, that his dreams of adventure were more than just fantasies.