Brutal (On Hold)

Chapter 29(i)

*Please make sure to go through the Characters before continuing - posted before this chapter*

Kindness can both be a blessing and a curse. Sarah looked into her husband's eyes as her own eyes filled up. She saw how broken he was. She understood now why he just couldn't be gentle, why he couldn't express his feelings and above all why he was this ruthless. His parents kindness ruined everything for their happy family. It definitely did not justify how he had been abusing her but his gentleness was stolen from him at a very tender age. He was left to forge his own path. The spirit of revenge was kindled in his soul when he was a child and it had been breeding ever since.

James didn't belong to a very rich family but his father earned sufficient to support his little world. He owned a small coffee cum book shop in the heart of the city. Ronald's was a classic love story of a beautiful lass stumbling into the bookshop on a rainy day of 1989. Emilia wasn't sure whether it was her love for books or the developing attraction for the handsome young owner of the shop, for her visits to his bookshop had increased substantially. It was a matter of time and the young love birds got married. A year later the couple was blessed with an adorable baby boy. They named him – James Wayne. Over the next three years he furthered his business opening another shop which Emilia took care of. Built with immense love, kindness and peace theirs was a happy family.

It was on James's fourth birthday that Ronald's childhood friend, Mathis Welch, appeared at his door in tattered clothes. The couple's gentle hearts couldn't deny him shelter. Shelter for a night got converted to shelter for days and eventually an accommodation in the attic of the house. It was when Emilia got sick with flu that Mathis offered to take care of the second book shop. Those five days of her sickness were enough for greed to weave through Mathis's dark heart. A manipulator with words he talked the duo into spending more time with a growing up James. The naïve couple was grateful if not anything else for the so-called kindness Mathis showed towards them. Ronald decide to provide him a salary for his help. Mathis sold the books at much higher prices and put the extra money in his pocket. Forging the balance sheets, he presented false sales to Ronald. A clever person, Mathis, started with building trust. Eventually he almost became a part of their family. But, the affection and love wasn't enough for him. He wanted more.

Out of boredom one day, Emilia decided to take James with her and spend some time at the book shop where she discovered the forgery Mathis has been committing. Bewildered she confronted him and decide to inform Ronald immediately.

"I'm sorry Emilia! I don't know what came over me!" He shed crocodile tears.

"You've been fooling the customers! This is deceit! We trusted you Mathis!" Too young to interpret anything James looked at the crumpled features of his mother.

"Please don't tell Ronald! I promise it won't happen again."

"I'm sorry I can't keep my husband in dark. He has to know." She held her head high, grabbed James's hand and exited the book shop. He ran after her to stop her but she didn't listen. It happened in front of his eyes. He saw the high sped car approaching her from the opposite direction. If he wanted he could have warned her but all he did was keep quiet and smile cynically. The moment Emilia comprehended she pushed James aside and the car hit her. Before her body could get used to the impact another car hit them from the opposite direction. The collision of the two cars was this massive that the impact caused them to blow apart. Nothing was left except for ashes - no remains of anybody's bodies.  As if luck was on his side the family lost Emilia to the horrible accident. Her death left Ronald in a terrible state. James kept on questioning about his  mother.

"Where's mommy,daddy?"

"She's angwy with Uncle Mathws. Tell him to say sowwy to mommy. She will come back." James would cry innocently every night as his father held him. Devastated, Ronald thought the child missed his mother and spoke things incoherrently. He started spending maximum time with James trying to provide him with love of both a father and a mother. The father and son had become one - nothing could separate them. Still grieving Ronald had completely lost focus on business which was mainly handled by Mathis now. Exceptionally happy with the death, Mathis encashed this opportunity. And so it was. Gradually he earned Ronald's trust to this extent that Ronald ended up making him the legal guardian of James and his property should anything happen to him - a solid reason for Mathis to finally get rid of Ronald.

It was that eventful night when James had witnessed the murder of his father. Everything was meticulously planned. Mathis wasn't supposed to bother about a lot of people for the only three people who lived in the house were Ronald, James and him. Standing at the door of his father's room he saw Mathis's gloved hand stab a knife animalistically into his father's chest. Shocked he couldn't utter a word. Like a predator Mathis walked to him and ran his bloodied hand over the child's head. Squatting down he whispered.

"Sshh...Daddy's no more.."

Mathis cooked up a story of a random thief who entered the house. The aim was a robbery but when Ronald tried to stop him the thief murdered him. To come out clean he bribed the police. Out of emotional trauma the child couldn't utter a word. The saddest part was that Mathis  accompanied him to his fathers funeral where he pretended to be devastated by his friend's death and wowed to take care of James. He was center of attraction and became the hero. Over the next few months he treated James ridiculously. He was forced to quit school. The reason given to the authorities was that he needs time to deal with his parents loss. James started working as a servant in his own house.

One fine night James gathered courage and ran away from Mathis leaving behind humanity once and for all. He begged and slept on streets running away from Mathis. As he grew up he started working as a serving boy in a small restaurant. The owner of the restaurant did provided him with shelter, but beat and starved him. James had no choice but to stay for he needed a roof over his head and food to survive. It was here that James met Patrick for the first time. Patrick worked here as a cook and would sneak food to the child a lot of times.

There was no looking back after this. Luck wasn't the deciding factor - it was hard work. He was the captain of his own destiny. He studied hard, worked harder and managed to get into the top business schools of the country. He started working for a steel company, paid off his debts and opened up his own startup which failed miserably. But he didn't give up. Eventually, his sharp mind managed to build an empire nobody could destroy. He needed loyal men in his life and so he went back to where he started his journey and asked Patrick to accompany him.

But even after all these years his past haunted him. He would get up screaming at night. The image of his dead father dancing in front of his eyes and the deranged laughter of Mathis never leaving him. All this while he kept tabs on Mathis and his journey - his family, his wife and above all his step - daughter, Sarah.

Author's Note:-

A very Happy New Year to everybody!

I don't know who are still with me but thank you for waiting this long. Thank you for loving this story. Above all thank you for making me feel wanted as a writer. It means a lot! Here's the chapter. It's not the best but I've just been dealing with certain issues. The next part of the chapter will reveal Sarah's journey.

*For all those who've been calling Sarah a sl*t - her character is complicated. For readers who've been using such language for her - you've not understood it - please refrain from reading further.*

xoxo Lily<3

January 8, 2017