Thirty Years

Out of Reach

Warning: This chapter contains elements that may not be appropriate for all readers (suicide)

"Mr. Lofter?" Via stood in front of Leo Lofter's office with his secretary. To his dismay, Via managed to convince Asa to first grab some coffee so that she could meet with Leo Lofter alone.

"Come in."

Entering the neatly arranged office room, Via was surprised to see the figure of a young, dark haired man standing near the window looking over the city.

"Please sit." Via masked her surprise quickly and calmly approached the man.

Is this is test? I know for a fact the man standing in front of me is not Leo Lofter. Well, I might as well make a good impression. . .

As the man pulled a chair up next to her Via didn't hesitate to make eye contact with him.

"Thank you for having me here today. My name is Via Dos." She leaned over the desk to shake the man's hand.

This girl. . . she looks like she's barely out of high school! What was grandfather thinking?

Internally shaking his head at his grandfather's antics, Lucas Lofter gave Via a charming smile and shook her hand.

"The pleasure is mine Miss Dos. Why don't you start by telling me a bit about yourself?"

As Via told Lucas about her early high school graduation, getting her degrees, and her VR project she observed the charming man. He looked to be about Maix's age (20 years old) and must have had close ties to Leo Lofter to be able to sit at his office.

Suddenly, she remembered hearing about him from her past life. Lucas Lofter, grandson of Leo Lofter, was the sole heir to Lucas Lofter's legacy. He grew up an orphan after losing his parents to a plane crash. Although she never met the man in person, Via often overheard about him while with Gavin and his friends. Clever and outwardly charming, Lucas Lofter gave the impression of the perfect man. He was rich, charismatic, and young. However, inside, Lucas was cold and detached.

Even though Leo Lofter took in his grandson, he did not give Lucas the affection Lucas' parents would have. In fact, Leo Lofter grew up in a cold household himself, and thus did not know how to comfort his grandson.

As a result, Lucas grew up to be exactly like his grandfather in that manner. The last memories Via had related to Lucas Lofter were of a report sent to Gavin. The young man was admired nationwide for his successes in business and had helped his grandfather's company achieve the highest value the world had seen. As he became more successful, however, Lucas chose his work for his relationships. To him, work made sense--unlike relationships as those around him had modeled for him. Thus, the more prominent he became, the more he found himself struggling with work and life in general. He began withdrawing from the world, unsure where to go and who to go to. It never helped that though he clearly needed help, no one is his circle offered it. As a result, what was clearly preventable occurred. 

Lucas Lofter died by suicide. No news story covered the matter. No dramatic events followed, and only those related to and those who were relatively close to him were notified. The matter was not something to dramatize or romanticize. Leo did not understand his own grandson, but at least he knew that when it came to such issues, overdramatizing what had happened would be horrendously harmful. He did not want anyone else to lose a loved one because of that. 

How terrible. Even though he had all the fame and power in this world, Lucas was not helped by anyone. 

Via had never met Lucas in her past life, but seeing the young man standing in front of her now, she couldn't help but feel how incredible the loss was. This wasn't the tragic story of a fallen hero remembered by all. This is the sad story of an all too true reality. What was originally a perfectly preventable situation spiraled out of control.