Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 32

RUNAWAY

Things didn't always go as planned.

That was why Harry wasn't necessarily surprised when, the moment that he walked into the gym on Monday morning, two days after his birthday, Ray came up to him to let him know that he was fighting that night.

Harry wasn't new to this business. He knew that last minute fights were common. In the past, he had to participate in them a few times, but because he was one of the top fighters as of recently, he would now only fight on Saturdays when the biggest crowd turnouts were.

Ray had informed Harry that, because he had missed two consecutive weekends of fighting, Anthony insisted he would then have to fight that Monday night, as well as on Friday and Saturday night. Harry wasn't necessarily upset about that, but it was kind of annoying because it just meant less time he could have spent with Noah.

At the first chance that he had, Harry texted Noah to let her know about his schedule changes. She expressed her sadness for him, knowing that he didn't enjoy his job and quietly hoped to herself that he was able to quit it soon.

Nevertheless, the day continued on, with Noah at work as usual and Harry training more than usual, getting prepared for the fight that night. He felt refreshed after the weekend with Noah, so he didn't have any worries about the fight.

The other fighter wasn't a tough opponent in the slightest. That was exactly why Harry easily won the fight, hardly exerting any effort to do so. The crowd still cheered wildly when his arm was raised by the referee as the winner, but Harry's expression stayed blank and uninterested even through the screams.

Meanwhile, after Harry had just finished up his fight, Victor Abrell, the owner of the other boxing ring a few towns over, was weaving his way through the crowd to find Anthony.

The truth was, Victor had had it in for Harry for a long time. Harry was known as unbeatable in the boxing community. He always seemed to win his fights because of how skillful he was, such that any boxer from Victor's gym would lose whenever faced against Harry.

Victor hated that.

That was exactly why he had sent those men to attack Harry all those months ago, leaving the permanent scar on the side of Harry's face. Victor was pissed that Harry had easily beaten Jonah, arguably Victor's best fighter, despite the fact that Jonah had been training heavily before that fight.

Victor wanted Harry gone. He knew that Jonah had the potential to be the biggest threat in the boxing world, but with Harry still around, that wasn't possible.

With that being said, Victor had a plan. That plan started with finding Anthony.

When Victor couldn't find him anywhere around the main ring, he decided to check his office. Even though the two could technically be considered rivals, they were civil enough with each other and had never gotten into any vicious spats over the years. It was all fake, though. They had a strong hatred for each other and they both knew it, but they just acted as if they were fine with each other for business purposes.

It didn't take long for Victor to approach Anthony's office. One of Anthony's henchmen was standing outside, but he let Victor walk up to the door and knock on it. When Victor heard the muffled, "come in," through the door, he opened it and made his way inside. The henchman followed him inside, though, just for protection if needed.

Anthony was sitting behind his desk, flicking through the copious amount of dollar bills he had splayed across the surface.

"Victor, old friend. To what do I owe the honor?" Anthony said, always playing civil despite the hatred he had for Victor running through his veins.