Damian Cross: Almighty Apocalypse System

Chapter 2

Damien stood there listening to them talk and for a moment he felt a strange kind of pride swell up in his chest because he was the one who made that drug, he spent three years locked in a basement lab mixing chemicals and running tests and failing over and over again until he finally figured it out.

He did that.

And now the Whitmore family was going to be one of the richest families in the entire world because of him.

Damien looked at Clara and smiled. "I am glad it worked."

Clara glanced at him for half a second and then looked back at her father without saying anything.

That was when the door opened.

Everyone turned toward the sound and a man walked into the room like he owned it.

He was tall, maybe six foot two, with dark hair slicked back and a suit that probably cost more than Damien had earned in his entire life, his face was handsome in a cold sharp way and his eyes swept over the room with the kind of confidence that only came from being born into money.

Julian Crane.

Damien recognized him immediately because everyone knew who Julian Crane was, his family owned the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, even after the apocalypse they still controlled most of the drug production and distribution across every remaining city.

Richard's entire face lit up when he saw Julian and he walked over quickly with his hand extended. "Julian, I was not expecting you tonight."

Julian shook his hand firmly and smiled. "I heard some very interesting news about a breakthrough drug and I wanted to come see for myself."

"You heard correctly," Richard said, still grinning. "We just got confirmation, the drug is a complete success."

"Congratulations," Julian said smoothly, and then his eyes moved to Clara. "And congratulations to you as well Clara, your father tells me you have been overseeing this project personally."

Clara smiled at him in a way that made Damien's stomach twist. "Thank you Julian, it has been a long process but it was worth it."

"I am sure it was," Julian said, and then he looked at Margaret and greeted her politely as well.

However no one looked at Damien.

It was like he was not even there.

Damien stood in the middle of the room with his hands still clasped in front of him and his heart starting to beat faster now for a different reason.

Something was wrong, he could feel it.

Richard and Julian started talking about distribution deals and patents and profit margins, Margaret was nodding along and smiling, Clara was standing close to Julian now with her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly like she was listening to something fascinating.

And no one said a single word to Damien.

At that moment he cleared his throat. "Excuse me."

No one turned.

He spoke louder. "Excuse me, I—"

"Damien," Richard said without looking at him. "We are in the middle of something important."

"I know, but I just wanted to ask about—"

That was when something hit him hard in the back.

Damien's knees buckled and he fell forward onto the floor with his hands barely catching himself before his face hit the ground, pain exploded across his spine and he gasped and tried to turn his head to see what happened.

One of Richard's security guards was standing behind him, a huge man with no expression on his face and his fist still raised.

Damien tried to push himself up but another guard grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him back down onto the floor, his cheek pressed against the cold wood and his vision blurred for a second.

"What the hell is going on?" Damien choked out, his voice shaking now.

Richard turned to look at him finally, and the smile was gone from his face, now he just looked annoyed. "Did you really think we were going to give you a ring Damien?"

Damien stared at him. "You promised."

"We promised you a roof over your head," Richard said. "We promised you food, we promised you a lab to work in, and we gave you all of that, we kept our end of the deal."

"You said after three years—"

"After three years we would consider it," Margaret cut in, her voice sharp now. "We never promised anything."

Damien's chest tightened and he tried to push himself up again but the guard's hand was like iron on his back. "I worked for you, I gave you everything, I made that drug, I spent three years locked in this house for you."

"And we appreciate that," Richard said. "But let's be honest Damien, you did not do it for us, you did it because you had no other choice, you had nowhere else to go, no one else would take you in, and if we had not let you stay here you would have frozen to death in the streets like your mother did."

The words hit Damien like a punch to the gut.

"You could have saved her," Damien said, his voice breaking now. "You had an extra ring, you could have given it to her, but you sold it instead, you sold it to the Harrington family for three million dollars."

"It was a business decision," Richard said simply.

"She was dying."

"A lot of people were dying," Margaret said. "We cannot save everyone Damien."