I Was The School Joke Until I Bought The City

5 The Wolves at the Door (Jayson Velasco POV)

"You think you can just sneak past my door without paying for the structural damp damage you caused in the communal hallway, Velasco?" a rasping, nicotine-stained growl echoed through the narrow, unventilated corridor of the tenement block.

I stopped right at the base of the splintering wooden stairs, my hands gripping my cardboard box of personal belongings tightly as I looked up. Mr. Andres Grimes was standing on the landing above me, his greasy stained undershirt barely covering his bloated stomach, a thick stack of eviction notices gripped tightly in his meaty fist.

"The leak came from the flat above mine, Mr. Grimes," I said, my voice thick with absolute exhaustion, the humiliation from the boardroom meeting still burning like raw acid in my chest. "I have told you three times this month that the pipes behind my bathroom wall are corroding... I am barely surviving on my entry level pay... I do not have the money to fix your building's structural neglect."

"I do not care about your sob stories or your fancy architectural degrees, boy," Grimes sneered, descending the steps slowly, his yellowed teeth bared in a predatory grin. "London is for people who can pay... as of this morning, your rent is going up by four hundred pounds... market adjustments... pay it right now or you and your garbage box are going straight out into the East London rain."

"Four hundred pounds is illegal without proper statutory notice," I shouted, my temper finally snapping, the raw emotional weight of losing my job and my life's work at Walter's Regal crashing down on me all at once. "You are a predatory parasite... you ignore the black mold eating through our walls... you cut off our heating during the coldest weeks of winter... and now you want to extort me when I have absolutely nothing left?"

"Watch your mouth, you pathetic little charity case," Grimes barked, lunging forward to shove his thick finger directly into my chest, knocking me back against the peeling wallpaper. "You are a nobody... a broken kid from the suburbs who couldn't make it in the big city... I know you got sacked from that elite firm today... the neighborhood gossip travels fast... you have no leverage here... you have until midnight to empty the flat."

"Please... just give me until the end of the week to find a temporary shelter," I whispered, the crushing despair of my reality squeezing the air straight out of my lungs as I looked at the floor, utterly defeated by the wolves circling my life.

"Not a single day more, Velasco," he spat, turning around to walk back up the stairs, his cruel laughter bouncing off the damp concrete walls.

I dragged my feet up to my tiny, cramped unit, unlocking the door only to find the air thick with the scent of mildew and stagnant water. I threw my cardboard box onto the saggy mattress, collapsing beside it as the sheer helplessness of my existence completely paralyzed me. The world had taken my designs, my dignity, and now my home... leaving me entirely hollowed out in the dark.

A soft, frantic knock on the door rattled the loose frame, breaking through the heavy gloom of my thoughts.

"Jayson, open the door... please... I know you are in there," Elena’s voice cried out from the hallway, her tone laced with a desperate, breathless panic that made my heart violently seize.

I threw the door open, my eyes widening as I saw her standing there in the dim light of the corridor, her elegant designer trench coat completely soaked from the pouring rain outside, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears. "Elena... what are you doing here... how did you even find this place?"

"I followed you from the office after security dragged you out," she sobbed, pushing past me into the miserable, damp room, her hands trembling as she grabbed the lapels of my jacket. "My father is a monster, Jayson... he completely re-coded the main server archives to overwrite your identity... I tried to access the system to pull the original backups for you... but he caught me... he blocked my security clearance."

"You shouldn't have risked your position for me," I said, my voice breaking as I pulled her freezing, wet body against mine, the possessive, terrifying warmth of her presence the only thing keeping me anchored to reality. "He will ruin you too, Elena... he told the entire board he would file a corporate defamation lawsuit... I have no proof... I have no money... I am completely ruined."

"I don't care about the firm... I don't care about his money!" she screamed emotionally, buried her face into my chest, her fingers clutching my shirt with an obsessive, desperate grip that made my ribs ache. "They can take everything else, Jayson... but they cannot have you... I saw the way you looked at Silas Walter... it broke my heart into a million pieces... I cannot let them erase your beautiful mind from this world."

"Elena... look at this place," I whispered, lifting her chin so she could see the peeling walls and the mold-ridden ceiling. "This is my reality... my landlord is evicting me at midnight because I cannot pay his illegal rent hike... I am a ghost in this city... a nobody you shouldn't waste your tears on."

"Then let us be ghosts together," she breathed, her dark eyes flashing with a wild, sensual desperation as she leaned up, her lips pressing against mine in a heartbreakingly intense kiss that tasted of rain and absolute ruin. "I am obsessed with you, Jayson... I don't want the light upstairs if it means leaving you down here in the dark... use me... take my savings... let us build something that will destroy them all."

"I cannot take your money to fight a war we are destined to lose," I said against her mouth, tearing myself away from her touch even though every fiber of my being wanted to hold her forever.

"We haven't lost yet," she pleaded, her voice trembling with raw, unexpressed emotion as she stared at me from the edge of the bed.

"Velasco, your time is officially up!" Grimes’s voice suddenly boomed from the doorway, as he stepped into the small flat with two heavy-set brutes holding iron crowbars.

Elena spun around, her face turning pale as she shielded me. "Who are you... get out of his flat right now!"

"I am the owner of this dump, lady, and your little boyfriend here is trespassing," Grimes sneered, gesturing to the thugs. "Throw his garbage out the window."