Chapter 1: To Free Your Lion Heart

"What a stupid jerk!"

Alex was doing the laundry, with his hand paused momentarily, but then he resumed as usual. That harsh word was aimed at him, but Alex pretended not to hear it, as if it had nothing to do with him, because he had been accustomed to it.

The middle-aged woman in front of him, was his mom -in-law, who became even angrier while seeing Alex didn’t react at all.

She took a few steps forward and directly kicked over the basin where he was doing the laundry. The pot overturned, soapy water splashed all over him, and the clothes in the basin dipped to the ground, more than half dirty.

"Are you a deaf? Can’t you hear what I said? You’re a loser indeed." 

Mrs. Andrew spoke in a long, non-stop way, so much so that saliva splashed forward like a drizzle. Her face turned red, which made her looked like a pot of hot tea boiling on the stove. 

She stopped for seconds to calm herself and then continued," I tried to stop the old guy marrying Jessica to you, such a loser, though I failed. But now he has died..."

"Sorry to interrupt, but Mrs Andrew, he is your father-in-law, you should respect him." Alex interrupted her words, which made her annoyed even worse.

"You dare to blame me! The parasitic wife thing. You are in my house, eating at my home, spending money there; you must be reasonable, uh? So what's your attitude? You’re just a dog of Locke’s Family!"

"But... Mum. I'm sorry..." Alex attempted to explain but then gave up.

Those insults, or the outbursts of anger have been routine since he married Jessica three years ago. 

Mrs. Andrew was a "demon", taking charge of this 3-people family that her husband had passed away in early period. She didn't take anyone seriously and especially despised poor males. So when her daughter - Jessica, married a "useless" person like Alex, she got furious and treated him like a dog, giving orders at will, and venting her anger when needed.

Why did he have to wash clothes by hand? Not owing to the Lack of a washing machine, but her order.

Noticing his reticent attitude, Mrs. Andrew finally got calm, taking out a divorce agreement:

"I always want you two to get a divorce, and Jessica deserves a more successful and elegant man instead of a jerk as you. "

Alex opened his mouth, intending to explain something and resisting this agreement.

At that moment, Mrs. Andrew’s driver called her from outside. Hearing that, her expression softened a little. She turned to get out and left a sentence:

“Sign it today!”

After she had left the house, Alex opened the agreement nervously. He felt heartbroken as he saw Jessica’s signatures on it.

He could hardly believe it because Jessica was the gentlest one who treated him well, though they didn’t look like a couple. His hand grabbed the paper tightly.

“Ding”, he received a message from Jessica suddenly.

“Alex, it’s grandma’s birthday banquet tonight at Birmingham’s Hall.”

It is Mrs Locke, who had been the real governor of the family since Mr Locke passed away. Every Locke’s member flattered her to gain higher positions in the company.

Now that Jessica had signed the agreement, it would be the last family banquet that he would attend. Alex prepared to put all his savings into jewelry to make a decent leave, both for himself and Jessica.

However... Alex was a bit worried, looking at his thin wallet.

Dressed in a smart suit, Alex fixed his hair and left home for the store. He hailed a cab and went to the most prominent jewelry store in the city.

Seeing Alex enter, the saleswoman warmly greeted him.

"Good afternoon, what can I do for you, sir?"

"I want to buy a piece of jewelry… either gold or diamonds for my wife's grandmother."

"Oh." Hearing Alex's request, the saleswoman thought he was a rich man from an equally aristocratic family, so she enthusiastically brought out expensive jewelry sets, gold figurines, and diamonds.

"For women, jewelry is an indispensable part; without jewelry, it is like a peacock without a beautiful tail, an antelope without horns. As for diamonds, what women like most are shiny objects; it's beautiful and precious like a woman. Here we also have some gold feng shui samples; what year was your grandmother born? I will choose the appropriate models for her."

At the saleswoman's sweet offers, Alex was momentarily distraught by the glittering objects in front of him. But he thought a diamond or gold is not much more practical than a jewelry set. 

Thus, he quickly chose a set of jewelry from among them and said to the saleswoman:

"What is the price of this jewelry set?"

Seeing that Alex had chosen, the saleswoman was excited:

"It costs fifty thousand dollars."

Fifty thousand dollars? Alex was dumbfounded when he heard that number. It's too big for him. Seeing his silly face, the woman's face also changed slightly. He said:

"You can refer to some other models like this necklace costs twenty-five thousand dollars, this earring costs ten thousand dollars…."

Numbers danced and whirled around Alex's head. He felt dizzy at the cost of these luxuries. Of course, he couldn't afford them.

"Uh… is there anything cheaper?"

The employee was less enthusiastic, and he said:

"So you can refer to some artificial silver and gold jewelry. It will cost anywhere from five thousand dollars to ten thousand dollars…"

Alex began to feel awkward, and the number was too large for the number in his account. He hesitantly asked:

"Show me the cheapest item in this store."

"Cheap…cheapest?"

The saleswoman started to have a bad attitude. She bent over the jewelry display case and started rummaging through it. After a while, she took out a silver bracelet.

"This is the cheapest product, costing five thousand dollars."

Alex thought he should go to another store to check it out. Five thousand dollars is still too much for him.

"I think it doesn't suit me, so…"

Before he finished speaking, the saleswoman pouted her lips, sighed, looked bored, and said:

"That's right, and you probably don't fit in a place as luxurious as this. Life is short; smile while you still have teeth. And if you keep doing this, you won't have any teeth. You are poor, and you still want to climb high. Why don't you go to a toy store and buy it."

Suddenly being scolded in the face, Alex was dumbfounded, but before he had time to react, the saleswoman picked up a feather broom and hit him in the feet.

"Go away, get out of here, what bad luck. Sixty percent of a person's saliva goes to waste in one's life because of people like this."

The saleswoman's actions attracted the attention of everyone in the store, some of whom looked at this funny situation, some even laughed. And the chatter was also buzzing around, Alex was kicked out of the store in shame.

Suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder. Alex turned around, startled, and saw an old man dressed as a butler. 

"Young Master." The butler bowed to him with respect.

"What did you come here for?" Alex recognized him.

"Though the future king of Andersons don't haggle with the lower class, your allegaint servant, will deal with it for you."

The butler Wiz, walked into the jewelry store and bought the most expensive stuff in it directly, which cost nearly ten million dollars.

The manager and saleswomen of the store were astonished at it and then became wild with joy. But soon Wiz's words froze them all, downfalls to hell from heaven.

"For the honor of the family, all of you here, begging a job through Andersons, are fired now." He announced and showed his positions with a group token of Andersons

The manager was scared back for several steps, almost sitting on the ground. They lost their jobs because rudeness is not allowed in Andersons-owned stores. More importantly, Alex's dignity cannot be challenged as he has been on the path toward the throne.

Finally, he came to Alex and bowed himself again, saying:

" My lord, please deal with the trivals as soon as possible, we need an emperor to guide us now. We belong to the family of lions, and you will be the real lion king. It' s time to free your lion heart now. "

After those words, he gave the jewelry box to Alex and then went away.