Rise of the Rich and Powerful Jamie Ashford

Chapter 23

Raymond's expression had turned sour as he talked about Jamie's relatives. “They all grew up without the slightest taste of trouble, not to even mention overcoming tribulations.”

Jamie couldn't help but interject. “Grandpa Ray, isn't that the point of being rich? So you don't have to watch the descendants of your family suffer the same kinds of hardship?”

Raymond shook his head with a displeased expression on his face. “Yeah, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't cultivate their will powers! Look at me, Jamie. Do I look like I'm going to be alive forever?! Despite living the same lifestyle as these children and grandchildren of mine, I still went through more than my fair share of ups and downs to become the capable leader that I am today.”

He sat up straight in his seat. “And what about your father, Jamie? Why didn't Michael turn out like his brothers, sisters, and cousins? He grew up living the same lavish lifestyle, but he understood the need to cultivate a brave heart in the face of overwhelming fear. He was a man who started cultivating his willpower from the age of ten. He trained incredibly hard, and even became a god of war at the age of eighteen.”

This revelation brought together a feeling of shock and surprise in Jamie. “A god of war?! My dad was a freaking….?! Grandpa, hold on! What are we talking about exactly? What do you mean by everything you just said?”

Raymond stared at Jamie for a couple of seconds. “I guess I've gotten ahead of myself once again. You know what? Let's talk about these things later. For now, do you have any questions?”

Jamie was a bit discombobulated by the revelations his grandfather had made, but he quickly put them aside, certain that he would look into these things later.

“Grandpa, what happened between you and my dad that broke his ties with the Ashford family? Why did my mother and I grow up in poverty, to the point that she died from lack of funds for her medical treatment?”

A wave of sadness seemed to envelope Raymond as he began talking. 

It turns out that Jamie's mother, Elizabeth Oman, met Jamie's father, Michael Ashford, during one of his trips outside the Ashford family’s Prime Estate.

According to Raymond, the two met when Michael was at the age of twenty. 

Back then, Michael had already been crowned as God of War, as he had led one of the higher factions of the AS99 organization into battle against an incredibly powerful enemy and easily defeated them.

Unfortunately, the battle took place on a settlement that the enemy was raiding at the time. That settlement was where Elizabeth Oman was born and raised. She should have died, along with the countless lives that were lost, but Michael Ashford arrived with those AS99 soldiers and saved her, along with a few other people.

During the years that followed, Michael sponsored the reconstruction of that settlement, and that was when he began getting close to Elizabeth. The two started as friends, but the friendship didn't even last a month before the two found themselves rolling in the sheets

They confessed their love to each other after that and started a relationship.

Two months later, Elizabeth was pregnant and Michael proved that he held no intention of abandoning the love of his life. With this, they promised to be together for the rest of their lives.

Michael proposed to Elizabeth and she gladly accepted. Through this, she had no idea how powerful the Ashford family truly was.

It was then that an issue came up: Raymond Ashford.

It turns out that it was forbidden within the Ashford family for a born-blood member to accept someone who got pregnant out of wedlock. 

Thus, Raymond forbade his son from properly marrying Elizabeth and he even threw her out in anger. Then he used his authority as the head of the family to ban Michael from ever seeing the woman.

That was not all, he even secretly bribed Elizabeth with $5 million to terminate the pregnancy. She gave no objections because she didn't want to end up feeling the wrath of such a tyrannical man.

But in truth, Elizabeth returned the money to Michael and told him what his father had done.

This infuriated Michael, but he knew that he couldn't openly challenge his father. Therefore the two kept their relationship a secret.

They got married in secret as well and began planning to welcome their unborn child.

Over the next few months, Michael was barely at home. He kept flying off to see his wife and unborn child, until one day, his private jet crashed, and he didn't survive.

It was a week later that Elizabeth gave birth to Jamie. With no family to aid her, she raised Jamie all by herself.

Hearing the story up to this point, Jamie was rightfully mad. “I see, Grandpa Ray. So you're the villain in this story, huh?”

Raymond couldn't even look his grandson in the eyes as he nodded his head slightly. “I guess you can say that. Jamie, no apology can even begin to make up for the damage I caused to your parents, especially your mother…”

Jamie cut the old man off. “You're right about that. Where will you even start the apology?! Because of you, I never even got to see my father alive. Your precious son never got to see the face of his son! Because of you, my mother married into a horrible family that treated both of us like we were worth less than trash. I grew up physically and mentally bullied because you decided to uphold such a ridiculously outdated tradition!”

Jamie didn't even realize he was yelling at this point. His voice has been echoing through the secret suite, making it sound even more fearsome.

Raymond said nothing, fully understanding the young man's right to be mad. There was no amount of insults Jamie could throw in his face that he hadn’t self-inflicted already. 

Ever since he lost his son, he has regretted his decision not to accept Elizabeth Oman back then.

The story wasn't over, so Raymond kept talking.