CHAPTER 1 : DAMIEN HAWKS

“Damien!” an angry lady's voice could be heard even from a mile away. This shout came from the Davidson family mansion. The Davidsons are a well-respected family in Miami Florida due to one simple fact; Wealth.

Damien Hawks was orphaned at a young age but worked double shifts at a restaurant to pay for his intuition. He had been fortunate, or rather unfortunate to once run into Amelia Davidson who had come into the restaurant to escape from a few thugs. Damien didn't know what had transpired or why she was being pursued by thugs, but he knew he had to do something, so hid her inside the kitchen and pretended nothing happened. When the coast was clear, Amelia came out and thanked him. That simple act had attracted her to him. They dated for a few weeks, but he never knew exactly who she was until one fateful night when they were attacked by thugs whose aim was to pressure Amelia to accept the marriage proposal of the young master of the Roach family; Seth.

Amelia had begged Damien after that incident to marry her to evade Seth's advances. Damien already in love with Amelia agreed without much thought. Now, however, he felt it had been the worst decision he had ever made. The Davidson family never really accepted him due to the fact he had no powerful family background and worse of all, Seth had pulled some strings and not only caused Damien to be fired from the restaurant but also made sure Damien never got employed in any company.

It's been six months and the Davidsons now only see Damien as a live-in son-in-law and a freeloader. Nevertheless, the young man hadn't given up on hopelessness.

“Damien! Where's that leech!” the middle-aged woman; Mrs Carrie Davidson, she's the mother of Amelia and the person who dislikes Damien the most.

“Mother! Stop calling my husband that!” a young lady who should be in her early twenties came out from the opposite room. Fair, beautiful wavy blonde hair and full red lips; the classic snow white beauty.

“Husband you say!? All I see is an overgrown walking parasite!” the middle-aged woman spat in annoyance.

“MOTHER!” Amelia shouted in anger. Right then Damien came out of the room, standing beside Amelia.

“Hmph! Hiding behind a woman. You're not only a parasite, but a coward as well.” the woman spoke again in a condescending tone.

“Good morning Mother-in-law. I will be going to try my luck at the Oceania Corporation today. Please wish me luck.” Damien said politely. He did not want this matter to escalate more than it already did.

“Hmph! As if you will succeed. If you want peace, I suggest you leave my daughter and return to the pig sty where you belong!” Carrie shouted and stomped away from the couple.

“I am sorry Amelia. I try hard..”

“Well try harder. When I asked you to marry me, I never bargained for this. I am only defending you because it's my fault you are in this mess. Please try harder and turn this situation around. I can't keep standing up for you always.” Amelia said with a guilty expression. Damien's current predicament is indeed related to her. If Damien had not agreed to marry her, then he would still have his job and perhaps even get employed in a big company. She had tried to persuade her father to employ Damien, but the man had refused, saying he would rather sell his company than employ the 'leech'.

“I understand I am an embarrassment to you and your family, but never give up hope of things getting better one day,” Damien spoke with conviction. He felt that the Oceania Corporation interview he will attend will yield positive results.

“Ugh! You say that every time, but I will place my hope in you once more. Do not disappoint, for both our sakes.” Amelia then turned around and went back into the room, leaving Damien in the corridor.

Sigh!

“Lady luck, please smile on me today.”

                       *

Without money for cab fare, Damien had to trek to the Oceania company building, which was about an hour's walk from the Davidson family mansion.

Damien had only walked for twenty minutes when a minivan suddenly swerved from the road and stopped in front of him, and out came eight burly men. One look at them and you will know they are up to no good. They all held steel batons and wooden clubs.

“Hey! Buster! You the guy stole young master Seth's woman!?” one of the men with a red bandana and a gold earring on his right ear spoke.

'Uh oh'

Damien did not bother to reply, he turned around and ran off in the opposite direction across the road. The men pursued him, not even wasting even a second.

Damien ran into an alley, thinking he could find a place to hide, unfortunately, it was a dead end.

“Hehehe, it seems your luck isn't good buster.” the same thug from earlier spoke as the eight men made their way towards him.

“Listen, how about we talk things out,” Damien said while doing his best to keep his voice steady. In truth he was terrified.

“Hehehe, young master's orders were specific; you are to be beaten to death.” the thug said with an evil smirk.

“You can only blame yourself for not knowing Mount Everest when you saw one. Hehehehe.”

Right now Damien was surrounded. There was nothing he could use to defend himself. He knew death was on the corner, but he refused to go down without a fight. Without a second thought, Damien dashed forward towards the leader, but he was a bit slow as the thug leader smashed him across the face with the steel baton in his hand. Damien could have sworn he saw stars dancing around his head. He fell to the hard cold floor and the gang pounced on him, kicking, hitting and punching.

“Why? Why was he treated this way? Why was fate cruel to him? Why was wealth elusive to him? Why!?” these were the last thoughts Damien had before he succumbed to awaiting cold hands of death.