The Fall Of A Heir

{Earth, 2036}

With a population of five billion, Earth was surviving.

Due to a worldwide epidemic in the year 2025, the world population was halved, and not until 2028 was this epidemic fully brought under control.

Eight years had passed since then and the power system had changed completely. Now, the whole world wasn't run by governments or agencies but by families and large businesses.

The higher a family's rank in wealth, the more power they held globally. Most of the businesses that occupied top positions and powers were run by families thereby making global power fall in the hands of a few families that numbered in the hundreds.

These families were scattered around the globe and were wealthy enough to decide the life and death of basically anyone of a lower status.

Today was just another average day on Earth. It was 9 am and while some took their first breaths as they came into the world, others took their last as they left for good.

While some went out to work, some returned home and others headed to a different job after closing one.

As some woke from sleep, others went to sleep.

While some drove on the highway, others decided to walk down the road.

Some had just fallen victim to robbery and some had escaped it.

Some robbers had successfully robbed others and some had been caught.

Amidst all these events was an unfortunate young man.

Pitch black was the color of his hair. It was tied in a bun and held in place by a silver pin with a silver dragon head and a very sharp tip. Its body, a design of spiraling lines.

His black eyes darkened like they could consume light itself, a white young face that told others he was in his late twenties, covered with dirt while he wore white robes with stripes of blue that were stained all over with blood. His blood.

He had cuts all over as he panted and ran away with all the energy he could muster.

"Young Master Yen Khan, there's no outrunning me nor hiding from me. I was hired specifically to keep you dead." A voice called out, obviously speaking to the young man running for his life.

…

The burly man didn't get a reply which resulted in a twitch on his face.

While the man playfully called out, the young man whose name was Yen Khan ran into an alley with lots of pathways and started snaking through them.

As if he could see Yen's location, the man entered the alley at his own pace and followed the exact pathway Yen had followed.

Even as he yelled while walking, there wasn't a single soul who came out to complain. The reason was of course status!

Even though the young man referred to as Young Master Yen was in serious trouble, his status couldn't allow just anyone to intervene.

"It's over." As if he could see beyond even Yen, the man spoke loud enough so Yen who was tens of meters away could hear him.

His words proved to be so in the next few seconds as Yen came to a stop before a wall that was over three meters tall.

Yen's heart leaped into his throat as he looked for other paths to take but there was none. The last turn was over ten meters behind.

Yen turned backward as he made his way toward the next path he saw.

"It's useless." The burly man's voice was heard again.

"You're cornered."

And so was the case as Yen was met with another wall after making his turn into the path he thought was free.

"No! No! No!!" Yen refused to accept what he was currently facing as he turned and headed for the next turn.

"Keep running, looking for hope as when you've found it, it'll slip away at the last moment. I'll make sure of that." The man spoke, assuring Yen of his words.

Ignoring the man and running like a claustrophobic animal, Yen searched all available turns searching for an exit but found none.

He spotted another hidden turn a few steps away and ran towards it and as he arrived, he saw the streets. Kids walking, holding hands with their parents, a group of teenage students returning from school. A spouse walking, holding hands with their son who was in between them.

Yen smiled as he pushed forward, heading toward the streets where he could be free. As long as he made it out, the man after him wouldn't be able to hurt him. They were bound to find someone of a higher status in the streets.

He took the first step and then another and another followed and then the next. He could see the street as he only needed a few more steps before he escaped death.

Tap.

He felt a grip on his robe and then a tug.

"What'd I tell you, Young Master Yen?"

The burly man's voice sounded just behind Yen's ears and a shiver ran through his body.

The man's last words rang in Yen's head. He had been told that when he gained hope, the man would make sure it slipped away and he did just that.

Yen had lost hope but that didn't mean he would give up. "What offense did I commit for the family of my wife to send an assassin after me?"

"You don't know? Then how would I know?" The man's fist landed solidly on Yen's chest and he coughed out saliva.

"They've maltreated me ever since I married into the family and now they plan to shut me up for good?" Yen asked, his face twisted in pain and his heart pounding twice as fast.

"Damn~ That's no good at all." The man said with a sad expression.

Bang!

"Like I care!" Another blow met Yen's ribs.

"Ugh!" Yen fell to his knees as he puked, hauling out the contents of his stomach.

"Dear young master Yen, I'm only paid to kill you. I don't ask for a reason as being paid is all I care about. What you did or didn't do has nothing to do with me." The man explained to Yen who remained faced down.

"Even though I did my best to serve them as a lowly in-law, this is how they repay me and Qing couldn't even do anything as she only watches her husband die at the hands of her family."

"Curse this life! Curse my family for abandoning me! Curse my wife's family!"

Bang!

The man kicked Yen from the side throwing him to the floor.

"Slow down with the curses. If you end up including me, you'd be dead in the blink of an eye." The man warned him.

"I'd be dead either way so curse you too." Yen coughed up blood.

He could see the face of his wife Qing, a beauty wanted by many who ended up being married to him, Yen Khan.

He was married into the family and since the marriage three years ago, he hasn't had a single day of peace.

It was trouble after trouble and today, it was death. He would be free from this life of daily horror.

"Well, death it is." The burly man pulled out a dagger.

Puck!

It dug into Yen's heart and his racing heart slowed down.

He didn't want to die but if the only way out of his misery was death, he would embrace it.

"Thank you." He smiled at the burly man.

"What?" The man asked, doubting if he heard well.

"Thank you." Yen repeated and closed his eyes as he took his last breath.

"Man… that was one hell of a man. Who gets killed and thanks his killer?" The man murmured as he pulled his dagger.

He cleaned it on Yen's body and placed it back inside his cloth and walked away leaving the lifeless body of Yen Khan in an alley no one would think to pass through.