THE FORGOTTEN HUSBAND’S REVENGE!

Chapter 2: A Soldier’s Promise

“They told me that you were dead, Maxwell,” Arabella's voice trembled as she reached shakily out to caress his cheek. “Every time I tried to reach the military channels just to get news about you but I was denied access and then they came.”

“Your father refused to give them the deed of his land and they forcibly took it away from him, using our lives as bargaining chips. Your father told us to hide but your sisters and your mother were too late,” She broke into sobs that tore deeply at Maxwell’s heart.

“They killed all of them and I watched. I was helpless. I couldn’t do anything. I buried them with my own hands, the servants fled and everything was thrown into chaos. My own family had tried to force me to remarry after their deaths. Where were you when we needed you, Maxwell?”

Maxwell’s mind was in chaos. There’s no way his family would have died over a flimsy excuse of a land. There was definitely more to it. He held on tightly to Arabella’s frail body as guilt ate at him raw.

“I’m here now. I’m here and no one would hurt you anymore that I promise you. And I will avenge my family’s death. Everyone involved will pay dearly with their lives!”

His eyes shone with vengeance and determination. His family’s death won’t be for nothing!

•••

Maxwell stood over his family’s graves, a man dressed in a thick green coat stood beside him, their faces solemn.

“Look into my family’s death. Get me everything you can find about the Vallis, every transaction, every dirt you can find on them. I need them immediately.”

“Yes commander!” The man replied before briskly walking away.

Maxwell’s jaw tightened, his fists clenched.

“I will make sure they regret being born! Your son is back. The Greens live and everyone who has underestimated our family will be shocked.”

•••

Maxwell alighted from the car, and stared at the land his father usually took him to when he was a boy. His father had said he intended to build a hospital or a beach resort here since it was closer to the sea. But now, all the structures his father had built had been tore to the floor.

Maxwell’s heart bled as he took steps towards the ridge of the eastern part of the land. This was the land his father had died for. The sounds of engine working didn’t do anything to calm his tensed nerves but rather made them worse.

A group of men dressed in orange vests were busy hammering metal stakes into the soil. A large truck stood idly nearby, bearing a logo that made Maxwell’s blood boil.

Vallis Development Group.

“Who gave you the permisssion to mark this earth?” Maxwell’s voice wasn’t loud but it echoed through the field.

The lead surveyor, a short man with a clipboard and a sneer, looked up. He took in Maxwell’s disheveled appearance and the blood on his shirt, and raised a brow. “Move along Pal. This isn’t a psychiatric institution, this area is restricted. The Vallis group has a court ordered seizure of this property and I’m sure you have heard of the Vallis family, they can’t be angered.”

“A seizure?” Maxwell stepped closer. “This is the Greens land! Their bodies are still cold in the floor and you are already measuring for fences!?”

“The Greens are dead so what?! Did they send you here to fight for them?” The surveyor laughed loudly, waving a hand dismissively. “Get out of here before I call the guards to toss you out for trespassing. You look like you have sleeping in a gutter.”

Maxwell didn’t argue. He moved towards the equipments with the same inhumane speed he had used in the house.

CRUNCH!

Maxwell’s boot came down on the expensive surveying transit, crushing the lenses and the tripod in the mud.

“Hey! That’s fifty thousand dollars of equipment!” The man yelled, reaching for his radio.

Maxwell grabbed the man’s wrist, his grip like an iron shackle. He squeezed until the man dropped the radio, his eyes filled with fear as they locked gazes, his face turning pale.

“Tell the so called Vallis head that his court order is worth nothing!” Maxwell hissed. “The Greens aren’t dead for one of them is standing in front of you and I’m calling in every debt.”

He shoved the man back, causing him to stumble over his own broken equipment. The crew scrambled towards their truck, clearing the path of him as they were terrified by the look in his eyes and the aura he exuded.

As the truck sped away, Maxwell stood on the ridge. His hand went to his wrist, feeling the wooden bead bracelet his father had pressed into his palm when he was leaving for the army four years ago. This was the only memory of his father he had and his chest tightened.

Suddenly, the beads grew warm against his skin. A low, rhythmic hum vibrated through his arm, a pulse that felt almost…. Alive.

He frowned, lifting his sleeve to look at the bracelet, but a flash of light in his peripheral vision caught his attention.

A black SUV was riding down the dirt path with increased speed as it rode. The engine roaring. It wasn’t slowing down. It was aiming straight for the spot Maxwell stood.