THE UPSTANDING DAVID MALCOLM

Chapter 6

David’s voice cracked through the marble hall like thunder, sharp and unshaken. It stopped everyone where they stood. The guards froze mid-step, the old man still dangling between their grips. Heads turned, eyes wide, and whispers rippled through the crowd as they searched for the one who had dared to speak with such authority.

When they saw him, disbelief washed over the room.

David?

The workers of the bank were stunned. Mouths hung open, brows lifted high. Of all people, it was David of all people to challenge Alexander George, the Money Giant. Murmurs rose quickly, contempt mixed with amusement.

“Is he insane?” one clerk whispered.

“He’ll get himself killed,” another muttered.

The scandal had already made its rounds through the building. Everyone knew David had been sacked. Everyone knew about his public humiliation the CEO, Elizabeth Brown, divorcing him in front of the board. To them, David wasn’t a man of weight. He was nothing but a gold digger who had finally been exposed. And now, here he was, stepping into a storm he could never hope to control.

Alexander’s eyebrows twitched as his gaze landed on the man. For a heartbeat, he had expected someone else someone important, someone of rank to be behind the voice. But instead, it was a man in a plain black suit, cheap fabric that barely held shape. A man whose bank tag was still pinned to his chest.

Alexander’s lips curled faintly. “And who are you to judge my rules?” he asked, his tone slow, dripping with disdain. He clasped his hands behind his back with elegant calm, as though already brushing off the interruption.

Before David could answer, Alexander’s voice rose again, arrogant and sharp. “Do you even know who I am? I am Alexander George.” His words carried like a verdict. “Kneel. Now. Do that, and perhaps I will spare you for the crime of speaking out of turn.”

He said it casually, as though giving David a chance to save his life. Then, with no further thought, he turned his attention back toward the cashier, ready to finish his business.

But David’s voice cut through again, stronger, louder, and sharper than before.

“Can’t you see other people came before you?” he said, each word steady, clear. “If you had a flight to catch, you should have come earlier. You didn’t. You came late. That gives you no right to tell everyone to step aside for you, and no right to assault anyone here physically.”

David’s words fell like hammers on steel. The hall trembled in silence. Every person inside the bank gasped, their lungs tightening as if the air itself had been stolen away.

How could this be? How could a man like David a man they had already cast aside as worthless stand here, challenging the Almighty Alexander?

Some clutched their mouths, others widened their eyes. Whispers buzzed in hushed tones. Has he lost his mind? Does he want to die here today?

Alexander’s expression shifted. The smirk vanished. His jaw tightened, his brow dipped, and the warmth in his eyes turned to sharp, cold steel. He pivoted slowly, his gaze locking onto David with the weight of a predator sizing up prey.

“You…” Alexander’s voice dropped, darker now. “You dare violate the laws of this place? Tell me what can you do now?” His words echoed, his arrogance filling every corner of the bank.

David didn’t flinch. His steps were calm as he moved closer. His eyes remained steady, his shoulders firm, as though every breath he took pulled the weight of the room toward him. He stopped a few paces from the old man who was still crumpled on the ground, battered and weak.

When David finally spoke, his voice was low, clear, and carried the weight of command. “Apologize to everyone,” he said. “Then go back in line where you truly belong. And you will pay this man for the assault. If he’s willing to take money, fine. If not, you’ll report yourself to the police.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. No one even dared to breathe. The audacity was beyond imagination. David hadn’t just spoken back he had given Alexander orders.

All eyes snapped between the two men, waiting for the storm.

For a long moment, Alexander simply stared. The corners of his mouth twitched, then curved upward. His chest shook as a sound slipped from his lips, low at first, then growing louder, until his laughter filled the entire bank.

“Hahahahaha!” He laughed until his shoulders trembled. He tilted his head back, enjoying the absurdity. When he finally lowered his gaze to David again, his smile was wicked.

“You’ve got some nerves.”

Alexander’s laughter finally faded, the echoes still clinging to the walls of the bank. His smile slipped into something sharper, crueler. He fixed his cold eyes on David and spoke with venom.

“Fall on your knees and apologize,” Alexander commanded. “I am giving you a second chance. Do it now, or I will correct you myself.”

It burned him inside. Never not once in his life had anyone dared to speak down to him. And yet here stood David, a man he considered a nobody, a commoner, challenging him openly. The thought twisted Alexander’s pride into rage. He would break David. He would crush him into the ground and remind everyone in this hall where true power lay.

He straightened his shoulders and declared loudly, his voice shaking the walls: “I am Alexander George! The youngest heir of the George family!” His words were not just meant for David but for the entire bank, as though the sound of his lineage alone should force obedience. “Kneel down now!”

But David didn’t move. He stood like stone, unflinching, his eyes calm, his body still. It was as if Alexander’s words had never reached him at all.

The silence made Alexander’s blood boil. His jaw tightened as he snapped his gaze to the two hefty men standing behind him. “Drag him to me,” he ordered coldly.

The two bodyguards dropped their briefcases, their heavy footsteps pounding against the marble floor as they closed in on David. Their size and bulk loomed over him like mountains ready to collapse.

But David remained the same static, untouched by fear, showing no intent to raise his fists. He looked almost bored, as if nothing was coming his way.

The first man lunged. In one swift motion, David stepped aside and drove his fist into the man’s chest. The sound cracked through the air like a whip. The bodyguard’s eyes widened as his feet left the floor, his massive frame sent flying back several feet before crashing onto the ground with a heavy thud.

Before the second could even register what had happened, David spun. His leg cut through the air, swift and precise. The roundhouse kick slammed directly into the guard’s face. Blood sprayed as the man crumpled instantly, collapsing like a sack of stones.

The bank erupted in gasps. Eyes bulged, jaws dropped. No one had expected this David, the man they thought weak and broken, had just put down two of Alexander’s robust fighters in the blink of an eye.

Shock gripped the workers. They had mocked him, scorned him, but now fear threaded through their voices. “How… how can he fight like that?” someone whispered.

Alexander, for once, was frozen in place, his mind struggling to process what his eyes had just seen. Two of his strongest men laid out flat by only two moves.

Then David’s voice rang out, steady and commanding. “I’ll give you one chance to do the needful, Alexander. Apologize, put things back in order, and pay this man what you owe him. You have five minutes. Otherwise…” David’s tone sharpened, his gaze like steel, “…you will face the consequences.”