Chapter 3

Ryker left his ex-girlfriend's apartment into the busy streets. He didn’t even bother to hail a taxi. Using both feet back to Gatewood estate would take him at least thirty to forty minutes but he didn’t care or felt he was punishing himself walking a long distance. All he felt was the sadness he had been having all day.

Been humiliated by His Boss, had to ditch his best friend again because of work, and now his girlfriend cheating and breaking up with him just because of Jake. Ryker had been trying to fit into the world as a person but it seemed the world wasn’t meant for him and a factor to that was the Gatewood family.

That apart, why was his relationship life different from everyone else? Why does he have to fall victim to love? After all, he had done for her. Ryker could remember clearly, one of those months, he slashed his salary into three. He gave A Thousand and Five Hundred dollars to his grandma, Three Thousand to Sandra, and kept just Five Hundred for himself. He did everything for her, gave up everything for her, and even fought Tom just because of her.

Tom never liked her. He saw her as one of those girls who like to depend solely on guys, hence pretending to love. Ryker never knew Tom was right all along. He hated the fact that he was right. He also hated the fact that he ditched Tom for her birthday party.

Ah! What an idiot had he been. He wished he had the power to go back in time and save his parents from dying so that they could live their former life. As a kid, he had no idea of who his parents were to the world but all he knew was that they were everything to him.

Amidst his thoughts, Ryker heard a faint noise coming from a building. He raised his head and saw a sign which explained that it was a bar. It was evening already and he had to get home to make dinner. But in this mood, he needed something to console him. He was only going to get drunk.

Ryker was introduced to drinking by Tom back in the days when they worked as bartenders at a relegated bar.

He walked into Markel’s bar and ordered five bottles of beer. He paid and then walked out. He settled down a few kilometers away from the bar. Ryker didn’t want to stay inside for fear of oppression.

Markel’s bar is one of the most popular bars in New York with mini restaurants, suites, and gyms. There were a lot of rich men inside and staying with them would remind him of Jake.

He drank the first and second beers. By the time he was drinking the third one, he was already feeling tipsy but somehow, he was still able to remember Sandra which wasn’t the result he wanted. He wanted to forget about her for good.

Ryker dropped the third bottle and proceeded to the fourth beer. He started feeling funny halfway. Suddenly he stood up with the bottle and fell on his chest with his drink spilling onto the ground. Slowly with a grunt, he rose, staggering and almost hitting his head on a pole. Every object became double in his eyes but either way, he was moving.

As he got to the dark alley behind the Amaretti supermarket, twenty minutes away from home, he was obstructed to move by some thugs. They stopped him and seeing he was drunk, started taking out his money from his jacket. Ryker felt it wasn’t proper and despite his drunkenness, he tried to fight them but the reverse was the case, they started punching and hitting him on different parts.

His eyes were red at the pain he was feeling, despite being drunk. It was so intense that Ryker was about to give up not when a dark BMW jeep drove into the streets and halted in front of them with his flashlight on very brightly.

The thug’s attention was caught by the arrival of the vehicle. Suddenly three huge guys in black suits jumped out of the jeep simultaneously and charged for them. Instantly the thugs scampered in different directions. Some were caught while others escaped.

Those that were caught were placed inside the booth after beating the shit out of them. Dylan who was on the floor, lying motionless, gasping for breath was hurriedly carried in the Jeep.

And the Jeep left.

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The ray of sunlight coming from the crack of the window woke Ryker up. The sunray was directed to his eyes and he felt his face steaming. He tried to raise his head and find out where he was but as he did, he felt a huge pain in his head. Like someone banging a Chinese bell repeatedly. He had no choice but to fall back to the bed, He rolled to the other side void of sunray. There he spotted his watch and wallet placed in a wooden small size wardrobe.

Suddenly he felt a flash in his head, the events that took place yesterday. he remembered being humiliated by Elizabeth, Jake and Sandra. He also recollected walking into a bar to buy bottles of beer. He had a faint memory of being accosted by some guys who dealt with him in such a hard way. What he couldn’t fathom was where he was and how he got there. He also noticed something; his necklace was gone. The only thing that reminded him of his parent, his only prized possession.

Ryker felt the pain in his head subsiding. He decided to look for the necklace and also find out where he was. He rose slowly, sitting on the bed not when the door opened. His eyes trailed to the door and walking into the room was an old man probably in his 60s. He was dressed in a tuxedo suit, the brand kind worth millions of dollars. His watch was the Rolex kind, sold only one place in the world and also worth millions of dollars.

Ryker felt he knew the old man somewhere but he could pinpoint.

He stood afar staring at confused Ryker. He knew he had a lot to explain but first, the young lad needed to eat and take his drugs. Just clapping his palms together, the door was flung opened and two ladies dressed in white and black walked in with trays on their hands. They looked so gorgeous in their uniform that Ryker was almost drooling on them. The dresses brought out their curves and hell yeah, they looked so hot!

One of them dropped the tray on the table that was on the other end while the other was beside Ryker. It was explanatory that the tray dropped on the other end was dessert. Who eats dessert in the morning?

Immediately they walked out of the room leaving the elegant man and Ryker who was still lost at what was going on.

At last, Ryker managed to speak up “What’s going on here?”

Letting out a slight cough, the man walked up to a wooden carved chair, grabbed it, and placed it in front of Ryker. He sat on it and introduced himself “Firstly my name is Jefferson Hunter but people know me as Lord Hunter”

There was a snap from Ryker. He finally knew who he was

“Lord Hunter owner of Acme Corporations”

Lord Hunter simply nodded with a smile. He wasn’t surprised that Ryker knew him. Jefferson happens to head one of the leading companies in the whole of America.

Acme Corporations not only is first on the business billboard chart in America but Acme made it to no 3 in the whole world. Acme’s net worth as of two months ago was reading 900 billion Dollars.

But something was not right, why will someone as powerful and feared as Lord Hunter rescue him from thugs? Among millions of citizens in America, why him? Why was he even there at that time?

Lord Hunter watched him closely and realized he was in thought. He simply dipped his hand into his right pocket and slowly brought out Ryker's necklace. Ryker caught sight of it as it came out of his trouser. He was happy that his only possession wasn’t lost after all but his face didn’t show it.

Lord Hunter held the necklace and stared at the pendant dancing in the air. His eyes were conveying a kind of feeling but Ryker couldn’t get it.

“Grayson-Lee-Bryon”

Ryker froze on the bed. What the fuck did he just hear right now?