The Forgotten Grandson

Chapter 4

The last of the drunks still thought they could win. They rushed at Damien together, hoping that numbers would do what one man could not. It did not work. Damien moved too fast for them. One second they saw him standing there. The next they felt hard hits land and the floor come up to meet them. In a few short seconds every one of them was down. Damien stood alone in the middle of the bar. His chest rose and fell. His eyes looked a little wild.

People stared. They could not understand how a tired man in dirty clothes had taken down so many bigger men without even looking winded. No one moved. No one wanted to be next.

Damien hated that kind of attention. He wiped his hands on his jeans and headed for the door.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Angela asked from behind him.

“My dad,” he said without turning around.

He stepped out into the cold night air. A small crowd had gathered a little way down the street. People stood in a circle, pointing and talking in low voices. Damien walked closer and saw what held their attention. A long black Rolls Royce Phantom sat under the streetlight like it belonged somewhere else. The car looked out of place in this rough part of town. Anyone who left a car like that here either had a death wish or more money than sense.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?”

Damien jumped a little. Angela had come up beside him without a sound.

“It’s really fast too,” she said. “And comfortable.”

“Okay,” Damien answered. He did not feel like talking.

“You don’t believe me?” Angela asked. She sounded almost amused.

Damien only shrugged and started walking away. He had nothing left for games tonight.

Angela watched him go for a second. Most men tried to impress her. This one kept walking like she was not even there. Her pride took a small hit. She decided to try one last thing.

“Hear me out and the Rolls Royce is yours.”

Damien stopped and looked back. Angela held up a set of shiny keys. They looked real. He raised one eyebrow.

Who was this woman, and what did she want from him?

The crowd grew bigger. People stared at the car, then at the beautiful woman, then at the tired man in dirty clothes. The two of them did not look like they belonged in the same world.

“What do you have to lose?” Angela asked.

Damien thought about it. Earlier that night he had signed divorce papers. He had lost his job. He had spent the last of his money on a gift he never got to give. He truly had nothing left to lose.

He walked over, opened the passenger door, and got in.

Angela smiled, slid into the driver’s seat, and started the engine. The car was quiet and smooth. Soft leather seats. Clean air. It felt strange after the sticky bar and the cold street. They drove for almost an hour. Damien asked questions a few times. Angela only shook her head.

“It’s not my place to tell,” she said. “When we get there, you’ll understand.”

Damien stopped asking. He watched the city change outside the window. The streets grew cleaner. The buildings grew taller and brighter. Soon they were in a part of town he had only ever seen on television. Fancy cars rolled past them. Houses sat behind high walls and iron gates. Even Courtney’s rich family did not live like this.

“Welcome to Juniper Garden estate,” Angela said.

She pressed a button on the dashboard. A wide black gate rolled open. Behind it sat a group of huge mansions, each one bigger than the last. They looked like their own private world.

“This is the Delaney section of Juniper Gardens,” Angela said. “It was given to the family by the president.”

Damien stared. What kind of family got a gift like this from the president?

Angela drove slowly past rows of expensive cars. Sports cars, long black cars, cars Damien could not even name. She glanced at him and smiled when she saw his face.

“There are a lot of them,” she said. “And like I told you, if you agree to listen, they can all be yours. We’re even planning a tall parking building because these are not all the cars.”

Damien could not believe what he was hearing. Who needed this many cars? And why would any of it have to do with him?

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

“No,” Angela said with a small grin. “Not yet.”

They stopped in front of the biggest mansion. The outside looked clean and strong. Inside was even more surprising. Everything was simple but expensive. Soft lights. Wide spaces. Quiet luxury. The floors looked like they had never seen a speck of dirt. The walls held paintings that probably cost more than Damien had earned in his whole life.

As they walked up the stairs Damien looked around carefully.

“Did you design this place?” he asked.

Angela almost missed a step. She had designed it, but she had never told him that.

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s not flashy,” Damien said. “But it still pulls you in. Kind of like you.”

A soft pink color rose on Angela’s neck. She pushed the feeling down hard.

“We need to focus,” she said. “For now.”

They stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. Angela put her hand on the handle but did not open it yet.

“Your life is going to change when you walk through this door,” she said. “Just keep an open mind.”

Damien nodded. He felt unsure, but a small part of him still hoped. After everything that had happened tonight, hope felt strange and dangerous. Still, he had come this far.

Angela pushed the door open and stepped aside.

The room was huge. In the center sat a large bed. An old man lay on it. He looked thin and weak, like he had been sick for a long time. His skin was pale. His breathing was slow and shallow. Machines beeped quietly beside him. The air smelled like medicine and something older.

“Go on,” Angela said quietly.

Damien took three steps forward. A young woman stepped into his path. She looked a lot like Angela—same dark hair, same clear skin, same strong shape—but her face was full of anger.

“Is this him?” she asked, looking Damien up and down like he was something she had found on the sidewalk.

“Renee, not now,” Angela said.

“Someone has to look out for you,” Renee snapped. “You think it’s fine to let some street guy walk in and take everything that should be yours?” She turned her eyes on Damien. “And you. You show up looking like a beggar and expect us to welcome you? You’re a joke. You will not last here.”

Every word felt sharp. Damien had heard enough insults for one night. He looked straight at her.

“Hey, little girl. Go play somewhere else and let the adults talk.”

Renee’s mouth fell open. Angela pressed her lips together like she was trying not to smile. The old man on the bed opened his eyes just a little and looked at Damien for the first time.

The room went quiet.

Damien stood still, waiting. He had walked into this place with nothing. Whatever came next, he was ready to face it.