The Heir's Revenge

Chapter 2: You Think This Is Over?

It was as if the rain had teeth.

The rain hadn't stopped biting Lawrence's skin since he stepped out of the Edwards' mansion, his clothes soaked with rain, representing the way his soul was drenched in pain.

His heart was hollow, his jaw set tight against the cold fury boiling in his chest.

Each breath came out heavy and white, like smoke from a dying fire.

He took one last look at the tall iron gates and whispered, almost to himself.

"You think this is over?"

As he walked further away from the mansion, the walls that tore him apart, the people who ruined his life and took everything away from him, he couldn't help the memories that kept flooding into his memory.

As everything played in his mind, he began to see the subtle signs of hate and manipulation he had ignored during the early stages because he was blinded by love.

Stupid love that took him nowhere.

Behind him, the mansion door burst open.

Rebecca came running after him, her voice slicing through the rain.

"Lawrence! Don't walk away like a child!"

He stopped, shoulders tense but didn't turn. His voice came out calm, too calm.

"Why? So you can humiliate me again?"

Rebecca crossed her arms, her tone sharp, indifferent.

"You should honestly learn to accept your fate, Lawrence. Not everyone is born to win or be successful."

He stared at her like she was a ghost.

Hearing all these things she was saying felt like he had been living with a stranger for years.

"You were lucky to have me at all."

The words twisted inside his guts like a knife. He finally turned, his eyes dark and glinting beneath the streetlight.

"Luck? You call this lucky?" He spat, rain finding its way into his eyes. He wiped it off.

"So you call me lucky for being used, lied to, or betrayed? What part of it should make me feel lucky?"

She rolled her eyes. "You always dramatize everything. My parents gave you a life better than you deserved after you lost everything—"

"Lost?!" He cut her off. "You took everything from me, Rebecca, everything."

She scoffed.

"You should be really grateful—"

But her words were cut off by the sound of an approaching engine.

A sleek black Bentley pulled up beside them, headlights piercing through the rain. The car splashed water on Lawrence's shoes before it came to a stop.

The car door opened, and out stepped Jordan Wicks. Tall, polished, and infuriatingly confident, his smirk slicing through the gloom like a blade.

He used to date Rebecca far before Lawrence and Rebecca even met.

Rebecca's expression changed instantly, the kind of glow she hadn't given Lawrence in months.

Another sting pierced Lawrence's chest.

"Jordan…." She breathed.

Jordan opened his umbrella, protecting just him and Rebecca from the biting rain. He gave her a warm smile before turning to Lawrence, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Stiff. Shouldn't you be polishing someone's shoes by now, since you're now in debt?"

The unfamiliar cologne he had perceived a while back from Rebecca was what surrounded Jordan.

Lawrence's fist clenched, but he stayed still. His silence only made Jordan grin wider.

"I heard you're about to go into debt," Jordan continued, as he stepped closer. "I'll offer to help your miserable condition….but on one condition."

Rebecca's face flushed slightly. "Jordan, don't—"

But Jordan ignored her and leaned toward Lawrence.

"That you're gone from the picture. Permanently."

The rain thundered harder, the sound filling the empty street.

Lawrence tilted his head slightly, voice low and lethal.

"So you plan to buy my place in her life too? Doesn't that show that you can't really have anything genuine except if it's bought?"

Jordan's smirk faltered for a second before it was right back on, then he smiled.

"I don't care about any of that. Besides, she was never really yours to begin with."

Rebecca said nothing. She didn't even look at Lawrence.

"Was any of it even real?" He gestured to Rebecca.

She finally lifted her head, staring him in the eye.

"Of course it was," she said truthfully. "But it began to fade every passing day with how much you were losing your wealth. You just didn't seem attractive to me anymore."

"Is money all you care about?"

"It isn't for you?" She threw the question right back at him.

Something inside him cracked, but it wasn't a weakness this time. It was resolve. The last piece of naivety inside him burned to ashes.

"You think money makes you untouchable," Lawrence said quietly, eyes locked on Jordan's. "But one day, you'll realize wealth doesn't shield you from ruin. Especially when I'm the one building it."

Jordan chuckled loudly. "Building? You have nothing to build with. What exactly do you plan to build at your age?"

Lawrence stepped closer, voice almost a whisper.

"Not yet. But trust me, I'm coming back."

Then he turned and walked away, his shoes splashing through the puddles. The rain washed down his face like it was baptizing something new, someone new.

Behind him, Jordan slipped an arm around Rebecca's waist, pulling her closer. She didn't resist. And Lawrence didn't look back. Not once.

Because he didn't need to.

Every humiliation, every cruel word, every sneer, he was storing it. Piece by piece, brick by brick, for the revenge he aimed to dish out to them and for the empire he'd soon build.