The Engagement

"Look at that guy! He's the eldest son of the Cole Family, known for deceiving numerous people. Now, he's reaping the repercussions of his misdeeds, left as the sole homeless person in Luxington Hill!"

Sebastian Cole pulled his knees in close to his chest, seeking shelter from the cold drizzle falling over the Luxington Hill mall. Perched on the steps of a shuttered clothing store, he found solace there, as it was the sole establishment without a barrier to shield him.

Adjacent to this clothing store stood a bustling nightclub. Rumors had reached Sebastian's ears that within its walls, someone was commemorating both a birthday and an engagement.

Indeed, it was a grand and significant engagement affair, a spectacle that resonated throughout Luxington Hill. Lost in thought, Sebastian found himself involuntarily clenching his teeth, creating a sound that had little to do with the chilly weather and his damp coat. Instead, it arose from contemplations of which woman would be announced as engaged that very night.

The rain grew more intense, seamlessly merging with the powerful gusts of wind. Sebastian had no alternative but to relocate if he wanted to survive the night.

Sebastian took a quick jog towards the terrace of the discotheque, which had a wide roof, perfect for shelter.

However, a place as posh as the nightclub wasn't exactly the right fit for someone like Sebastian, given his current beggarly and homeless condition.

"You filthy scoundrel, back for more, are you? Didn't I make it clear already? This place isn't your refuge!" A guard quickly approached Sebastian while cursing harshly.

“Sir, the storm is getting worse and I have no other place to stay.” Sebastian clasped his hands in supplication. He hated to do this, but it seems like he didn’t have much choice.

"I couldn't care less. Remove your wretched feet from this spot, or my manners might take a turn for the worse!" The guard brandished a baton and aimed it menacingly at Sebastian's face.

Facing the truncheon, Sebastian swallowed. However, he tried to say calmly, “Sir, if I don’t find any shelter tonight, I might die."

“I never give a shit for you!” The guard hoisted his club, poised to shatter Sebastian's nose, but suddenly a woman's voice intervened, putting a halt to his actions.

"Is that my ex-fiancé?"

A woman in a beautiful black dress stepped out gracefully. The dress was split down the middle and extended to the back, revealing her white, cotton-like thighs. Her waist was slender and curvaceous, like a Spanish guitar.

This beauty was perfection!

The guard stopped his club just short of kissing Sebastian's nose. The moment he recognized the voice, his whole body trembled.

"Miss Brown, you don't need to take care of this scum, he has broken the rules and I have warned him many times. If I don't teach him a lesson, this man will deceive you. Look at him, he is Sebastian Cole, the bastard!"

The woman walked gracefully with the beautiful sound of the high heels she wore.

Observing Sebastian's forlorn condition, a sardonic smile curled across her lips.

Sebastian turned away his face immediately. The voice was very familiar to his ears and he hoped never to hear it again. But tonight, who would have thought?

A surge of profound animosity caused Sebastian to inadvertently bite his lip, drawing blood.

Julia Brown sneered with a touch of sarcasm, "Well, well, Mr. Cole. Who would've thought you'd grace my engagement with your presence? Hoping for a plate of food and a sip of wine, perhaps? I'd be delighted to oblige, as beggars like you do deserve some compassion."

"F*ck you, Julia," Sebastian retorted with a cold edge. "You've betrayed me!"

Julia's face turned ugly.

"Did I hear you wrong, Mr. Cole?"

"Have your ears suddenly failed you? You've betrayed me!" Sebastian snapped back at her, unabashed. He drew the attention of those around. "Our engagement hasn't even been called off, yet here you are engaged to someone else. You despicable woman!"

Julia's anger flared. "You wretched bastard, Sebastian! Can't you employ an ounce of reason? Who in their right mind would endure the company of a penniless, contemptible wretch like you?! I am the sole daughter of the influential Brown family, proprietors of a substantial business in this town. I have no intention of having a beggar as my fiancée!"

As Julia continued to vent her anger, a man in a black suit quickly walked over.

The man was Darvis Anderson, Julia's new fiancé. His father was the owner of the number three company in Luxington Hill, so anyone would think a thousand times about getting into trouble with him.

"Julia, why waste your breath arguing with this detestable trash?"

Looking at Sebastian with disdain, Darvis sneered, "Not only is he a vagrant scoundrel, he even has the most disgusting surname in this city! Sebastian Cole, son of Charles Cole, who defrauded many people!"

When Darvis shouted this name, the people around them immediately looked at Sebastian with disgust.

"Get rid of him! I won't tolerate a Cole family member sullying my engagement with Julia!" Darvis Anderson pointed toward the trio of guards positioned nearby. "Leave him to freeze in the streets!"

“Even if he dies, I’m sure no one will bother to bury his body!”

As people began to cheer him on with harsh curses, Sebastian could only squeeze his fingers. He suppressed the anger that seemed to explode into an atomic bomb.

He knew that carrying the name Cole was an absolute curse in his life.

Eleven years ago, Sebastian Cole and his family were at the peak of greatness. They owned the second-largest business in Luxington Hill, making them the most respected and feared family in the city.

As the only son of the Cole family, Sebastian was sure to receive all of his father’s inheritance. Many of the great families of Luxington Hill offered their daughters to Sebastian, but the young man chose only one beautiful woman from the Brown family: Julia.

Their engagement didn’t wait long. It was only two months after Sebastian proposed to Julia, just as he was celebrating his seventeenth birthday.

But in just one year, the Cole family’s idyllic situation took a turn for the worse.

Rumors spread that Charles Cole, Sebastian's father, was involved in underground business dealings that led to the decline of all aspects of business in Luxington Hill. 

Even as a result of the rumors that spread, the stock value of several Luxington Hill properties dropped drastically.

Sebastian was too young to understand what was happening to his father; or rather, he was too lazy to understand.

He didn’t understand why Citibank had seized his house and all his family’s assets. He could only whine and cry on his father’s shoes when he asked for money to have fun with his friends.

Charles Cole had tried to get his family out of Luxington Hill to start a new life in another city, but for reasons that are not even known today, they could not leave the city.

The Cole family ended up on the streets, miserable and hopeless, a situation Sebastian’s mother could not accept.

She divorced her husband and went who knows where as if the earth had swallowed her.

Poor Charles Cole had to face three terrible situations at once: the loss of all his possessions, the abandonment of his wife, and Sebastian’s constant whining.

Such pressure makes Charles Cole think briefly. He finds a rope in the garbage, and soon his body is found hanging in a damp alley.

Sebastian had to live as the only homeless person in Luxington Hill for ten years. Even more depressing was the fact that Sebastian couldn’t get a job because of his family’s bad reputation.

And it was here that he witnessed the engagement of a woman he had loved so much in the past. Coupled with a wet coat and the scorn of those around him, could it get any worse?

“Get out of here!”

Sebastian collapsed onto the puddle as Darvis kicked him with all his might. Shame and deep resentment managed to overshadow the pain all over Sebastian from the kick.

“Honey, you didn’t have to do that. What if he dies? I don't want to end up in jail.” Julia tried to stop her fiancé, who was about to start beating up Sebastian.

“What did you say, Julia? You’re just holding me to teach this idiot a lesson! Are you defending him?!” Darvis grabbed both of Julia’s shoulders and squeezed them beyond the limits of a woman’s body.

Enduring the pain, Julia said, “Honey, that’s not what I meant. But you don’t have to get your hands dirty just to teach this lowlife a lesson. I mean, you would only be humiliating yourself.”

Darvis looked at Sebastian, who was trying to get up in the rain. He spat at him and then said, “I really shouldn’t get my hands dirty to teach a lowly beggar like him a lesson. But they can do it for me.”

Darvis motioned to some guards at the entrance of the discotheque. With big smiles, the guys approached Sebastian with great enthusiasm, as if they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“Hehe, I’ll see to it that you die today.” A guard grabbed Sebastian’s hair to make him stand up.

"Tonight, rats will feast on your flesh!" Another guard struck Sebastian hard in the solar plexus.

BUG!

“Ugh!” The young man vomited fresh blood into the street.

“I already warned you, but you were stubborn, so this is all your fault!”

BUG!

“Little bastard!”

BUG!

Sebastian could not count how many punches and kicks he had received, but he could feel his bones breaking one by one.

“F*ck you!”

A final kick hit the back of Sebastian’s neck, rendering the young man completely immobile.

 “See you at the hell!”

The guards spat on Sebastian’s wet, bloodied body before leaving him in the middle of the street.

Sebastian could only smile. Though it had all ended sadly, at least he had managed to survive until now. He was proud not to be like his father, who had chosen death to end his suffering.

'Hahaha. I made it through all this. Unlike Father, I’m not a coward. I’m going to die, and this news is very good because I won’t have to suffer anymore.'

Sebastian closed his eyes and prepared to die.

[Ding!]

Sebastian heard a sound like a phone notification, which disturbed his peace. He did not die well!

[Sebastian Cole, you have unlocked the God’s Legacy system!]

“What the hell is that sound?”

Sebastian felt annoyed after the failed attempt to rest in peace. Who would want to joke with him at a time like this?

[Health and Stamina Regeneration begins]

[10%...]

[50%...]

[100%...]

[Health regeneration completed!]

“Wait? I don’t feel any pain anymore?” Sebastian tried to move his body, and it worked! No more broken bones!

[Scanning begins!]

[Name: Sebastian Cole]

[Physical Stamina: 50]

[Spirit stamina: 80]

[God Points: 0]

[Heavenly Records: 0]

[Special Skill: Locked]

[Descent of Information locked].

A translucent blue screen materialized before Sebastian's eyes, prompting a perplexed frown. "This... It's as if I've come across this in a book or a film before. A system from nowhere selecting the most destitute human on Earth. Could it be... even possible"

[System: Sebastian Cole, sorry to keep you waiting so long, we have no choice. There is not much to tell you, but you must know that you are the descendant of one of the gods. Who he is, you’ll have to find out. You need to meet someone at Skyzone Company, someone will pick you up just in a minute]

“I’m the son of a god? What strange things! And who do I have to meet at the number one company in all of Luxington Hill?”