The Tycoon Heir

Chapter 4: The Dreaming

Nathan sat in the cold, dark cell, the damp walls closing in on him as he wrapped his arms around his knees. His mind had been sucked into a black vortex, replaying every instant in his life that had brought him to this very point: accusations, ridicule, humiliation  the end product of years of being treated less than human. 

He had no idea how much time had passed since he was thrown in here, but one thing he knew for sure was that no one would come for him. His wife wouldn't, nor would her family. Why would they? He was just the expendable son  in  law, the stray they had picked up off the street and allowed to linger in their lives.

His body, worn and weary, finally gave in to exhaustion. His head leaned back against the cold wall, and his eyes closed. Sleep came reluctantly, dragging him down into its depths. For a time, it was a fitful haze, then the dream took shape, vivid and unsettling.

The insignia from the server room reappeared, glowing faintly in the darkness. Nathan found himself standing in a huge empty expanse. Smooth black earth beneath him reflected the dancing brilliance of the insignia that shimmered in the air before him. The figure emerged from the shadows  a tall, commanding man with features that made Nathan scared to the atoms that made him up.. He couldn't quite place it at first, but with each step closer, resemblance became undeniable.

I am your father," he said, and his voice was deep, resonant, weighty in a way that seemed to reverberate across the vacuum.

Nathan's throat choked. "My father?" Anger and disbelief trembled his voice. "You abandoned me and my mother? And for what reason have you come now?

His face had been a mask of sadness and determination. "I never meant to leave you, Son. Life circumstances just pulled me away. But I've been watching you, I built something for you  a legacy, a future. The insignia you saw is the key to it all.

Nathan's anger flared. "A legacy? Do you even understand what my life has been like? I've been treated like trash my whole life. Your so  called legacy didn't save me from that.”

One step closer, he was overwhelming in presence. "The insignia is much more than just a legacy, Nathan; it's what you should be. You do have that power inside of you, sleeping, waiting for a chance to awaken. It has to be accepted, though.

Nathan's fists clenched at his sides. "You speak of power and of destiny, but where were you when I needed a father? When my mother needed you?" His voice cracked with years of pent  up pain and anger.

The man's eyes softened, and his hand reached out to lay on Nathan's shoulder, but the gap between them wasn't crossed. "You will understand in time. The answers you seek lie ahead, but you must be willing to search for them. Trust in the insignia, Nathan. It will guide you.

Before Nathan could utter a word, the dream began to disintegrate: the features of the man blurred and his voice became an incomprehensible murmur. "Nathan shouted into a void for some kind of answer, but it was consumed by the darkness.”

When he woke up, the cell was cold and silent, just as it had been for all other days. His body ached from sleeping on the hard bench, and for a moment, it seemed it had been just a dream of some sort. Yet the reality of it all lingered within his mind and refused to be cast aside as one based upon imagination. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the clinging unease.

As he sat up, an interference of shadow fell upon the bars of his cell. His heart jumped in fear and wonder. A masked figure was standing wordless, ominous yet appealing. He lifted a gloved finger to his lips to suggest to Nathan that he should not utter a word. He passed a small folded sheet of paper between the bars silently and vanished into the corridor just as fast as he had appeared.

Nathan's hesitation took a moment longer, before his shaking hands reached for the paper. They unfolded it to show an address scrawled in hasty, messy handwriting across the paper. He stared at it, trying to ask himself questions like who and what this was.

It welled up within his stomach, and he crushed the paper in his fist, flinging it away from him. Mysteries, he couldn't deal with right now, as his life was in tatters.

As the hours dragged on, Nathan’s resolve hardened. When his wife arrived, accompanied by her ever  stern mother, he handed over the signed divorce papers without hesitation. His wife’s smile was cold and triumphant, a painful reminder of how little she had ever cared for him.

“I knew you’d finally do something right,” she said, her tone dripping with condescension.

Her mother added, sneering, "A fitting end for someone like you."

Nathan watched them leave, their laughter echoing down the hallway. He felt a strange mix of relief and despair, knowing this chapter of his life was finally over.

Within days, Nathan was discharged of all charges. The police investigation showed his credentials had been used to throw them off the trail. While police officers offered a formal apology, all that did little to remove the bitterness in his heart.

He went back to work, but it was never the same. Without the backing of his wife's family, the mockery and mistreatment got worse. His colleagues would make fun of him openly, and his boss grasped every opportunity to speak ill of him. Nathan could not bear the humiliation and moved out of his wife's house, into a small dingy apartment on the outskirts of the city.

And in the silence and darkness of this tiny room, he has spent weeks: each night is another day of dreaming with this insignia. In his every dream, something got that little bit more solid  the sign brighter, father more recognizable. His brain hears words from his father: Insignia's the key  trust in it.

One evening, he sat and stared at the crumpled address he had fished out of the trash; a spark of determination flared in his mind. He had nothing left to lose. Whatever lay at that address, it couldn't be worse than the life he was living now.

With a deep breath, Nathan reached for his coat and the crumpled paper. The time had come to find out the truth.