The sunlight streamed into the room through the window as Elijah sat up in his bed and turned around to see who entered his room.
As the morning rays fell onto his face, his eyes met with Butler James standing on the other side of the room.
"Good morning, master." Butler James said politely as he closed the door behind him quietly.
Pushing the cover off him, Elijah slid out of bed, running his fingers through his hair as he asked, "What brings you here, Butler James?"
"Master, your mother wants me to inform you that breakfast is ready downstairs." Butler James informed.
"Okay, thanks. Just let her know that I'll meet her soon," Elijah replied, rubbing the sleepiness out of his face as he headed toward the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he took a comforting shower, trying to relax as he did so.
Then he stepped out afterward, wrapped a towel around himself, and walked over to his closet, grabbing a simple Sweatshirt and a pair of jeans out of his wardrobe, and putting them on quickly.
After that, he went downstairs, entering the dining hall to find his mother already sitting at the table, eating a slice of strawberries.
"Morning, mother," Elijah greeted softly, walking to the table slowly and pulling out a chair for him before taking a seat.
"How did it feel sleeping in your bed? Great, right?" Mrs. Maxwell asked with an enthusiastic smile, hoping that he might answer yes.
"It was,"
"Then how about you stay for at least a couple more days, son..."
"Mama, you know I can't do that. My flight is booked for this afternoon, and I have important things to attend to tomorrow morning."
Pouting, Mrs. Maxwell looked over at her husband, frowning at him as he walked into the room and sat down in one of the chairs across from her, and set the newspaper down on the table.
"See what you have done to our son." Mrs. Maxwell muttered, glaring at her husband before looking back at Elijah. "He's a man. I want my baby back and in my arms again."
"Now, what are you talking about, Lisa?" Mr. Maxwell said in between a chuckle, picking up his coffee mug and taking a sip of it. "He's thirty. You can't wish him to be three.
Mrs. Maxwell glared at him as he put the mug down, crossing her arms defiantly in front of her chest, annoyed that her husband and her son were ganging up on her.
" Well, that's not going to stop me from wishing!" Mrs. Maxwell mumbled like a kid being stubborn, pouting as she crossed her arms, staring angrily away from her husband.
Laughing at his parents, Elijah shook his head slightly before reaching on the table for the bowl of strawberries and placing one in his mouth, then another.
At that moment, three men walked into the room, a slender-looking guy with blonde hair wearing blue jeans and a plain white shirt, a young man wearing dark green cargo pants, and another with jet black hair wearing a gray polo shirt.
"Good Morning, Madam, Big Boss, and young master." The three men said in sync as they all bowed slightly.
Smiling, Elijah nodded and looked over at his father, asking, "What's going on?"
"This is not like the first time. Even though I want you to know the value of money and status, I am not going to make it harder on you, so these are your three acquaintances, Rookie, Matt, and Ryan. They will help you carry out any orders." His father answered.
Looking over at the three guys, Elijah smiled as they grinned at him, staring respectfully back at him.
"Hello, Master Elijah, I am Ryan. I am a lawyer and a private detective for a living. But I also do some occasional consulting work, which means I am always available if there is a need to consult with me." Ryan said with a polite grin.
"Good morning, Master Elijah... I am Matt, a boxer and an MMA fighter, but I also know some street fights and hand-to-hand combat." Matt said with a confident grin.
With a soft smile, Elijah nodded, looking over at the last guy, and he rested his palm on his stomach, bowing again before uttering, "Rookie, I am an IT professional, specializing in computers and technology. I know how to hack, and sometimes even break into a secure computer system."
A sense of discomfort swept through Elijah at the thought of how many capable people his father hired for him. But he suppressed those feelings, smiling brightly at the group as he replied, "Well, it's good to know you guys, and I hope we get along."
All of his life, Elijah thought he was going to be inheriting his father's empire, he never thought he would have to start from scratch to build his own corporation.
"Matt, Ryan, Rookie, and James will be going with you to Syldavia." Mr. Maxwell said, fixing his gaze on his son's eyes. "As a father, I have played my part. The rest is up to you now, son. I hope you make the right decisions."
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Elijah tried to calm himself before replying, "I promise, I will succeed."
That was not just a promise to his father, but also a vow to himself because never again did Elijah want those that once looked down on him to be able to walk all over him again or see him as weak and pathetic.
This was his chance to stand on his own two feet, and prove himself, make them all tremble in fear when they hear his name and remember who he has become.
At Nine on the dot, the flight attendant made the announcement, "Good evening passengers. The flight from Bordoria to Syldavia is currently in the final stages of preparation for landing. Please enjoy the remaining time of your flight."
Sitting in the first-class wing, Elijah, Matt, James, Rayn, and Rookie were munching on the snacks that the hostess had given each of them as their meals.
Looking over at Elijah, eating his chicken sandwich while drinking his juice, Matt said, "Master-"
"Don't call me that." Elijah calmly interrupted. "Until I give any of you the other to stop, I am Elijah, to you all, your close buddy and partner."
"Yes, boss... I mean, Elijah." Matt corrected himself.
Eyes turning towards Matt, Elijah asked, "What did you want to say?"
"Um.. nothing... Actually, I saw the news about... Umm, your divorce," Matt replied nervously. "And I just want to know... Why would you choose to go back after such..."
"Humiliation?"
"Umm... Yes."
After taking a huge bite of the last piece of his sandwich, Elijah wiped the crumbles off his fingers before answering. "Redemption and Revenge. Those two can make a man relive his worst nightmare just so he can find himself again."
"Mmh, that makes perfect sense, and I am in awe of you, Elijah," Matt said with wide eyes.
With a faint smile on his lips, Elijah stared at the window of the plane, taking in the beautiful blue sky, watching the clouds pass by, his expression hardening as he felt the anger and hate rise inside him the more he thought about how close they were to Syldavia.
Ten minutes later the plane came to a screeching halt as its wheels touched down on the runway.
After getting all their luggage out of the luggage compartment, the four men exited the plane with Elijah walking behind them, his hands in his pockets.
When they got outside the airport building, they noticed a sign hanging from a lamppost in front of them, and the word 'Syldavia' was printed on it in bold letters.
Frowning at the sign, Elijah raised an eyebrow and then looked to his right at a guy with a toothpick in the corner of his mouth.
"Do you and your friends need a ride?" The dude asked with a grin, nodding towards his Toyota parked nearby.
Even though the man looked shady, dressed in a tattered gray hoodie with dirty jeans and converse, Elijah didn't want to judge the book by its cover.
So he nodded politely at the man, giving him a small smile as he replied with a simple, "Sure."
Then he looked back at Matt, Rookie, Rayn, and James and said, "We got ourselves a ride."
A frown crossed James' face as he looked at the driver, feeling uneasy in the guy's presence. But since Elijah gave the order, he followed the four into the car.
After buckling in, and closing the door, they sat in silence as the car started rolling, the guy driving kept his gaze straight ahead with a blank expression on his face.
"Is this you guys' first time in Syldavia?" The driver asked in a raspy voice as if he had smoked too much weed or drank too much beer.
The four of them looked at Elijah, and since he didn't answer, they too held back their words, deciding that it was better to be silent.
"You all are foreigners, right?" The driver asked, glancing at Elijah, seated beside him in the passenger seat. "What? Don't any one of you speak the local language?"
"Can you shut up, and drive?!" Elijah snapped at him. "You are giving me a headache with all your rambling!"
Eyeing Elijah, the driver sneered, clutching the steering wheel tighter, and then said, "Whoa! You're starting to piss me off, sonny boy."
Suddenly, the car started jerking and making strange noises before stopping. As the driver grabbed onto the steering wheel with both hands, he groaned, saying, "What the heck... I'm sorry guys, the engine just quit. But don't worry, I will get it fixed."
Furrowing, Matt clenched his fist, looked at the driver as he opened the car door, and stepped out with a toolbox in his grip.The breakdown felt way too staged in his opinion, and it felt like this driver was intentionally making it look as though the car was having issues.With that thought on his mind, a few minutes later, Matt pushed the call door open and climbed out, slamming the door shut.Then he walked over to the driver, and the moment he saw Matt, he snapped his brows and shouted, "Hey!! Hey!!! Get back into the car.""Why?" Matt demanded, glaring at him, placing his hands on his hips."Just get back into the damn car!!""Whoa! What's with the sudden hostile attitude, huh?!" Concern, Elijah pushed the car door open, stepped his shoe on the road, and got out of the car, glaring at the man."Not you too!!" The driver shouted back at Elijah."Look, pal, I will soon be done with fixing this, so you two should get your ass back into the fucking car, okay?" Now, Ryan, Rookie, a
The security quickly took out their weapons and darted them towards Elijah, Matt, Rookie, James, and Ryan, shouting angrily, "Get in your trash, now!""We just want to book a suite and get some rest," Elijah said, raising both of his hands and smiling weakly. "I have money to pay for this place." A lousy laugh came from the security as he shook his head, he was a robust, balding guy with rough skin. "Oh sure, I bet you can afford to buy a whole hotel, right? You're probably loaded or something." He mocked, shaking his head again, his eyes scanning Elijah from top to bottom. "Wait, I know you! Hey, Mark, doesn't this guy look familiar?!"The only thought that came to Elijah's mind was that they knew him because he was Melina's ex-husband, the CEO of Investverse company, and he just knew this was going to get pretty ugly, pretty fast."Yeah!! Yes!! He's that loser that Miss Hayes dumped yesterday!!" The other security guy shouted, laughing hysterically. "His face was on all the news
When the morning light hit Elijah's face, he blinked several times, disoriented by how tired he still was, then he yawned, stretched, and slowly rose to sit up while rubbing his eyes.Suddenly, the sound of a knock made Elijah frown, pushing the covers off his body and sliding out of bed, his bare feet hitting the floor lightly as he stood up.Scratching his bare chest, Elijah walked over to the wooden door, and when he opened it, Peach's eyes widened at the sight of his naked torso and black boxer, she immediately took a step back, muttering, "Sorry, I - I will come back later." When she turned to leave, Elijah frowned and asked, "You're already here, so say it. What do you want?!"Hearing the sharpness in his voice, Peach instantly stopped in her steps, not turning around to look at him, and mumbled, "Umm... your friends... Well, breakfast is ready downstairs... And they wouldn't eat without you." "Tell them that I will be there in a minute," Elijah replied before slamming the doo
The sound of an ambulance echoed throughout the hotel, followed by the sight of the paramedics rushing inside, along with two officers.The EMTs workers hurried over to Miss Grace's side, took her from Peach's arms, and placed her on the stretcher before taking Miss Grace out of the lobby, rolling her outside toward the ambulance.Striving to stop herself from crying, Peach followed after the EMTs, sniffing as tears trailed down her cheeks. "Who are you?" A friendly-looking lady gently asked her when she stopped in front of the ambulance."I am her daughter," Peach whispered, her voice cracking as more tears escaped her eyes."Oh, dear. Get into the ambulance." "Thank you,"Nodding, Peach walked to the back of the Ambulance and ended the vehicle, taking a seat beside her mother.Inside the motel, the two police looked at Germa and Stony's bruised faces, and one of them asked, "What happened to these two? What exactly went on here?""Officer, arrest those five punks. They were the o
When Peach raised her gaze from the floor and absentmindedly gaze to her right, she was stunned to see Elijah, Matt, Rookie, Ryan, and James walking into the waiting room.Her eyes widened, and a huge gasp came out of her mouth. Her heart thumped against her chest, making it harder for her to breathe as she wondered what they were doing there. When she and Elijah's eyes locked, Peach turned her eyes back to the floor, hating the unreadable expression on his face.With a calm look in his eyes, James said as he sat down beside Peach, "How are you feeling?"A weak smile formed on her face, and tears began forming as the thought of her mother still flashed in her mind."Well, my mama has to have another PCI surgery because she had another severe heart attack," Peach said, pinching her fingers together nervously. "My mama has been really sick lately. She has always been since my dad died.""I am sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do for you? Anything you need?" James asked, eye
The room door slowly opened, and Peach walked inside to see Miss Grace, sitting upright on the bed, looking extremely pale and weak. But she didn't want her mother to worry about her, so she forced a smile and walked toward her."Mama," Peach whispered as she got near the bed, "are you okay?"Looking over at her daughter, Miss Grace smiled weakly and nodded her head, answering, "I'm fine, sweetheart. I'm just a bit dizzy and nauseous, is all."Placing her hand on top of Miss Grace's hand, Peach whispered, fighting against her tears, "I'm here, Mama. No matter what happens, I will always be here for you.""Oh, dear," Miss Grace whispered, reaching over to squeeze Peach's hand, "You have no idea just how much I love you."Smiling lightly, Peach leaned forward and kissed her mother on the cheek gently, saying, "I love you too, Mama."After Peach pulled away and sat down beside her mother, Miss Grace hesitated for a moment and then a look of concern spiked in her eyes as she asked, "What
As the silence between them dragged on, Peach felt her anxiety growing inside her. Finally, she muttered, "You know what, forget it. I will find another way to get the money."Her face hardened as tears settled in her eyes, and she tried walking past him, but Elijah suddenly grabbed her arms, gently pulling her to stand still in front of him."How?" Elijah asked, his gaze fixed on her teary eyes as she choked back her tears."It's none of your concern!" Peach yelled, pulling herself free from his grasp. "You have made it clear that you don't-""I have made nothing clear," Elijah interrupted her sharply, glaring at her heatedly. "I asked you a single damn question!""I don't know, okay!! I have absolutely no idea!" Peach shouted as she clenched both her fists tightly, feeling angry tears burn her cheeks and threaten to spill. "But whatever it is I need to do to help my mother, I will do it!""What's going on here?" James asked as he, Matt, Ryan, and Rookie walked towards them with a fr
As they walked into the front door of the hospital, Peach kept her hands clapped to her side and her eyes locked on the floor. When Elijah noticed how uneasy she was, he felt a small amount of guilt creeping into his heart but quickly suppressed it, keeping his focus ahead of him, walking beside her."Miss Peach," A nurse said with a smile, meeting her from the opposite direction."Mrs. Williams, good afternoon... How is my mother's condition?" Peach said with a slight nod, ignoring Elijah standing close to her."Her condition has gotten better since this morning, and she even got a visitor." "Visitor?!" A sense of worry flashed across Peach's features and her heart skipped a beat. She knew her mother had only her, and the fact that someone visited was not a good sign. Especially when that someone was most likely her father's..."Your uncle Tommy is here with his wife to see her." Mrs. William then informed Peach with a polite smile, causing her eyes to widen in surprise."No!!" P