The end or a new beginning?
1077 Words
Lucius quickly left the Augustus family house and made his way to the hospital, hopeful that he'd be able to try and negotiate an extension of payment, or else Miss Granger would be kicked out of the hospital.
However, just as he stepped out of the family house and was about to get a cab, he felt someone grab him before placing a handkerchief dipped in a chemical substance over his nose, quickly rendering him unconscious as well.
Moments later, a voice was heard. "Take him away.”
***
Lucius was in a whole lot of pain when he regained consciousness.
His head throbbed painfully and his wrists seemed to be bound, with whatever was used rubbing harshly against his skin.
With the loud wind and dusty smell, he guessed that he was outside, however, where exactly remained unknown.
Gritting his teeth, he called out. "Anyone there?"
Surprisingly, a response was heard. "Shut your mouth."
"Who's that?... Where am I?"
"I said…" A series of footsteps approached before…
Wham
"Shut your mouth hole."
Lucius sucked in cold air as he received a kick to his torso, his breath quickening as he realized what was happening.
I've been kidn*pped?
"What's going on here?" A familiar voice was heard at that moment.
Lucius quickly grew confused as he recognized the voice to be Diana, one of Rachel's cousins.
But what was she doing here?
"Diana. is that you?"
Expecting a response, his joy received a rude awakening as he heard her next words.
“You can leave, I'll handle the rest."
"Will we get the money?"
"Tch, just leave."
With each sentence spoken, Lucius's expression cooled until he was completely stiff.
"Diana… what's going on?" He asked softly, clearly unwilling to accept what came to mind.
Diana sighed. "You've always been such a fool, Lucius. Even now, you can't use your head properly. What am I to do with you?"
"... Why did you kidnap me?"
"Are you really asking that?... Well, let me tell you; The Augustus family is tired of you, Lucius. We are tired of your presence, and we have decided not to tolerate it any longer. Since Rachel won't divorce you herself, we have decided to take matters into our own hands.”
"There's no need for this."
“Of course there is, so you can stop talking now. Nothing you say will change the fact that you will be dying today.”
“Diana, you can't do this!” Lucius exclaimed while struggling to break free. “I've never done you any wrong."
"Your existence is wrong!... So I believe it's time to end this facade and move on. You have two choices; either you jump down the cliff or… I will help you leave the country, of course, don't expect me to do anything more than pay for your ticket."
"So that's how it is," Lucius muttered softly as he struggled to his feet.
Obviously, with his hands bound and his sight lost, it was quite difficult to do so, but regardless, he twisted and bent until he finally got to his feet.
Standing before Diana, one could quickly tell the height difference.
“Make your choice."
Another set of footsteps was heard at that moment before yet another familiar voice was heard. "Sis, why are you wasting time with this guy?... Let me kick him off for you."
Lucius recognized the voice to belong to Jerome, who was Diana's fiancé, so he made no attempt to move even as Jerome approached.
The moment he grabbed him, however, Lucius moved.
Trusting his senses, Lucius smashed his temples into Jerome's face, breaking his nose on impact.
"Ah!" Jerome cried out as he fell over, his nose bleeding profusely.
"Jerome," Diana remarked, clearly surprised that the docile Lucius had such a side to him.
Spitting to the side, Lucius remarked. "I will remember this day, Diana. If I ever survive this, I promise that both you and my family… all of those who wronged me will pay the price."
"You bastard!" Diana cursed, but Lucius remained silent, having already accepted his fate.
"Guards!" Diana called out before two men rushed forward and tackled Lucius despite his attempts to throw them off.
They dragged him and tossed him off the edge of the cliff.
Feeling the aggressive winds caress his skin, Lucius let out a sigh.
It would seem… this was the end.
***
Instead of the afterlife, Lucius opened his eyes to find that he was in a dense forest.
Groaning softly, he found that apart from a headache, he was largely okay.
He began to scrutinize the area only to pause.
Something was… different.
No wait… how come he was alive?
He had actually survived!
"Haha." He laughed aloud as he stared up at the dark sky. "I'm alive!"
As he reveled in the fact that he had survived the fall from the cliff, Lucius soon discovered something as a system notification appeared before him with the words, loading.
"What's this?" He couldn't help but wonder as he studied it.
Just then, something else appeared.
[Do you wish to become rich?]
Alongside the question, two options were shown.
Hesitating for a moment, Lucius chose [Yes].
It didn't take long before another message entered.
[Good choice]
[Lavish system activated!]
[Wishing you the best of luck in your rise to the peak]
Soon after, the message disappeared, and in its place, a profile was shown.
This showed everything about Lucius's identity, but what caught his attention was the last line, which read.
[Account balance: 1,000,000,000]
He was left speechless.
Lucius could barely believe his eyes as he stared at the amount on the screen.
Snapping out of his reverie, he sought to find out if this was real.
If the system was actually showing him his account balance, but first… first he had to get out of this forest.
He had no idea how he managed to survive, but knowing the dangers that lurked caused him to quickly rise to his feet, dust himself off and flee.
At a certain point, he began to laugh out loud until he finally could see a road ahead.
He couldn't stop now and so continued on, full speed ahead.
Finally, he got to the street but apart from a few cars, the street was mostly abandoned.
Taking some time to watch his breath, he hailed a car and managed to get a lift to the periphery of the city.
- Writer
