The Rise of Damien Whitlock

Chapter1

FORTUITOUS ENCOUNTER

Damien Whitlock was wandering about on a lonely road, thinking of how he could find a way against all his odds. If not for his Uncle- Craven Whitlock who had threatened to kill him if he didn't leave home, perhaps he would have achieved his dream on a silver platter. He kept racking his brain as he walked through the quiet road.

Although, he knew what he wanted and he had achieved a lot while he was at home. The question he kept asking himself was how he could achieve his long-term dream of becoming a tech. Tycoon, due to his financial constraints at the moment, yet he had no connections.

It takes up to five minutes after a car has passed by him before another could follow. He had seen a Porsche car from a distance packed at the other side of the road. Something would have been going wrong with the car or, perhaps, the owner.

He thought of walking down there to see what was happening to render assistance. Before he could get there, a Ferrari car passed by him and stopped by the Porsche. Walking very close to the two luxurious cars, he met a man - Steve Jasper, speaking with a lady, Tessa Hayes, standing by the Porsche.

“Me or your car? Steve asked Tessa.

“My car over and over,” Tessa replied.

Damien had walked past them, thinking she had found help already. In less than ten minutes, he'd walked twenty miles when a car passed by him. It was the same Ferrari he saw a few minutes ago. He looked back and found the lady still struggling with her car engine.

He couldn’t bear seeing people needing help without rendering assistance. He trekked back the long distance to help her.

“Hello, what's the matter? How can I be of help?” Damien asked.

“Please, I've been here for more than twenty-five minutes, and I don't know what has gone wrong with my car. I often hear about car breakdowns, but it's happening to me for the first time.” she lamented.

Worry has been written all over her face. That day would have been the worst day ever for Teasa as she had never encountered such.

“I thought someone was helping. He couldn't proffer a solution?” he asked curiously.

“That arrogant bastard?” He wasn't helping. He came for something else.” she replied in annoyance.

“Alright, I'll check now.”

Damien concentrated on the car engines to check for what was wrong with it. He's of good morals and would never poke his nose into people's privacy if he wasn't called or asked.

In a few seconds, he asked Tessa to start the car, and to her greatest surprise, it responded immediately.

“How did you do this?” she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

“It was a simple fix. Just needed to clear out a bit of buildup in the carburettor. Long drives can sometimes cause that.” he explained casually.

“I can't appreciate you enough. Thank you.”

Tessa went into her car, brought out a wad of notes worth five hundred thousand dollars, and handed it to Damien.

“Have this. Here's an appreciation for your invaluable service.” She said, beaming with gratitude.

“It's just a humanitarian service. It's fine," he responded with a modest shrug.

Damien had rejected such a huge offer, which would have been the final solution to his problem, not because he was arrogant, but because he could differentiate between helping people and working for people.

“Uhn! Kind-hearted people like you are rare. Get into the car. Which way are you going?” She said, smiling.

“Just drop me off at the nearest junction."

As they proceeded on their journey, Tessa brought out her business card and gave it to him.

“You can reach out to me here, any time.”

“Alright," he responded with a smile.

After a few moments spent on the road, they were waylaid by a ring of kidnappers. The kidnappers had packed their cars right in front of them, making it almost impossible for them to continue driving through the same path.

“Come down, come down.” One of them started shouting.

Damien did not fret. He had thought of ways to take all of the men down.

“Drag them out. It's like their ears have been cut off.” Slade Vagus, the head of the gang, ordered his calibres.

Before they could approach them, Damien and Tessa were already out of the car.

“Who are these people? what do you want?” Tessa asked confidently. Not talking to a particular person.

“Who is this man?” Slade asked, pointing to Damien. His voice was thick and laced with venom. His eyes are red, and a normal person can barely look at his face twice.

“What does that have to do with what's happening here?” She questioned harshly, yet scared.

“Answer that question before the count of three. One… two…” he was already moving closer to Tessa stretching out his palm as if wanting to give her a dirty slap.

“Thr…” Before Slade could approach her, Damien had dragged Tessa away from him.

“Who's this i***t?” One of the calibres said, facing Damien and ready to devour him.

“You've been the one stopping her from accepting Steve's propo….” he couldn't finish his statement before he realized that he'd let it slip.

Slade gave him a dirty slap for making such a silly mistake of revealing who sent them. He slipped on the floor and felt dazed. The resounding slap weakened his muscles, and he couldn't stand back on his feet.

“What? Steve is behind all of this?” Tessa asked in disbelief.

“Kill that boy,” Slade ordered his gang, pointing to Damien.

All the nine men rushed Damien, but one after the other, he kicked some on their groin, dashing out a powerful blow to some, which caused their teeth to be removed and blood to gush out. None of them succeeded in touching him, let alone injuring him. They were all groaning in pain on the ground.

The first one whom Slade Vagus had slapped initially strives to stand to fight Damien, wanting to use that to see the good side of his boss.

“You..” In annoyance, he had wanted to give Damien a slap with all of his energy, as he felt he was the reason he had received a sound slap from his boss. Without delay, Damien weaved it and carried him from his legs, throwing him to meet the rest on the ground.

They all screamed. Slade's eyes became more bloody, and this time, he was ready to do and undo. He stomped his feet towards Damien; as he was about to hit him, Damien bent and injured him by his knee. In no time, he fell.

Damien gave him a series of blows on his chest. Slade started pleading when he realized he couldn't defeat him.

“Just leave these ruffians. They've been served what they deserve,” Tessa said gladly.

Damien left them and entered the car with Tessa.

“You’re amazing. You saved me today, and I wouldn’t hesitate to return the favour if you ever needed help,” she said sincerely.

Truly, it was by sheer fortune that she was able to meet Damien.

“It's fine,” Damien said with a smirk.

“I'd alight at the nearest junction.”