Chapter 38: Chapter 38



Charles POV

I bent over the edge of the ledge, a bottle of whiskey in hand and a cigarette in another. Smoking wasn't my thing, but to pull this off, I had to look as miserable as possible. The cuts from the explosion made everything blend out well and for a second there I smiled. I ended up having a use for the bashing after all.

There was a commotion at the rooftop entrance and I immediately knew my father was there. I raised the bottle of whiskey to my lips and took another deep drag. The door opened and my father strode in, with his bodyguards on his trail. With a snap of his fingers, his hoodlums came into the terrace to look around and check for suspicious clues. After a thorough scan of the area, they signalled a no danger sign to him. Then, and only then did he begin to stride towards me.

The bastard had trust issues. Wonder where I got it from.

As everything played out, I acted as if I didn't care, as if I was too beaten up to think straight or question his actions. The moment he touched my left arm I turned and buried my face between his shoulders.

"Dad," I sobbed as I sagged against him.

"My boy, tell me, what happened?" He said softly as if he actually gave a damn. But I knew better. The man was worst than the devil.

"I lost her. I lost--" I broke down, sobbing harder.

"You lost who?" He was still keeping on his pretence just as I'd expected.

"The love of my life! Who would do something like this dad? Who would want to kill her? Who?!" I ranted, raising my head from his shoulders to look at him. An expression of sorrow plastered on my face.

"I don't know son. But I'll make sure to find the bastard who killed Annabelle." He vowed fiercely.

Bingo!

"Annabelle?" I asked, changing the look on my face from sorrow to curiosity. "I never told you her name," I noted, taking a step back, away from him.

"Well, it was on the news. The missing girl, the car blast at the Royal Hotel, her father's murder."

"The hotel wasn't stated, dad. It was opposite the site remember?" I sneered.

"Do you have something you want to say to me?" He growled, flashing the gun in his holster for me to see.

"How did you know her name dad?" I asked, adding a bit of fear to my voice. He needs to feel he was on top of this. He needed to feel in control.

After a moment of us staring at each other, he said, "Charles, Charles, it seems you already know how I know, now don't you?"

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked as I took another step back. My eyes darting from him to his gun to his boys.

Regarding me, for a moment he asked, "You really don't know now, do you?"

"Know what? Do you know what happened to Annabelle? Are you involved in any of this?" I asked with confusion and fear etched beneath my brows.

"Haha haha! And here I was, thinking this was all a trap. You silly, silly, boy. You really are a clueless chap aren't you?" He removed the gun from his holster and pointed it at me.

"After I get the code and kill you, I'll take your blood up to the lab for a paternity test. I wouldn't be surprised if your whore of a mother birthed you from a coward's loins. Because you are no son of mine."

"You want to ki-kill me?" I stammered, "But why dad? I know I have been a difficult son but that doesn't mean I deserve to die." I said, as I sunk against the building wall.

"Oh, you don't deserve to die. You need to die. I will not let a pussy like you ascend my throne." Turning to his boys, he ordered, "Take him down and strip him. We need that code."

"What code! What are you talking about? What have I done wrong?" I yelled helplessly, trying to get away from his hoodlums.

"The code that is under your arm you fool! The code would make me the number one crime master in the whole of Africa. The code that cost your mother her life. The code that's about to cause you yours. That code."

"Crime master?" I whispered as tears began to fall from my eyes. "What the fuck have you done? Who the hell are you? Are you into drugs? Trafficking? Guns? How bad are you exactly dad? Oh my god! All my life I thought you were a Saint. Even if I hated you for what Hannah did to me-"

"Oh, about Hannah. I hired her to get the code from you and when she failed, I gave her free reign to do every fucking vile thing she did to you. I wanted you to suffer for what your mother put me through." He said with a smirk. Enjoying the horror plastered on my face.

He continued.

"And yes, the drugs, guns, and trafficking were what paid for the luxurious life you are your bitch of a mother enjoyed."

I spat at him.

"I never wanted any of it. You have legitimate business everywhere. Why did you have to do this dad? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? Power makes the world go round boy."

His boys got a hold of me and pushed me to the ground. Then they proceeded to strip me naked, leaving me with nothing but my briefs. They dragged me to my feet and brought me in front of him.

"Raise his arms." My father ordered.

Grabbing both of my arms, they raised it above my head. As my father came closer to inspect, I couldn't help grinning at the look on his face. It was epic.

"Where the fuck is the code?!" He thundered, kicking the air in anger as he turned away from me, raining curses into the sky. After taking in a few breaths, he turned to me and pointed his gun at me.

"You fucker! You knew. You fucking knew!"

I kept silent as I stared at him with triumph.

"You tricked me and so you'll die for it!"

Everything happened at once. He corked his gun and fired. luckily, I had already slipped away to the side. One of his men's bodies hit the ground with a thud.

"Arhhh!!!!" He howled and starting firing at me. I dodged and flung my body behind a mental flank that had been deliberately placed by Annabelle, in case shit became hot. There was a series of shooting as the police badged into the terrace and began a shoot-off with my father's men. Sounds of helicopters could be heard above us as they all shot at each other.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me by the neck and forced me to my feet.

"I told you I'll end you." I heard my father say behind me.

"Cease your fire!" The police chief howled from across the floor. Everything went to a standstill as both the policemen and the few remaining men my father controlled, froze.

"Drop your weapons." My father ordered. As he pressed his gun harder against my temple.

"You don't want to do this, " One of the officers said, we'll find you, Mr Edward. The whole world knows who you really are now. Everything that went down a few minutes ago, had been broadcasted live. You'll be on the run and we'll find you. But if you place your gun down now, and surrender, you'll get reconsidered for life instead of a death sentence."

"Oh, go fuck yourself." My father spat. "Get out of the way now, or I'll blow his brains out."

"You'll kill your own son?" The chief asked, daringly raising his eyebrows.

My father chuckled.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've tried. But this time, I'm quite confident I'll succeed."

"You won't live here alive. You know that right?" I taunted. "You know, I never envision that your clueless son would be the one to end your miserable existence. The world would have to give me a medal for saving them from the deadliest bacteria ever know to man."

"Shut up!" He roared at me.

I continued more quietly, so only he can hear.

"I have taken your name. Now I'll take your life and then your dynasty. Checkmate papa." I smirked.

"You bastard!" I heard the corked of his gun and felt him squeeze. There was a loud band and we both dropped to the ground.

A few of the officers in front of us ran towards us and the rest turned their guns to my father's men, who knew it was over and dropped their weapons, surrendering.

I was untangled from my father's lifeless body and dragged to my feet. I stared down at his corpse and smiled. Then I looked across the building in time to see a grinning Annabelle blowing me a kiss with a rifle in front of her.

My go-to woman.

Before anyone could see her, she darted away from sight and disappeared. I immediately turned away from the building just as I saw the police chief look towards it. Trying to figure out where the shot came from and who fired it.

"Are you okay? Are you fine?" I heard a series of worried voices ask as I was guided away from the gruesome scene.

As we stepped out of the building, we were met with a series of reporters who swamped around me, taking pictures and asking questions.

"What is going to happen now that your father has been caught?"

"Are you going to be taking over his company?"

"Is there really a code?"

"Did you see who shot your father?

" Is your mother dead?

As this question was thrown at me, I kept my head down until I got to the car. Just as I was about to enter, I turned and faced the reporters.

"I know nothing about any code. And as for my father's company. We'll just have to see about that now, won't we?

With that said, I entered the car and was speed away from the scene.

" You should really consider a career in acting." A sensual voice said beside me.

"I think I'll take a class because I'm gonna need it," I said as I grabbed her and slammed my lips to hers.

As we drove out of the scene, I looked back at the events of my life and chuckle inwardly. My life has been a bundle of recipes. Recipes for disaster and I couldn't be more grateful for the outcome of it all.

This was very well the beginning of our lives...