Damien stared at the rundown house in front of him through the tinted windows of his car.
It was the worst neighborhood he had ever been in, and instantly his mind went back to the place Madison had been staying in.
He had thought it was terrible, but this... he had no words for it. Dirt and refuse was littered in every corner, and all the flats in the neighborhood looked the exact same way, old and dilapidated.
Damien marveled at the difference between their old mansion, and this current residence. He still couldn't believe it, as it was even more terrible than he had expected.
As he continued to stare at the dump in front of him, he couldn't help but see the image of their old mansion in his head, and it was so much different from this.
Damien shook his head.
What if they had made a mistake? What if the description his investigator had given was wrong?
No matter how hard he tried he couldn't picture the mighty and proud Mr Connor living in this environment, as the version of the Connors he had from the past was still heavily plastered in his mind.
The only way he would get it out would be to actually see them in this poor condition, and he just couldn't wait to confirm his suspicions.
Shocked, Damien turned to his investigator who sat dutifully by his side, and asked before turning back to the dump to stare again, "Are you certain this is the right address? Recheck just to make sure."
Mr Rudiger nodded. "Yes sir. This is the right place, I have been here twice before to carry out the investigations and I've also seen them around here. I can't forget it."
Damien shuddered, as he came to the frank conclusion that this was real. It was so strange that he found it funny because he damn well remembered how high and mighty the Connors had lived.
Everyone had lived in fear and awe of Mr Connor, being the influential person that he was back then.
He had the power and the wealth, and his family had lived lavishly too, having everything that they ever needed. Who would have imagined that such a powerful family would end up in the gutters after a few year?
It was baffling yet satisfying for Damien to watch... to see the ruins they were in now. Those days when they would step all over everybody else because they felt they were better than them, but now they were reduced to the fucking litters.
They deserved everything they were going through right now, and like his mother had said some time, this was karma at its finest.
Shaking his head, Damien undid his seatbelt and opening the car door, he walked out carefully trying his best to avoid stepping in the refuse scattered about.
The stench of rotten food and fruits emanating from each corner, caused Damien to pinch his nose tightly in disgust, and watching his steps, he slowly made his way into the tiny compound, with his investigator by his side.
As they rounded the row of apartments, the investigator motioned to a lone brick house, "That's the Connors' home right there."
Damien giving a straight nod, straightened and then began to walk straight to it.
When he saw that Mr Rudiger was by his side, he paused and faced him, "I'm sorry but I'll love to do this with no one by my side. I wish to go alone. You can wait for me by the gates."
He wanted to be alone when he confronted the Connors, and he wanted to revel and bask at the same time in their shock and shame.
He had been waiting for this moment for years, and it was something he needed to do on his own. The presence of a third party would only be distracting, and he just didn't want that now.
The investigator gave no complaints as usual, and with a curt nod he promptly bowed and walked away, leaving Damien alone. He made his way to the gate where he stood waiting, and swiveling back around he continued to walk, making his way to the front door.
He was still in awe of the environment even as he walked on it, and soon he got to the door.
He raised a hand to knock but at the last minute he stopped. Bringing his ear closer to the door, Damien listened for any sounds or conversations from within the house, and since the doors and walls were so thin it would be easy, but unfortunately for him he couldn't hear a thing.
It was like a graveyard, and with the stench coming from the house, it really was a graveyard where dead souls and bodies rottened and with a grimace on his face Damien shuddered in disgust.
Taking a breath, Damien raised his hand to knock, but before he got the chance to, the door suddenly swung open.
There couldn't be a better entrance than the one he got, as he came face to face with his arch enemy, or one of them rather.
The shocked look on Mason Connor's face was the most satisfying one Damien had ever seen, and as the two men stared at each other— so many emotions passed through their gazes, with hate and anger taking up much space.
Mason a little shorter than Damien stared in shock, his jaw nearly touching the floor and a look of surprise and denial in his eyes.
Damien returned his gaze with one of satisfaction, his lips curling into a dark smile, and he lowered his face looking at Mason from head to toe, taking in his tardy appearance, and just like he had imagined it was worse and under-fitting.
He could remember vividly the designer clothes that Mason never lacked, and how he never missed a chance to rub it in Damien's face, especially when he was in his dirty work clothes.
Back then those years, Mason used to make fun of everyone who he believed was beneath him and definitely out of his league and every time Damien sneaked up to their house to talk to Madison or hang out with her, Mason would make fun of his dressing sense.
The old clothes which he wore were termed as rags, and then Mason would still proceed to embarrass him in front of Madison.
It always stung, but Damien had taken it all without a word, although Madison always came to his defense, siding him much to her brother's chagrin.
Now just look at him. The tables had clearly turned, and from the look on Mason's face, he was ashamed of the status he had dropped to.
He looked from the faded, tattered t-shirt Mason had on, to the faded denim trousers and his brown boots which had patched holes in them and the strange smell coming from him, had Damien almost bursting into fits of laughter but he held himself at the last minute.
He watched Mason squirm and redden in embarrassment, and damn if this was not the right expression Damien had just been expecting.
Yes! He was definitely on the right track this time.
"Do you by any chance recognize me?" Damien asked, sarcasm heavily lacing his tone.
He didn't need to ask though because the look on Mason's face told him that he knew exactly who he was, and it satisfied Damien even more.
"What the heck!" Mason spat as soon as Damien spoke. His jaw ticking as he stared back in anger, "You pathetic fucking son of a bitch!" He growled, "What the fuck do you think you're doing here?!"
.......
KATHERINE
Katherine blew out smoke from her mouth, inhaling it once more before it could disperse.
Her hands shook as she brought the cigarette to her lips once more. She had been in a bad mood ever since she got out of the hospital. Sometimes she would swear under her breath, and begin to lash out curses on the damn hospital and Madison since they were just the cause of her problems now.
Speaking of the bitch Madison, she had just got off the phone with her men. She wanted to run through the details of her new plan with them once more, to make sure everything was in place to avoid mistakes or fuck ups.
She made a few changes as one of them recounted the plan she had drafted, and now after the hospital incident, she was more than desperate to deal with Madison and just get it over with.
If not for her, she would not have been in this damned city in the first place. Her punishment needed to be at least a hundred times worse, and Katherine just wanted to make sure of that.
The leader of the gang took note of the new changes as Katherine had spoken and when she was finished, she laid out instructions for him before hanging up.
At the same time, she scrolled through her contacts for Damien's number.
She wondered why he had not bothered to call her all this while. Didn't he even care to know how she was doing? Especially after that stunt he pulled about needing a break.
She had hoped he was only joking to try and hurt her, because there was no way she was accepting the break just like that.
But it seemed he took whatever he had said that night serious though, because even after all these days, not once had he even tried to call her.
She wanted to wait for him to call first, but apparently that would be a long wait so she decided to take the first step.
She needed to talk to him and finally after so many sighs, hoping he would call she dialed his number.
After two or three tries, his line continued to give the same message. It wasn't reachable.
Katherine's jaw ticked, but she decided to try once more and still again it wasn't reachable. Pissed, she let out a scream, violently throwing the brand new phone she'd just gotten on the floor.
"What the fuck is wrong with you Damien? What is wrong!" She screamed, stomping her feet angrily and then falling to the floor. Her breath cutting off at intervals, Katherine slowly began to sob violently.
"This is all her fault!" She blubbered, "That fucking whore! It's all her freaking fault!"
Tears continued to roll down her cheeks as she continued to throw curses at Madison.
"Fuck you, Damien. Fuck...you... Madison... Fuck all of you!" She heaved, her face reddening as she continued to cry.
She was still a sobbing mess on the floor when her phone suddenly began to ring, and raising her head at lightning speed she quickly crawled to the cracked phone in hopes that it was Damien calling, but instead of feeling some kind of hope her anger only tripled when she saw it was her father.
Hissing angrily, Katherine punched the screen of her phone with her fists, but the screen didn't go off.
Angrier now, she continued to smash it harder, until it slowly cracked, the shards piercing her palm and drawing blood, and she continued hitting and hitting without stopping for a bit.
She kept going, until her palm was covered in blood, and only when the pain shot through her nerves, did she then stop.
Letting out a piercing scream and falling to the floor once more, Katherine passed out from exhaustion.
.......
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