16

“Wait wait wait! Richard, please wait,” Cassy said with urgency. “We have history…”
“Mr Armstrong to you Mrs. Mr Armstrong. And yes, we may have history but today I am here for business and not personal issues,” Richard said and at that moment, one of the men who had identified him spoke again.
“It’s true. You are Richard Armstrong. Though this picture is old but it’s true. He’s the first son of the Armstrong family of DC. Oh, wow!” The man said with admiration in his eyes.
“What? Is that true? That’s where I interned. They are the best. Oh my fucking God! We always heard of the young master and we never met him. So fucking nice to finally meet you in the flesh sir,” the other man said with reverence.
It was clear that these two knew about the Armstrong family but the rest either did not want to believe it or they thought it was one huge joke or even a dream.
“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” Old Mrs Parker said as she banged the table and the two men sat down obediently but their eyes were still on Richard with stars in their eyes.
“Grandmother,” Richard said with a drawl that was clearly sarcastic, “calm down. Mind your pressure. You don’t want to die before you see what I have in store for you, now, do you?”
“What do you mean?” The old woman asked in a shout still clearly agitated.
“Mother, calm down,” Susan said, soothing her aged mother.
“Oh, shut up Susan. How do you expect me to calm down after I am about to lose my company? How? And to this useless piece of trash of all people,” she screamed and Richard was sure that if Cash and the rest weren’t at the door, other people might have come snooping to see what was going on.
Richard just sat there cool and imperially like he had all the time in the world.
He watched and listened while they argued and shouted and gave them enough time.
He wasn’t a petty man. In fact, he was a man who detested such petty issues but this was the family that humiliated him endlessly.
These were the people who left his daughter to die when after promising to cater for her medication.
These were the people who took his motorbike and finally, William was the person who made Cassy hate her child.
He thus enjoyed seeing their misery.
“Are you people done? I don’t have all the time in the world!” He said in a calm cold voice that had all of them quiet.
He gave off an aura that told them that he was done with playing and it was time for serious business.
Since they knew this man, they have never seen him emit such an aura.
William, who had been quiet all along, spoke, “why exactly are you here?”
“Oh, you still haven’t figured it out? Okay, allow me to spell it out for you like the greedy ass entitled idiot you are.
I am here to collect my debts. You all owe me. Is that clear enough?” Richard said seriously like he was teaching a small child how to tie his shoes.
“So, you admit that this is revenge?” Susan asked.
“When did I say it wasn’t? This is for the slap you gave me, for nothing. This is for the motorbike you took while you knew I was in a rush to see my daughter who needed a surgery. This is for the humiliation you have put me through for five years.
This is for my daughter. This is for saying that you wanted her to die. This is for five fucking years!” Richard finished with a bellow and by then, no one could speak.
“So, to business. I just came to bring these documents for you to sign. And I am really hopeful that you won’t sign them because then I will take you to hell and back before I kill you all,” he said as he threw the documents.
One at William and another at the old woman.
William looked at the folder and then looked at Richard again, “why should I sign. It’s my family’s legacy. It is a company that has been passed down through generations,” he said defiantly and he seemed like he had gained an invisible confidence.
“Like I said, you don’t have to sign. You can refuse,” Richard repeated and William sighed.
“I won’t sign. I refuse to bow to you. I won’t let you destroy my legacy. You can go and fuck yourself,” William said and for the first time since he entered the room, Richard smiled.
It wasn’t a happy smile but that smile that told William that he was fucked.
“What about you?” Richard asked old Mrs Parker.
“Grandma, please sign. We still have enough saved to survive on and we can start another business,” Cassy said and her grandmother looked at her with venom on her eyes.
“Shut up! SHUT UP! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! If you hadn’t fallen in love and married that good for nothing this wouldn’t be happening! Shut up! It’s all your fault,” Cassy’s grandmother shouted at her making her recoil.
“Mother, please mind your blood pressure,” Susan soothed and the old woman sighed heavily as she took a pen from the folder she had just been given.
“Just promise me that after I sign this, you will leave us the fuck alone,” she said while looking at Richard like she was thinking of how to kill him better.
“For an old hag you have such a language. Geez! Mind your language grandma. But I promise. I promise not to come at you after this,” he said and she sighed again as she appended her name and her initials in the papers where they were needed.
She then slid the file to him, “after this, I hope you go and die in hell,” she said and he looked at her.
“Oh, don’t worry. You will go to hell before me. Because by the time I am done with you all, you won’t even have air to breathe without my authorisation,” Richard said and that made the woman who was about to stand up pause.
“What do you mean? You have just promised me that you will leave us the hell alone of I sign that,” she asked with an unbelieving expression.
“Oh, my word is as good as yours. You also promised me that you could give me the money for my daughter’s operation after I sign the divorce papers. Did you?” He said and then rose up to leave.
William also rose and stood in front of Richard blocking the way.
“Stay down. And I won’t say it twice,” Richard said in a calm voice but Richard refused.
He felt like Superman right then and he wanted to superman Richard.
“You come here and insult me, my wife and my wife’s family and expect to get out of here just like that? No. You are dreaming. I will see sure to break two or three bones in your body so that you can learn that the Carter family isn’t a family you can triffle with.
“William, please don’t,” Cassy said.
“You, keep quiet. Haven’t I already taught you that you shouldn’t speak when men are speaking?” He told her sternly and she recoiled with fear in her eyes.
Richard saw this and he didn’t know what to think or feel.
He had loved this woman beyond what he thought he was capable of. For a few months, they had lived happily and he was happiest.
But she left him for this man because she thought he was richer than Richard was.
But how seeing this interaction between the two, he felt a pang of… was it relief or happiness? He wasn’t sure.
He treated her like a queen but here was her new husband treating her like trash barely months after their wedding. They weren’t even out of their honeymoon period yet.
“Jeff, come in,” William shouted and a burly man entered.
“Bring the rest,” William commanded and the man walked out and then came back with three other men as burly as him.
Cash walked in and Richard shook his head and Cash read the message.
Cash wasn’t worried because cause he clearly knew that he wasn’t a match for Richard. Richard was the best in the field.
“I want you to break his legs and if his men come in to help him, kill them,” William said and then walked towards Richard.
“Wait! Wait,” Richard said with his right hand half raised and his index finger outstretched.
“How do you want it?” Richard asked and they all looked at each other.
“What do you mean?” William asked for the confused room.
“Oh, I mean, how do you want me to beat them? Kill them, break all their bones, just give them internal bleeding, just muscle bruises, how?” Richard listed as if he was listing a list of the food he wanted to order from a fast food restaurant.
“You are crazy. As if you could do anything,” William said while laughing as if all what Richard had said was a joke.
“Just kill him,” William told his men and walked aside to give them clear access to their target.
The first one, Jeff, was the first one to walk towards Richard. Before he could even take two steps, Richard was before him and he was flying.
He hit the wall and bounced back and as he fell, there was a snap of a bone breaking and the man lost consciousness.
The others stood there not sure of what to do and Richard eyed them. These were also trained soldiers and they knew one when they saw him.
Richard looked at them like a wolf eyeing a domestic dog. They fell on their knees without knowing what they were doing and William was out of words.
The army he had brought had been defeated in one strike.
“What are you…” he began but Richard made him shut up with a look.
Richard walked towards William and slapped him. The slap echoed in the room and as William spun, two bloody teeth could be seen flying and he fell with a scream of pain.
“I will be taking these,” Richard said as he took the folder he had given William which he refused to sign.
By then, William was struggling to get back on his legs as he held his face’s right side which Richard had slapped back handed.
“Oh, and by the way, anyone with the surame Parker in their name is fired. I don’t care whether they were involved in what you did or not. They are fired and you have one hour to clear your offices.
And I will be coming. I’m coming even for the spoons and handkerchiefs you own as long as it has the name Parker in it. You two,” he looked at the two were still looking at him as if the sun set in his ass, can stay. Be good boys, will you?” Richard said and then walked out slowly like the king he was.
Behind him, he could hear the torrent of thanks from the two young men and William’s painful groans.
He had just started.