HOURS AGO
“Mr. King did it.”
Tatiana’s face paled. Cassius caused the scar? That was the last name she expected him to mention.
“It was the scariest moment of my life. Trapped in the car with none of the functions working, nowhere to run, no one to call. He caught me at the perfect time for his scheme. My heart was racing like crazy as I stared at the endless quiet road in the dark. The car collided with a hard surface and caught fire. The pain, the screams, and the dying thoughts rushed over me like waves… I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I wanted was to see daylight again,” Maximus explained as he recalled the moment.
Tatiana chuckled and sneered hatefully. “You deserve every moment of it. I’m quite disappointed he didn’t make sure you burned alive. You caused his mother’s accident; she went into a coma because of you!”
Maximus slowly rested his back on the wall and seem to think for a moment. “That wasn’t the only reason.”
Tatiana frowned.
He continued. “Do you even know Cassius King that well? I guess he hasn’t told you the story of how we met.”
“Met?”
He drank more of his alcohol and spoke again. “I was a thug on the streets. An orphan, loved by no one except my sister and brother. I did shitty things to survive in the cold, dark streets of Australia. But after I fell in love and married your mother, my life changed.”
Tatiana scoffed as she glared hatefully. “You don’t love her. You never did.”
“Hmm… That’s left for you to believe or not. I don’t fucking care. She’s dead already.” His voice held no emotions.
“Fuck you,” Tatiana spat.
Maximus ignored her curse and continue. “The night before your mother died, I took a stroll on the streets just to clear my head alone. Then I heard a woman scream in an abandoned building. While she was begging not to be raped, I was outside having a cigarette to keep myself warm. One of the rules for surviving on the streets was to mind your own business; I was used to that rule… But my instinct changed when I heard the sound of a boy… It was like he was fighting for his mother.”
With her gaze fixed on him, Tatiana listened carefully.
He continued, “The mother stopped screaming all of a sudden. The boy’s scream came afterward, and then it all turned quiet. I rushed in, and there I saw the boy staring at his shaky, bloody hands, his mother unconscious on the dirty floor, and the man who tried to rape her lying dead in a pool of his blood.”
—
FLASHBACK
~Hospital~
Maximus returned with a bowl of ice cream and stretched it out to the boy.
“Here, take it.”
The boy looked up at him and raised a brow. “What’s this?”
“Ice cream, dumbass. All kids like it. It might help cool you down…”
“I’m not a kid,” he glared, and Maximus tilted his head.
“How old are you?”
“Thirteen.”
“Take this, dumbass, before I smack your head,” Maximus glared, and the boy slowly took it. He sat beside him, watching the boy open it.
“What’s your name?”
The boy gazed up from his ice cream, his eyes scrutinizing Maximus for a while. He replied in a low voice, “Cassius. Cassius King.”
“Cassius King? What a nice name. Your momma gave it to you?” He asked, and Cassius nodded. Maximus watched as his face fell again.
“Thank you for… for helping my mother to the hospital and… and…” He couldn’t continue his words, so Maximus helped him.
“Helping you clean up the body.”
Cassius eyes went wide and he looked around worriedly. They were the only ones in the small hall, but he was unsettled.
“Chill, dumbass,” Maximus brought out a bottle of alcohol and drank from it. “No one can hear us, and even if they did, they won’t do shit, trust me.”
The boy finally relaxed. “I trust no one. You’ve done this before. Many times, if I had to guess.”
“Hmm, I almost went crazy on my first kill years ago. I was once poor on the streets like you, trying to survive and give my little sister and brother a good life. My life is still fucked up, though,” Maximus drank more of his alcohol. Sadness etched on his face.
“Why did you kill them?”
“I’m a thug. I’ve been through a lot of shit. It was a life-and-death situation. It was either I kill them, or they kill me,” Maximus smirked. “How did you kill him?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’ll make you feel better if you do.”
Cassius nodded. “I hit him with a pole when he hit my mother’s head on the wall. I hit him really hard, with every bit of strength I had, on the crucial part of the head. It was instinct. I only wanted to protect my mother.”
Cassius took a first bite of his ice cream and nodded. “This is actually good, but I like cookies more.”
“Do you feel better?” Maximus asked.
“No.”
“Good. You must really like your mother.”
“I do. She sacrificed a lot for me, and I’m going to do the same by protecting her. I’m going to gain power and fame, fair and square, without killing anyone, of course. I’ll give my mother a luxurious life, marry a beautiful woman, and bear children. I’ll protect my wife too and destroy anyone who wants to break us apart.”
Maximus let out a soft, mocking laugh. “You make it sound so easy. If you’re not ready to have blood on your hands and even sacrifice anyone, then you must be bluffing.”
Maximus was surprisingly enjoying the boy’s company. Cassius reminded him of his young self-stubborn and cold.
“Do you have children?” the boy suddenly asked.
“Three daughters,” he replied in a low voice.
“Would you sacrifice them for power?”
Maximus’s brow furrowed as he slowly met the boy’s gaze. That was the last thing he expected the boy to ask.
When he didn’t reply, Cassius stood, his gaze cold. “I don’t think I like you.”
“I never wanted you to,” Maximus smirked.
“Thank you for your help, and I hope never to see you again. I also hope bad things befall you,” Cassius said and turned to leave for his mother’s ward.
Maximus was stunned by the boy’s courage. Amusement blanketed his face as he watched the boy retreat.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he swiftly reached to take the call.
“Hello, Mr. Max Wallington. I’m so sorry about your wife. W… we lost her,” the doctor’s voice sounded on the other side.