“Run, Rome! Run, and don’t look back!”
“Honk!!!!!!”
Rome’s eyes suddenly opened with fear glowing in them as he jumped from his sleep with sweat dripping down his skin.
Then he struggled to catch his breath while his heart pounded violently in his chest.
He could feel his hands trembling as he suspiciously gazed around before stroking his fingers through his dark silky hair and then gently rubbing his face to awaken himself.
“I can’t believe that I had this dream again,” Rome mumbled.
Still feeling traumatized by his dream, he got out of bed and walked over to the fan seated in the corner of his tiny room and inspected it.
“It broke in the middle of this killer heat weather, seriously?” Rome mumbled as he stared at the fan with frustration in his eyes.
At that moment, a loud noise drew his attention toward his door, and his ears attentively listened to the voices echoing into his room.
“Hey!! Old fool. Where is my damn money!”
“Mr. Orlando, but the deadline for the loan has not been reached yet.”
“Shut up! Your shop seems to be doing well, so why can't I ask for my money early!!”
“But… but I don't have any money now. I spent it all on goods. How about waiting for the fifth of next month as we have discussed.”
“Haha! An old thing like you have guts! If you don't give my money today, I will have to take whatever valuables I can find to pay for your debt!”
“You can't do that, and this is illegal!”
“Get out of my way!”
“Ah!”
With rage devouring him from the inside, Rome marched outside of his room.
When he entered the store, he stopped and stared with burning rage glowing in his eyes.
“Dad!” Rome shouted, looking down at a man with winter-white hair, then he focused his sight on his timeworn face and stared into his watery eyes.
“Go back inside your room, Rome. I don't want you getting into trouble because of me. I will handle this.” Mr. Miller cried.
Mr. Orlando walked over to the old man and squatted. Then he held onto both of Mr. Miller's cheeks and violently squeezed it.
“How are you going to handle this, Oldman?” Mr. Orlando rudely said.
Just by listening to the tremble in his father's voice and the arrogance in Mr. Orlando’s tone had Rome shivering from the anger pumping through his rapidly beating heart.
“I give you guys one minute to get your asses out of our store!” Rome shouted.
Within a split second, the room got filled with noise as Mr. Orlando and his men burst into a peal of laughter.
"Boy, that's some filthy mouth you have there!” Mr. Orlando mockingly stated, standing to his feet.
Then he gazed at one of his men and winked at him, and immediately the guy started walking towards Rome.
“No, please. Let my son be!” Mr. Miller shouted.
“Shut your hole up!” Mr. Orlando yelled with a smirk on his lips.
Rome remained still even when he and the guy were facing each other at a close range.
“You shouldn't have offended my boss.” The man slyly said, rudely patting Rome on his shoulder.
At that exact instant, Rome grabbed him by the wrist and pulled it away from his shoulder.
While the guy struggled to get his hand out of Rome's grip, he held onto it tightly and then popped his bones apart.
“Argh! You son of a...!” The guy shouted.
But he couldn't end his statement because Rome had brutally hit his kneecap against the guy's windpipe, knocking him unconscious to the floor.
“Who's next!” Rome coldly mumbled as his dark eyes coldly stared at the remaining seven robust men.
Mr. Orlando winked his eye, and the other men rushed towards Rome with deadly expressions plastered on their faces.
Rome stepped back to create a distance. Then he coldly smiled as they all strike at once.
Mr. Orlando's eyes kept rapidly changing direction while watching his men fall to the floor one after another.
Rome sneered when the last man standing rushed towards him. Then he giggled before hook-kicking the guy in his face, sending him five steps backward before he hit the floor.
“Where are you going?” Rome provokingly shouted, staring at Mr. Orlando running out of the store.
Rome then burst into laughter as he watched Mr. Orlando tripped on a rock and fell face flat to the ground.
“Hey, take your idiots along with you too. We don't want to dirty our store with garbage!” Rome yelled.
“I will be back! And once I do, you will understand who's going to have the last laugh!” Mr. Orlando shouted, cleaning the dirt off him.
Rome kept laughing until his eyes met with Mr. Miller's angry gaze, and in that instant, his voice got lower and lower till he was silent.
“You trouble child!” Mr. Miller shouted, approaching Rome.
He then grabbed onto his son’s ear and pulled it hard till it turned red.
“Ah, ah! Father, I just saved you, so why am I getting punished.” Rome childishly cried.
“Because Mr. Orlando is not only a money loaner, but he is also in a gang, and his boss is an evil man. We need to leave now.” Mr. Miller said in fear.
“But why?”
“He's going to kill you. I can't protect you because I am filthy poor, and because of that, you are also penniless!”
“Hey! That's not fair. You've been doing your best.”
“Yet it's not enough. Since I found you on that fateful night, laying in a pool of blood, I haven't done much for you then, and now, that your life is in danger because of me, there's only one thing I can do.”
“Dad…”
“I know what you are about to say, and I appreciate the fact that you are striving to spare my feelings from getting hurt. But I know that I am not capable of protecting you, so I am taking you somewhere that you will be safe.”
“Do I get a saying in this?”
“No! Now hurry up and go pack your things.”
Rome stared at his father, trembling hands and terrified eyes for a moment before running into the back of the store, where his room was.
A few seconds later, he returned with a worn-out bag hanging on his shoulder and met with Mr. Miller.
“What’s that?” Rome mumbled as he stared at the paper in his father's hand.
“This is your ticket to getting into a wealthy family.” Mr. Miller mumbled.
"What does that mean?" Rome asked, feeling stunned by his father's words. “Stop talking, and let's go. These guys will soon wake up from the nap you put them in!” Miller mumbled. Rome didn't move an inch as he stared at his father in shock. But then Mr. Miller slowly walked behind him and aggressively shoved him out the door. “Hey! How come the older you get, the more violent you become.” Rome mumbled after he had balanced himself. “Stop talking and walk!” Mr. Miller said while forcefully pushing Rome since he stubbornly refused to take a step forward. Everyone that walked past them kept awkwardly staring as Mr. Miller continued shoving Rome from the back. “Fine! Stop hitting me! I will walk by myself. But you have to tell me about where we are going.” Rome mumbled while questionably staring at his father. “All you need to know is that where I’m taking you is the safest place for you right now. So promise me that you wouldn’t c
All the members of the Barlow family got an emergency text from Madam Rosey, and within less than an hour, the living room got crowded with every one of them. They all took turns staring at the paper, and Mr. Barlow was the last one to hold it. Then the room became silent as everyone waited for him to say something. In the household, two individuals held all the power, and that was Madam Rosey and her husband, Mr. Barlow. Everyone else was in a power struggle among themselves, and it was a vicious circle with Cathrine and her parents at the bottom of the survival chain. Mr. Barlow cleared his throat, and everyone's faces became serious except for Rome. He kept staring at Mr. Miller, but his father bore no expression on his face. “This is my father’s signature, and the Barlow family stamp on this paper is real. My last granddaughter got promised to get wed to Mr. Miller's grandson once she turns eighteen." Mr. Barlow loudly declared.
“My father is not a liar. So you can keep your money,” Rome replied, hiding his anger behind his calm eyes. A long sigh came from Catherine's lip as she crossed her arms, shrugged her shoulders, and looked the other way. As his hand tightened around his bag ropes, Rome subconsciously gazed around the room. Then a baby photo of Catherine caught his eyes. Then he faintly giggled and said, “cute.” His comment drew her attention to where he was looking. She looked at the photo for a brief while before staring at Rome, then Cathrine furrowed her eyebrows and rolled her eyes at him. “We may get married. However, I don’t see you as my husband. You can sleep in my room, but not on my bed. Put your belongings in the left closet since I have no use for that space. Also, if you can’t help me, then do not meddle in my business.” Catherine harshly said. However, Rome made no reply since her remark annoyed him. Instead, he walked past her, approached the le
Four weeks went by naturally, and it was finally Rome and Catherine's wedding day. As Rome stood before the mirror, staring at his reflection, he felt like the past weeks had been the worst days of his life.The Barlow family had turned him into their personal slave and had belittled him so much that even the servant had control over him.As Rome stared at his reflection, thinking about the hard labor he had done for them, he balled his hand into a fist and swung it at the mirror, stopping his punch only an inch away from the glass.“I can't break my promise to my father,” Rome mumbled, staring at his veins bulging on his neck.Suddenly his room door opened, and Charles walked inside.When his gaze met with Rome's angry eyes, he smirked and shut the door behind him before walking towards Rome.“This old thing suits you,” Charles said, pulling the tail of Rome’s coat.“What do
When Rome regained consciousness, he kept his eyes closed for a minute and waited for the headache to subside before raising his eyelids. “Where am I?” Rome mumbled, staring around the room, then his sight rested on an elderly-looking man with smoky-grey hair and a whitegoatee. With calmness in his eyes, he smiled at Rome and said, “You are at myhouse.I'm Mr.Ford by theway.” “Mr… Fo-rd. I…” “It's okay, kid. You don't have to fearme.” Doubt clouded Rome’s f
The car was silent as Orlando drove Rome back to the Barlow mansion.A few distances away from the fence, Rome tapped Orlando on his shoulder, and he jumped in fear.“How can I help you, young master?” Orlando shouted, hunching his shoulders.“Stop me here,” Rome mumbled, leaning back on his seat.Without any hesitation, Orlando stepped on the brake and turned the car off.When Rome got down, Orlando pushed the car door open and rushed out. Then he got down on both knees and rested his forehead against the ground.“Young master, forgive me. I was stupid for attacking you in the past. This humble servant needs to be punished!” Orlando cried out loud.“Punch me and we can call it even,” Rome said, staring down at him.When Orlando lifted his head and saw in Rome's expression that he wasn't kidding, he felt even more afraid.“Young master, I can never lay a hand on you.
Early that morning as the Barlow family sat at the dining table, having breakfast, Roland remained standing likealways.He wasn't allowed to eat with them since Madame Rosey considered him to be a worthless son-in-law that didn't deserve to eat expensive meals that he had not workfor.“Catherine,” Mr. Barlow said, gently laying his fork down on the plate.“Yes, grandfather,” Catherine mumbled, looking away from her food and focusing on hiseyes.“Take your husband to the company and find something useful for him todo.It will diminish the Barlow family reputation if people find out that your husband is nothing but a househelp.”“Yes,g
Although Rome wanted to walk over to Catherine, he remained in his seat and patiently waited without taking his sight off her.After crying in silence for a while, she wiped her face, grabbed her purse, and approached Rome.“Let's go,” Catherine said, softly sniffing."Are we not waiting for Mr. Jeffrey?" Rome asked, staring into her watery eyes.“No,”“What about the contract?”“I didn't get it, okay! Can we just go home?”Inside, Rome felt annoyed that Catherine was hurting, but he kept a calm expression and slightly nodded his head.Then he left his seat and both of them walked out of the hotel.When they got to the car, Rome offered to drive, and even though Catherine felt skeptical, she allowed him to.They drove in silence the entire ride, and when they finally reached the Barlow mansion and the car came to a stopped, Catherine suddenly covered her face w