Chapter 2 - The Ghost of the Past
Every single step Julian took felt like he was walking on broken glass, completely sending massive shockwaves of pain up his dormant spine.
The teenager quickly wrapped his strong arm entirely around Julian’s waist, supporting the billionaire’s heavy frame as they moved rapidly toward the subway entrance.
Behind them, the plaza completely erupted into absolute, chaotic shouting as the security guards finally realized their high-value prisoner had escaped.
"Stop right there, Mr. Vance is having a severe medical episode!" the lead guard roared, completely aggressively shoving innocent pedestrians out of the way.
Julian pushed his trembling legs to move faster, completely ignoring the burning agony as they descended the dark, concrete stairs of the underground station.
They managed to slip onto a crowded, incredibly noisy subway train just seconds before the heavy metallic doors slammed completely shut.
Julian collapsed heavily onto a plastic orange seat, completely gasping for air as the dark tunnel walls blurred rapidly outside the windows.
He looked over at the mysterious teenager, who was actively scanning the crowded train car for any signs of corporate assassins.
"Who exactly are you, and why are you risking your own life to save a paralyzed billionaire?" Julian demanded, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
The boy slowly reached into his faded jacket pocket and pulled out a worn, deeply crinkled photograph.
He handed the photograph directly to Julian, completely maintaining a fierce, unbreakable gaze that spoke volumes of hidden trauma.
Julian stared at the old picture, completely recognizing the smiling man standing next to a much younger version of the teenager.
It was Arthur Pendelton, the brilliant automotive engineer who was completely blamed for the devastating car crash that supposedly crippled Julian nine years ago.
Arthur had tragically died in that exact same crash, completely leaving behind a ruined reputation and a heavily disgraced family.
"My name is Leo Pendelton, and my father absolutely never built a defective vehicle," the teenager declared proudly.
"Your corrupt business partners completely sabotaged the brakes on your car to stage the accident, and they murdered my father to cover their tracks."
Julian felt his heart completely drop into his stomach, entirely shattered by the massive weight of this horrifying revelation.
The single individual he had completely blamed for ruining his entire life was actually a completely innocent victim of a massive corporate assassination.
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And now, the orphaned son of that murdered engineer was the only person in the entire world completely willing to save him.
Julian firmly gripped Leo’s shoulder, a terrifying, absolute fire of pure vengeance completely igniting deep inside his soul.
