By the time Michael finally reached the street where his house was located, it was already nighttime. Most of his time had been spent going from one convenience store to another to pick up a variety of groceries that he knew were not at home. A great majority of the money he had received that evening though had been spent on something much more important.
As he neared the small duplex that had been his house for as long as he could remember, Michael caught sight of an unusual and unfortunately familiar luxurious black limousine pulling up in front of the building. A well of indescribable rage surged up within him that was so intense that his fists clenched tightly around the bags he was carrying. He recognized that car, just as he recognized the sickeningly arrogant voice that streamed from it as he passed it by.
"Oh my, if it isn't my dear cousin Michael?"
Michael straight up ignored the voice completely and was just about to keep walking up the stairs that lead to his front door but he was soon forced to stop when a tall muscular mountain of a man blocked his path. Michael did not bother looking up to glare at the man, rather he just turned around to face the individual who had just began to step out of the expensive vehicle.
Dressed in an honest-to-god golden suit that looked like it cost more than Michael's entire house, the young man was practically an embodiment of wealth. His shiny blonde hair was slicked back with a perfect amount of hair gel and his pearly whites gleamed through the sly grin that seemed to have taken perpetual residence on his face. The young man took a few confident steps to stand in front of Michael, their proximity further revealing the disparity between the two. Despite being of relatively the same age, a little over their twenties, both men were a stark contrast to the other. Michael's body frame was lanky and though he was tall, the muscles on his body seemed more fit for running than any other physical activity. The young man on the other hand looked like he might have been carved in the likeliness of a Greek hero's statue with how his fitting physique had the suit tightening against his well built body.
"Aren't you going to say hello, Michael?" The young man continued. "Or maybe invite me in for a drink or something? I am your cousin after all..."
"Get your servant out of my way Victor," Michael replied in a steadily hardening tone.
Behind him, the bodyguard bristled and lifted a heavy hand to grab the lanky boy in front of him. "It's Mr Victor to you, you insolent — Argh!"
The moment the bodyguard's first words left his mouth, Michael had already began moving to deflect the former's hand using a defensive martial arts technique he had learned a few months ago. Seconds later, the bodyguard was crouched down and clutching his right hand in pain while Michael was at the bottom of the stairs that led up to his front door.
The large man glared heatedly at the boy who had humiliated him in such a way right in front of his master and stood up threateningly. "You little—"
"Calm down Mark," Victor said in his usual condescending tone. His half lidded blue eyes stared at Michael and the dark haired young man knew instantly that he was not going to like the next words that would leave the former's mouth. "Let the brat go. Not all of us had our mothers to teach us proper manners after all...."
The moment Michael heard those words, his vision turned red and his mind exploded in a burst of manic rage. The groceries he held suddenly found themselves on the ground while he vaulted right over the bodyguard to launch himself at Victor. It was only once he was close enough to see the dark smirk on the blond man's face that Michael knew that he had been baited. With agility one would only expect from a master of martial arts, Victor spun and landed a roundhouse kick right in the middle of Michael's chest with enough force to send him crashing back on the concrete stairs.
The wind left his lungs in a rush and Michael doubled over wheezing and panting while trying to block out the mocking laughter and the burning pain that was rapidly spreading all over his back.
"What a pitiful display," Victor sneered disgustingly. "No wonder Grandfather kicked your family out. You're all a disgrace to the Grey Family."
He noticed a white plastic bottle that had fallen down the staircase from when Michael had made the mistake of rushing him. Picking it up, Victor glanced at the special label and the prescription written on the side and realized what the bottle was.
"Oh? Isn't this Ari's special medicine?" Victor asked mockingly.
Even through the intense pain wracking his body, Michael still forced himself up using the metal railings. His dark eyes burned with rage and if looks could kill, the blond before him would have long since been reduced to ashes.
"Don't...you dare say her name! Give it back!"
Victor raised an eyebrow at his cousin's unusually intense reaction. Then, after a moments consideration, he threw the bottle back at Michael who was forced to let go of the railings to catch and ended up falling back on the hard stairs with a muffled grunt.
"You better keep that safe. I'm sure that bottle cost more than you and your dad make in a month," Victor said as a parting insult before making his way back to his limo. With a wave of his hand, he gestured for his bodyguard to get into the driver's seat. "Come on Mark. I've wasted enough time here as it is. There's business I've gotta attend to here and I'd much rather be done before 10pm."
Michael lay on his back unmoving except for the rise and fall of chest that showed he was still breathing. He remained that way despite how uncomfortable the stairs were, until the limo was gone and for the next twenty minutes after. He stared through unseeing eyes at the stars that had begun to appear in the night sky, his heart a blazing furnace that burned with hatred at the thought of his grandfather.
His grandfather who had created one of the most powerful and influential companies in the world.
A man who for no clear had chosen to cut his second son out of his family's wealth, leaving them to suffer in squalor.
'One day...I will get my revenge on you...on all of you.... And then Grandfather, you will tell me why you did this to us...'