Chapter 9 - The Ghost of the Past Returns
As we stood there in the quiet heat, a rusty, beat-up sedan suddenly pulled up violently behind my Maybach.
The damaged car door squeaked open, and Daniel Morgan stepped out into the dirt.
He looked twenty years older, his face haggard, unshaven, and his cheap, off-the-rack suit heavily wrinkled.
He had obviously followed my distinct car from the city, desperate for one last, pathetic chance.
"Mr. Vanguard!" Daniel shouted, running clumsily toward us through the tall weeds.
"Please, I beg you, just give me five minutes of your time!"
Lion stepped aggressively in front of me instinctively, shielding me with his dirty, sweat-soaked body.
"Stay back, Daniel," Lion warned, his voice deep, strong, and genuinely threatening.
Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Lion with pure, unadulterated shock.
He looked at the thick mud on Lion's face and the bloody rags wrapped around his hands.
"Lion?" Daniel gasped, rubbing his tired eyes. "What on earth are you doing out here in the mud like a peasant?"
"I am working," Lion said proudly, his chin held high.
"Something you and your family know absolutely nothing about."
Daniel looked frantically from Lion to me, his bloodshot eyes wide with severe confusion.
"You made your own educated son do manual labor as a punishment?" Daniel asked me, visibly appalled.
"I didn't make him do anything," I replied calmly, stepping out from behind my son.
"He actively chose to earn his own respect."
"Now, why exactly are you trespassing on my private property, Daniel?"
Daniel fell violently to his knees right there in the dry dirt, crying loudly and pathetically.
"Please, we have absolutely nothing left," Daniel sobbed, clutching his face.
"Sofia left us for an older man, Evelyn is scrubbing dishes at a diner, and I am completely ruined."
"Just give me a small, low-interest loan to start my life over."
I looked down at the broken man who had so arrogantly humiliated me in front of hundreds of wealthy people.
I felt absolutely zero pity for him in my heart.
"You clearly wanted to judge people by their future possibilities, Daniel," I reminded him coldly.
"Your possibilities have officially run out."
May you like
"Thomas," I called out loudly to my loyal driver.
"Escort this trespasser off my land immediately, and call the local police if he ever returns."
