Chapter 2 - The Steel and The Separation.
The children screamed and buried their faces deep into Thomas's torn shirt.
They were shaking uncontrollably like leaves in a freezing storm.
"Don't you dare touch them!"
Thomas roared with a voice that echoed off the mansion's stone walls.
He slapped Grandma's manicured hand away before it could reach his daughter.
Grandma gasped loudly in exaggerated, theatrical horror.
She clutched her pearl necklace and stumbled backward.
"Did you all see that?"
Grandma cried out to the crowd of wealthy, silent onlookers.
"The madman just struck a defenseless old woman!"
Murmurs of manufactured outrage rippled through the garden.
The guests nodded eagerly, their smartphone cameras still rolling.
Nobody cared about the truth.
They only cared about the narrative Grandpa was paying them to support.
Thomas felt a suffocating wave of pure, helpless injustice wash over him.
He was surrounded by a sea of expensive suits and venomous smiles.
"You are all sick."
Thomas whispered, his eyes darting between the four massive security guards.
"You forced my eight-year-old kids to act as your servants."
"You degraded them for your own twisted entertainment."
Grandpa wiped the last bit of frosting from his cheek with a sneer.
"We were simply teaching them the value of hard work, Thomas."
Grandpa lied smoothly, knowing the camera microphones were picking up every word.
"Since their father is a violent thug, someone had to instill discipline."
The lead security guard pulled a heavy steel baton from his belt.
The metallic click sent a chill straight down Thomas's spine.
"Sir, you need to release the children and step away."
The guard commanded with a cold, robotic tone.
"I'm not going anywhere without my kids."
Thomas stood his ground, shifting his weight to protect them.
"You are trespassing on private property."
The guard replied, taking a heavy step forward.
"The police are already on their way."
"Let them come."
Thomas growled, his jaw tight.
"I'll tell them exactly what you abusive monsters did to my family."
Grandpa threw his head back and laughed.
It was a cruel, raspy sound that made Thomas's blood boil.
"Who do you think the police chief plays golf with every Sunday, Thomas?"
Grandpa mocked, adjusting his ruined silk collar.
"Do you really think anyone in this town will believe a bankrupt, violent nobody over me?"
The reality of the trap finally crashed down onto Thomas.
They hadn't just planned to steal his company.
They had planned to completely erase him from his children's lives.
"Take him."
Grandpa snapped his fingers.
The four guards lunged forward at exactly the same time.
Thomas managed to block the first swinging baton with his forearm.
The sickening crack of metal against bone echoed in the garden.
Thomas didn't even flinch.
He drove his elbow upward, catching the first guard perfectly under the chin.
The man collapsed into the manicured rose bushes.
But Thomas was severely outnumbered, and he refused to let go of his children.
That was his fatal disadvantage.
The second guard tackled him hard from the right side.
The third guard grabbed Thomas by the throat from behind.
They slammed him face-first into the unforgiving stone patio.
His daughter screamed hysterically.
"Daddy! Leave him alone!"
His son tried to punch the heavy boots of the guards, tears streaming down his face.
"Get off my dad!"
Grandma stepped forward, her eyes gleaming with dark triumph.
She grabbed the boy by his small arm and yanked him backward.
"You are coming inside right now, you little brat."
She hissed, dropping her sweet facade entirely.
Two catering staff members rushed forward and grabbed the screaming daughter.
"No! Daddy! Daddy!"
Her voice cracked in pure terror as she was dragged toward the mansion doors.
Thomas fought with every ounce of strength in his body.
He tasted copper and dirt in his mouth.
He threw one guard off his back, desperate to reach his crying kids.
But the lead guard brought the heavy steel baton down hard across Thomas's ribs.
The air was instantly punched out of his lungs.
Thomas collapsed back onto the stones, gasping for air.
He could only watch in absolute agony as the heavy wooden doors of the mansion slammed shut.
His children were gone.
He was completely alone in a garden full of enemies.
Grandpa stood over him, holding the signed contract that would steal Thomas's life's work.
"Throw this piece of trash onto the street."
Grandpa ordered the guards in disgust.
"If he steps foot near my gates again, break his legs."
The guards dragged Thomas by his collar across the sprawling lawn.
They hauled him down the long, sweeping driveway.
They threw him violently through the massive iron gates.
Thomas hit the hot concrete sidewalk of the street outside.
He rolled over, clutching his bruised ribs.
The heavy iron gates clanged shut behind him with a terrifying finality.
The electronic locks beeped twice, sealing him out of his own life.
Thomas stared at the towering walls of the estate.
His heart was shattered into a million pieces.
He had no money, no company, and no family.
Suddenly, the low, powerful purr of a luxury engine broke the silence of the empty street.
A sleek, pitch-black town car slowly rolled out from the shadows of the oak trees.
It parked exactly three feet away from where Thomas lay bleeding on the pavement.
The tinted rear window silently glided down.
A woman with striking features and dark sunglasses leaned slightly toward the window.
She looked at Thomas with an expression of cold, calculated intensity.
"Get in the car, Thomas."
May you like
Her voice was smooth, commanding, and laced with danger.
"If you want to destroy him by morning, we have work to do."
