Present-day, Honk! Honk! The city bustling with different sounds like the squabble of the parliament. From the haggard peddlers to the obese salarymen with their suitcases, In the middle of all this chaos I questioned the very foundation of my being, trust me this isn't the first time I have tried to diffuse the variegated mindset of Him. Why do they kneel to him? Why does mankind try to replace their ignorance by painting him into the picture? Does He even hear me? If he does, why on earth did my situation flip faster than a newly adopted rag? Looking at all this chaos and degree of entropy from below it seems nothing goes my way. If that's the case...I may as well give the Angels watching me from above a well-deserved performance in this tragic play. If I had a second chance I would fix it 'all of it'
Three days ago.
"What do you mean we have to go public?" I hollered at my CTO. This was the first time I had done that. Michael had been with me throughout high school and college, throughout this period I had never raised my tone on him. Going public with the family company would mean I openly admitted to my incompetence. clenched fist coupled with an aggravated tone echoed from my office. I wanted my office to be situated amidst the other workers to give the illusion of 'We are in this together that's why both my windows and doors were transparent. But I just trampled on my friend's dignity by shouting at him publicly. "Sleep on it and get back to the board by morning." Watching him walk out with slouched shoulders and a calm expression. I knew deep in my heart "he" had won. I briskly walked up to the stockbrokers and informed them firmly. "Don't go short with our stocks hold the price. That's an order." With all eyes on me I wanted to fire someone and set an example but "Bzzzzz" that was my cell phone ringing. Walking to the bathroom to take the call I checked the contact of who was calling and I was nervous. "Mr.Willheim can I-" Our major Investor "Save your breath for another day. I'm pulling out of the company. I need my funds liquidated by earnest tomorrow morning. Good day" This is the worst but I still have one trick left in the bag. "Understood Sir, I'll do that Immediately" "Sigh It isn't personal. You have to understand, the people I represent are far much more powerful." "No need for apologies Sir, expect it ASAP." With that, I ended the call and contacted her. "Sandra I will take you up on your offer the other day" After chuckling for nearly a minute she got back to me "Due to your precarious position on the chessboard I have to hijack the prices. It will cost more." gritting my teeth in preparation to bite the bullet I asked, "How much?" "Sixty percent of the total shares. No bargaining". "What if you have forty percent of the company's share. However we sign a contract making you our sole distributor of.." "Take it or leave it. I'm not bargaining." At that moment my intuition told me this was a terrible idea. But I was too desperate. "Fine deal." "Don't sound so down, you will be running the company just that I now own it." Stupid retch just you wait.
Present-day.
"What's the meaning of this Sandra?" I called for a board meeting two days after my agreement with Sandra to cement the deal. But what was the meaning of this? What was he doing on my chair? "Hello, big brother." As the board of directors watched the color of my face change like a slide show they smirked and chuckled. "I bet you didn't expect this ending." "Michael...why?..but-. It doesn't make any sense. It's-. YOU TRAITOR!!" I couldn't form complete sentences and, my mouth was a broken record. We always fear what we don't understand, then that fear turns to anger. In a situation like this, the ideal option would be to compromise but I turned to anger. Even though I was dressed formally I loosened my necktie and swung my fist at that thief on my chair. "Bam!!" "Michael, what are you doing?" My best friend just shielded my punch from my brother." "Don't embarrass yourself any further." I came to my senses and evaluated the situation. They were in cahoots all along. I was outrightly optimistic. My scrunched face loosened up and my eyes became calm. "You win. Let's sign the deal." An obese man with a unique mustache opened his briefcase and watched me sign all the particulars. I said nothing because I could do nothing. When I was done I walked to the door. "Big brother, you have to say. Maria would be disappointed in you." my haggard breathing and my left hand tightened on the doorknob, short on twisting it out of the door. "Yes, she would" I walked out calmly to the rooftop.
.Just as I came alone into this world I depart heartbreakingly without leaving even a single footprint on the sands of time, Mom was right twenty children don't play for twenty years...This wasn't the life I hoped for, It wasn't what I planned.
"I'm nothing. The least I could do was commit suicide and bring media coverage to the company. It wouldn't be enough to destroy them but it will leave a dent for a few days." I muttered absent-mindedly. My last words, how pathetic for someone whom great expectations were placed upon, and with a self-ridiculing smirk, I took a plunge into the abyss.
"Arghhh!!!!" a woman screamed as her outfit was stained with brain matter and innards. "Oh my God!", "The suicide rates are at an all-time spike now", "Youngsters nowadays don't appreciate anything". The crowd below the sky-scraper clamored at the gruesome scene unfolded to them. "Congratulations for murdering your flesh and blood" a well-endowed woman in her late twenties wearing red spectacles spoke unhurriedly to an Obese tall man in his mid-thirties "It was necessary Sandra. My brother was a spontaneous variable," he muttered indifferently. "You could have at least sent him on his way personally instead of manipulating him to his self-destruction" she added, The man just gave a sigh "If I may intrude, sir, you are ten minutes late for your appointment" a neatly dresses male secretary spoke. The man reluctantly left the scene with the woman before turning back and giving an indistinct sigh at the young man's mangled corpse and muttering "Goodbye brother. You were a good opponent".
My sight is blurry and I felt cramps all over my body. What's with this outfit? I was dressed in a medieval style of clothing. "Is this hell?" 'Transmigration' the thought popped into my head; Legends from my previous life had it that those chosen by the gods would be re-incarnated...by legends I meant web-novels. While wearing a self-ridiculing smile, at that moment I was assaulted with an intense migraine. I realized this body belonged to a fourteen-year-old boy. I pushed the bed sheet off myself and staggered to the door and fell, how miserable I could not muster any form of strength from my legs...it turns out I am a cripple I let out a grim smile, that explains the crutches at the bedside. I picked the crutches, pushed the door, and awkwardly surveyed this humble abode, within this large manor, not a maid or attendant had been seen with me, in that case, I would have the same status as those sad main characters who start as trash or wait a minute according to these memories it seems this boy "Bradque" is the fourteenth son of a peasant. @#$?..Bradque's father is a peasant farmer and he was sold during the plague and famine season to be the baron's servant-boy, he was humiliated and tortured and then catered for by the son of the baron 'Robert' due to their age bracket being almost the same. The gears in my head rotated and I tried as hard as I could to devise a plan to climb the social ladder...something that needed to give me an equal footing, thankfully magic existed and 'Rankers' was the title given to them. "You are awake already?" I heard a voice that interrupted my train of thought and turned, It was the baron's son with two older male servants and what was with their complicated expressions like pitiful aluminum foils "Not showing courtesy in the presence of young master deserves capital punishment, just because he favors you does not mean you can disregard proper etiquette" According to this wrinkled foil's words It seems the hierarchy here was strict, I then performed the necessary formalities as best as I could 'recall' from my memories. "Disperse with the formalities Bradque! and calm down uncle Dennis, Bradque is my friend" "Apologies sire" the foil apologized...yeah I am going to keep calling him to foil, I must have crossed over with my horrible naming sense. "Come, father is waiting for you at the dining room" the baron's son spoke with a bright smile 'Why would a baron want to meet with a peasant like me?'...I had seen this sly smile a hundred times from my younger brother. I may be a helpless soul riddled with insecurities but this smile, I can't mistake it with anything and so a bad premonition crept at my heart. "We are here," Robert said with his signature smile and pushed the door to the dining room and what is this? An inaudible gulp resounded from my throat as my pale lips which never muttered prayers trembled. My belief in atheism wavered and I muttered indistinctly 'God save me' it was then I heard a beep *Symbiosis complete...Good-day Master*