Adrien Hallman was not only a drunk, but an abuser.
Everything seemed all rosy and pleasant after Samantha got remarried, and she was even convinced into having another child which at first she was reluctant to as her first experience in child birth didn't quite sit well with her.
Her daughter was beautiful and was just a year younger than Steven. She looked just like her father- so much alike that people began to wonder just where and how Steven had come about.
Amanda was the carbon copy of her father. Her skin was a clear, light brown peanut butter color which matched her dark chocolate eyes. Her hair was chocolate, but much darker and was long, grazing her waist.
If she wasn't used to pulling her hair out when she was angry or stressed, maybe her hair would have been fuller and not thin and scanty, but either way, Samantha and Adrien loved and adored her just as they cherished Steven.
And no matter how much Steven reminded her of her past, she still tried to love him and give him the best life no matter what.
Unfortunately, much to their demise, when Adrien got fired from work, things took a upturn for the family. Steven was twelve then and Amanda was eleven, and the two temporarily stopped school at that time, helping Samantha in the small bar club she ran.
But the problem never stopped at the fact that Adrien wasn't able to pay rent so her club was shut down- No. Adrien took to drinking to while away his wallows of depression. He would be found dead drunk in the living room when you'd walk into their small shabby house which they were owing rent for. He was miserable, and he turned all the sadness to anger, and the day Steven couldn't take it anymore, he had fought back and had almost killed his step father.
As Adrien was being taken away to prison, he had dropped a bombshell.
Steven would never forget that day.
He was fourteen and standing at the porch entrance of their housez staring at his father who was being led away with bloodlust in his eyes while Amanda and Samantha stood behind him, sobbing and hugging each other.
"After everything I've done for you Steven and this is how you repay me?! Do you think your father is capable enough of sacrificing even half of what I have in the past fourteen years of your miserable life?!" He spat, and the look of anger on Steven's face had cleared up immediately as he turned to his mother whose face looked as pale as a ghost now.
"Mother, what is he talking about?" He had asked, hoping It wasn't what he was thinking.
No matter how much he looked differently from his family members and no matter how much his peers had told him that he was an outcast, he didn't choose to believe he didn't belong with them. But sometimes, he really did doubt It, he was just too scared to find out the truth.
"Officers, take him away.. " She had spoken up immediately with a shaky voice, stepping forward into the porch; away from her daughter's embrace.
"No... wait... I need to talk to him.... Please wait!" Steven stepped away from her when she attempted to touch him before motioning for the officers to stop. He looked his father straight in the eyes and had asked slowly, his heart beating so hard, he could feel the blood rushing to his ears.
"Are you not my father?"
Adrien had laughed to his face like a hysterical man- so manically that the officer holding him down from behind, held him further down to the car's bonnet with the cuff sitting around his wrists, biting into his skin.
"Why would I want to father a bastard like you?" Despite the fact he had never been the perfect father figure, his words had still hurt him- had shattered him badly.
"Adrien!" Samantha came up behind them now, her voice hostile like a mother cautioning a child.
Steven couldn't even turn to look at her, knowing fully well that she was just few steps behind him, probably holding her headscarf over her face as usual to hide the scars and wounds inflicted on her face by the beast Infront of him.
The same beast he had been calling 'Father' for the past fourteen years.
"I may have been a drunk and I may have hit you once or twice... " Adrien began talking. "But we both know that you're not as innocent as you portray yourself to the children, especially to your son, Steven."
"Get into the vehicle, Mr. Hallman ... watch your head." The officer said as he roughly pulled him from the bonnet of the car and made him sit in.
But just before he did, he raised his head and stared stone cold at Amanda who shrank under his stare before he moved the stare to Samantha.
"When I'm back, I'll ensure to divorce and sue you and get full legal ownership of my daughter. I'll make sure you and that bastard of a son is sent back to the streets where I found you both!"
And with that, the car had raced off, and that was the last Steven and Amanda had ever seen of him because on hearing his words and knowing he was still a threat, Samantha had stolen all his money by faking his signature and withdrawing all his hidden savings in the bank, selling his properties- even the house, and gaining enough money to fly them out of the country- back to her hometown.
Where she had grown up all her life before that incident.
She had long heard of Henry's death, and although the news had surprised her, she didn't feel as remorseful or as sympathetic as she would have If It were years ago when she had believed she was madly Inlove with him.
She was however feeling nothing but pity for his wife, Ariana who even had to deal with the culprit responsible for her husband's death.
When she learnt It was one of Henry's baby mamas and had seen how much power Ariana welded and had used against the woman, she knew she'd be asking for a death wish If she ever exposed herself, because compared to Ariana, she was the carpet she walked on.
But Steven thought otherwise. After learning about his origin and roots, all he's ever wanted from that day on was to get his rightful position back.
And he didn't cease to amaze her when she wondered how someone like him could. He was bold, stubborn, notorious and when he had a zeal and passion for something, he never let go of It until he soared above even his expectations.
But compared to someone as authorative, Influential and precarious as Ariana Torres, wouldn't he just be walking on hot coals?
However, she didn't have a choice. She had made bad decisions in her past as a teenager and as a mother, and she couldn't afford to discourage him from whatever his passion was.
Things weren't getting any better. Their rent was already due to be paid two months ago, their electricity have been cut off, Amanda had stopped school long ago after her college examinations and she recently just found out that she had stage three breast cancer.
It was curable, but they couldn't afford the expenses. She didn't want to worry her children so she didn't bother telling them, especially when she knew Steven had started taking business management classes online from fourteen years after passing his college entrance examinations and getting a degree to qualify him for the classes.
He worked hard enough to earn for his classes, including working more than 40 hours a week and still having time to study, so Samantha, seeing how determined and focused he was on achieving his goals, could only support him by working as a cleaner in hotels and rich people's homes just to earn for groceries.
In four years, he was able to complete his classes and earned his Bachelor of Science in Management degree.
Now with all his qualifications prepared and primed, his next plan was to start working.
And what better place to work at, than at his dear step mother's establishment?