At the entrance of Lombard's street, Travis Danforth was seen holding a box of dessert that he bought for his precious daughter, Maya.
He was in deep thought when he heard a voice he hadn't heard in a long time, "Wow, young master, ten years have passed already."
He furrowed his brows and his gaze swept over the elderly man dressed in an expensive suit. He chuckled coldly as he recognized him to be his family's manager.
And he asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I think it's time for you to let go of your past grudges. It's been more than ten years since you've seen your father and he misses you deeply. He also mentioned he'll be giving you everything when you return…"
"Return?" Travis snorted, his gaze distant. "From the day he allowed that harlot, Bianca, and her bastard son to enter our home and hurt my mother, I've severed my ties with him. He didn't believe me because he was head over heels in love with such a bitch! Believed every lie she told him. However, it could still be possible under the condition that he has to sever Bianca's head and hand it over to me!"
The elderly man and his bodyguards behind him gave each other a confusing look.
Travis sneered with a scoff. "If it's not possible, then move," He grunted.
The elderly man immediately moved aside as Travis strode forward. His silhouette looked strong and intimidating, seemingly undefeatable. One could tell he was full of hatred. He was outraged.
The Danforth family of Mainville city was a renowned aristocratic family in the entire country. Countless people wanted to build a connection with the Danforth family as they would then have the chance to ascend to the peak of the country.
To Travis, on the other hand, the Danforth family existed as an ineradicable painful memory in his heart.
Ten years ago, his mom was rammed to death by a car.
Although the report of the investigation concluded that it was the fault of the driver who drove under the influence of alcohol, it can't fool him. It fooled everyone else but not him.
He knew Bianca was involved. He could tell she was greedy for power. How she always fought with his mom and pretended to be the victim. He saw it all but his father was blind.
He confronted his father but all he got was a slap and his father berated him for being ungrateful.
Disappointed by his father's actions, he left Mainville city and arrived at Grove city to live his life on his own in a low profile. There he studied, got into a relationship, got married, and had a child.
However, his wife's family didn't accept him.
His wife comes from a rich background. Her family were the owners of Bloom Constructions but they were against Joanna's infatuation with Travis to the extent that she married him behind their backs and without their blessings.
Her grandmother got angry that she pushed Joanna, her mom, and sis out of their house. Her Mom and sis were angry at Joanna since they were not also in support of her marriage with Travis. And they left her to suffer alone with her husband.
Losing access to her family's wealth, Joanna found a job and she and her husband began to survive barely on meager wages and they weren't complaining. Travis and her learned to live life that way, especially having a beautiful daughter.
So going back to his family…no way!
Then his phone rang.
Right after he answered the call, an exasperated voice rang in his ears, "Travis, where the hell did you go? Maya's illness is acting up again! Didn't I ask you to look after her in the hospital? How could you leave her like that?!"
Travis felt as if he was struck by lightning. Hearing his daughter's sickness worsen scared him to death.
He snapped back to reality, and tightened the grip on his phone before speaking hoarsely. "I'm on my way. I'll be there immediately."
And without sparing a time, he hailed a cab and arrived at the hospital.
Although he was in a panic, he held tight to the box of dessert that was exquisitely packaged. It was his daughter's favorite and she has been asking for it for a long time so he couldn't possibly let her down.
At the entrance of the ward, before he could even catch his breath, a gorgeous woman walked up to him and gave him a sound slap on the face.
His wife Joanna Bloom was a beauty with a gorgeous figure and delicate features.
Although their daughter was three years old, she still managed to retain her beauty as if she was merely twenty years old. Not only was she still in shape, but her maturity also gave her a lingering charm.
But she was furious at the moment.
"I'm so disappointed in you, Travis. How could you do that? How could you just leave our sick daughter alone?!"
Travis lowered his head in guilt and asked the question that has been bothering him, "So how's she? How's Maya?"
Joanna scoffed and shook her head in disbelief at the audacity he had to ask such a question. "I can't believe you still have the effrontery to ask such a question, Travis! If it weren't for the doctors who caught Maya's illness early, she would have lost her life because of such a worthless father like you!" She yelled while pointing her finger at him in anger. "You're lucky nothing happened to my daughter or I will never forgive you!"
Hearing his daughter's condition was stabilized, Travis felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulder. He was relieved since that was the only thing he cared about.
He loves his daughter so much and if there was a chance or possibility, he would have traded his life for hers. He wanted her to get better. He would do anything for her to get better.
"That's what you get for marrying a good-for-nothing scoundrel like him, Joanna!"
Travis sighed as he saw his mother-in-law, Madame Alice, and his sister-in-law, Ashley Bloom behind Joanna giving him an expression of disgust.
"At least a dog looks after his master's house but this dog of yours, only leeches off his master, incapable of doing a better job!" Madame Alice continued. "You're just useless, Travis! What's so hard to look after your daughter, ah? My daughter had a lot of admirers. They could line up and fill an entire street. Successful ones and pillars of society I might add, but she chose a good-for-nothing piece of human garbage like you even over riches! What curse did you lay on my daughter to agree to a pauper like you?!" She sighed in frustration and looked at Joanna. "Why can't you just listen to me and get a divorce? The guy is not worth your beauty! You're ruining your life and wasting your time with him!"
"Yeah, Joanne…" Ashley chided in by rolling her eyes toward Travis. "Maya's medical fees are literally an extortion on all your personal savings. Has he ever contributed anything to help you out? I doubt that since after all, he's a mere bodyguard. I heard your superior, Malcolm Baker is interested in you! Why not go for him, instead?!"
Joanna sighed, feeling totally exhausted. Normally, she would have defended Travis cause she always hated how her mom and sis criticize him for being poor.
But this time, she was quiet. And thinking.
If he wasn't poor, her life wouldn't have been so hard. Did she do wrong by following her heart instead of the money?
Just like her mom said she'll regret it, the words came to pass cause she's regretting every second of the day.
She hated the fact that he accepted being a bodyguard instead of looking for other jobs and this time, this trying times, he dared loiter around instead of taking care of their daughter. It's unforgivable!
Or should she let go of her pride and go to her grandmother for help?
Travis just kept quiet since he was used to it all. If there is no insult in his life, then his day isn't complete.
Even his own wife, whenever she has a chance, she abuses him disrespectfully.
Then a nurse walked over to them.
She scanned all of them before saying, "Family members of Maya Danforth, you already owe the hospital a total of one hundred thousand dollars in medical fees. If you can't pay and add on another four hundred thousand dollars as a deposit today, the hospital will stop providing treatment for the patient. We don't do charity here." You could sense the mockery in her voice as she spoke.