"Blood" Williams gasped as he looked at his chest, where a knife protruded, and blood gurgled out of his mouth. He looked up at the person he would never have thought would be the one to kill him.
"Ahh," he gasped for air as he heard sounds from inside the house and footsteps approached him.
At the young age of nineteen, Williams Velasco had achieved what most people would never achieve in their lives. He was from an influential family in Africa, specifically in Ghana. His father had left him when he was just five, so his mother had been the one taking care of him until he entered university. His mother had five children, and three of them were doing well in Canada, so they assisted her in making his life comfortable.
He grew up without his father's love until his mother met her childhood sweetheart, a famous politician and one of the pillars of the country, when Williams was preparing to gain admission to university. They fell in love and married. Williams was happy, but he did not know that was just the start of another phase in his life.
A month after the marriage, the man called Williams one afternoon. "What are your plans for the future?" he asked. Williams told him his plans: to become a software engineer, his childhood dream, and also a part-time novel writer. But everything crumbled. The man did not have anyone to inherit his legacy; his children were all pursuing their dreams under their mother, so he decided Williams should be the one to inherit his mantle.
He discussed this with Williams' mother, and the woman, in love, was happy that her sweetheart was worried about the future of her son, so she agreed. Without Williams' acceptance, his dreams changed from software engineering to politics. He fought against it, but it only caused a rift in his family. Seeing his mother happy for the first time in many years, and also not wanting his younger sister to go through what he was going through, he decided to accept.
If he didn't accept, his younger sister would be the one to fulfill the man's dream. The family returned to normal, and he entered one of the best universities in the country. Everyone was happy that everything was finally going according to plan, except him. The once bright guy turned into a cold machine, incapable of feeling anything. Novel writing and alcohol were the only things allowing him to get by.
A year passed, and he had finally turned into a cold machine, incapable of feeling anything. For the first time in his life, things clicked into place. His main novel, "Ascension," which he had been working on and advertising, finally got acknowledged by one of the top apps in the world when it came to novels. After months, he gained hundreds of thousands of followers, allowing him to make close to millions of dollars a month.
He finally decided to start learning more about software engineering. He could be happy while also pursuing the happiness of his family at the same time. He also met his lover at the same time, who brought the real him back. A year passed by, and it was his third year in university. Everything was going according to plan; he was a multi-million-dollar tycoon. His novel had received the attention of one of the best directors in the world, the one behind "Justice League." He had agreed to develop Williams' novel and incorporate his characters into the next segment of "Justice League": "The Ageless Immortal."
His movie would also be developed at the same time. It continued until his final year in university. His movie, "The Ascension," was one of the best movies in the world, and people wanted to meet the owner of the movie. He had hundreds of millions to his name, and after he graduated, he planned to go abroad to finally meet the board of "Justice League" to announce himself as the owner of "The Ageless Immortal" character to the world. He was already a star, even though he was unknown.
His main character, "The Ageless Immortal," was the strongest in "Justice League," the one who single-handedly rewrote the history of "Justice League." His relationship was also going well, and he had finally developed his first game, "The First Volume of Ascension." It would also create waves in the world after being published, but happiness is just a mirage that would be blown away by strong wind.
It first started with the lady who brought him out of his shell, the one he invested all his heart, love, and money in. She betrayed him. They were in a long-distance relationship, so they only met once in a while. He found out that the lady he had never touched was six months pregnant with another man's child, her childhood sweetheart, whom she met during the course of their relationship. She broke up with him. It hit him immediately and shattered his heart. The barriers he built around his heart had already crumbled due to his love for her, so the attack hit his heart, shattering it.
Just when he was recovering, another bad news hit him. It was time to finally enter politics, and he should drop everything he was doing. The career he had nurtured. Just when he was still trying to take the news, marriage had already been arranged for him. He turned into a confused individual before finally making up his mind that, whatever it takes, he couldn't abandon his dreams. He would pursue his dreams with everything he had.
The decision led to disagreement, and after weeks of disagreement, he was finally disowned by his own mother, which led to being disowned by the whole family, including his younger sister. Everything came crashing down on him. The people he had always pursued happiness for did not hesitate to leave him.
Why? He didn't want to give up his own dreams. He would continue being a politician, but he just couldn't give up his dreams.
He waited for their call, but it never came. A week passed, two weeks passed, and just when he thought they were going to abandon him for real, he heard a knock on his door. He saw his younger sister and opened the door, thinking that they couldn't abandon him just like that, but what met him next was intense electricity passing through his whole body, paralyzing him.
"Arghh!" he shouted as he fell to the floor and lost all feeling in his body. He looked up and saw the wicked smirk on the corner of his younger sister's lips.
"You must be thinking why I did this to you," she asked. He looked at her.
"Of course, Dad wants you dead," she said.
"It's a lie," he squeezed those words out of his lips.
"It's not a lie; it's an agreement between Dad and Mom. If you can't be used, then you should be killed. Do you think you can just leave after being nurtured heavily by them? Mom brought you up since you were five years old when you were left by that bastard of a father. You are just a bastard born from the union of your father and his maid. The maid died while giving birth to you, and Mom brought you up in her way," she said.
"Hmm." His eyes widened in disbelief when he heard that.
"You've been freeloading off other people, yet when it's time for you to become useful, you just want to leave, and you think it's easy that way," she said.
His brain turned blank.
"Let me tell you a truth," she said.
"We don't want you to become a politician; a bastard like you doesn't deserve it, but we've been using your signature to do some shady things that are supposed to come to light when you start your career, and you will just take the fall, then you'll pave the way for me, but you almost ruined everything. Thank goodness there's a backup plan," she said.
"Backup plan," he asked unconsciously. He was already numb from the flurry of emotions running through his body. The happiness he thought he had, the love that prompted him to chase after their happiness, everything had all been a mirage.
"What about my father? Is it a lie?" he asked.
"The bastard ditched you with Mom and went to another lady; he's happy now," she answered.
"What's the backup plan you have?" he asked.
"Like this," she brought out a knife. "Wallace, the heir to the mantle of Williams Velasco, a world-renowned politician and one of the pillars of Africa, has been killed by his best friend," she said, as the body of a guy was brought inside.
"No, Peter!" he shouted, but the body was already lifeless. Peterw as his childhood friend and his only friend.
"No!" he shouted as he crawled towards the body.
"The cause is unknown, but just when Peter is about to be apprehended, he engaged in a gunfight and was killed. Brother, you can just die with peace of mind, knowing that you won't be going down alone; your best friend will accompany you," she said, as she plunged the knife into his body.
He felt the knife enter his body and stab deep into his heart. His heart constricted and expanded, trying to continue working, but it soon started slowing down, and, resigned, he closed his eyes, plunging into darkness.
"He's dead," the lady called someone and said, and soon after, three people in black made their way into the room.
"Clean everything up and inform the police; his death will be officially aired tomorrow," she said and left.