Click.
The gentle sound of a keyhole sang that early afternoon as Darren Steele stepped through the front door of a penthouse apartment.
In his hands was a cardboard box containing his belongings from his office, and on his face was a depressed frown.
Darren had just been fired from his job as a financial assistant in Smithers Group, one of the most powerful companies in the state.
Who had fired him? None other than his girlfriend's father, Gareth Smithers. The same girlfriend who he shared this penthouse apartment with.
Darren adjusted a vase on the table and placed the box beside it. He glanced around, hoping to find Lily in the living room, watching Netflix.
He had prayed that she had been told already, maybe by a job colleague or even her father. That way he could come back home to her solacing arms and he wouldn't have to break the news to her himself.
However, this was very different from what he expected to happen. The air felt wrong, everything was silent and uncomfortable.
'Did she go out with her friends?' Darren thought, looking up the stairs. That was when he heard the faint sound of laughter coming from up there.
"Lily?" Darren called, taking off his office ID that he had forgotten to hand over and throwing it into the box.
No response.
He climbed the stairs cautiously, two at a time, listening to the continuous laughter. He quickly recognized the laughter as Lily's. Was she on a call?
No. Everything felt too wrong for it to be that easy.
Darren moved toward the bedroom, and with each step, his heart thudded louder. The door was slightly ajar, so he pushed it open, and then... he froze.
The sight before him stole the air from his lungs.
There she was, his Lily, in the arms of another man. And it could not be any other man, why couldn't it be any other man? It had to be Tyler Mooney.
He was the son of Archibald Mooney, CEO of the Moon Enterprise, the same boy who had bullied him through highschool and then again at college.
He was on Darren's bed, his shirt was undone, and Lily was draped across his chest while Tyler wrapped his arms around her as if she were his prize.
He also had a smug grin on his face, looking straight at Darren like he had been expecting him.
"Well, well," Tyler drawled. "Looks like the dog found his way home."
Lily turned around and her eyes widened. "Darren!" She immediately pulled away from Tyler, wrapping the bedsheet around herself.
Darren was still frozen, it felt like his brain had been turned off and his whole life was tipped over, crashing right in front of him. "Wha— What were you about to do just now?" he stuttered a question.
Tyler leaned back casually, letting out a mocking laughter. "What do you think? I'll give you a hint, dog. It's nothing PG! Ha ha!"
He let out a happy sigh and sat up, resting both arms on his knees. "This sucks for you. You walked in at the wrong moment, pal."
Darren chose to ignore him, and shifted his gaze to Lily. "Lily..." his voice cracked. "Your father just fired me. I came here—" He choked on his words. "What are you doing with him?"
Lily adjusted the sheets, but continued to avoid Darren's gaze. "Darren, let's not make this harder than it needs to be."
"What?" Darren's voice rose. "Harder than it... What are you saying right now?"
"I'm saying it's over," Lily said firmly, finally finding the courage to meet his eyes. "This... this isn't working."
"It's not working?" Disbelief trembled in Darren's voice. "You're cheating on me in our home, and you have the audacity to tell me it's not working?"
Tyler chuckled, standing up. "Relax, champ. She's upgrading. I mean, can you blame her?" He gestured to himself smugly.
"Upgrade?" Darren's fists clenched. "Lily, is that what this is? You're leaving me for this... this piece of shit?"
Tyler grimaced. "Who are you calling a piece of shit, dog?"
He attempted to attack Darren, but Lily came in between them quickly, using her hand to hold Darren back. "Darren, no!"
The bedsheet slipped and her half naked body was exposed. It didn't matter now, no one was giving it any attention, and both of these men had seen her naked at this point.
Lily turned to Darren, whose eyes were red with rage and pain.
"Darren! Tyler is someone who can give me the life I want," she said to him. "I mean, he's the son of Archibald Mooney. Do you know what that means for my father's company? For me? He's everything you're not and I don't think you ever will never be, Darren. He's ambitious. Powerful. Worthwhile."
Gosh, those words stung! Darren felt the sting of them like a blade to his chest. His mind reeled, and his heart screamed. He had loved her. Trusted her. Everything he did was simply and only for her.
Darren nodded his head, and chuckled bitterly. "Everything I'm not, eh? That's one way to look at it. Another way is to just admit that you're a slut."
"You bastard!" Tyler reached for him again but Lily held him back.
"This is your father's doing, isn't it!" Darren said bitterly. "He's hated me from the start. Always thought I wasn't good enough for his precious daughter. Fired me, threw me out like trash, and now he's parading this jackass in front of you like some perfect suitor."
"Call me a jackass again!" Tyler's eyes flashed with a warning. "I dare you!"
Darren looked at Tyler with the eyes of a crazed man with nothing left to lose. "Jack... Ass."
"Ngh!" Fury boiled over, Tyler pushed Lily out of the way and swung a fist at Darren.
It connected with his jaw, but Darren's retaliation punch was struck harder and stronger, causing Tyler to stumble backwards.
As Darren drew closer to press the advantage, a burly security guard appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Darren and slamming him against the wall.
"Urkkkh!" Darren groaned in pain and fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. As he laid there, Lily watched him with a look of guilt on her face, Tyler crouched in front of him, petting his jaw and smirking .
"You don't get it, do you? In this world, all that matters is power and money. Money buys you the power, and I've got plenty of money. You? You have nothing. You don't even have a girlfriend anymore! Ha! Ha! Ha!!" he laughed villainously.
"You're just a nobody, Darren!" he glared into Darren's eyes and said. "A nobody with some numbers and a sad little obsession with crypto. Pathetic."
Darren glared up at him, his eyes burning with hatred. He turned to Lily, but she avoided his gaze again, her expression showing guilt and resolve.
"This is what happens when you overreach," Tyler continued, his tone almost gleeful. "Know your place, dog!"
Darren groaned, but spoke once again. "I'm... ugh... surprised you can still smile after I punched you so hard."
Tyler looked at him and smirked, nodding his head. "Darren Steele. You just don't know... ngh!" He punched him right on the stomach. "...when to shut up!"
Darren moaned in pain, feeling the air rush out of his stomach. Then he looked up at Tyler Mooney. "You always did say I had a death wish."
Tyler smirked as he stood up, adjusting his cuffs, then he gestured to the guard. "Get him out of here."
"To hell with you, Tyler," Darren mumbled with the weakest of breaths. "To hell with all of you."
The guard picked Darren from the ground and carried him to the door while Tyler and Lily followed.
Then, he dropped him on the street. "You can come pack your things later, Darren." Lily called after him.
Darren ignored her. He wanted nothing to do with her except to prove that she had made a grave mistake today.
"Yes, Omar!" Tyler hailed his guard. "Send the dog to the streets where it belongs!" He laughed loudly, giving Darren the middle finger.
That one struck a nerve, and when Darren flipped his back, the security guard angrily gave him a stronger shove.
A much stronger shove, because it ended up causing Darren to stumble into the street, right into the path of a speeding bus.
"No!" Lily's yell echoed.
Darren quickly snapped his head toward the blaring sound of a horn, and his heart seized as he saw the speeding bus. But it was too late.
Bang!
The impact was immediate and brutal. Pain exploded through Darren's body, the world spinning as he was thrown from the road and hard on the ground.
Pain was everywhere, an aching sound rang in his head as he lay there, blood pooling beneath him, his vision fading.
"Whoa!" Tyler exclaimed, laughing in the distance. "That was crazy!"
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Lily panicked. "Call an ambulance!"
Darren heard all of this as life slowly started to leave him. He couldn't believe it. So this was it? He was going to die? Just like that? After everything he suffered?
How's that fair? And if it wasn't, why was life so unfair?
Tyler walked into his fading vision, hands in his pockets, looking down at him and smirking.
"Don't bother," he said to Lily. "The moron's already dead."
He grinned wider at Darren's dying face. "And just like a dog, he died on the street. Goodbye, loser."
It was then that Darren drew his last breath. Anger and hatred was the last emotion he felt in his stopping heart and the face of Tyler Mooney was the last thing he saw.
...Except, his eyes opened once again.