Leo's mother dies, leaving him with a single cryptic message: "Don't let them win." He's left to grapple with the loss of both parents and the world that has turned against them.
Leo. That was the moment everything changed. The moment my family fell apart. It didn't make sense, but nothing around me made sense anymore. The world was crumbling, and I had no idea how to stop it.
The media, the accusations, the hatred—my father, a man who had spent his life helping others, was now painted as a villain in the eyes of everyone. I couldn't understand it, and I didn't want to. The man I had looked up to, the one who had taught me everything about kindness and honesty, was suddenly the monster in the story. And I knew it wasn't true. But when the world turned against you, who would listen to a 10-year-old boy who still believed in right and wrong?
The day my father was arrested is seared into my memory. Police cars surrounded our house, their flashing lights reflecting off the walls like some cruel, mocking parody of our life. I was only a child, and yet everything I had ever known was slipping away. My mother, devastated but resilient, tried to hold it together. For me, she stayed strong. But how long could anyone pretend when everything was falling apart?
The world didn't care about the truth. All that mattered was the story. And the story was that my father—my hero—had betrayed everything he stood for. Friends who had known him for years suddenly turned their backs. The man who had been there for us all, Roy—my father's closest friend—was the first to use it as a weapon. Roy, the one person who should have stood by us, was now part of the plot to destroy everything my family had built.
Days turned into weeks, and the media frenzy only grew. My mother tried to shield me, but how do you protect a child from the unraveling of their entire world? How do you explain to a 10-year-old that the person they trusted most is now the subject of ridicule and hatred? That the people who once called him their friend were now throwing him to the wolves?
Then came the night my mother spoke her last words to me. Her voice was weak, barely a whisper, but in it I could hear a strength I hadn't fully understood until that moment.
"Leo... promise me... you'll fight. Don't let them take everything from you. Don't let them win."
Her words burned themselves into my soul, and as she passed away in my arms, I realized she wasn't just saying goodbye. She was giving me a purpose. A purpose I couldn't fully comprehend, but one that would define everything to come.
In the months that followed, I tried to cling to some semblance of normalcy. But it was hard. Everywhere I went, people looked at me with pity or fear. Friends of the family offered their condolences, but their eyes always seemed to linger on me, as if waiting for me to break. Some of them disappeared entirely once the accusations grew louder. The truth didn't matter to them. The story was all that mattered.
Roy, the man who had once been like a second father to me, was now everywhere. Every time I turned on the television or scrolled through the news, his face was there—painting my father as the villain in a story I knew was a lie. He had the power, the platform, the support. He had everything except the truth.
And then one day, it clicked. It was all part of a bigger plan. My father's downfall wasn't an accident—it was a well-calculated betrayal. Roy had played his part perfectly. He had taken what he wanted, and in doing so, had destroyed my family.
I could feel the rage building in me, hotter and sharper than anything I'd ever felt before. I didn't just want answers. I didn't just want to clear my father's name. I wanted revenge. I wanted to make them pay for what they had done to us, for what they had done to me.
My mother's words echoed in my mind, "Don't let them win." It became my mantra, my guiding principle. There was no time to grieve; there was only time to fight. I had to carry the torch she had passed to me. I wasn't just fighting for my family anymore. I was fighting for myself.
With each passing day, the anger inside me only grew. The world that had once felt so solid, so safe, now seemed like a facade—a brittle shell waiting to crack. I knew the truth, but the truth was buried beneath layers of lies, corruption, and deceit. And I would find it. No matter what it took, no matter how long it took, I would bring it all to light.
It wasn't just about clearing my father's name anymore. It was about making sure no one could ever forget what they had taken from us. The people who had destroyed my family, who had turned everything we had into ashes—they would pay.
And I would be the one to make them.
I didn't know where this path would lead me. I didn't know what dangers awaited, or who I could trust. But one thing was certain: I wouldn't stop. I wouldn't back down. The world had already taken everything from me, but I still had my will. And I would use it to make sure they paid for what they did.
This was just the beginning. And I was ready to make them regret ever crossing me.
End of Chapter 1.
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