1 The Prologue to the End of the World

Part 1

David Harper could tell exactly when his life was destined to fall apart. As he thought about it now, maybe he should not have ignored the obvious scent of envy that his childhood friend reeked of on a daily basis. Of how she clenched her fists at every moment that he paid for their friends to go out. Even as he did nice things for her, her hatred of him was apparent to everyone but himself. The saying that love was blind was all to true, because he loved her. He loved her like the little sister that her never had and always wished for. He had loved her since his mother carried his three year old body to the nearby park and he was introduced to the neighbor and her child. They were the same age and they immediately hit it off. They were so innocent. It was great and it was simple and he missed it.

She stood in front of him a beautiful girl, they were in middle school and she had started to set her sights on him. He considered himself a mature boy for his age because he had to grow in a family environment that was not in any way forgiving. The Harper Clan was started five hundred years ago as a gang. It grew into a Mafia establishment that dealt in everything but legitimate business until very recently. His father was sending him to the best schools for him to one day further the family business. As such, her childish attempts to plant a seed of lust into him was laughable but in the end the fact that he was gay made it impossible. He felt guilty for the young girl as he saw her 'genuine' interest in him so he spoiled her. David gave her everything that she asked for, everything.

David thoroughly spoiled his little sister and she became arrogant. Felicity felt that she had grasped his heart and carried on with her flirting with an even greater force. When they were alone she would try to sneak in touches and wear almost revealing clothing to try and tempt into her bed. Felicity and her friends had read and practiced these actions on others and her friends had many successes until she realized while they were high school, the period in which a normal boy was high off of hormones and would basically attack when given the slightest stimulation, that he was never interested in her. Her mind took a great hit. She was the school's princess and both male and female were throwing themselves at her so she definitely could not be the problem. So she confronted him.

She marched up to him when he was alone in the courtyard of their school and accusingly asked, "Do you like men? Is that why you're not attracted to me? Or is it that I'm ugly? Why do you keep treating me like this?!"

She was huffing and puffing by the end of her scream and David could see heads poking out from the classrooms close to them. He could only look at her in shock and hope that no one had heard the beginning of her tirade. He quickly schooled his features, got up from the bench and hugged her closely. He then whispered a word that he knew would break her heart. "Yes"

Felicity felt herself stiffen and the only thought that crossed her mind was, I can't continue with him then! I need a new target. But where am I going to find someone better than the future CEO of Harper Industries!

Later that night she made a firm decision to stick closely to David to see if she could find a bigger fish to fry with his unwitting help. "Since he does everything for me anyway, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

She smiled beautifully and turned to her phone to text him her usual good night when she saw the outdated model that her parents had bought her as a "present" and had the urge to throw it into the wall opposite her. "Why did they have to buy this? Now I can't ask David to buy me a new one and I can't just destroy it. People would say things! URGH!"

*

To celebrate his introduction to the company, the previous acting CEO held a party for David to meet and greet all the big wigs that he would be associated with in the future. Felicity was also there and made quick friends with everyone at the party with the use of her quick wit, bubbly personality and striking beauty. David stood and watched her and felt like a true elder brother. His immediate family was also at the party. His mother was laughing with the modern socialites as they tried to make friends with her while his father and elder brother were chatting with some dangerous looking men.

David always found that his parents' relationship was one out of a soap opera. His mother was a detective that feel in love with the heir to a Mafia Clan and gave up her clean and up right life to marry into the very family that the police had tried to take down for years. Her eldest son was left to his father to raise but she objected to me being in the family business and raised me herself. She was only able to do this because of the tradition that stayed in the Clan since its creation. Any son other than the first is to never marry a woman or have children by a woman. These second sons could only have male partners and male born children or stay alone for life. This is to ensure that no heir is born outside that of the first son. Therefore, I grew up in a different environment form my beloved older brother. I was to remain clean, my older brother would deal in the underground and I would be the light to his darkness.

David was invited to and was required to hold numerous galas as the company progressed. This gave Felicity the chance to meet people from far and wide. She was the butterfly that every shy person wanted to be, however due to her constant exposure to wealth and adoration, her dream of just finding a rich husband was transformed into finding the biggest bank account and the largest movement for growth.

It was at another gala, that David was invited to, that everything was seemingly put into place. David's close friend had thrown this party to celebrate a partnership with the up and coming Gaming Company: Atlantis. This was their first meeting with Aston Reeves.