Prologue 2

The bullying may have ceased, but Jet Evangelista's social life remained a misery. How could he possibly make friends when burdened with such a shameful private life?

He found himself perpetually concealing bruises beneath long sleeves and had exhausted every plausible excuse for his recurring black eyes months ago. His classmates and professors simply played along with the charade of not knowing, and he in turn pretended to be a masterful liar.

It was painful, but Jet managed it. He still had his little brother, Carl, with whom to share the pain. Carl was his world – family, friend, and confidant, all wrapped into one.

However, as the years passed, Jet began to develop crushes on girls at his school, and those feelings couldn't be so easily suppressed. Once again, he felt utterly powerless.

He couldn't confide in anyone about his problems, couldn't allow anyone to get too close, for that would require explanations as to why he never brought friends home, let alone a girl he liked.

Tormented by cruel thoughts, Jet often found himself demanding of the heavens why what others took for granted remained an impossible dream for him.

Fueled by hormonal storms, Jet's rage grew relentlessly. He started having trouble sleeping at night, plagued by thoughts of those lovey-dovey couples out there.

Jet knew he was different from them. His crippling flaw wasn't just shyness or a bad case of acne. His problem had a name and a surname – Ezio Esposito, his wretched excuse for a father.

Jet began concocting plan after plan to rid himself of Ezio, even if it meant resorting to murder. In the dark hours of the night, he would meticulously devise elaborate schemes, often involving prolonged torment, making Ezio suffer as Jet had for all those years.

Yet, when morning came, he'd always recognize the impracticality of those schemes, seeing them for what they were – wishful thinking.

Jet lacked the means and the ruthless disposition required to eliminate Ezio. No matter how much he despised him, Ezio was still his father, and Jet was nothing more than an angry teenager.

Kill Ezio? Fine. But then what? A lifetime of guilt? Fleeing from home to escape arrest? And with what money?

Killing Ezio would mean abandoning Carl forever and obliterating any chance of future happiness.

So, each morning, Jet would swallow his dark plans along with his porridge and press on. His sole beacon of hope was to study relentlessly, secure a scholarship, and escape that hellish existence as swiftly as possible.

Time raced on, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last summer before Jet Evangelista's first year of high school. Despite the sweltering heat, his heart remained as cold as ice.

Jet had already experienced a significant growth spurt, and the combination of that with his martial arts and muscle training had lent him a rather formidable appearance.

Ezio had become acutely aware of this transformation. Being a coward, he had begun to avoid physically assaulting Jet as much as possible, making Carl the new favorite target of his rage.

Jet had attempted to stand up for his brother on several occasions, but the only outcome had been Ezio acquiring a nightstick from the local Army Surplus store and using it to beat Jet instead of his bare hands.

Jet had managed to shield Carl from that brutality by resorting to begging and tears, only because the commotion had alarmed their neighbors.

So, whenever Ezio erupted into one of his violent tantrums, Jet could only bear witness to his brother's repeated beatings.

Then, one morning, Ezio received his first significant commission in years. Despite the scorching weather, he dressed in his finest suit and had Jet prepare his briefcase and laptop.

Ezio was in a frantic hurry, determined to prevent his competitors from snatching this lucrative opportunity. It could be the deal that finally propelled his career forward.

Jet hurried to the door, where Ezio was already waiting, and assisted him with the laptop satchel.

Ezio dashed toward the elevator, repeatedly jabbing the button in a frenzy, but the light stubbornly remained red.

Cursing his condominium, the building manager, and his rotten luck, Ezio made a desperate dash for the stairs.

That's when Jet noticed it. Turning his head to track his father, Jet observed that the overhead light created peculiar reflections on the polished hallway floor.

Ezio had just passed in front of him when he suddenly slipped, his long stride taking all his weight downward and forward.

Jet could have warned him, could have even extended an arm to prevent the fall. But instead, he opted to stand still.

Ezio tumbled down the stairs, ricocheted off the landing, and tumbled again, his body contorted into grotesque angles.

Like any modern teenager, Jet had his smartphone at hand, and he began capturing several photos to document the absence of a wet floor sign and the slippery condition of the floor.

His mind was already concocting plans to hire the fiercest shark of a lawyer he could find and sue the condominium management firm responsible for his condo.

With cautious steps, Jet descended the stairs to confirm Ezio's fate. There he lay, incapable of uttering a sound or asking for help, but his eyes implored Jet for assistance.

Jet smirked at him and quipped, "Did you really think I'm so daft as to never learn anything from you? As you've so often taught me, never delegate. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Your smartphone is in your pocket; take it out and call 911. I may be a failure of a son, but I don't want to botch this up for you, Daddy."

Ezio's eyes brimmed with shock and animosity, but it lasted only a moment. His head drooped, his gaze vacant.

Laughter threatened to burst forth from Jet, but he stifled it. Instead, he began shouting for help, skillfully putting on his best impression of a terrified son.

As always, Jet's mother remained too consumed by her own problems, grief, and emotions to bother seeking out a lawyer, leaving everything in Jet's capable hands, now that Ezio was no more.

Three birds with one stone. After extensive research, Jet reached out and hired the most formidable shark of a lawyer they could afford, making sure that he'd represent Jet instead of his mother.

He divulged every detail about his father's incident, the years of abuse, and the urgent need to ensure the money would be divided among the three of them – mother and sons.

Both Jet and Carl stood firm on one point – they wanted the lawyer to initiate the process for their emancipation. With the compensation money and inheritance, they had enough to become self-sufficient until Jet could fully provide for them.

What followed was the happiest chapter in their lives. First, they received the inheritance, and shortly thereafter, they secured their emancipation and moved out of their mother's place.

Less than a month later, a remarkably generous settlement offer arrived from the building management firm. They accepted it, settling their affairs and making concrete plans for the future.

Over the years that followed, bullies ceased to be a problem. Both Jet and Carl had become skilled martial artists and had each other's backs. At long last, they tasted the joys of having friends and even girlfriends, liberated from their domestic nightmare.

Nevertheless, they encountered their fair share of disappointments. Many of the so-called friends turned out to be opportunists looking to exploit their parent-free house as a party haven.

Moreover, they struggled to grasp the essence of being normal teenagers. While their peers seemed solely interested in having fun and skipping classes, Jet and Carl remained resolute in their focus on studying and saving every penny they could.

Jet and Carl spent their holidays and breaks working part-time jobs to slow the dwindling of their bank accounts. They weren't wealthy, but they weren't destitute either. They understood the importance of saving for a rainy day, even though life, for the most part, treated them kindly.

Jet earned a scholarship and secured a bachelor's degree in chemistry, swiftly followed by a master's in biochemistry. Carl was on a successful path too, having earned his engineering degree, ready to pursue a master's, and even had a fiancée.

Despite feeling genuinely happy for his younger brother, this was a prickly thorn in Jet's side. He had always been the socially awkward one between the two, unable to forge a stable relationship, not even during his college years.

Jet had no issue talking to girls; the problem lay in his being too picky and unable to trust. Crushes came and went, but he never fell in love.

Initially, he blamed his bad luck, believing he always found shallow or dimwitted girls. But after encountering more than one genuinely good person, he placed the blame on his dark past.

However, when confronted with Carl's blissful relationship, he could only hold himself responsible. While Carl had endured similar hardships, he emerged stronger and untarnished, unlike Jet.

Jet was simply too terrified of being hurt once more to let any relationship progress beyond a certain point, and that was an adversary he couldn't simply defeat with physical force.

Jet accepted the first decently paying job he found, working the night shift at a major chemical company in the Q&A department.

As a graduation gift, Carl had confided that he intended to propose to his fiancée as soon as he earned his master's degree. Therefore, Jet needed to amass money because he had only two years to save enough to give his younger brother a respectable wedding.

Though Jet didn't particularly relish his current job, it was a stepping stone for his career and a means to bolster his résumé. Additionally, it paid well, and he decided to utilize the company's insurance to seek psychological counseling.

He recognized his issues and was determined to work through them. Jet consulted numerous therapists before finding one he could connect with, and after several months, he began to feel like he was making genuine progress.

But alas, such moments of contentment were not meant to endure.