Father & Husband X Death

Chapter One: Father & Husband X Death

On the cold floor of a prison cell, a dark-skinned man laid in a pool of his own blood. His fate was already sealed, and he was sure to die that night, an unfortunate "random" victim of an unstable prisoner's "sudden" rampage.

He was more than half sure that a suicide note would be seen tomorrow, in his handwriting no less, even though he was someone that would never take his own life.

He had too much to live for; a dedicated wife and lovely daughter.

As he laid there, his life flashed before his eyes.

He was an orphan, dumped at one of the orphanages managed by the Golden Rose Foundation, which was to his luck a body known for its righteous and judicious commitment to giving those under their care what they deserved.

The funds they raised were appropriately utilized for the children's welfare, providing them with not only the basic necessities but with education, not limited to academics.

Like every other orphan that had "graduated" from the Golden Rose Orphanages before him upon reaching the legal adult age of 18, he was equipped with a highschool diploma, parting funds, and certifications to practice a vocation.

There was a chance for him to go on to college but he chose not to, since he did not believe he would graduate with grades good enough to get a job that would pay off the student loans he would be sure to carry.

The foundation offered scholarships to those under them but of course funds were limited and hence would be reserved for the high flyers.

Hudson's academic record was, put nicely, barely average.

So, he could only place his hopes on making ends meet as a plumber.

With the help of the foundation, he was able to find clients to kick off his career.

It took time but soon he had enough reputation and clients of his own that he did not need the foundation as an intermediary any longer.

One customer points him to their friends and they in turn point him to more people. This was how he was finally able to get a suitable small apartment to rent.

Soon, four years had passed and he was 22 years old. It was during this time that he met Chloe.

He was coming back from a job at some grade school and he stopped by a food truck to grab a snack.

Enchanted by one of the three daughters of the cook, he pursued her relentlessly until their relationship grew far enough for him to have the courage to call her out for a picnic and propose to her under an apple tree.

There was no official wedding but he and his new wife, who were 25 and 23 years old respectively at the time, invited a free family and friends for a small party after they registered their marriage in court.

A year after their union, their shared bond was manifested in the form of a cute baby girl whom they called Cyrilla.

As he watched his daughter grow up in the apartment he and his wife pooled their finances to obtain in order to get a better environment to raise their child, he felt his determination to earn money skyrocket. He wanted to give his two girls the best his abilities could procure.

This led to him whipping out a skill he had buried.

The foundation made it compulsory for all their wards to pick up a vocation but that did not mean that one could not attend costs for more than one vocation.

As there was no "only" in the rules, It simply came down to them having to pick one as their primary focus and the other as a secondary one.

He was one of the minority that had done this, his secondary certification being in Carpentry.

He dug out from the savings, of course after discussing it with his wife, and got himself a place to do woodwork.

Soon, he started churning out furniture that families with low and average income earners would buy.

The memory of the small feast that his wife had prepared to congratulate him on reaching his 100th furniture sale milestone was one of his fondest memories - memories that spur him on to try even harder.

One day, he went to a rich neighborhood to do some plumbing work.

It wasn't his first time getting such a commission so he did not react strongly when he saw the rich do strange things.

Why would a married woman walk around her house with so little on her body? Had she no shame?

Come on woman, there is little left to the imagination in that see-through robe!

He felt like she was akin to those people in history said to have viewed those of color as 'not people' and hence could do whatever they wished, even ease themselves or have s*x, in front of them without an ounce of shame.

In the end, he only shook his head internally and focused on his work. He could not be tempted so easily with his firm loyalty to and genuine love for his family.

Alas, it seemed that he had miscalculated.

That minx had actually been trying to give him a call to action the entire time, flaunting her assets like the feathers of a peacock, desiring for him to make a move on her in her husband's absence.

Her pride was hurt upon being ignored, and she was enraged!

Hiding her emotions with a facade, she walked over to him and asked to hold his hand, which he complied with (although inwardly perplexed) as he saw nothing inherently wrong with her request.

In fact, he was actually curious about what she wanted.

Sigh, curiosity killed the plumber.

He should not have allowed that to happen, since it gave her the opportunity to place his hand on her chest and take a photo before could comprehend her intentions.

With a scream she called for the guards and accused him of assaulting her.

No one believed his pleas.

For one, she was the wife of a politician. What would she gain by making up such a claim?!

Also, there was the partially but easily decipherable snapshot of his hand at a place it should not have been - damning evidence.

And the nail in the coffin?

He had neither funds nor influence to plead his case!

After he was taken in for questioning, which was obviously just a formality at that point, he had reached out to the foundation to help him out.

That earned him another shot to the chest as rather than coming to his aid, they released a statement saying that anyone that could turn out as a 'villainous entity' despite all the resources and care that they had poured into his upbringing should not be spared.

Villain? Me?! You're the Villain!

You just want to retain your public image!

You didn't even listen to my side of the story before calling the press!

"Chloe... Ciri..."

As his life faded away and he drew his last breaths, he hallucinated his two girls smiling at him and waving him goodbye while holding back tears in their eyes.

A tear also fell from one of his eyes as his vision darkened.