TRISTAN CLIFF - Many would consider me lucky. Tristan Cliff, the only living heir of the Cliff Empire who lives a luxurious lifestyle in a huge mansion surrounded by numerous servants. But, I would consider myself to be the most unlucky guy.
I lost my parents at the age of 6 and after that my life went downhill. My uncle and his family took over the control of our house, our business, our servants, our well-wishers and even my life. My life which was like a happy dream turned into a terrible nightmare. After that fateful day, there is not a single day that has gone by without the curses and the abuse from my uncle and his family. At home, I am being abused physically and mentally by my Uncle and Aunt and even the servants do not miss a chance to mock me. My only support was our old Butler Reese, who was loyal to my parents, but even he was kicked out from the house for helping me. At school, I am constantly bullied by my cousins Fred and Jeff and his group of loyal friends. I was so scared of them, in fact, all of them, that I would just agree to do about anything they ask of me just to avoid the beatings.
When I was 18 and entered college, a ray of hope came in the form of Evelyn Grace. She was different. She was strong and fearless. She fought with the bullies and always helped me. Soon we became good friends and for the first time, I had someone on whom I could rely. Gradually I fell in love with her, how could I not? She was so beautiful and lovable. But looks like I am always meant to be unlucky and pathetic. While I was fussing over how to confess my love to her, enters another guy Adam, who takes a special interest in Evelyn. He seems to always help her whenever she’s in trouble, the same way as she was for me. Now I am questioning myself am I really worthy of her? Whenever she needs help, it's not me but Adam who is always present. I am just a pathetic timid guy who cowers away even when someone talks in a loud voice, then how will I protect the one I love?
EVELYN GRACE - Everyone thinks I am a poor and pitiful girl who has no idea who her parents are and lived her whole life in an orphanage. Some look at me with pity and some with disgust. Even if I have no parents and no blood relatives I am happy and contented with my life. The people at the orphanage took good care of me. I had a lot of friends there and it was like one big happy family. Even the owner of the Martial Arts Academy beside our Orphanage was so good, he decided to train her for free.
When I was 18 and went to college, I met this guy Tristan who was from a rich family but yet he was not like those typical spoilt rich kids whom I have usually seen. He was different. He had no friends and always liked to be alone. He was often bullied and never fought back. His eyes held a lot of pain and I couldn’t help but feel protective towards him. We gradually became good friends and when I came to know about his family’s abuse, I vowed to myself I would always protect him. But things were not so easy, there were many of them who didn’t like me helping him and she soon understood these so-called rich people rely on more despicable means to retaliate, rather than just confronting face to face. During one such incident, she was rescued by a mysterious guy who hid himself under a mask. She didn’t know much about him except that he called himself Adam, was very strong and could fight well. Who was this guy? How does he know so much about her? How come he is always present whenever she is in need?
ADAM - I am a mystery and puzzle which is not easy to solve. I myself can’t do it nor do I care to. The only thing I care about in this World is Evelyn Grace. She is the sole reason for my existence. I wake up for her and sleep thinking about her. I am deeply in love with Evelyn and could go to hell and back for her. Recently I could see few people targeting my Evelyn and trying various means to harm her, but I would be damned If I let them do that. I will thrash each and every obstacle that comes in her way. She needs someone like me to be with her, to protect her, not someone as pathetic as her best friend Tristan who can’t even protect himself.
It was a busy day as usual. Six-year-old Triston Cliff was sitting in his living room and looking at his parent's Trent and Melissa Cliff, giving an interview on TV. It was the day of the opening of a new luxury spa resort of Cliff group of Hotels.Trent and Melissa were self-made billionaires who started by opening a small restaurant. Trent and Melissa had completed their Hotel Management course and opened a restaurant as soon as they got married. Melissa was a great cook, whereas Trent was good at managing the hotel. Their efforts were fruitful, and they were now the proud owners of various luxurious hotels and resorts around the globe.Triston was busy listening to the story of how his parents achieved their success when he is interrupted by the family Butler Reese. "Triston, you need to get ready for the opening ceremony.""I don't want to go. These parties are soooo boring." Triston gets up and tries to hide behind the sofa.Re
While the people at the Cliff Mansion were filled with sorrow, it was time for celebration for Malcolm and his family. He was rejoicing at his victory and asked his wife to put on the television to check the progress. The death of the Cliffs was all over the news. Malcolm heard one news anchor say, "…….private jet owned by the Cliff family crashed while enroute to Paris from Chicago. The aircraft exploded as soon as it crashed. The reason for the crash is still unknown, but it is suspected there was some technical glitch in the aircraft. The investigations are on, and we will update you on the progress. Our resources have confirmed that all the passengers on board the flight, including Mr. Trent Cliff, Mrs. Melissa Cliff, their assistant Mr. Will, two pilots, and two crew members, were found dead. Our heartfelt condolences to the family….." Malcolm abruptly gets up from his seat. Looking at his shocked expression, Nancy asks, "What happened?"
Warning:This chapter contains cursing and mature themes such as violence and abuse(physical and domestic) of a minor, which might be triggering. Reader discretion is advised.Malcolm and his entire family immediately moved into the Cliff Mansion and claimed it as their own. He had managed to fool the lawyer and everyone else in the garb of being a caring guardian for Triston.As Malcolm's intent to get rid of Triston was foiled by Trent's Will, he had another plan in place. He had decided to make Triston fear him. He wanted to instill terror in Triston's heart towards Malcolm so that Triston would do whatever Malcolm ordered him to do, even sign off his entire fortune to Malcolm by himself.As per their plan, after a few months of faking to be excellent and caring guardians, Malcolm and Nancy started with their evil scheme. The first step was to isolate Triston and have the entire staf
Warning:This chapter contains cursing and mature themes such as violence and abuse(physical and domestic) of a minor, which might be triggering. Reader discretion is advised.The following days, the abuse continued and increased as well. Triston's freedom of will was completely taken away. Malcolm instructed Triston to get his permission for whatever he did. Even for small things like having lunch and dinner, he couldn't do it on his own. He was not allowed any food apart from breakfast, lunch, and dinner.One time, when Malcolm was idling off in the living room having his evening tea, Triston tried to sneak into the kitchen to have some snack. Unfortunately, Malcolm saw him and poured the scalding hot tea onto Triston's arm in anger. Triston screamed in pain, but none of the members, including the family and staff, came to his aid. To his dismay, he didn't even have any medicine to apply to his burn, so he just
12 years later...Triston was now 18, and he was in college. He was doing his course in Business Management, and unfortunately for him, his cousins were in the same college.Malcolm never wanted to send Triston to school or college, but the Cliff family was well known. The media keenly observed them so he could never openly abuse Triston. The years of abuse had turned Triston into an empty shell. He had anxiety disorder and occasionally suffered from panic attacks. He had no friends whatsoever, and he preferred to be alone as it was better than being abused physically and verbally. His cousins and his friends bullied him throughout his school life, and home was even worse. The only person who cared for Triston was Reese, whose restaurant was now quite popular. Reese had married a pretty lady Samantha who was working as a chef in his restaurant. Both Reese and Samantha managed the restaurant so well it was always filled with customers who were happy with their
Evelyn dragged Triston away from the crowd. After they reach an empty hallway, Evelyn suddenly stops and faces Triston. " I am Evelyn, U?" she asks him.Triston was surprised; he just stared at Evelyn as he could still not process what happened a few minutes back. Evelyn raised an eyebrow when Triston realized she had asked his name. "T-Triston... he stuttered.Evelyn smiled at him and said, " Triston, nice name... I am glad I met someone decent at this godawful University. I mean, the University is classy with a big fountain at the front, so many trees, massive buildings, and I heard they have a huge swimming pool too. But the students here... Erghh... they are either bullies or have a haughty attitude."Triston just stared at Evelyn while she was talking nonstop. Suddenly Evelyn remembered something and gasped, " Oh God! It's already late, and I don't even have my schedule yet. Can you take me to the admin office?"Triston just nodded, and Evelyn followed
The rest of the day passed without incident, and Triston and Evelyn walked out of the college premises together. Triston was not used to having a friend, so he was still skeptical around Evelyn. Evelyn understood that he was a shy and reserved person, and she would have to take the initiative to build their friendship. As they were about to part to go to their respective homes, Evelyn asked, " Can I have your number?"Triston was not sure he heard it right. " Huh....?"" Why do you look so shocked? You are acting as if I asked you to be my boyfriend.""What?" Triston was even more shocked. He had never had such friendly conversations before, so he didn't know how to react."Just kidding!" Evelyn laughed and said, "Now give me your number."Triston came out of his shock and shared his number, and then they left in opposite directions.Evelyn reached the apartment she shared with her friend Ava who had not yet returned from the hospital. She c
The next day, Evelyn arrived at her University a bit earlier and went straight to her class. She shared this class with Triston, but he had not yet arrived. While she was waiting for him in the class, she heard some commotion outside her class and came out to check. She was horrified when a guy emptied the contents of a coke can on Triston.Evelyn dashed towards them and glared at the guy, and sneered, " Why the f**k did you do that?"" The trash can was too far, so I decided to dump it on him," the guy smirked, and his friends laughed as if it was an achievement." Oh! But I can see the trash right here," Evelyn said. " Let me help you dump it." She took the coke can from the guy and banged it on his head, not too forcefully. " You are the trash here, so next time you don't have to go looking for it."The guy was so dumbfounded he didn't even react, and Evelyn dragged Triston to the washroom to clean up. She entered the men's locker room without bothering about