Chapter 86: Hammer Time

*A year after Margaret died, Addicus became eighteen years old and was of legal age to have all of his father's assets transferred to his name and ownership.*

*His uncles remained with him, giving him advice and counsel. They helped him manage all of the businesses and embezzled some of the funds in the process. They were convinced that their plan was successful and they were now reaping the fruits of their labour. What they didn't know was that Addicus was learning about the business from his father's most trusted business partner.*

*Whenever Marshall and Franklin gave Addicus a piece of bad advice so they could steal from him, he would pretend to heed their words but then do the opposite.*

*They thought that they had him in the palm of their hands but they didn't know he was biding his time in order to expose them red-handed for their lies and evil deeds.*

*Another year passed, and Addicus couldn't wait any longer to carry out his revenge on his uncles for killing his mother, so he came up with a plan to expose them.*

*"Uncles! I need your help with something of great importance." Addicus said, walking up to them in an office room in the house with a briefcase in hand.*

*"What is it, my boy? You know we're here to help you with anything you need," Marshall said to him.*

*"I know, Uncle! So, the thing is, I had a meeting with the lawyers of Worthington Enterprise and they found us a business partner that they think will be a good fit for us. The company is* ***Diamocorp*** *and they manufacture some of the best diamonds and pearls so partnering up with them is a really good idea." Addicus informed them.*

*"Ok then, but what do you need us for?" Franklin asked, his eyes glued to the briefcase.*

*"The company is willing to partner with us but as a gesture of good faith, they want us to pay upfront, in cash for the first shipment," Addicus said and put the briefcase on the table and opened it.*

*The case was filled with millions of dollars. Marshall and Franklin were practically drooling at the sight of so much money.*

*"This is the money for the diamonds and pearls we're buying from them. It's exactly thirty million dollars and both of you are the only ones that I can rely on to go to Diamocorp and pay for the shipment. Can I count on you to help the company with something so important?" Addicus asked, throwing the bait out into the sea.*

*"Of course, son! That's what we're here for. We'll leave first thing tomorrow," Marshall said.*

*"Thank you, Uncles. I'm truly blessed to have you both on my side," he said and checked his watch.*

*"Well, I should get going. I have an important shareholders meeting so I will see you later."*

*After he was gone, Franklin picked up some of the wads of cash and sniffed it greedily.*

*"So, what's our move, Marsh? How do we profit from this little opportunity that now sits on our lap?" Franklin asked, knowing Marshall was the man with the plans.*

*"Well, we'll help our nephew to get this money to where it needs to be. On our way there, let's say we run into some robbers and they beat us up and steal the money. It wasn't our fault, was it?" Marshall asked rhetorically.*

*"No, it wasn't," Franklin replied.*

*"The thieves would escape with the money, we would be victims of armed robbery and no one would suspect a thing," Marshall finished explaining his devious plan and they cheered to some glasses of scotch.*

*Suddenly, the door opened and Addicus walked back inside the office, accompanied by two huge men.*

*Marshall and Franklin didn't understand what was happening so they just stayed quiet.*

*"When the both of you came back into my life two years ago, I was so happy to see you both. I thought you were on my side but it turns out that you're both just selfish, manipulative piles of garbage," Addicus said angrily.*

*"Addicus! What's the meaning of this? Why would you say such disrespectful things to us?" Marshall said angrily, trying to put up an act.*

*"Oh shut up, you fool! Do you think I'm an idiot? I know that the both of you have been stealing from the company, I know you've been steering me down the wrong path, I know that you plan to steal the Diamocorp money and worse of all, you killed my mother," Addicus said with anger.*

*"That's preposterous!" Franklin said loudly, slamming his palm on the desk and standing up.*

*Addicus walked up to the briefcase and pulled out an audio recording device from underneath the money.*

*He played it in front of his uncles, exposing everything they had just said about stealing the money.*

*Marshall's cunning mind couldn't come up with a plan to escape this situation so he dropped the act.*

*"Now what? Will you have us arrested? Thrown in jail?"*

*"No, Uncle! My father always had something to say about the lion and the gazelle. In a situation like this, he would say 'The gazelle doesn't offend the lion in fear of being killed by it'," Addicus said.*

***His uncles didn't understand what he meant by that.***

*"You're the gazelles and you've just offended a lion. Prison would be an act of mercy for the crimes you've both committed. You deserve to suffer a worse fate than that." Addicus said to them.*

*The two huge men standing beside him took off their jackets and pulled out two huge sledgehammers that were concealed under their jackets.*

*"Addicus? Addicus? Let's not be too rash here. We can discuss this and settle this like civilized people!" Marshall said to him, now panicking because he could smell what was coming.*

*"The time for talking is over, uncle! Say hi to my father for me." Addicus said and left the room.*

*"Addy! Please, wait! Don't do this Addicus. Please." Franklin cried out but Addicus didn't listen and left them to their fate.*

*The two huge men approached Marshall and Franklin and started to beat them up.*

*Addicus stood outside the door and could hear his uncles' grunts and screams. He could hear the sounds of their bones breaking, their skulls being smashed and their raggy breathing. And then, he heard nothing.*

*He took a deep breath and walked away. The men came out with blood dripping from their hammers.*

*After that day, Addicus began living his life guided by his father's lessons and ideologies. He became sinister and wicked. He trusted no one and always found a way to get what he wanted;* ***by any means necessary.***

**BACK TO THE PRESENT...**

"Master Addicus became different. He was still kind to the servants but he was less tolerant of mistakes and didn't forgive easily. He became icy and unhappy. He focused on his business and ran it with an iron fist. He never courted any woman or had any whores brought to him and he never married.

"He was broken and he seemed like he could never be fixed...that was until you came into his life. You made him smile again, you gave him a piece of his real self back. You, Sharon," Martha said with a tear in her eye.

"And yet, it wasn't enough to change him. He remained the person he was raised to be, shaped by the ghost of his father." Sharon said.

"Sharon?"

"Stop, Martha! Stop trying to find excuses for him. Yes, what he went through as a child was unfortunate and terrible but he's not a child anymore."

She picked up the deed from the bed. She opened it and covered it up.

"I'll accept the terms of his truce but I'll never forgive him for everything he's done to me. I'll never forget and I'll never let my guard down," Sharon said and stormed out of the room.