Chapter 1 - Harrison Lawford

[A/N: Chapter 1 updated to version 2]

Silver clouds in the sky patched with dark spots wailed with thunderous cries. It would soon rain in Break City, and not many were willing to have their clothes wet.

Under the myriad of lights of Break City's vast numbers of holo ads that floated around in the air, a burly looking young man with unkempt dark brown hair maneuvered skillfully in his bicycle while quickly going down the road. Even though the streets were packed full of people, he never once hit anyone and was like a fish in a pond, swimming around without any obstacles.

His half narrowed eyes eerily followed the shadow of a person who entered the underground metro station.

Stopping at the entrance, he bought a ticket and brought his bike inside. He sat on a bench and took out his smartphone and waited patiently for the next subway to keep a natural atmosphere.

Sweeping past the many posts on a social media app main feed while never leaving his attention from the person amidst the crowd, his eyes simply ignored most of the trash before him, there were simply too many useless things on the internet, he wasn't the type to waste his time with something that he had zero interest in.

After a while, however, he stopped at a local news account that published news on similar apps.

"CEO and founder of MIA Technologies, Jarred Lawford died a few minutes ago in Saint Jones Hospital of multiple organ failure. The 70-year-old..."

Reading that headline, Harrison didn't know how to react, he stared at the screen with listless eyes and only moved when he noticed that the subway had finally arrived, and the wagon he choose to enter was, of course, the same one that the person had entered.

Stepping inside and sitting down on a free chair, he leaned his back on it and lowered his head as he held tightly to his bicycle. While waiting, he thought about the headlines he had just read and felt... relieved. His father had died, but the man didn't deserve Harrison's mourning, he had always treated him and his mother horribly, refusing to admit that he was his father even if they had done the DNA test and proved it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Knowing that this was the end of the man who killed his mother out of grief, who violently forced his way inside her and left his seed as a parting gift, he actually felt a tinge of happiness in his heart, all that fortune accumulated, and for what? 'You still died you piece of shit, I hope hell welcomes you with both arms and defiles you just like you did it to my mother...'

As he sighed in relief, his phone started ringing, looking at the number he frowned and picked up the call.

"Harrison here."

"Mr. Harrison, this is Manager Timothy from General Bank Inc. I'm calling you about the debts regarding your house. I-"

*Click*

Before he could finish his words, Harrison turned off the call and put his phone back in his pocket. It wasn't the right moment for him to waste time, not when his goal was so close and the stakes were so high.

Poor, without relatives, suffering since he had been dismissed from the army... Harrison didn't know what to do anymore with his life. He had finished his studies but couldn't enroll in any college due to lack of money, his mother died earlier this year after confronting his father's wrongdoings, and all that he inherited of those who shared their blood with him was a house which he couldn't keep due to a mortgage that had yet to be paid.

And so, Harrison was slowly being wasted away, like a rotting walking corpse, the bleak path ahead of him was one that only seemed to spell death and hopelessness.

Men were curious creatures, he had once been full of life, full of dreams and hope for the future. But now... maybe he should just lay down and die? Yeah, that might be a better end for him.

Harrison shook his head with a frown. Even though those thoughts rang in his ear like a demon attracting him to the pits of hell, he wasn't so foolish, no... There was still a small glimpse of hope, and he had bet everything on this.

As he contemplated his future, the subway went through a station, picked up quite a number of passengers, and went forward towards the next stop.

Due to him being quite strong and reeking off a dangerous atmosphere, not many had the guts to approach, so a large space was opened up around him.

Standing up after some time, he was preparing to leave the station by bringing his bike next to the door and with his keen eyes, turned towards the figure of a person.

A woman was shaking and sweating, she was leaning rather forcefully against the subway's wall and tears seemed to be coming out of her eyes. In front of her, a man with a disgusting gaze tried touching her all over.

She slapped his hands away again and again and looked around with hope in her eyes that someone would notice, that someone would help, but nobody seemed to care.

Harrison wasn't the type to intervene in such matters, especially with his current mood, his usual response would be to leave each person to their fate, but... that was exactly what he had been waiting for all this while!

But... it was far too risky! If something went wrong, he could even picture how he would rot in some jail.

What was there to fear though? As hollowed as he was, he was willing to risk suffering punishment worse than death, it wasn't like he had anything to lose anyway, he was just about to lose his house as well, whatever negative consequence this might have... perhaps that would just speed up his journey to the beyond. 'Hmm, what a shit world we live in...' Shaking his head, he sneakily approached the man and forcefully pulled him away from the woman.

"Wha-" Before he could even say anything, Harrison grabbed his head and shoved him into the door's glass window, the impact was loud like a beast's roar, it shattered the protective glass that should have been able to withstand the impact of a bullet and instantly attracted everyone's attention, blood fell down from the man's head as he struggled to free himself.

The moment he did so and turned around to look at his aggressor, he was greeted by a rather powerful elbow that made him spit some teeth.

Even though blood was spilling from his mouth, the man tried to retaliate, the two fought like mad beasts, clearly, both sides were extremely powerful and skillful. At first, it looked like they were equally matched, but as seconds passed by, Harrison's pupils seemed to dilate as a euphoric feeling swept him.

The blows, the blood, the atmosphere, it was like a drug slowly exciting him more and more, making him go overboard and increase the power of his blows to an unbearable level!

Feeling the pain getting increasingly worse, the man started to fear for his life as desperately tried to defend himself.

The violence was such that the crowd was shaking in fear, they couldn't even believe how strong the man was! While blood splattered on the ground, on him and some of the witnesses, their hearts pumped faster and faster as they saw some of his blows leaving deep marks on the wall of the subway.

At some point, Harrison recovered his mental faculties and stared wide-eyed at the pervert, he could feel the intense fear in the crowd and instantly noticed that he went overboard, knowing that it was too late, he reduced his timing and gave the man some window to catch his breath;

Under the intense pain, the man could only wail helplessly as blood oozed out from many parts of his swollen face. "Fuck you! That's n-" Before he could even finish his words, Harrison's eyes narrowed and he delivered a powerful hook, breaking the man's jaw as he lifted him off the ground with that punch, which inevitably made him hit the ceiling.

The fight was quick, and blood had spilled all over Harrison.

Seeing his frightening actions and appearance, the crowd silently stared at him with shock, most people there lived in the good parts of the city, they weren't used to violence. All in all, they all felt grateful for not standing in this dangerous man's path and thanked their foresight.

He gave the man an angry stare and scoffed. 'I know my mistakes, but you're clearly asking for this!'

Leaving the subway, he hopped onto his bike and slowly cycled towards the entrance of the metro station.

Behind him, still shaking slightly with the experience, a woman followed him with a strange light in her eyes, sparks of interest clearly shining in her mind.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that she was approaching, and snickered in his heart, slowing down, he came to a sudden halt and turned his head back.

It was that same beautiful young woman who was being molested by the pervert.

With blood still on his face, he stared rather dully at her without any words, but in his mind, he would be even smiling. 'The triggers are in motion, it shouldn't take much more...'

Under that powerful and emotionless gaze, she gulped, Sabrina Waller wasn't a woman who was easily scared by someone, back on the subway she was cornered by the pervert who had shown a knife and didn't dare to shout for help, but hope was still there in her eyes, and she was right for being hopeful, as someone did eventually come to her aid, but when she looked at the eyes of the one who did so, her legs trembled, her heart wavered and she felt like crying again for reasons she couldn't fully comprehend.

'Such dead eyes...' Sabrina had never been stared at like that, it was like an object rather than a person was looking at her. What could cause someone to have such a look on their eyes!?

After a moment passed, only then did she realize that she had been staring at him for a full minute without saying anything.

Steeling her heart, she approached and spoke. "H-hey! You! I... My name is Sabrina." It took a while, but she eventually mustered the courage to speak and reached out for a handshake.

"Harrison Lawford." While expressionless, he shook her hands rather confidently.

"Hmm..." Sabrina nodded but felt uncomfortable with his straightforward answer. Looking at him, she thought about his capabilities and felt a tinge in her heart, such a skillful and powerful man was very valuable if she could create some connection with him... "Thank you for your assistance back there... not many would be willing to help nowadays."

"..." Harrison just stared at her and remained quiet.

Knowing fully well that these were just empty words in face of the risk he had to go through to help her, she smiled and said without any shame. "Is there any way in each I can reward you? I know that you took a heavy risk back there."

Snickering in his heart, Harrison took out a paper from his jacket's pocket and showed it to her. "I was heading to a job interview, but... I'm not familiar with the region, do you know where this is?"

Raising her eyebrows, she took the paper and frowned after reading. Head of security, Jade Druggery Inc... It was even her rival company! What a bad taste! She thought in her heart as she looked at him. Sighing, she nodded and said.

"I know the address, but there's still an hour... why don't we do it like this? Let me help you simulate an interview first so that you can be better prepared, and after that, I can take you there!"

Looking at his worn-out clothes, the bags under his dark brown eyes, the unkempt hair, and that lifeless complexion on his face and the bicycle, she understood that he was in a dire situation.

'Humph, heavens even dropped you in my laps, if you're any good, I won't let that vixen take you! Tsk, tsk, I'm in need of a head of security myself anyway, with that ability, he must have the qualifications for the job, right?'

Looking at him again, Sabrina smiled caringly. This man was her benefactor, who knows what might have happened without him? Knowing that she owed him, Sabrina thought for a while and decided that she would help him to the best of her abilities.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely help you get the job."

Hearing her words, hope shone deep within his eyes for a moment but that light disappeared almost at the same time as it appeared.

"There's a restaurant nearby, let's go there, we can eat while I help you prepare for the interview."

Seeing how eager she was, Harrison almost sighed in relief but quickly stopped himself, since the first steps were finished, he nodded with a small courtesy smile and replied. "Very well, I shall follow your lead."