5 Burn it Down
"Alex, you going to get grandmother mad." a blonde-haired girl said, not wanting me to get in trouble
"Don't worry, I will be leaving the family soon," I said confusing her for a second before she realized what I was talking about. She was stunned and was unable to believe my words, she looked at me in shock,
"you're getting a divorce?" She asked in shock, to which I nodded lightly.
"don't get in trouble because of me, go," I said to which She hesitated slightly. She was Jenny, a nobody. Her elder sister was the golden child, loved by her parents due to how much of a genius Lisa was, meanwhile, she was just average. so she lived within her elder sister's shadow.
the day her elder sister moved out was the best day of her life. She was a huge anime fan, she was the one who brought that anime stuff to Alex, leading to Alex getting hooked seeing his first-ever moving picture.
At first, she was scared when Alex caught her watching such things, her parents forbade her from watching it and said it was only making her dumber. but Alex was interested in this new thing and she was more than happy to have someone else like the same thing she loved. So, they became friends although in secret.
I pushed her away, unlike her elder sister she wasn't spoiled. it's not like her parents were mean to her, they just didn't pay her that much attention compared to her elder sister. This was something that slowly drove her to want to rebel. This was until I pointed out how it was like those girls in shows who rebel against their parents.
This caused her to block me for a few days until she unblocked me to apologize. at which point, she explained how my word hurt. but after a few days to herself, she had enough time to put her thoughts together, before coming to the conclusion she didn't care for her parent's approval.
It was when she said this that I realized I would never win Lisa's heart, so I just stepped away and threw myself into improving myself. I even picked up doordash so I could pay to start going to school.
Jenny went away, and seeing she failed to bring me back, allowed everyone to take this chance to suppress Lisa and her side of the family. Why? Lisa was next in line to become the Smith family head,
"Lisa, to think your husband not only attacked someone but also showed such disrespect before grandma. Do you think just because you're next in line to be the family head you can just disrespect whoever?" A young man asked Lisa, his words were harsh, but everyone happily stepped forward to support him, leaving Lisa and her parents' faces turning dark as they threw daggers toward me.
But they couldn't help but look away from me when a butler entered the room. everyone was confused as they had never seen this guy, they were even more confused seeing him walking up to Alex and respectfully handing him some papers.
"Master Alex, the papers are all here," Clizby said respectfully. After giving me the papers, he stood aside on standby. I went through the papers for some time, before getting up and walking over to Lisa.
"These are the divorce papers... I wish you the best, but this is where this marriage comes to an end." I said calmly, causing everyone to go blank as no one saw this coming. Lisa took the paper, her mind blank... but she didn't need to react as her mother acted first.
"I reject this, just who gave you the right to divorce her? If you dare!" Lisa's mother roared at me, while her husband's face turned red in anger.
"Let's go." I gave everyone a look over before secretly nodding towards Jenny and walking off. Clizby followed, but before he left through the door, he stopped to bow at everyone before leaving.
as the door closed, Lisa snapped back to reality, and after looking at the papers, she ran after Alex. She couldn't allow him to divorce her, but as she arrived the elevator doors had just closed, so she ran down the stairs at full speed... well, speed that was allowed by someone on high hills.
when she arrived downstairs, she saw Alex entering a limo. She was stunned, but she still ran out there, and hit the window, forcing Alex to open the window. at that time, everyone also gathered, all stunned to see Alex in a limo.
"We can't get a divorce... I'm sorry," Lisa said with a pleading look. why would she plead? well, why do you think she agreed to marry me? Simple, so long as she married me and stayed married to me, then she was the next family head. this was something her grandfather wrote in his will. She never thought I would even have the balls to get a divorce, but since I was clearly about to go through with it, she was scared.
"Go and be with James, there is no reason for me to stay here. me and you are nothing, and was like that for the past 5 years. From what I see, i'm doing you a favor. you never wanted to marry me, I was the worst thing to ever come into your life. I'm disgusting, i'm trash, and so on. so go be happy." I said calmly before rolling up the window,
"no, it is not like that. I will cut..." I didn't care to hear her out as the window closed completely in her face. I had Clizby drive off, leaving Lisa standing there, a lost look in her eyes seeing the limo driving off.
Due to the contract of the marriage, if a marriage is ever asked, then there is no divorce process needed. Alex just needed to sign some papers, and she was no longer a married man. This was something his uncle added, Alex could do this but Lisa couldn't. there were other things within the contract that made it so that Alex didn't need to worry, many things Alex never knew of.
But it was all behind him now, although he still planned to see if he and Jenny could remain as friends. But for now, he was more worried about my future. So, after signing some papers at an office, he arrived at my new home.
My eyes widened seeing the 4-story mansion, it was a large white house with a huge yard. it was surrounded by a huge thick fence, with a huge gate which was opened for us to enter. although not as big or good as my uncle's, it was still beautiful.
As I stepped out, Clizby went on to explain everything about the mansion while taking me to show me around. this was a gift from my uncle, it was one of the mansions he normally rented out to celebrities, but now it was mine... well, it was mine in name only. until the war with the family was over, he planned to make it look like he was renting it out to me. this meant I had to pay him, and that amount I paid him would just be sent back to me on top of my pay.
The mansion was big, just outside alone there was a roundabout that could hold 4 cars. but there was a basement where extra cars could be stored away. each floor was huge, one could fit more than 3 homes on each floor... it also had an elevator to take one from each floor.
There were also the maids and guards I had to pay. My uncle had this first month handled for me, but I was on my own the next month... of course, I could live low-key and save money... but I didn't want that. I wanted to live the life I should have been given at birth. Plus, everything added up together, I had more than enough money to pay for everything here for a few months with the current amount of money I had
well, after sitting back and getting to know the place, I pulled out my phone where I ignored Lisa and her parent's calls. instead, I looked at Jenny's text and began to start texting her back. Jenny was curious if I was some super-rich family young master who was living the live-in son-in-law trial, I simply told her she was close and invited her over when she was free.
She quickly replied, of course wanting to see where I could live. She hopped in an Uber and headed over the second I sent her the address, meanwhile I went to the third floor, where a swimming pool that overlooked the entrance was located.
I never went swimming before, I wanted to learn to swim. But not now, I simply wanted to sit outside and fall back into my thoughts. back at the bar, while looking at the shot. my mind was racing.
What was my goal... revenge was the only thing I could think of. I hated my parents, I wanted to make them homeless and living on the streets. my sister also had to join them.
I loved my ex-wife more than I loved my parents. Yes, my wife was shitty, but she gave me a life far better than my parents have. because of this, I held no ill toward her and I never did. even when she cheated on me, all I felt was fear for the life that could be awaiting me. I was traumatized by my childhood, and she still gave me warmth, although it was freezing cold, it was warmer than my parents.
So, I wanted to destroy my parents. Once I burned their life down... maybe I would be able to feel some warmth from their burning life.
A child will burn the village to feel its warmth. this pretty much sums up Alex's mindset right now. A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth. This means that a child who is rejected, neglected, or ignored by their community will resort to destructive behavior to gain attention and validation.
A part of Alex deep down still wishes for that warmth... why else would he get this huge mansion? As if hoping to live a life he would never have. but the warmth he was after wasn't the love of his parents, but the warmth from their tears and regret while he took everything away from them, using it all to improve himself.
