A New Life

After many nights of her using him as a secret lover to fulfil her crazed fetishes and sensual fantasies, Tank was finally free of the prison Chloe Patterson had created for him. While she was sound asleep, he sneaked out of the mansion, believing he owed her nothing! Even the contract that he signed had involved her attorney fooling him into signing on the lines.

Just minutes after his departure, Tank Zil spotted a sports car pulling into Chloe's driveway. The man was dressed from head to toe in designer clothes, sporting an atrocious hairstyle, and he could see a bouquet of pale-coloured flowers placed on the dashboard of the vehicle.

Trouble was brewing, he figured with a smile, and was on his way, running at full speed. Thoughts rampaged in his head. So, that girl turned out to have a suitor after all, and a rich gentleman. It was solid proof she just wanted to treat him as a fool and a backup when she was bored, so he didn't think too much about the contract she told him about or her possessive plans for him.

Now, the moment he was away from her, he felt the happiness of his freedom. But just how long would this freedom last?

But he wouldn't think more about it.

He just looked forward at the path he had in front of him. For normal individuals, it would have taken them ten hours to reach Tank's destination of 50 kilometres, but Tank's supreme abilities took him only ten minutes. His destination was clear in his mind: that meet-up point with Rudy and the others. He was determined to get what they owed him back, that even if they didn't appear, he would hound them endlessly just to clear his name!

Ten minutes were over before he realised. He exhaled from the cold, crossing his hands in front of his chest to give himself warmth. When he ran out like a lunatic from Chloe's mansion, he hadn't thought of grabbing a jacket. Instead, a singlet and jogger pants were all he had on his back. How dumb of him! But they would have to do. He couldn't miss the chance of them escaping again. He had waited for so long for this.

The place was as silent as a graveyard, as he had expected. Not a single sign of his so-called friends have visited. Rudy had a habit of leaving his mark where he lingered. But this time, there was nothing, not even the scrape of his initials on the wooden bench. Where had they gone? Had they died? He thought, his mind fixated on returning to them what they owed him.

The sudden blaring sound of a car's engine alerted him to his senses, invoking his attention to turn towards the source of the sound. To his dismay, none of his former teammates was in the car, but behind the wheel, was an extremely familiar face. It was an elderly man of forty-eight but still fit and in a healthy state. His hair was obviously dyed and the black suit he had on his body told Tank that he was at work.

The elderly man was none other than Maximillian Lee, his father's loyal assistant and butler. The man had a nose sharp like an eagle, and even his eyes were dominating, like a hawk's. Peering at Tank coldly with eyes that pierced him cruelly, he signalled to someone probably seated behind him. Tank froze, balling his fist. He was assured that he knew who was sitting in the passenger seat behind the driver.

The door opened, and an older man dressed from head to toe in black alighted from the vehicle. The appearance of the man confirmed his suspicions. Tank clenched his fist harder, feeling the prick of his nails on his flesh. His hatred returned, but at the same time, he knew it wasn't enough for him to unleash anything hazardous to his father. Part of him still wanted him back. They were connected by blood, a deep bond that only people their kind could fathom. He loved his mother, but his father's deep blood connection with him made him unable to bring himself to hurt his father.

Of all times, his father had to come now, when he should have six months ago, while he was rotting in prison, dreadfully punished and blamed, although no physical punishment was administered, until they collected sufficient proof of his guilt. Just having a bad name was enough for him to harbour the desire for revenge. He would return to Rudy and the others what they had done to him. Unless of course, if they were already dead.

He dreaded punishment. If only Chloe knew why he dreaded the word punishment, she wouldn't be constantly having that word on the tip of her tongue. Her soft cruel laughs reminded him of how he was going to have to deal with her next. Kinky sex, bondage and handcuffs? Chaining him to the bed during sex? Soon, she would have it all back.

The lewd look on her face and the delicate feeling of her tongue in his mouth was playing on his mind. He brushed the thoughts away, reminding him to focus on his bigger plans. Just then, his father took a step next to him, breaking the silence with his booming voice.

"Tank Zil, just how long are you going to keep playing games with me?" The man's words sounded merciless. Heartless eyes just as cold as his butler's eyes scrutinised Tank, stunning him as if he had pierced a spear right through his body. Fear descended on him rapidly, the effect that their bond had on him. His father, as the man responsible for creating him, had sovereignty over him. He wasn't just a sperm donor.

"Fa...Father," he cried out, his knees almost buckling under him.

Tank sought the right emotions within him. He wasn't going to let his father overpower him, despite Shaw Zil being stripped of his title and supreme powers. He had a few abilities left but resorted to using physical force and abusive means to get his way. Tank swallowed hard, trying to remain calm as his father interrogated him incessantly, shooting questions that were in his mind, cruel like a serpent's poison.

He could feel the dominance pressing on him, and how his father intimidated him. Another thought loomed in his mind: Had Shaw regained his powers?

Finally, Shaw stopped condemning his son and just spoke what he had in his mind.

"You want freedom, son? Did you think that girl can clear your bad name after how you tried to steal from her family? Just what were you thinking at that time, you idiot?"

Tank stiffened when he heard his father call him an idiot. However, his old man was not done with him and continued rambling on endlessly. "If you listen to me and do what I say, you have my word that not only can I erase all traces of your past misadventures, I will also track down those who betrayed you."

Sure, his father was a know-it-all. Goodness knows how many spies he planted to watch him, but the fact he had never even paid a visit to him in prison just contradicted how he was lecturing him like he was a child.

Yet, he had no ways of talking back to his father, who easily conquered him with his dominance.

Finally, Tank stared at his father weakly, questioning himself and contemplating whether he should give Shaw one last chance. After all, it was his mother's last hope for him while he was in prison, for him to be reunited with his father. He couldn't bring back the dead, so perhaps… there was room for one more chance. Shaw had better not ruin it for himself.

He opened his mouth slowly, clenching his fist harder against his belly.

"Father, where were you when I was tortured in prison?" He shook his head vigorously. "I needed you the most then, but you never came to see me."

Shaw was unmoved. He turned around, ready to head back towards the car. As usual, he was a heartless douche. He didn't understand what his mother had seen in him to have even called for him on his deathbed, which he witnessed through a last-minute video call with his mother, but he honoured her final wishes.

That was it. He would accept his father back, only if he did what he was supposed to be as a father. Shaw was responsible for him.

"Wait!" Tank called after him. "I'll give you one last chance. This is the very last."

A smile solidified over Shaw's face, something Tank had not seen in many years and he nodded. He would forgive Shaw for now, but he wanted everything he could have in return. This was the cost of the neglect he had suffered for the last few years. He would mourn his mother's passing, but move on with his life.

"Good choice, Son. I hope you will not cease to disappoint me."

No other words transpired between them as Tank followed his father into the car, which sped off instantly. But deep in his mind, Tank knew what he had to do.

Those who betrayed him would pay, but aside from that, he craved something new.

Just they wait, he vowed. He would not rest until they reaped the fruits of what they had done unto him.

And it would all start from the new life his father had created for him.