Chapter 1 Collision

• PREFACE
• Twenty-Two Years Ago
• The eight-year-old b0y listened to his parents argue. He watched the scene through the crack in the door. His father spoke in a pleading tone while his mother remained impassive.
• “Sherlyn, you can't leave me like this!” he cried in despair. “Tell me, what can I do to keep you? If the problem is money, don't worry, I built the Evans Empire from the ground up once, I can do it again, but only with you by my side and with our son, you'll see how everything will work out, I'll continue to give you everything you need, I promise you'll never want for anything,” her father continued, trying to get closer to her mother.
• However, she slapped his hand and looked at him with a gesture of contempt.
• “I don't want to build anything with you, why should I when I can have it all with Jonah Johnson? He's a young man and now ten times richer than you were,” the woman pointed out without hiding a smirk.
• “Because he stole from me, he took advantage of our friendship and the trust that was placed in him to take all my assets from me. How can you ally yourself with the cause of the destruction of our lives?” exclaimed the incredulous man, feeling a deep sadness as he realized the selfish and self-serving nature of his wife.
• “He has not ruined my life for me, in fact he offers me a promising future, on the other hand at your side only a miserable future awaits me, I assure you, that is not attractive to me at all,” the woman declared, raising her chin in a defiant manner, to then turn around and continue her task of packing all her things.
• “If you don't want to do it for me, do it for our son, Christian needs you. Do you want to leave him alone, suffering the absence of his mother?” the man asked, hoping to change his wife's mind. “This man will never love you as much as we do, he may end up leaving you in the end. Please don't leave me, I beg you...” the man began to cry as he knelt before the woman.
• “You are so pathetic, I don't know what I saw in you to end up with a spineless man like you, you should at least have some dignity and not beg like a fool. I don't care about that stupid brat, he can stay with you, I don't care about either of you,” the man stepped in front of her to prevent her from leaving and spat at her in an arrogant tone. “Get out of the way!”
• “If you leave, I swear I'm going to kill myself,” the man said, convinced.
• “I don't care. You can blow your brains out for all I care,” she snapped in annoyance. She opened the door and saw the b0y looking at her with tears in his eyes. “Stop crying. Act like a little man.”
• “Don't go, Mom, don't leave me!” the b0y begged, holding her hand as a stream of tears began to run uncontrollably down her face.
• “I'll tell you something Christian, never forget, I hope you take this advice, I'll give it to you, so you won't become a loser like your father tomorrow. Beautiful women are only interested in two things: money and power, and with the former almost always comes the latter.
• With that, he walked out the door without looking back, while the little b0y watched as he got into a car parked in front of the house, driven by a man much younger than his father.
• As he closed the front door, a detonation was heard inside the house, the b0y ran out frightened to his father's office, when he entered, the man lay dead, brains and blood splattered everywhere, while the little b0y knelt beside him, crying desperately, trying to wake him up.
• *******
• Lynda heard the alarm clock, it rang incessantly as she tried to wake up, but it seemed her eyes refused to cooperate, she reached out her hand to turn it off so she could sleep for a few more minutes, but it fell to the floor, the noise caused by its fall brought her out of her reverie, she jumped up, looked for it on the floor and it was completely destroyed.
• A sad expression appeared on her face, she realized that she would have no way to wake up the next day, she picked up the pieces and threw them into the waste basket of the bathroom, then she started the routine of showering and brushing her teeth, while she thought about how she was going to wake up the next day.
• She hurriedly changed into a baggy shirt and jeans and ran downstairs so as not to be late for her destination. The serving lady was waiting for her with breakfast, looking around for fear of being discovered.
• “My love, I made you this sandwich, take it before your father and sister come,” the woman held out her arm and the girl took it with a smile.
• “Thank you, Ms. Regina, what would I do without you?” the girl thanked her and gave her a few kisses on the cheek, but their exchange of affection was interrupted by a girl who was physically similar to her, but with a too different attitude.
• “Wow, so much love makes you sick. Regina, you're making Lynda food again, I'm curious to know my father's opinion. I think your days are numbered. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,” the girl imitated the sound of the clock with a mocking gesture.
• “Lynnet, please don't blame Mrs. Regina, I was the one who ordered her to order me...” the young girl began to explain in a pleading tone, but her words were interrupted by her sister.
• “Please, Lynda, don't beg in vain, in the end I will do what is most convenient for me,” the other girl added with a stern face, “for now, for your relief, I need to take my car to be washed after noon and I don't like to do these errands, I will wait for you at the beauty salon at that time, you will take care of it, then you bring it back to the house, don't call me to annoy me, follow my instructions without further ado.”
• Lynda started to protest, but her sister realized her intentions and expressed herself in a threatening manner.
• “It will be a shame for Regina to be out of a job,” this sentence made her decide.
• “All right, Lynnet, I'll do as you say,” she said in a defeated tone, looking at the lady who watched her with a mixture of sympathy and relief, while shrugging her shoulders in a nonchalant gesture.
• She adjusted her cap to cover her hair completely, not wanting to draw attention to herself, and because of its color, it was inevitable that it would attract all eyes. He left the impressive mansion, located in one of the most luxurious residential areas of Vancal, that beautiful paradise on the Mediterranean Sea, one of the richest countries, with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, but unfortunately also with quite archaic ideas, where even the opinions of women were little heard, being subject to the father as long as they were single and once married to their husbands.
• She walked the few kilometers that separated her from the bus stop, almost at a trot, as the rain began to fall in thick drops and she did not carry an umbrella, although she was the daughter of one of the richest men in the country, since the death of her mother she no longer had privileges, as he treated her worse in the service of the house, a glimpse of sadness made its way into her at the same time as the memories, a ladder, a body rolling, her crying and her mother collapsed to the side, with a blow to the head bleeding.
• She shook her head, trying to put those painful moments out of her mind, she didn't notice and crossed the street without looking to the sides, at that moment a car braked just a few centimeters from her feet, only to see seconds later the most handsome and impressive man she had ever seen get out of the car, leaving her breathless.
• He was tall, pale skin, with a thin beard, bl6ck hair, light eyes, he wanted to argue with her, but he was absorbed looking into her eyes, for a moment they remained silent, immersed in that kind of magnetic field that enveloped them, until they were pulled out of their bubble by the sound of the car horns. At that moment she saw the bus and ran out to get on it, without giving or receiving any explanation.
• *****
• Hours Later
• Jonah Johnson paced back and forth in his office, listening to the words of Michel, his personal assistant and right-hand man, unable to believe the ruse he had been subjected to.
• “Mr. Jonah, we could not have known of such a deception. When we contracted this company, it had the best rating on the market, the materials offered were of the best quality, even for several months it worked correctly, none of our clients complained about the material used, until now.”
• The assistant explained, while pulling his shirt collar, as if he wanted to loosen it, because he felt it was tight, he had the impression of suffocating, although he was worried, because he feared that his boss, would end up being held responsible for the disaster of the company.
• “I don't understand. I'm trying to find an explanation for how this all took such an unexpected turn, but I can't,” Jonas said, rubbing his hands over his head in frustration.
• “That's not all, sir...” the assistant began nervously. “A government audit committee has started an investigation of all the constructions, and what they found is not encouraging at all. They found that we were using substandard materials, which was the reason for the collapse in one of the structures and the cause of several injuries and one death.”
• The assistant was more nervous.
• “This caused a chain reaction, the shares of J&L Construction plummeted, and several companies and agencies that had been awarded several projects called to cancel their contracts.” Michel's every word increased the man's tension, it seemed incredible to him how everything was slipping out of his hands without him being able to stop it.
• He was a smart, intelligent man, his fortune didn't come from nowhere, he had earned it by neutralizing his competitors, in many cases even by taking advantage of the trust of some, he had achieved it by heart, he couldn't lose it by being careless, by trusting too much, that's why he kept thinking about finding a way out of this situation.
• “Michel, leave me alone,” he ordered the assistant, who was so nervous that a trickle of sweat covered his forehead, but this detail went unnoticed by Jonas, who was concentrating on how to solve his problems.
• The man leaned his head back on the chair, he was in a dead end, between a rock and a hard place, before he could get out of the last one, he had lost a large percentage of his assets and was about to go bankrupt, he needed a strategy to get out of this situation, he had no way to respond to the demands, he needed a considerable injection of money, because the outlook looked pretty bleak.
• He leaned back from the desk and pressed his head to try to ease the intense pain he was suffering, he felt completely disturbed, if it was not for his beautiful eldest daughter Lynnet Johnson, he would have blown his brains out, that was the only attractive way out for him, but his love for her made him abandon those dark thoughts.
• The office phone rang, he stared at it like it was a poisonous insect, for a moment he wanted to ignore it, but then he thought better of it, maybe it could be a hope, a light at the end of the tunnel.
• Without wasting another minute, he answered the call.
• “Hello, this is Jonah Johnson at your service,” he greeted his caller almost breathlessly, not knowing his identity.
• “Mr. Johnson, I'm calling on behalf of Mr. Goldman, he's expecting you in the office in half an hour to discuss the matter of the investment plan for your construction company. I hope you won't miss it,” the woman said, and without waiting for an answer, she ended the call.
• When she ended the call, he felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he felt relieved, he could not believe his luck, Christian Goldman, the most powerful and richest man in the country, had agreed to discuss the investment plan presented to his company.
• He was euphoric, overflowing with happiness, and without wasting any more time, he set out for the powerful magnate's office.
• Before the appointed time, he arrived at the luxurious building, where seconds later he was greeted by a beautiful and elegant secretary, who immediately greeted him with a smile.
• “Good afternoon, miss. I have an appointment with Mr. Goldman. I'm Jonah Johnson,” the woman looked at him curiously for a few seconds before replying.
• “Step into the waiting room to announce him. I'll send someone to serve you coffee,” she said politely.
• “Thank you very much,” the man replied without stopping smiling, it seemed sub real what he was experiencing, soon all his problems would be solved, he thought excitedly, observing the ostentatious facilities.
• *****
• As Christian watched the view of the city from the penthouse of the impressive building where the transnational Goldman Jones operated, located in the financial district of the city of Vancal, capital of the island of Balaica, he was anxious about the outcome of the meeting that would take place in a few minutes. He could not believe how life was handing him on a silver platter the wretched lout who had caused the ruin of his family and the suicide of his father, after being abandoned by his mother to throw himself into the arms of her lover, the once mighty Jonah Johnson.
• He could not help the smile of satisfaction on his face, for a long time he had not only longed for this moment, if not glimpsed it, from the moment he had his father in his arms with his brains out, now he had the moment before him, the moment to blame him for every one of his sufferings. He clenched his fists at the side of his body as memories of the past filled his mind. His life had not been easy since then, he had no family, he ended up in social services because he was too old, no one wanted to adopt him, so he grew up in an orphanage until he ran away at the age of sixteen, fifteen years had passed and now he was running one of the largest economic empires, not only in the country but in the world.
• He had driven Johnson to this point, and soon his most cherished desires would come true.
• He turned to the desk and picked up the photos on it, they showed the faces of two stunning young women, blue eyes and red hair, they were exactly the same, two beautiful flowers, those eyes immediately brought back memories of the girl he was about to run over, but he was not sure if it was one of them because he did not see her hair, but he dismissed the idea because it would be unfortunate if it ended up being the same.
• He sighed and looked back at the photos, it was really sad to make them the target of his revenge, but that was life, they had been born in the wrong family, in the wrong place and at the wrong time, he would play with them like the cat with the mouse before devouring it.
• For a moment he was afraid that the father would refuse his request, but then he remembered the man's lack of scruples, he was capable of anything, even selling his soul to the devil just to get his way, he proved it once by betraying his friend and mentor.
• The sound of the intercom brought him out of his thoughts, it was the secretary speaking to him.
• “Mr. Goldman, Mr. Jonah Johnson has just arrived,” the woman announced efficiently.
• Even though he was also looking forward to this meeting, he had to make him desperate, only then would he finally accept her terms.
• “Let him know that there will be no more meeting. I have decided to cancel it because I have a last-minute engagement,” he said, his eyes darkening dangerously with anger.
• Nevertheless, he got up from his desk, went to the private elevator, went to the basement of the company where a Porsche 918 Spyder was parked, got in and drove off at full speed, he loved to feel the adrenaline running through his veins, he was euphoric, every day he got a little closer to carrying out his revenge.
• He drove through the different streets of the city, when he reached an interception crossing a green light, a Tesla Model S crossed the lane and hit his car, he held the steering wheel tightly to avoid skidding on the road.
• When he came to a stop, he got out of the car and slammed the door hard, although he was unharmed by the collision, he could not control the growing rage boiling inside him, the veins in his forehead bulged, he clenched his teeth in a gesture of helplessness. He had no doubt about the negligence of the other driver, most likely a bloody drunk.
• He walked with determination to confront the wretch capable of disturbing his peace.
• When he arrived, he opened the driver's door and was surprised to see an unconscious woman, her reddish hair spilling over her face. A tingle ran through his body, his heart skipped a beat as he pushed it away and found that face, the same face of the young girl from the morning who was about to be run over, just like the one he had been watching all afternoon, in those photographs.
• It's hard to believe in coincidence, but it's even harder to believe in anything else. John Green.