Chapter 2 Tyler Is Back!

• Ruth grabbed her son's arm with her trembling hands. "Come in, son. The house felt vacant without you."
• Tyler nodded and pushed her wheelchair inside. The house's interior was in a worse condition. The paint was chipping off the walls, and most furniture was missing. Did his parents sell everything to meet the expenses? Was their financial ruin so devastating?
• Ruth took some time to rein in her emotions before she began speaking again.
• "Things fell apart when you were convicted, son. The Coopers were not content with just throwing you into prison. They vented their anger on our family. They usurped your dad's business and ensured he wouldn't be hired elsewhere."
• "That's not the end of it. The Coopers demanded compensation of two million dollars from us. We gave away all our savings, but it was not enough. We sold our jewelry and furniture. Yet, we could pay back only a small fraction of what we owed them."
• Tyler clenched his fist as anger bubbled in him. The Coopers had gone too far for their revenge, wrecking the lives of his parents. Their brutality had made his mother a cripple!
• "Those bastards!" he growled, looking at his helpless, withering mother. Ruth used to be a beautiful, upright woman. She had been reduced to an invalid.
• Ruth didn't need to explain her miserable appearance. Tyler could only imagine the amount of mental and physical agony she must have gone through. That would break the strongest of people.
• Tyler remembered about his father's ancestral land. "We inherited land in Denter County from Grandpa. You could have moved there and sold off some agricultural land to pay off the debt."
• Tyler's suggestion further aggravated his mother's mood. "Your uncle Rollo backstabbed your father. While he was upset about your imprisonment, Rollo made him sign off all inheritance properties to his name."
• Tyler pursed his lips. Rollo had always been a deceptive fraud. He had lived a spendthrift life until his share of inheritance money was exhausted. Now, he had stolen his elder brother's property!
• Ruth went on, occasionally sobbing in melancholy. "Since nobody else would hire your dad, he had to take up a menial job in sewer maintenance. It was the only way to support us. The wages are low but enough for two meals daily and to purchase at least some of my medicine."
• Tyler bit his lip in anguish. It was his fault that the Coopers attacked his parents. "Mom, I am so sorry this happened to you."
• Fresh, warm tears appeared in Ruth's eyes. "The prospect of you coming back home kept me alive, son. Now that you are back, I am sure things will start looking better. Perhaps your dad can work overtime in the sewer department. We used to manage two meals daily, but now that you are here, we will need three meals. You are young and need to eat well. I don't know if they fed you well in prison..."
• Tyler wiped his mother's tears with his thumbs and looked into her weary eyes. "Now that I am here, I will take care of everything, Mom. Please stop crying."
• Ruth shook her head. "Do you mean you'll get a job? But who will hire you, son? You are an ex-convict, and the Coopers have besmirched our family's name beyond repair."
• "Let me worry about that. I need you to stop crying and take a rest." Tyler hugged his mother tight and reassured her that good things were coming their way.
• "Alright, son," Ruth replied with a pained smile, touching his cheek affectionately. "Go to your room and freshen up. I'll serve you some food."
• Tyler went to his room and found everything preserved the same way he had left it. Ruth had sold furniture from the living room and the master bedroom, but her son's space was untouched. Even when the woman was impoverished, she didn't agree to auction off his things.
• Tyler approached his desk and found a picture of Erica Sinclair, his girlfriend. After he was convicted, she promised she'd wait for him. He intended to visit her next and make sure the Coopers hadn't ruined her life as well.
• Just then, Tyler heard his mother yell from downstairs. He rushed down to the kitchen but she wasn’t there. The main door was ajar.
• The young man raced outside to find a group of severe-looking men crowding their lawn. The leader's face was twisted in savagery as he dragged Ruth by her hair on the ground. The old woman wailed helplessly while the other goons cackled at her misery.
• "Have you forgotten us, cripple?" the leader barked. "We're from the Hux gang hired by the Cooper family! Where's the monthly installment of ten thousand dollars? Cough it up, or I'll break your arms!"