The one and the Only (Nathan Cross)

Chapter 5 He Used To Work For Me

Nathan glanced at Walter Zahn and his wife, who were both lying half-dead on the floor. "Are they your subordinates?" he asked Thomas Dunn.

"Yes, he works for me," Thomas Dunn acknowledged with shame, "His name is Walter Zahn."

Nathan instantly flew into a rage, "Tell me, who gave you the authority to send out the armed forces for no valid reason, other than to parade them around like troupers?"

"That was my mistake, Sir. I will accept any punishment." Thomas Dunn was full of remorse.

"Hand in your resignation once you've returned to camp. You are not fit for the post!" ordered Nathan.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you for your advice. I shall reflect on my mistake," Thomas Dunn said humbly and reverently.

"That's good to hear." Thomas Dunn won a nod of approval from Nathan for his positive attitude.

Thomas Dunn then turned towards the couple on the floor. "What are you still waiting for?" He barked at them, "Get on your knees and apologize! If you upset my Sir again, I'll make sure you won't live to see the next day."

Walter Zahn and his wife clambered to their knees, groveling for forgiveness at Nathan's feet.

"Go and apologize to my wife and daughter." Nathan was impassive to their plea.

They scrambled hastily to kneel in front of Penny and her daughter while sobbing with grief, "Mrs. Cross, Ms. Cross, it was all our fault. We were simply blinded by our own foolishness. Please have mercy on us and let us go, we beg you!"

Penny had recovered from her initial shock and fear. Her kind-hearted nature was easily swayed. Looking at the pathetic couple before her, she suggested to Nathan, "Why don't we give them a chance, since they look like they have genuinely repented? Besides, they have already received the punishment that they deserve."

"Sure, as long as it pleases you, my dear." Nathan's lips curved into a rare, tender smile.

His cheeky reply made her flush red.

Thomas Dunn could tell from the softness in Penny's eyes that she had already forgiven them. "What are you two still waiting for?"He shouted at Walter Zahn and his wife,

"Scram!"

The frantic couple seized the opportunity and stumbled to the door in feverish haste with their fat son in tow, as if they were running away from a huge catastrophe.

Thomas Dunn offered to throw a lavish welcoming party for Nathan, but the latter rejected his offer, making known his desire to spend some quality time with his family instead. With a knowing look in his eyes, Thomas Dunn disappeared promptly and left Nathan with his family.

Nathan carried Queenie in his arms as the trio made their way out of the kindergarten.

"You're so awesome, Papa." Little Queenie beamed with pride as she gazed at her father. "Now that you're back, I'm sure that nobody would dare to bully Mama and me again." "That's right, my princess," Nathan said in a tone full of indulgence. "Papa will never let anyone bully you and Mama again."

Penny listened quietly from the side with tears rolling down her cheeks. Queenie's elated face was a sight to behold.

Asiatic - the center of the city.

Penny lived in an old, dilapidated building that was located downtown Asiatic.

There were no elevators in the building.

With Queenie in his arms, Nathan climbed up six-stories to get to Penny's house.

"Come in, the place is pretty cramped and messy," Penny invited Nathan in as she opened the door.

Inside the living room, Benson Smith, Penny's dad, was reading the newspaper with his reading glasses on.

Her mum, Leah Smith, was making dinner in the kitchen.

It surprised Benson to see his daughter bringing a man home with her.

This was the first time Penny had ever brought a guy home.

She had vowed to stay single and had insisted that she would raise Queenie on her own, blatantly refusing to attend the matchmaking sessions they had arranged for her. Benson set down his papers and walked up to greet them.

"Hello, who is this gentleman?" He looked puzzled when he saw Queenie in Nathan's arms.

Penny tried to structure a suitable reply, but little Queenie had already answered in her bubbly voice, "He's my Papa, Grandpa. My Papa is back."

"Does that mean that you're the beast who raped my daughter five years ago? So it's you who turned our lives into a living hell!"

Benson Smith was a soft-spoken, humble man who hardly raised his voice. He flew into a rare fit of rage when he discovered that the man standing in front of him was none other than the culprit who had raped her daughter five years ago. He was the one who had ruined her life by impregnating her and letting her raise their child on her own.

"I can't believe you have the audacity to come and look for her! I swear I'll chop off your head!"

A shrill voice penetrated the air when a woman ran out from the kitchen, swinging a cleaver madly. Leah Smith's body was quivering with rage.

Wah! The sudden outrage from her grandparents shocked little Queenie to the core, and she started wailing.

Penny held back her mother with all her might. "Mum, please don't----" she pleaded.

With Penny clinging tightly to her body, Leah could not budge.

"It's all because of you that we were kicked out of the family mansion by Benson's dad." Leah pointed her cleaver at Nathan as she spat, "You've ruined Penny's life utterly and brought her nothing but pain. You're worse than a beast! You're a monster!"

It aggravated Benson to see that his usual calm and orderly world had been upturned by Nathan's sudden reappearance. The Penny and Queenie's wails almost drove him mad.

"That's enough!" Benson let out a roar that was uncharacteristic of his soft-spoken nature.

His bellow effectively brought Leah's wild emotions under control.

Benson seized the opportunity to take the cleaver away from Leah's hands. He pulled her into his arms to soothe her. "Get out of our house! Don't ever show your face again!" He shouted at Nathan scornfully, "The hurt you've inflicted on my daughter is irreparable. We've had enough of the pain and torture. Leave us alone!"

"I will not leave." Nathan met his gaze with a determined look in his eyes. With Queenie in his arms, his insistence to make up for his family was reflected in his solemn and sincere tone.

"Trust me, I know the torment Penny went through all these years."

"I will never let them suffer in silence anymore. They deserve a life that is happy and blissful, and their future will be a path paved with diamonds. They are my family, my queen and my princess, and I'll make sure that they have the whole world under their feet."

Happy and blissful life? A path paved with diamonds? The whole world under their feet?

It sounded like mere empty promises to Benson. To him, only a guy full of crap would say such things, and those were the type of people he disliked most.

Only young, vulnerable ladies like Penny would fall for his honeyed words.

"Hey you, didn't you hear what my husband just said? He asked you to leave!" Leah bawled at Nathan, "Now get the hell out of my house!" Her tone was harsh and unforgiving.

"That's right. I'm going to call the police if you insist on staying," Benson warned.

Truth was that Benson would have already done so when he found out that Nathan was the homeless man who had raped his daughter. Nonetheless, he refrained from doing so as he could not bear to let Penny go through the torment again.

At that point, Penny wiped the tears on her face and said calmly, "Dad, Mum, please let him stay."

What?

Both Benson and Leah stared incredulously at their daughter.

"Are you out of your mind, Penny?" Leah asked worriedly.

"No, Mum. I'm fine." Penny shook her head.

"I'm doing it because of Queenie."

"She's starting to understand all that's going on, and she needs a father."

"Dad, Mum, please give him a chance and let him stay with us for the time being."

Her words led Benson to consider what would be in Queenie's best interest.

Besides disbelieving the vagabond's bold claims, Benson also seriously doubted his ability to fill up the void in Queenie.

Yet, it was impossible for him to turn a blind eye to the pleading look on his daughter's face and his granddaughter's heart-wrenching sobs.

He ultimately succumbed to their pleads and sobs, giving his approval with a helpless sigh.

His approval drew a loud cry of disbelief from Leah, who could no longer control her rage.

She stormed back to her room and shut the door with a thunderous bang. Her weeps and whimpers could be heard from the other side of the door.

Leah refused to leave the room when it was time for dinner.

Absentmindedly, Benson took a few bites from his plate before scooping some food onto his plate and heading back to his room to join his wife.

Only Nathan, Penny, and Queenie were left in the dining table.

Penny eyed him while she fed Queenie her dinner. "There are only two bedrooms in the house," she explained, "Queenie sleeps with me in my room. You can share the same room with us, but you can only sleep on the floor."

"Sure," Nathan agreed breezily.

After dinner, Penny selected a set of Benson's unused clothes and gave them to Nathan so that he could change into them after his bath.

Soon after Nathan entered the bathroom, someone pounded at the door. "Open the door!"

The loud thumps brought Benson and Leah out of their room. "It sounds like Samuel," Benson said as he pricked up his ears to listen. "Quick, open the door."

Upon opening the door, they were greeted by a mean-looking middle-aged man who appeared to be around the age of fifty. The man was tall and had a wide frame. His hair was heavily streaked with grey, and he wore a scrutinizing expression. His most prominent feature was his hawk-like eyes that looked at them shrewdly.

His name was Samuel Smith, and he was the de facto leader of the Smith family's business.

Benson was over the moon when he saw that Samuel had shown up unexpectedly at his door. "What brings you here, Samuel? Come on in."

"No, I'll stay here." Samuel glimpsed the shabby and narrow house while he blatantly rejected Benson's offer, "It's too filthy inside."

His cruel remarks stabbed Benson and Leah's hearts like a dagger, filling them with burning shame.

Other than their shared surname, the brothers had absolutely nothing in common. There was a sea of difference in terms of their wealth, status, and just about everything else.

The moment he caught sight of Penny, Samuel's eyes turned cold, "I heard that you've patched up with that homeless guy who raped you. And you even instructed him to beat Mr. Harvey, our most important client."

"No, Uncle Samuel, please let me explain." Penny tried to clarify the situation.

"Look, I'm not here to listen to your explanation." Samuel cut her off rudely, "You've brought enough shame to our family for getting involved with this homeless guy, and giving birth to a fatherless child. I was the one who took pity on you and pleaded with your grandpa not to banish you from our family. I even let you keep your job in our company."

"How could you have the audacity to let that homeless bum leech off you like a parasite? Just because you can't find yourself a husband doesn't mean that you have to act in such an ignominious way. Don't you know you've just turned our family into the biggest joke in town?"

"I demand you to apologize to Mr. Harvey in person and ask for his forgiveness."

"If not, you can forget about coming back to the company. Your entire family will have to live on breadcrumbs if you lose your job!"

After unleashing his tirade of insults, Samuel turned swiftly, walking away.

Penny was left wallowing in despair as tears formed in her eyes. Benson drooped his head and puffed at his cigarette.

Leah thumped her fists on Benson's chest like a petulant child, "Look at you, what a weakling you are!" She ranted, "You're so useless compared to your brother. He takes the helm of the family empire, and he owns everything. But what about you? You don't even have the guts to ask him for your share."

"You have kept silent even when he accused our daughter and bad-mouthed us in front of your dad. He even got booted us out of our family mansion! But all you did was turn a deaf ear to everything."

"And you're still as timid as ever, even when he comes here to trample all over us like dirt. What kind of man are you? How could you be such a wimp? Ah!" She let out a mournful wail.

Nathan was baffled when he came out from his bath. It seemed like a major upheaval had taken place while he was taking his shower.

He creased his brows in concern as he tried to ask around about what had happened.

All he could discern were the sullen looks and sorrowful sobs.

It was his daughter, Queenie, who finally approached him. Pulling at his sleeve, she said timidly, "Uncle Samuel was here, Papa. He wants Mama to apologize to somebody, or he will sack Mama from her job and banish us from the Smith family."

Nathan winced with disgust when he heard Queenie's words. The cruelty of these people from the Smith family was abominable. He vowed to make these people pay for their cold-bloodedness!