Thomas walked along the cobbled street numbly, replaying the events of the last 3 hours in his mind. He had been called by his father to the family company, Valois Holdings, an emergency board meeting. Thomas was reluctant to go but as the CFO, he was duty bound to attend. Life with his family had not been easy, increasingly so in the last few months as talks about money got heated. Thomas had found expenditures that did not match receipts. Everyone questioned mentioned that Jackson, his brother, had submitted the receipts and to run everything through his father if they had any additional questions. Those that asked a 2nd question had decided to leave the company. Thomas attempted to call a few of them but none returned his phone calls. These were people that Thomas had started with in the company so it was sad to see that they were not answering.
Upon getting to the company board room, all participants were already seated. Another odd occurrence as Thomas was 10 minutes early. "Thomas!", his father Keith barked. "Would you care to explain why a recent audit shows our company hemorrhaging money?"
Thomas stood bewildered, "Dad--"
"THAT IS MR. VALOIS TO YOU!" Keith barked, his face plunging a deep red color.
"You have stolen from this family, from me. Your brother was kind enough to provide evidence of your embezzlement with signed testimonies from former employees. Effective immediately, you are removed from this company and this family. We have no need for bottom feeders like yourself. Pack your desk and get the hell out"
Realization struck Thomas at that moment, the carefully laid deception spanning months if not years. Valois Holdings had recently crossed the billion dollar mark for assets and there was talks of expansion into other sectors. There's that moment where everything falls apart, you find yourself catching every detail. Thomas experienced this catching his brother's smirk, his father's anger, the unease of the board members. With no avenue to dispute the allegations, Thomas numbly walked out of the building; items on his desk forgotten in his turmoil. The sky overhead projecting a dismal gray as if to reflect the current state of Thomas' life.
He boarded the city bus that had arrived minutes after walking out of the company building. The destination he had in his mind was the house of his fiancée. In a sea of uncertainty, he just wanted to be with the one person that always made his day better. Getting off the bus several minutes later, Thomas climbed the stairs to her house, opening the door with a key that had long been given to him.
The noises from upstairs caused the fog around his mind to abruptly lift. Soft music and passionate moans drifted downstairs in a house that should only have one occupant at this time of day. With dread, Thomas climbed the stairs and opened the door at the end of the hallway. There on the bed was his fiancée, covered in what appeared to be love bites. Seeing the door swing open, her face drained of color. "Thomas...."
She scrambled for the covers, as if they could somewhat mask the shreds of her dignity. The man laying beside her, shirtless and unbothered looked at Thomas with a familiarity that made the whole affair that much worse. Brandon had been Thomas' friend since childhood and Thomas thought they were great friends.
"Finally, I can drop this charade." Brandon stated with a twisted grin plastered to his face. "Do you know how long it's been, having to walk in the shadows of the great Thomas Valois? Always scoring just slightly below you on every test? I had to get back at you somehow. Oh you think she was the first? No, dear friend, EVERY girlfriend you ever had that broke your heart did so because I asked them to. A date here, a Tiffany bracelet there; you really should thank me. If they were good women, they wouldn't have cheated, right?"
Thomas wanted to say something, to do something. His feet and arms wouldn't listen. Before he realized what he was doing, he was already out the door, berating himself for being a coward. His surroundings turned hazy through the tears, his life well and truly destroyed. He didn't care at this point if his brother destroyed him for money, he didn't care what happened to his fiancée. Having arrived at the bridge that connected both halves of his city, he came to the conclusion that he had nothing left. No family, no loved ones, no friends. He jumped, the wind against his face freeing in a bizarre way he didn't expect. The water below him raced toward him and got brighter and brighter.
"The f--" With no more time to think, a Truck that had crashed over the same guard rail that Thomas had just jumped from slammed into Thomas plunging him both into the water and the afterlife.