Regression - Second Chance At Life

"MMA? Since when have you been doing MMA?" Jack asks, surprised.

He never expected his son to be the fighter type. From what he could remember, his son always locked himself in the room doing God knows what.

This is the first time he is hearing about Adam's interest in MMA; he didn't even know Adam had such a hobby.

"It was something I picked up a while ago, my coach said I am really good and I should pursue it as a career," Adam says nonchalantly.

Jack stares at Adam and still finds it hard to believe.

"Are you sure? This is no child's play. It's a very dangerous sport. People die," Jack says, his tone grim.

"No need to worry, I am good, I am going to drop out. I am not risking my life for no reason," Adam says.

"If MMA fails, what will you do?" Jack asks. Though he likes the initiative that Adam has taken with his life, he cannot let Adam waste his life working in a restaurant.

"I have already made plans for my future. I have already invested in a start-up company, which I am very confident about, and I also plan to become a partner with my boss in her restaurant business.

I believe in her vision, and I know she is going to be successful. I also plan to invest in other venture capital as well," Adam says.

Once again, Jack is surprised by his son's answer. He never expected his son to already be so ahead with his future planning.

"And where do you think you will get the capital to invest in all these things? Don't expect me to hand you anything," Jack says.

"I don't need your help. As for the capital, I already have a good starting sum in my possession," Adam says.

"Hmm, and where did you get this capital?" Jack asks. The more he learns about Adam, the more he realizes he knows nothing about his son.

"I got lucky with that recent rug pull that happened. I saw my price go up and decided to withdraw everything. I am glad I wasn't greedy," Adam says.

'He is full of surprises today,' Jack thinks, as he didn't expect his son to get lucky with that crypto rug pull.

As a man who runs one of the largest finance companies in the country, Jack, of course, was aware of the rug pull; it was all over the news.

Jack didn't think worse of his son for getting his money from the rug pull because he knows luck also has a lot to do with one's success.

He, too, was a product of luck. Sure, he worked his ass off to become the successful man he is, but he also knew hundreds of people who were as hard working as him, but none of them are multi-millionaires, running a billion-dollar company.

Jack knew he had gotten lucky somewhere in his journey. He just didn't expect his own luck to pass on to his son. Jack smirks and takes a sip.

"If you fail in your investments, don't come crying to me. I am not helping you," Jack says firmly.

"I don't need it," Adam answers.

"Hmm..." Jack hums, and the silence between them once again follows.

They might be father and son by blood, but they are practically strangers, and both of them have too much of an ego to take a step forward to fix their relationship.

In fact, it wouldn't matter even if one tried, because the other won't reciprocate.

Jack is old-fashioned; he believes he has already fulfilled his duty as a father by giving Adam a place to live and food to eat. He also married a different woman so that Adam wouldn't feel the need for a mother.

As for Adam, he wants nothing to do with Jack because the man was dead to him the moment his mother died. Jack didn't even shed a tear. He had a different woman on his arm within a week of his mother's death.

Adam realized one thing about Jack: his father is a borderline psychopath.

Most psychopaths are not killers or murderers; they are just emotionally distant and manipulative, and have a drive to be better than the rest, and that is why most of them are very successful and hold positions of high power.

Adam's father might not be a full-blown psychopath, but he definitely has traits that lean towards psychopathy, which proves all the things he did in his life.

He manipulated his mother to fall in love with him, and when she died, he moved on as quickly as possible, dated multiple women, some rich, kept a few sugar babies, before finally settling for Julia.

Adam still doesn't understand why Jack married Julia. He should be smart enough to see through Julia's desires, but he still went along with it. This still bugs Adam.

"Let's get to the topic at hand. I promised that I would give you anything you asked for within my power if you managed to win over Margarette. You did better than I asked for, so go ahead, tell me, what do you want?" Jack asks.

Adam takes chugs the last bit of whiskey from his glass and puts it down. He gets serious by sitting up straight.

Jack notices the change in Adam's demeanor.

"I want you to transfer all the assets that you have to my name," Adam says, seriously.

Jack frowns as he hears Adam's request. This is beyond his expectations. He thought Adam would ask something materialistic, but Adam is asking about everything he owns.

Jack sits up straight and gets serious. He puts his glass down and looks into Adam's eyes intensely, trying to look intimidating, but Adam doesn't flinch.

"Then what was all that about you not wanting anything from me?" Jack asks.

Adam smirks and shakes his head.

"To be honest, I really don't care about your assets," Adam says.

"Then why do you want them to be transferred under your name?" Jack asks.

"Because I don't trust your wife, Julia," Adam says straight to Jack.

Jack realizes what Adam is trying to say. He grabs his glass again and leans back into his chair.

"We both know why she married you; it was not for love, and neither did you marry her for love. If you were capable of love, you wouldn't have moved on so soon after mom's death," Adam says without beating around the bush.

And from the look on Jack's face, he doesn't look offended.

"I only married Julia because I thought you were young and needed a maternal figure in your life. I read somewhere that boys need a maternal presence in their lives growing up," Jack says.

This makes Adam chuckle. "I have only one mom, and that was your first wife. I didn't need any replacement, and the replacement that you did bring was not that great either. She spent your money on herself and enjoying a rich lifestyle style than looking after me.

We both know you marrying Julia was a mistake," Adam says.

Jack just stares. He doesn't deny.

"Why do you care? What's wrong with her getting my wealth? It's not like you need it; you already have your future planned, don't you?" Jack asks.

Adam stares into Jack's eyes. He knows Jack is once again trying to test him, make him mad for no reason.

"It's simple. I don't consider her family, by blood or by law. She is nothing more to me than a woman who lives under our roof. She is manipulative and cunning. She acts innocent before everyone else, pretending to be a good housewife, but I think we both know her real nature.

She married you for your wealth, and she definitely plans to take it all for herself. I won't be surprised if you tell me she has already started spewing venom about me to you.

I don't trust her, and neither should you. She is a snake, and snakes should be dealt with before they can bite you," Adam says.

"How about I just divorce her and get rid of her?" Jack says, swirling the whiskey in his glass. Adam sees that Jack is not being serious about it. He is just asking this question to see what Adam thinks.

"And why would you do that? You would be putting half of your assets on the line in a court battle, which you have no control over.

Rather, you let her stay in the dark until it's too late for her to do anything," Adam says.

Jack looks at his son. There is a hint of amusement in his eyes. He likes how his son is being so cruel to his own stepmother. Jack feels this way because he would have done the same thing if he were in Adam's position.

And he, too, believes what Adam said is right.

He married Julia for convenience, but she is not the dumb, pretty blonde she pretended to be. She is much more cunning, and just like Adam said, she has been trying to poison Adam's name before him.

Jack realizes that he almost fell for it because she had him convinced that his son is useless and can't do anything on his own. She said that he needs to be thrown out of the house and stripped of all privileges so he can earn his way back.

Jack, at that time, didn't think it was a bad idea. But now, as he sees his son the way he is, he realizes that his son had everything already planned.

His son is not a useless leech; he doesn't need any harsh reality check because his son already understands that the world is a cruel place, and to survive in it, you have to be cruel.

Jack can see the cruelness in Adam's eyes as he is willing to throw his own stepmother under the bus. Jack is now confident that the Grant name will thrive as his son continues its legacy.is now

He doesn't care how his son does it. He only cares that the name Grant reaches even greater heights. It's the only way he will feel fulfilled.