"Wow, this is all so surprising." The reporter said.
"Yeah. After Zac was sent to jail, Gaby and I got close and look where it ended up. I'm the luckiest man on the planet, and I have the best wife. I never imagined myself getting married so early, everyone knows that I've always been a ladies man." Justin said and the guests chuckled because of his notorious reputation as a manwhore.
"But Gaby made me realise that some things are not worth the delay. I wanted to officially make her mine for my peace of mind. I was always so scared that she would wake up one day and realise that she deserved better than me, and leave me. But I now understand how irrational that fear is and our love is stronger than it. Now, if you'll excuse me, my wife and I have a honeymoon to get to."
Justin picked Gaby up in a bridal style and there were a lot of whispers about how sweet Justin was and how good the couple looked together. The videos of Zac crashing the party and Justin's speech were already trending on the internet.
Zac was carried out of the hall by the guards and dumped in an alley while the rest of the guests thought he had been taken home. The guards took turns beating him up before they left. He lay on the dirty floor, weak, tired, hungry and heartbroken, staring at the sky. At that moment, something in him changed. He promised himself that he would never let himself be humiliated that way again. For the sake of his revenge, and also to avenge the soul of his new body. They had both been betrayed, and humiliated enough.
"Never again." He swore silently as he wiped blood off his mouth.
Zac forced himself to stand after laying there a while, and walked slowly towards the exit point of the alley. There was a group of guys smoking who hadn't noticed him lying on the floor before.
"Hey! Stop there." One of them said.
"Who the fuck are you?" Another one asked.
Zac ignored them and just kept walking but one of them dragged him back.
"Are you deaf or something?" A guy asked as he blew smoke in Zac's face and Zac grabbed the man by his collar.
Zac knew he was too weak to fight against all of them, but he wasn't thinking straight. At the moment, his emotional pain felt so insurmountable, he wanted another form of pain to replace it. Physical pain was a bit more bearable, and he would heal from physical wounds eventually. The hole in his chest where his heart was supposed to be would never heal.
"Give me your phone. I want to make a call." Zac said to the man.
"Who do you think you are to give me orders? Do you know who I am?" The leader of the gang asked Zac as he removed Zac's hand from his collar and Zac laughed.
"Is this dude insane?" One of the guys asked with an incredulous look as Zac laughed like he was out of his mind.
"Beat him up so he'll learn some manners. Seems whoever beat him up before didn't do a good job." The gang leader said and two of the guys moved closer to Zac.
The second guy was the first to throw a punch, but it didn't get a chance to hit Zac. Zac held his fist and the guy's eyes widened because he wasn't expecting Zac to be so strong. Zac's fist connected with the man's jaw and there was a loud cracking sound. The guy fell to the floor, screaming and bleeding. The first guy took a step back in fear as he saw what Zac did to his colleague.
"You all think you're cool and you rule the streets because you're in a little gang. I doubt you've seen the inside of a prison. I won't ask again, give me a damn phone." Zac said and for several seconds, it was silent as they contemplated.
Finally, the leader spoke.
"Give him the burner phone and let's get out of here. Man looks like he's been through a lot already."
Zac took the phone they gave to him and they all left. He dialled a number that he had memorised while in prison.
"Who is this?" A gruff male voice asked from the other end of the line.
"Jay, it's Zac."
"This isn't the prison number. You got out of jail?"
"I got early release. Good behaviour and all that." Zac replied.
"You don't sound happy. When I was in jail with you, all you could talk about was getting free. What happened? And why didn't you tell me you were getting free? I would have picked you up. Sorry I haven't had the time to visit for a while. I got promoted and it's been hectic managing everything."
"You won the bet." Zac said and Jay laughed.
"I told you the bastard would betray you. I've been in this business long enough to know a backstabber when I see one. Anything I can do to help?" Jay asked.
"I went to confront the bastard at his wedding and got humiliated. He got married to my ex today."
"Wow, that's low, man. So what are you going to do about it? Do I need to kill someone for you?"
"No, death will be too merciful for him. I want him to feel levels of pain that he never knew existed. I want him to lose every penny that belongs to him, and I want him on his knees, begging for mercy that will never come. But as of right now, I don't have a dime to my name."
"That sounds like the Zac I know. I told my boss about you when I got out, you know. Hope you didn't slack off on your training just because I got released before you? He would like to see you. If you can impress him, you'll make more money than Justin can ever dream of. The big question is, are you willing to do what it takes to have your revenge?"