Nathan Romantino was a young man of 18 years of age- one of the most talented geniuses at his college in Didono City.
He was an orphan who had never seen his parents, for both of them had perished in an accident shortly after his birth.
Because of this incident, Nathan was treated like a plague. He was called to be a curse, a harbinger of misfortune; someone destined to bring only suffering.
Thus, let alone taking care of him, no relative was willing even to acknowledge his presence.
Fortunately, he had an aunt who stepped in for him. She was a distant cousin on his mother's side and, like Nathan, was an orphan. When Nathan's mother was alive, this aunt of his had received certain favours from Nathan's mother, and now that his mother was gone, his aunt was willing to take him in.
Things were not so simple, though. His aunt, Elia Louise, was merely 17 years old at the time when Nathan's parents had died. With his mother's kindness, Elia had been able to sustain herself, but now that she had to take on an additional responsibility, she had no option but to leave her studies and work.
With little educational qualifications, Elia could only secure low-paying, part-time jobs. Being a lone, young girl brought additional challenges.
Even so, she managed well and raised Nathan for 18 years. Her life had been full of struggles, but she never let those struggles affect Nathan.
He was given the best upbringing she could afford—the best education, the best schools.
Things might have been a bit easier but for the other relatives of Nathan- his uncles had swallowed all the inheritance left by Nathan's parents. It was not like as if Nathan's parents had been very rich but they had left behind certain savings and most importantly a small house. It would have definitely eased Nathan and Elia's life.
Nathan and Elia were utterly powerless to stop these people.
From a very young age, Nathan understood his aunt's struggle. He never slacked off in his studies, and with his hard work, he became one of the known geniuses of his city. As his classes progressed, he secured quite a few scholarships, easing the burden on his aunt.
He had also tried to work part time jobs because he did not want to be more of a burden on her, but Elia firmly rejected his proposals. Her only answer was to urge Nathan to study hard. She argued that once became successful, she was going to live a life of luxury on his wealth.
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Today had been a good day for Nathan. His results for the first year of college had been declared, and as everyone had expected, he had scored perfect marks in almost every subject.
Though this was not something new, his aunt had called him so that the two of them could enjoy and celebrate a little.
Elia stayed in the same city as Nathan, but they hardly met. From early childhood, she had placed Nathan in hostels so that she could work without any impediment.
After receiving congratulations from his fellow classmates, most of whom belonged to rich families and it was only because of his scholarship that Nathan studied in the same college, Nathan was about to walk away when someone intercepted him.
It was Gloria Smith, a girl from his class. She was an extremely beautiful girl with raven black hair and eyes of the same colour. Standing around 5 feet 7 inches tall, she had a slim waist and perfect curves.
Nathan could not understand what was happening when she pulled out a bouquet of red roses from behind her back.
"Nathan, I like you…" she said, blushing as red as a tomato.
Nathan was a well-built man almost 6 feet tall with deep black hair and slightly blue eyes, which made him even more attractive. Coupled with his phenomenal genius, he was an ideal partner for any girl.
They had been studying in the same class for the past year but other than recognizing Gloria's face, Nathan knew nothing about her. Her clothes indicated that she belonged to a rich family; yet, she never wore the familiar arrogance on her face like other loudmouth rich kids. Instead, she was a quiet and humble student and was never the one to be in search of limelight.
Nathan was dumbstruck after seeing Gloria with red roses in front of him. The entire class fell silent, as if tragedy had struck.
It was not that he was not attracted to girls or lacked romantic or sexual desires. But at this stage of life, success was more important. He did not have the luxury to indulge in the comforts of life.
Meanwhile, Nathan did not know how to react to this sudden proposal. Ultimately, he thought it would not be a good idea to reject the girl in front of everyone and humiliate her.
He took the flowers from her hand and said, "Gloria... I hardly know you. Maybe we can try to get to know each other first."
It was a good idea to friendzone her for now and then reject her later.
Gloria was not saddened in the least. The brightness of her face remained as it was and she pulled out her mobile.
"Give me your number," she said.
Nathan gave her his number. She immediately called, and his phone rang, "This is my number. We can keep in contact."
Nathan nodded with awkwardness in his voice, "I will take my leave then."
"Hmm," Gloria said with a smile. It was as if she was enjoying Nathan's discomfort, "Bye."
"Bye," Nathan replied and quickly walked away.
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As Nathan left the college, he could only shake his head, thinking about what had just happened. He and Gloria belonged to two different worlds.
She was, in the language of arrogant elites, 'a rich fairy' and he a 'poor peasant'. There was no chance that they were meant to be together.
He cleared his mind of these thoughts and walked toward the bus stand.
After crossing two streets he was nearing the bus stop, when a voice called him from behind, "Nathan."
He turned around to see three men standing not far away. In the middle of the three, was someone his age, his classmate Jacob Jason, one of the rich loudmouths of the college. The other two were slightly middle-aged men whom Nathan did not recognize.
"Jacob," said Nathan with a smile, though he was inwardly confused. Jacob was like a stranger to him- neither friendly nor unfriendly. In the past year, Nathan could not recall a single interaction between him an Jacob.
"Nathan, I wanted to discuss something," said Jacob.
Nathan frowned as he replied, "What is it? Is it urgent? I am in a bit of a hurry."
Jacob smiled, "It won't take long."
Though Nathan grew more confused about Jacob's intention, he still nodded, "Say."
Jacob pointed toward an isolated alley, "Come here."
Nathan tensed. Jacob's presence, along with those two men, was definitely not a good sign. Though he did not know the reason, Nathan understood that Jacob had no good intentions.
He tried to step back, away from the trio, but one of the middle-aged men placed his hand on his shoulder, "Kid, come with us."
The grip on his shoulder was firm and it felt like as if the man was trying to squeeze and crush his shoulders.
Thinking that screaming in such a public place might save him, Nathan opened his mouth but before he could scream, he felt a blow on the back of his head and darkness took over him.
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