Chapter 1
10 years later.
A private jet lands at the Magnolia airport at around 1 AM. A young man in a black armani suit, descends down the air stairs of the jet. He is seen having spiky black hair. A silver necklace with a cross shaped sword dollar was shining under the moon light on top of his black suit. Few minutes later, a very stylish red Koenigsegg Regera car drove in and stopped in front of him. The young man started moving forward towards the car when suddenly there was a strange movement behind a parked ground vehicle. A silhouette of a man was emerging from the shadow of the ground vehicle. The young man looked shocked when he saw the man's face under the light. The man walked till the car, extended his hand to greet him and looked at the young man with a smile and said "Welcome back. Gray!" Gray studied the man's face for a few seconds. A small smile formed on his lips, he stretched his hands forward to greet the man and said "Good to see you after a long time. Uncle Max!" They both shook hands and hugged each other. Gray looked at his uncle's uniform and asked him "Are you working here?" Max replied "Yes Gray. I work as a ground staff in this airport." Gray looked at him in shock, "Why? You were pursuing bachelors in Interior Designing. I Thought you would join Fullbuster Constructions" Max's expressions turned sad after he heard Gray's question, he replied "I couldn't complete it. After my sister Mika's death I was so depressed that my mind was flooded with only her thoughts and I couldn't clear the exams." Gray put his hand on Max's shoulder and said "I can understand." Max saw the dejected expression in Gray's eyes and changed the topic by asking "Silver said you were coming tomorrow at this time, how come you're here now? Did you prepone your trip?" Gray was startled at the question and was about to give an answer when Max's phone started to ring. He picked it up, "Yes sir, I'll see you in a minute." He looked at Gray and said "I have to go. It was a call from one of the higher ups, they need me. See you later." Saying this he waved goodbye to Gray and ran towards the airport terminal.
Gray sat in his car and looked at the driver and said "To Isvan." Few hours later, the car came to a stop in front of a graveyard. It was almost dawn and the graveyard was surrounded by an eerie atmosphere. Gray stepped out of his car, walked towards the gate, opened it and kept walking until he reached his mother's grave. The grave stood out among the others due to its appearance. It had a beautiful cross structure and on it her name was etched 'MIKA FULLBUSTER' with her picture above her name. Gray's body began to tremble and his eyes were tearing up as he remembered that tragic day. He fell to knees in front of the grave and started sobbing profusely. "How could you leave me and go so early. You were under treatment and you were responding so well, then how come…" At this point he broke down and cried his heart out. When he finished crying, he got up to leave and then realized "The flowers, damn, I forgot them in the car." He took his phone and called up his driver and said "Get me the flowers, I left them in the car." The driver quickly brought them to him. Gray took those flowers and looked at him and said "You can leave now." The driver gave him a sad look and left. Gray knelt down and placed those flowers on his mother's grave. He felt anger surge in him. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, "Everything was going fine and mom was recovering well. HOW IN THE WORLD DID THAT BLAST HAPPEN? What if it was not an accident but an intended murder? My dad had many business rivals. Could someone have stooped so low as to kill in order to profit? I am going mad since the last 10 years just thinking about it. Now that I have returned from London and also took full responsibility of the company from Dad, I am going to go to the depth of this issue. If somebody had caused this intentionally then I am going to end that person's life with my own hands."
The driver was waiting outside the graveyard for almost three hours now and still did not see any sight of Gray coming out from there. He pulled out his wallet and stared at the photo of Silver, Mika and Gray along with him. He shed few tears looking at that photo. "Young master Gray has changed so much. He doesn't talk much to anyone. He never smiles. He doesn't even show his feelings and always has a stoic expression on his face. He went to London to study immediately a year after his mother's death. I thought he would find new reasons to live, to stay happy and find new goals, but he never moved on from that day." He started to remember those days when he used to drive all of them to amusement parks during holidays. They were like a happy family and they were generous enough to include him as one among them. He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Gray coming towards the graveyard gate, he quickly put his wallet back in his pocket and stepped out of the car to open the door for the young master.
Gray sat in his car and ordered the driver "Back to the airport." The driver turned back and looked at him in shock. "Master Gray, please don't be offended if I ask you this but you were supposed to come tomorrow but you came today and now you want to go back to the airport. Are you not going to stay? Silver is waiting very impatiently to meet you. He will be very dejected if you don't meet him. And also you are supposed to take over the responsibilities of your company from him officially." Gray looked at him blankly and said "JUST DO AS I SAY!" He immediately retreated back to his seat and drove him back to the airport. When he got down at the airport he looked at the driver and said "Don't tell my dad anything." The driver replied "Master Gray, I won't. You have my word on this." Gray nodded and turned around and started moving towards the airport terminal. When he saw that the car was completely out of sight he turned around and went to a hotel near the airport.
He checked in at the hotel. He went to his room and threw himself on the bed. He laid there on the bed for a while and then took out his phone and messaged his dad 'Dad, I couldn't start on time so I will be late. Don't come to the airport, I'll come home directly.' He felt bad after sending this message. "Sorry Dad. I wanted to go see mom first and I also didn't want you to feel depressed and stressed by reminding you of those sad memories. If I told you, you would also want to come with me to see mom and travelling would cause you more stress, but you wouldn't care about your stress when it's something related to mom." After shedding a few tears Gray went to sleep.
At 'Spitaki mu' (Greek for sweet home.), the Fullbuster residence, the preparations were on full swing. Silver has organized a celebration to declare his son as the next CEO of the 'Fullbuster Constructions'. The guests are constantly pouring in from the business world as 'The Fullbuster Constructions' is one of the giants in Magnolia. Silver was constantly looking out of the door in hope of seeing traces of his son entering the mansion. His heart jumped with joy when he saw Gray's car enter the mansion gate. Silver ran to the car, opened the door for his son and hugged him and while shedding a few tears he said "You came back after such a long time, not once did you come in between. How I longed to see you at least once Gray." Gray looked at him and said "I needed some time Dad, to steady myself, learn new things and to be strong mentally and physically. I think these many years have paid off as I am ready for the challenges ahead." Silver looked at his son with pride. He then clutched Gray's hands and took him inside the house and ordered the house keeper to get Gray's things to his room.
Gray stood stunned looking at his house. The house was decorated with flowers and lights and a board was placed at the entrance which read 'WELCOME BACK GRAY' in gold color letters. "Did you like it Gray? It's all done for you" Silver asked his son. Gray looked at Silver and said "Dad what is happening here?" Silver tightened his grip on Gray's hand and said "I am going to officially announce you as the next CEO of this company." Gray looked shocked, "But Dad this could have been done more privately, and you know how nervous I get when there are a lot of strangers around me." Silver looked at his son lovingly and said "It's going to be ok. You might be dealing with some of the people here in the future, who knows. Put your fears aside Gray it's about time you faced the world."
At 'The Comfort' orphanage, Juvia got dressed up and was ready to leave when Amelia caught Juvia by her arm. Juvia turned around and to look at her and asked "What happened?" with a confused look. "Where are you going?" she asked. Juvia smiled awkwardly and said "T-To Gray sama's house?" Amelia raised her eyebrow and said "Didn't I tell you not to go there Juvia?" Juvia looked at her pleadingly and said "Please let Juvia go. Gray sama's father called Juvia up yesterday and informed her that Gray sama is coming home today and Juvia is dying to go see Gray sama. So please let Juvia go." "Juvia, this is not a private or personal party, this is related to their business. A lot of high class people will be there and those people will not welcome you with open arms they will only ridicule you for your status. You waited for so many years can't you wait one more day?" Amelia argued. Juvia's eyes were tearing up, she looked at Amelia, trying to hold back her tears she said "It's been so long since Juvia saw Gray sama. Juvia sent him letters every week all these years but never got one single reply. He didn't even tell Juvia that he was coming today. Juvia doesn't care what other people say to her or think about her. Juvia just wants to ask Gray sama why he didn't reply to her letters, why he avoided her all this time and to just be with him. So please let Juvia go." She couldn't hold back her tears anymore and buried her face into her hands and started sobbing. Amelia saw how desperate Juvia was and also how faithfully she had been waiting all these years with a hope to see Gray one day and said "Ok then, if it is that important to you, go. But just meet Gray and comeback all right. Don't spend too much time there." Amelia pulled Juvia into a hug and said "I just don't want you to get hurt." Juvia looked at her and said "Juvia will be all right Miss Amelia. Don't worry much about her. Thank you for allowing Juvia to go." She turned around, waved a goodbye and left.
Juvia was startled to see how glamorous this house has become with all the lights and decorations. Juvia doesn't come to this house often except sometimes when Silver needs company or he remembers Mika or Gray and feels lonely. But whenever Juvia came here she felt empty because Gray was not here. But today is different, she could feel her heat beat rate increasing, she was finaly going to meet her Gray sama. Despite her confusion of him avoiding her all these years she was till anxious and excited to meet him. She was standing in a corner and looking in all directions to see if she could spot him anywhere. She felt her heart come to her mouth when she saw him standing in front with his father. Her eyes were tearing up. Gray looked more handsome now and thinking about it made her blush profusely. She felt like she wanted to go and hug him.
Silver grabbed a mic and said "Welcome, All our esteemed guests in this house. Today is a very happy day for me. I am going to be free from all my responsibilities. The young man here, my son 'Gray Fulbuster' is going to take charge as the CEO of the 'Fullbuster Constructions'." All the guests cheered for Gray. Juvia was overwhelmed by the announcement as it meant Gray will now stay here. Silver looked at Gray and asked "Would you like to say something to them." Gray nervously took the mic from his dad and said "Thank you all for your support. I know the hard work that has gone into making this company one of the giants here. I will work hard and take this company to newer heights. I also humbly request your cooperation in achieving this." People were clapping and praising him. But for Juvia his voice felt like music to her ears. She saw Gray move towards his right and then disappeared somewhere at the back. Juvia got impatient and started to walk past many guests. She could hear a lot of people whisper things like "Just look at her. Who on earth allowed her inside a high class party like this.", "Look at how ordinary her dress is.", "She must be a maid here." Juvia closed her eyes. She took a deep breath "It's ok Juvia, don't listen to them. Just find Gray." Suddenly a man appeared in front of her, "Oh my! Did you get lost? How did a beggar like you end up here? By the way if I ignore your status, I can say that you are a very pretty girl." Saying this he started moving towards her. Juvia started trembling in fear "This is going in the wrong direction." She thought. Suddenly the man felt a hand on his shoulder from behind him. He turned around to see who it is. He was shocked to see Gray behind him. He sheepishly moved away from there. Gray and Juvia stood there staring at each other for a few moments and then without saying anything he turned around to leave. Juvia immediately caught his hand. Gray stood still when he felt her hands on his but turned to look at her with a blank expression. "What is it?" he asked. "Gray sama are you not happy to see Juvia? Juvia waited all these years hoping against hope to see you. Why didn't you communicate with Juvia all this time? You didn't even reply to Juvia's letters." Gray pulled his hands out of her very harshly. Juvia was shocked at this gesture of his. "Why did you even come here? Did anyone send you an invitation card? Only formal invitees are allowed in here, so just go." Tears started falling from her eyes, "Gray sama, what did Juvia do that your treating her this way?"
A girl with long black hair set with a white hair band came running towards Gray, jerked Juvia slightly to the side and hugged him. "Ultear!" Gray said hugging her back. "Gray, I've been looking forward to see since forever." Gray looked at her and said "Good to see you too Ultear." "Come on Gray, show some excitement on your face as well. You always have just one expression on your face" she pouted. Gray ignored her remarks said "I heard that Dad appointed you as my Personal Assistant." "Yes that is true, I worked with the Fullbuster Constructions for quite some time now and when there was a need to find an assistant for you, I gladly took up this opportunity and applied for it and you dad also thought that I fit this post perfectly."
Juvia was standing in the side and listening to all this conversation, it broke her heart to see Gray ignore her this way and worse give importance to another woman. She moved closer to him and slightly gripped his arm and said "Gray sama, can Juv….." before she could finish, Gray jerked his hand out of her hand and yelled "JUST GO FROM HERE JUVIA!" And then he turned to Ultear and said "let's go, we have some important things to discuss." Juvia stood there in shock as she saw them both disappearing into one of the rooms. Tears didn't stop falling from her eyes. She ran out from his home and headed straight to the orphanage. She ignored all the concerned voices in the orphanage calling out to her and ran to her room, closed the door behind her and sank to the floor, crying into her knees.