My Belittled Husband Is a Billionaire

On a full moon night, wealthy people gathered inside a palace-like house to celebrate a very important event for a very famous family. Women are wearing beautiful extravagant dresses paired with their million-dollar pearls, and men wearing expensive tuxedos and perfectly polished shoes. 

Servers were walking back and forth holding trays of food to serve the visitors. People were busy murmuring to one another while holding a glass of wine in their hands.

It was an event everyone in the business world couldn’t miss.

‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, we will witness the 100th anniversary of Lockwood Holdings! And to start the event, let us first have the son of the founder of Lockwood holdings, the son of Mr. Peter Lockwood, ladies and gentlemen, give a round of applause for Mr. Daniel Lockwood together with his wife Rachell Lockwood and their two sons, Mr. Timothy and Mr. Themis Lockwood!’

As the emcee announced, a family of four went to the stage. Just by looking at their appearance and clothes, you could immediately determine their family as the wealthiest family in the country. All the people inside the event immediately turned their heads to the family while clapping their hands.

‘They all look amazing!’

‘Their clothes must be so expensive!’

‘They are the wealthiest family in the country, no doubt!’

Everyone was astounded not only by the wealth that the family has but also by the beauty they hold. They couldn’t take their eyes off them. The father of the family was wearing a silver tuxedo while his wife was wearing a white satin dress, making her look like a queen together with her twins, who looked exactly like their father. They were about the age of five. 

The man held the mic in his hand and faced the crowd with a smile on his face. 

‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude who are here with us to celebrate our 100th anniversary. My family would like to thank all of you for working hard for the past years. And even though the late founder of our company is no longer here, the spirit of his legacy remains.’

Meanwhile, on the upper right balcony of the event's place, was a man wearing an all-black suit was holding a sniper pointed at the man who was currently speaking. No one in the crowd could notice him, for everyone was busy listening to the speaker.

‘Also, I would like all of you to meet my two sons, Themis, and Timothy. They are the future of our beloved company. As our family—

BAAM.

Before the man could even continue what he was about to say, something hit his chest which made him fall to the ground. Everyone got shocked. All of them were wondering why he suddenly fell to the ground when they didn’t even hear anything.

They only started freaking out when his wife yelled, “There’s blood! Someone shot him!”

People started running away from the stage, holding themselves to protect themselves from a gunman. Five men wearing black suits formed a circle around the family to protect them, but in less than a minute, the invisible gunman was able to shoot them all. 

The exit of the hall was filled with people trying to have their way out. They were pushing one another, trying to save their lives. 

Little did they know there were many gunmen surrounding the place. 

Before one of them could even escape the place, the gunmen started shooting every person their eyes could reach. Everyone who tried to escape lost their lives before their eyes. 

The place got filled with blood and cries from people who plead to the gunmen. 

‘Don’t kill me, please!’

‘I have a family!’

‘Don’t kill my wife!’

At the secret exit that only the Lockwood family knows, the wife and her two sons were trying to escape while their private helicopter was waiting for them outside. She was running while carrying both of her sons in both her arms. But before they could even reach the secret exit, one of the gunmen appeared behind them and shoot her right leg, which disabled her to run properly.

Another shot and she fell on both of her knees. 

‘Themis, run for your life now! Go with your brother!’ Mrs. Lockwood said to her older son who has no idea about what was happening. 

“Mommy, how about you?!”

“Just run! Run away now and save yourselves!” she yelled while trying to stay alive.

Another sound of a gunshot, and their mother bid her farewell. 

With tears streaming down their faces, the two brothers started running away. Before they could even go out through the secret exit, a couple of gunshots were heard. They were holding each other's hands while tears were running down their cheeks. The kid named Themis held his brother's hand tightly. The face of his mother lingered in his memory, but he tried to ignore it, to save his twin.

The next day, the tragic event was heard all over the world.

Themis’ POV

‘Themis, run for your life now! Go with your brother!’

My mom was trying to stand up while her own blood covered her feet. Two huge men were standing behind her holding guns. My brother and I were trying to run away when someone suddenly appeared in front of us.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Before I could even see the face of the gunmen, the whole place blacked out.

‘Run for your life now, Themis!’

“Mom! I will save you, mom!”

***

“Young master Themis, wake up! Young master!”

I opened my eyes and saw my butler looking at me with his worried face. He immediately handed me a glass of water as soon as I sat up on my bed.

“Thank you, Hansel.” I said as I took the glass of water from his hand.

“What’s the matter, young master?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. I just had the same bad dream again.”

“I see. Maybe you should book an appointment with Dr. Isabella again.” 

Hansel has been working for our family ever since we were just kids. He is a forty-year-old man now, and he’s still faithful to our family. Our parents trust him so much, and so do I.

“No, this has been happening to me ever since that day. I don’t think I would stop dreaming about something that is about what happened that night.” I said to him.

Hansel just nodded. 

I looked at him. “By the way, where is Timothy?”

“He’s already downstairs, young master. By the way, the breakfast is ready.”

“I see. I’ll just take a bath and I’ll go there after.”

“Understood, young master.” He said, then he started walking towards the door.

“By the way, Hansel.”

He turned around and looked at me again. “Make sure that everyone, including all the maids and butlers, will eat with us. I have something to tell all of you.”

Hansel nodded. “Y-Yes, young master."

After taking a bath, I proceeded to the dining hall and saw all of them sitting at the long table, including my twin brother, Timothy. 

“Hey brother, what’s with you today? Why did you ask all of us to eat our dinner together?” he enthusiastically asked me.

Timothy and I are identical twins. You can't really tell who is among us if you don't know our individualities. I love reading books, cooking, doing clerical work, and singing while Timothy loves goofing around, dancing, playing sports, and flirting with women. Also, the only thing that differentiates us from one another is the location of our birthmarks.

I sat in my seat and looked at all of them. “Let’s eat.”

Without asking any questions, they obeyed what I said. 

I was just glancing at them while eating, gathering my voice as I finally spoke. “All of you, listen carefully.”

They raised their heads up and darted their gaze toward me. It was so obvious that they'd been waiting for me to speak. I always eat alone after them since I always have to do office work, so it really surprised them that I invited them to eat breakfast with me when I barely do it.

“We all know that it’s been twenty years now. It’s been twenty years now since Timothy and I started hiding from the people outside to protect the family from the enemies. It’s been twenty years since we lost our mom and dad. And I still dream about them, every single night. What happened back then still haunts me even now. And I think the reason I always dream about them is that mom and dad want me to take revenge on those people who killed them. To the people who destroyed our family.”

“W-What do you mean, brother? D-Don’t tell me you’re planning to attack the enemies and sacrifice yourself? No way, I won't agree with you. Look, we already lost our parents. What do you think will happen if you do that stupid plan?! No one’s going to be left in this family anymore!”

“It’s not the type of vengeance that you think, Tim. I will pretend to be someone, then little by little, I will find the people who killed mom and dad.”

Timothy shook his head. “Then what if they find out about who you really are? Then they’ll kill you! Do you even understand what I mean, Themis?!”

“We can’t hide forever, Tim. And we will never get to give justice to our mom and dad if we don’t do something. I promise I will be very careful, and I will never ever disappoint you. I will never let our parents down. That is why I need all of you to trust me.”

“But sir…” Stella, the oldest maid, started crying, so I stood up and walked toward her.

“Stella, I will trust you to take care of the house while I am not around. Can I trust you with that?”

She hesitated at first, but later on, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at me. “Y-Yes, sir. But promise us you’ll come back alive.”

“I promise.”

“I will go with you.” Timothy suddenly said. “If you want to take avenge for our mom and dad, then I will go with you.”

I shook my head. “Timothy, I need you to stay here to protect what remains for us. I need you to continue running our company just like what mom and dad told us when we were just kids. In that way, you will be a big help.”

“But Them---

“I trust you, my brother.”

He looked away. “Fine. You are so hardheaded. You always do what you want, anyway.”

“Thank you so much. Everyone, do your best as you always do. Protect our family and I promise to go back here when everything’s finally alright again. I promise that when I go back here, we will celebrate victory and we won’t have to hide anymore.”

No one spoke for a while. So, I took a deep breath.

"I am doing this for our family. I will protect all of you no matter what happens."