A/N: I'm excited about this story. Brey is kinda different from my other male lead characters so stay tuned guys! I hope you like this story :)

Brey's POV

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Mr. Brey Austin Carter!" the loud voice of the host echoed throughout the four corners of the hall. I felt so happy and proud of myself because I managed to win the contest. Out of 50 schools across the country, I was the one who became the champion of that national math quiz bee.

I stood up from my seat and went up the stage. They presented me my awards such as medals and a trophy accompanied by a cash prize.

"Congratulations, Mr. Carter. You did a good job" one of the sponsors of that event said and shook hands with me.

"Thank you" I said happily.

After the picture taking, I ran towards my grandmother who was proudly smiling at me.

"Grandma, look. I won!" I said cheerfully and handed her my prices.

"Congratulations, my dear. I knew that you'd win this contest" she hugged me tightly.

"Thank you, grandma" I said and then looked around us, looking for a particular person.

"W-Where is mom?" I asked my grandmother while my eyes continued searching for my mother. The smile on her face disappeared instantly.

"She...didn't come" my grandma muttered hesitantly. The happiness that I was feeling instantly faded away upon hearing what she said. My shoulders slumped down and couldn't help but to get hurt and fell disappointed. Why did I even expect for her to come anyway? I chuckled bitterly. What else is new?

I felt my grandmother's hand on my shoulder.

"Don't be sad, B. You should be happy because you won. C'mon. Let's go to our favorite restaurant and celebrate. I'll treat you because you made me so proud of you" I looked at my grandmother tenderly. Thankfully, I have her. She and mu grandpa were the only ones who've been there for me since I was a baby.

My mother got married when I was still 6 years old and left me to the care of my grandparents to move in with her husband. Since then, my grandmother was the one who raised me together with my grandfather. But unfortunately, my grandpa already passed away 5 years ago.

"Thank you for always being there for me, grandma. You're the best" I said. She smiled and then cupped my face lovingly.

"Of course. You're my one and only grandson" I kissed her forehead and hugged her again.

Later on, we went out of the quiz bee hall and went to our favorite restaurant. My grandparents used to bring me there a lot because it's a family restaurant. I enjoyed eating there a lot ever since I was a kid because there was an indoor playground where I could play with the other kids.

I had a lot of beautiful memories there as a kid. I was loved by my grandparents but there were times that I seek for parents' love especially a mother's affection.

I mentally shook my head and shoved away those sad thoughts from my head.

My grandmother and I celebrated my achievement and I managed to forget the fact that my mother didn't even come to watch me at the national quiz be competition.

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I looked at the big house in front of me. I swallowed hard before I gingerly pressed the doorbell. It's already been three days since the competition but I haven't heard anything from my mother. I looked at paper bag that I was holding. I even brought all the medals and trophy that they awarded me at the contest because I wanted her to see them personally.

Maybe, she would be proud of me if she saw it.

"Yes? What do you want?" the guard asked me while looking at me from head to toe.

"I'm here to see Mrs. Liza Morgan" his eyebrows creased.

"What do you need from her?" the guard looked at me full of suspicion. Well, I couldn't blame him. He looked new as a guard in the Morgan's mansion and he haven't met me yet. Well, it's not that I come over at my mother's house often.

"I'm her son, Brey. Can I see her?" he looked surprised.

"She's not home yet. I'm sorry but I can't let you in. They instructed me not to let any strangers inside. I'm just doing my job" he said. I nodded my head.

"Okay. I'll just wait for her here" I answered and then sat on the side of the road, near the gate. I waited for about an hour when a beautiful sleek black car stopped in front of the gate. I quickly stood up and approached the car. The window rolled down and I saw my mom.

"H-Hi, mom"

"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to come here whenever you want?" I couldn't help but to get hurt hearing her words. I mentally shook the pain away and then forced a smile.

"I just came here to tell you something" I tried to sound okay. She huffed and then shook her head.

"Fine. You only have 5 minutes. Tony and Juno are on their way home. You know that they can't see you here" her voice held firmness before she drove her car passed the gates. I followed her car. I walked until I reached the front of the huge mansion. She was already waiting for me while looking at her watch.

"So, why did you come here?" she asked me without even looking at my direction. She opened her bag while asking me.

My heart tightened painfully because of her cold treatment but I persevered. I opened the paper bag that I was holding because I wanted to show her my medals and trophy when she spoke again.

"Here. Take this and go home. I don't want Tony to see you here again" I looked at what she's giving me and saw that it was a check worth $2000. I was about to speak when another car stopped a couple of meters away from us and Tony, my mother's husband, came out of it.

He was looking at me with obvious displeasure on his face.

"What is he doing here? I already told you that I don't want him coming here in my house!" he hissed at my mother without caring if I could hear him.

"You don't have to be upset. You know that it's not good for you to get angry like this. He's already leaving"

"He should be! I don't want Juno seeing him here! You promised that we're your family now so you should keep your words. You should focus on Juno and me instead of other people" he said as he threw me a distaste look.

"You should leave now, Brey. Next time, just call me if you need money" she said as she took my hand and handed me the check.

"But, mom---"

"You already have what you came here for. Get out" Tony interrupted me sharply while looking at me like I was a pest that he needed to exterminate.

I was about to insist on talking to my mother when I heard someone squealed.

"Mommy!" I looked at the one who squealed and I saw a little girl around 11 or 12 years old. She just came out of the car and now running towards them happily. I've already seen her a couple of times. She's the step-daughter of my mother. Tony was a widow with a 2 year old daughter when they got married.

She hugged my mother happily. My mother hugged her back and then kissed her cheeks. Even though I didn't want to, my heart clenched painfully of the sight that I was witnessing in front of me. I couldn't recall her being affectionate to me like that ever since I was a kid.

"Look at my test results, mommy! I got a perfect score in most of them except math and science. But I only have 1 mistake in each of them" she said proudly while showing her test papers to my mother.

"Wow! You did a great job, sweetie. What do you want as a reward?" my mother asked. I didn't even realized that my firsts were already balled tightly that I crumpled the check in my hand. The little girl was about to answer when her eyes went to me. She has tantalizing forest green eyes and her eyebrows were creased while looking at me curiously.

"Mom, he's your nephew, right?" she asked my mother. My eyebrows knitted together and looked at my mom, silently asking for explanation. She evaded my gaze.

"Yes, baby. He's her nephew. Why don't we go inside and eat the cake that I bought for you?" Tony answered to his daughter.

"Daddy bought me a cake. You can come eat with us if you want" the girl offered me innocently and that made me smile bitterly.

"No, baby. His house is far from here so he needs to go home now" Tony said and then gave me a look as if telling me to get lost.

Because of so much emotions that I was feeling, I threw the crumpled check on the ground before I hurriedly walked away from them. I was gritting my teeth the whole time. I wanted to fly into a fit of rage. I wanted to scream in so much frustration.

When the gate closed behind me, I turned around and looked at the big mansion in front of me with so much rage in my chest.

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4 months have passed after that and I've never heard anything from my mother since then. I tried my best to forget about what happened and just concentrated on my studies. Summer vacation is just around the corner and after that, I would attend senior high school.

"Hey, we're going to Lester's house to hang out. Come with us" my classmate Justin said after our class. I looked at my wrist watch and saw that it was already 4:30 pm.

"I can't. I need to go home early today" I answered and then took my bag from my seat.

"Again? You're always like that. You don't have to be so serious all the time, you know? Melanie is coming with us too. This is your chance, man" he said. I was tempted to go because I wanted to be with Melanie, my crush, but I couldn't.

"Next time, man. My grandma is sick that's why I need to go home now" he nodded his head and then patted me on my shoulder.

"I understand" he said. I walked out of our classroom in a hurry. I tried calling my grandma's number but she wasn't picking it up. I was already panicking inside but I didn't want to think negatively. I went home as fast as I could. I opened the door and my world crumbled down when I saw my grandmother on the floor, unconscious. I tried waking her up but she wasn't responding.

I quickly called an ambulance and while we're on our way to the hospital, they were trying their best to revive her.

I was already crying. I hate crying but this time, I couldn't hold my tears back.

"Grandma, you're all I have. Please, don't leave me too" I cried while holding her hand. When we arrived at the hospital, they attended to my grandmother while I waited outside the emergency for I didn't know how long.

When the doctor came out, I quickly approached him.

"How's my grandma, doctor?" he looked at me sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, but your grandma didn't make it. She had a severe heart attack and her heart already gave up" I felt like my world came to an end in an instant. I felt like everything became silent and the world stopped revolving. My whole body went numb and I couldn't hear anything other than the fast and hard beating of my heart. Then I felt the incomparable pain slowly slicing my heart bit by bit.

Tears were kept on falling from my eyes as I slowly walked inside the room where my grandma was. When I saw her lifeless body, I punched the wall with all my might as I screamed. I felt like my heart was about to explode.

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After the interment of my grandmother, I didn't know what to do. I was left alone and didn't have anyone. I tried calling my mother a lot of times but she wasn't answering me at all. She came during the burial and interment of my grandmother but after that, she never came back.

Then the enrollment for senior year came and I didn't have enough money to enroll. I've been trying my best to find a part-time job for students but I was out of luck because I couldn't find one. Then I didn't have a choice, I went to my mother's house to seek for her help.

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Morgan is busy right now" the guard said.

"Please, I really need to talk to her. Tell her that it's Brey, her son" I begged him. He shook his head.

"I already said that but she told me to tell you not to come here anymore" I couldn't help but to feel mad.

"All I'm asking is 5 minutes of her time!"

"I already told you, she can't face you right now because they're busy. Their flight is----" I didn't hear the rest of what he's saying because I saw my mother came out of the house followed by Tony and his daughter. Then I noticed the suitcases that their driver was putting inside the compartment of the car.

"Where are they going? Are they going for a vacation?"

"No. They're going to leave for Greece. Apparently, they bought a bigger house there" the guard informed me. Panic rose within me.

"Mom!" I tried getting her attention from outside the gate but she didn't hear me because they already got inside the car.

"Get out of the way. They're coming and I'm going to open the gate" the guard said. I stepped on the side as the gate opened. When the car passed through the gates, I blocked their way to get their attention and I succeeded because the driver stopped the car.

Then, Tony came out of the car, furious.

"What are you doing in here again?! I already told you not to step foot on my property, right?!" he yelled at me angrily but I ignored him.

"Mom, please. I need to talk to you" I pleaded in a loud voice for her to hear me.

"Why you---" Tony was about to push me when my mother came out of the car.

"That's enough, Tony. I'll handle this. Just go back inside the car" she said. Tony gave me a death glare before he went back inside.

"Mom, is it true that you're going to leave for Greece?" I asked. She heaved a sigh.

"Brey, can't you really understand a word that I say to you? I already told you a lot of times not to come here. Call me when you need anything---"

"---I've been calling you but you weren't answering me!" I answered in frustration.

"I've been busy lately. Anyway, to answer your question; yes, we're going to relocate to Greece" I looked at her with disbelief.

"Y-You're going to leave me here alone?" she didn't answer while remaining staring at me.

"What about me, mom? Did you even think about me even once before you made that decision?" she took a deep breath and then took out something from her bag. Just like the usual, it was a check. She wrote on it.

"Take this and go. We have a flight to catch" she said while handing the check worth $10,000. Yes, I came to ask her for a financial help but deep within me, I was expecting for her to at least ask me if I was okay after what happened to my grandmother; if I was eating properly or maybe ask me to just live with her now that I was left alone. Well, why did I even expect something like those things? I asked myself bitterly.

Since I was a kid, I couldn't even recall being with her on the important occasions in my life. I've never even experienced being with her during Christmas, New Years and my birthdays. She never even greeted me even just for once during my birthdays.

"Why are you doing this to me, mom? I'm your son, right? That girl is not even your real daughter but you love her. What about me? I'm your real child, your flesh and blood!" I voiced out full of resentment. I saw guilt flooded her face but it disappeared right away.

"I don't have time for this. Just call me when you need money. Don't worry, I'll still support you until you finish college" she said without any emotions on her face and then took my hand and forced me to accept the check.

I couldn't hold back the single tear that escape my eye as she turned her back on me. I gritted my teeth as rage began rising inside my chest. I wiped my eyes angrily as I watched the car getting away from me until it disappeared from my sight.

I clenched my fists tightly and as I walked away from there, I was staring at the check that she left me while promising myself not to ask for anything from her anymore. I only have myself and I need to be strong to survive and be successful so that I could show her that she made a mistake of leaving me.

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How's the prologue guys? 

What is your first impression of Brey? 

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