C1 Joe Knight

After a discouraging phone call with his son Ethan, the future of the Knight family business hangs by a thread.

With only a few months left until Joe's retirement, Ethan was refusing to take on the responsibility of running the family business. Instead, he had chosen a military career, leaving Joe frustrated and worried. Joe had allowed Ethan to follow his own path, hoping he would eventually change his mind. However, it seemed like Ethan's determination to pursue a military career was unwavering.

Joe decided he needed a distraction, so he planned an early morning jog through the forest and all the way back to his house to clear his mind. As he searched his room for appropriate sportswear, he realized that his wardrobe was filled only with designer suits and business attires. It was a stark reminder of how he had devoted his entire life to Knights Enterprises, the family-owned company specializing in robotics engineering and security.

The company's success was a result of generations of Knight family dedication and innovation, and Joe had assumed responsibility as the CEO of the Company for 39 years. Now, Joe wanted to pass the company to his son, Ethan, just as his father had done for him. However, Ethan's stubbornness was causing a rift.

Ethan would have nothing to do with the family business, he didn't even mind if the company went to his foster elder brother, Mike, who had wholeheartedly embraced the business and rose to the envied position of a Board Executive.

Joe knowing fully well that the rest of the extended family would raise an eyebrow had begun to put plans in place to ensure that Mike inherits the family business upon his retirement .

He had even contacted his lawyer to begin the necessary paperwork for Mike to inherit the company, despite potential objections from other family members. But Thelma, his wife, intervened, urging her husband to hold off on the legal formalities. She believed she could use her motherly influence to help Ethan see reason, and she was determined to prevent a feud from tearing the family apart.

Joe's quest for sportswear in his own closet proved futile, so he decided to venture into his son Mike's room to find some. Mike, a dedicated sports enthusiast, was known for his daily routines of stretches, yoga, and, most notably, jogging through the picturesque forest path that wound around their estate and back to their Mansion. Gently, Joe pushed open the door to Mike's room, revealing his son sound asleep.

Mike's long, tousled maroon hair lay scattered across his sheets, a striking resemblance to Joe himself, from their shared long maroon locks down to their identical 5'9" statues.

A casual observer might have easily mistaken them for twins and Ethan, who was tall and dark-haired, as the family's outlier, given the fact he looked nothing like his mother or father. Joe and Thelma had welcomed Mike into their lives when he was a rosy-cheeked one-year-old from a foster home; he was adorable and seemed tailor-made for their family.

They had nurtured and cared for him for all 27 years he had been with them. Joe's gaze honed in on an ash-colored tracksuit in Mike's drawer, and he carefully retrieved it. To his surprise, it slid onto him with ease, a testament to their matching physiques. With the borrowed sportswear in place, Joe left Mike's room, exited the house, and stepped into the invigorating embrace of the cool morning breeze.

The city of Silver Square was just beginning to stir as the first rays of dawn painted the sky in hues of orange and pink. Joe Knight made sure he laced up his running properly before he began jogging. The forest path wound through towering trees and lush greenery, a world far removed from the corporate battlegrounds Joe had known for nearly four decades.

He couldn't shake off the weight of recent events. His son Ethan's stubborn refusal to take over Knights Enterprises had created a deep rift in the family and he pondered on his next course of action if this last attempt by his wife Thelma, to talk some sense to his son failed.

As Joe jogged deeper into the forest, his mind was racing, a jumble of hopes and fears for the future of the family and the company.

Unbeknownst to him, a malevolent force lurked in the shadows. The masked figure, dressed in black, was gripped by nervous tension despite the cool morning air. Squinting, they tightened their grip on a firearm as they spotted the running figure dressed in his ash-colored tracksuit, approaching along the winding road. It played out exactly as they had anticipated.

The runner followed this route daily, a fact the masked figure was well aware of. The masked figure couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the runner. Reluctantly, they had concluded that this action was necessary, and circumstances had left them with no other choice.

The runner had unwittingly become an obstacle, entirely unaware of the role he played. Recent developments had made this moment unavoidable, the runner had to be eliminated. With a deep sigh, the masked figure pulled the trigger.

A single, deafening gunshot shattered the serenity. Time itself seemed to freeze, as if the forest held its breath, mourning the impending tragedy.The gunshot pierced Joe's chest like a thunderbolt unleashed from the heavens.

The world around him blurred and the symphony of nature's morning songs turned discordant. He crumpled to the ground, his life force bleeding into the earth.

Each labored breath was an agonizing echo of the gunshot, a painful reminder of the violence that had disrupted the peace of the City.

As life ebbed out of him Joe frantically fought to keep his eyes open but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. He could feel death envelope him in a gentle embrace, her fingers gently caressing him softly as he took his last breath