The revelation left Lorena temporarily speechless. She then remembered something from the novel. The novel said that Zachary had trust issues and didn't like people speaking in his name. Rarely ever did he send someone out to transact a deal, it was him in person. The only exception was her, but only after a few years of gaining his trust. Even then, he only brought her and stood to the side. He was like a guard, carefully observing everything and looking for anything suspicious.
This behavior mainly came from this twisted and fucked up family.
The Garrula Family was a powerhouse, no doubt about it. They had a say in most of what went on in the continent. Their personnel was everywhere. And when she said everywhere, she meant everywhere. It took three years to root out all of the lackeys of the Garrula family where Zachary set up his organization. It's also the main reason why he hadn't spread his roots faster. None of the Garrula family know Zachary is the head of the Sol. Nobody does, in fact. Only the female lead because, well, she's the FL.
The Garrula family, back to them. They completely destroyed what little confidence Zachary had as a child. The eldest, Reina Garrula, was a business genius. No doubt about it. She opened the most famous clothing store in the capital when she was only 12. Nobody else knows it, but she also owns most of the taverns and inns in the capital and in other major cities. So she also knows about anyone and everything. Every rumor, every official, every slander, she knows about.
Being such a bright star, everyone naturally assumed Zachary would be a business genius as well. But he wasn't. That was only because of the standards they measured him by. They assumed he was going to be exactly like Reina. Talented, gifted, witty, aggressive, the list could go on. But he wasn't. Zachary, by nature, was quiet and reserved. He liked to be alone in his thoughts. Sure, he acted cocky and arrogant in front of other people, but that was his facade. A very carefully crafted one at that.
Some ridiculed him. Some ignored him. Others took advantage of him. Namely, the oppressed servants. The Garrula family naturally had high expectations for their servants. They expected them to be perfect, but they weren't. Nobody was. This led to servants getting berated and yelled at on a regular basis. Naturally, hatred emerged in their hearts, and that hatred got taken out on young Zachary. He was the weak link.
They never physically hurt him, people would notice too fast if a single scratch were to be seen. The servants that were parents would let their children befriend Zachary, and then they would make sure the children took advantage of him. Namely his wealth. Once they got bored, or he got too clingy, they would leave. One after another they would come and leave, and pretty soon, Zachary became cold. Guarded. While this was happening, the other servants made sure to emphasize how much of a failure he was. As if the other family members hadn't expressed their disappointment in him already.
The thing with the Garrula family, was that they didn't get rid of their weak links, they would ignore them. Out of sight out of mind. It wasn't until Raymond caught a servant yelling at Zachary did that start to turn around. Raymond took pity on the poor boy and brought him under his wing. All of the servants who bullied him, who were found out after careful observation, were promptly fired and disposed of quietly by him. He then started to rebuild what little confidence Zachary had left.
He raised him, single-handedly, from the dark depths Zachary was plunged into. Raymond was more of a father than Arthur Garrula, his actual father. Arthur was too preoccupied with giving his little queen attention to bother with the useless son of his. Little by little, Raymond opened Zachary's heart to him. But that was only to him. He was cold and indifferent to anybody else. Too hurt to believe he could be loved, too afraid to be used to rely on other people. He gradually associated help with weakness. If you were strong, you didn't need help. The strong made their own decisions.
As he grew up, Zachary saw what information could do to people. Tons of powerful and influential people had fallen at the hands of people who had it. He witnessed Raymond gather it and his father use it. After trial and error, he found out how to gather it himself. People gravitated towards bright people. So he would be bright. He would be confident, he would be arrogant, he would be reliable, and he would be ruthless. And he would never let anyone in, he would never let anyone see if they got to him. Because that was being weak.
Once he secured his base in a city nearby, he left. This was when he was 17-years-old. Arthur was surprised but didn't care. He told everybody that he had cut ties with him because he was too weak. Too cowardly. Too soft. And just not comparable to his sister. So he didn't need him. Zachary, of course, knew what his father was telling people, but didn't really care. The day would come where he would show them all just how capable he was. How strong he was.
That was when he met Lorena. He had just left his house and was taking the back alleys to get to his base when he heard a noise. He went to go investigate and found a 13-year-old girl running away from three rough guys. The second he saw her, he saw himself. A weak, young kid, wanting nothing more than to be left alone. Wanting to be strong enough to beat them all. Wanting to be good enough.
But then she did something unexpected. She became strong. Or maybe she always was? He didn't know. She managed to grab a gun from one of his guards and aim it at them. That's when he realized, she wasn't like he was. No, she was just like his was now. A fighter. You could only gain by recruiting a fighter. So he did.