Seven Chapter 6
GREED: Rufus
By Asyria
Greed is an excessive or rapacious desire for wealth or possessions.
Rufus was raised in a life of luxury. Never having a wanting gone unfulfilled. Never a possession not had. Everyone knew him, the son of the president. Rufus Shinra, the snobby, spoiled, heir of Shinra Inc. Even with having everything he could ever want, it still wasn't enough. Even having the entire planet at his fingertips, he wanted more. He needed more.
His mother, Claire, had tried to keep her son honest. To keep him virtuous and humane. Claire Shinra would tell her son that all were not as fortunate as themselves. That he should take pity on those who struggled in the slums below and that his future job as president would be to aid those people. To help the needy and the poor. To make life better, and to make Midgar a better place to live in.
"Your father isn't a bad man, Rufus. He just…isn't a very good president. But you will be, son! You can help people and make mommy proud!"
But her hopes and dreams for Rufus had died with her. Rufus had lost his mother to an incurable cancer at the age of nine. From then on, Harold Shinra took over the molding and raising of Rufus.
"People don't trust a caring president, Rufus. Just watch your daddy and you'll learn all you need to know."
So he watched his father inattentively. Not only learning from his father, but wanting. Wanting all the riches and glory of the presidency. He wanted to be smarter than his father. He wanted more than his father had. And he wanted to be better. These things he craved. Rufus asked his father to send him to all the best schools, with all the best teachers.
Rufus had grown up all too quickly. By the age of seventeen, he was already the man his father wanted him to be. Cold, cruel, intelligent, and power hungry. Harold Shinra sent his son away to college, so that when Rufus returned, the presidency would be waiting for him.
"I plan on retiring when you return from college, Rufus. But I'll always be here to help you."
But this is not what had turned Rufus' heart to stone. This is not what filled his heart with greed. It was not getting the one thing in life, which he'd wanted the most. A woman named Grace.
A beautiful young woman, with whom he shared a few classes. Grace was everything he could ever want in a woman. Large emerald eyes that sparkled with intellect, long reddish-blond hair that hung in spiral curls around her pale, freckled face, and a cheery, outgoing demeanor that reminded him of his mother. Rufus had built up the courage to speak to her. Thinking that she would in no way refuse him. Why wouldn't she? He was a rich, handsome, future president of a large corporation. Any girl would die for a chance with him. That's what his father had told him anyway.
"That's very sweet, Rufus. I would love to, but I'm in love with someone already."
That someone turned out to be a nobody from Casa del Sol who was attending their college on scholarship. Rufus was heartbroken, yet it did not kill his determination to have her. He still perused her, relentlessly. His love for Grace had been accused to be obsession, with his phone calls, letters, and bouquets of expensive flowers.
"Grace, this is Rufus. Please, return my calls. You must know that I love you! I can take care of you, for the rest of your life. You'll never have to worry about anything, ever."
Rufus had even gone so far in his obsession to get the man she was dating expelled from the school. He was proud of himself, thinking that Grace would now see that Rufus was the better choice. His plan backfired, for Grace dropped out of school to elope with her boyfriend. Rufus never saw her again.
Rufus returned home to Midgar, learning and assessing of events during his college years. Patiently waiting for the time that his father would announce his stepping down. He didn't have to wait long, when his father was murdered and his place as president of Shinra Inc. assured. From that day, Rufus had sworn he would always get what he wanted. Never again would he be rejected. Never again to be denied. Never to be passed up for something better.
Because he would be the best.
Rufus Shinra.
You have been found guilty of one of the seven deadly sins.
Greed.
Prepare to burn.
.