The sleek black car pulled up the driveway. A man with white hair, a trimmed moustache and a black suit, walked towards the back door and opened it.
From inside, a girl stepped out. Her hair was short cut below her jaw, giving her naturally soft face a sharp look. Her boyish style made her look very much like a young boy than a young lady.
A row of men in black suits and wearing glasses, stood parallel to one another.
" Welcome back young miss!"
They shouted in unison.
Mio sighed as she walked passed the men, already feeling stifled. She was back home, back to the place she so desperately avoided.
As she walked in a maid appeared and bowed in greeting " Young miss", she said.
Mio's eyes narrowed as far she knew, before she left this house there were no female staff.
' Something' s changed' she thought.
" Where is my father?" Mio asked.
The maid lowered her head.
" He is in the study young miss. Would you like me to guide you?"
" I know where it is," Mio said walking away and directly to the office.
There was a fit of bubbling anger residing in her chest being in this house. The only reason she returned was that her father had mentioned an arranged marriage.
Mio did not want to marry.
She returned home with the intention to face her father and challenge the marriage.
Once she reached the office she opened the door and walked in.
Inside was her father and a woman.
Mio was surprised but of course, did not show it.
" Father," she said and the two individuals looked at her.
Her father coughed whilst the woman looked at Mio wide-eyed.
She was dressed in red with her bosom nearly spilling out. Her hair was long and sleek and Mio thought that she was a really slutty woman.
" Mio, you're early," her father said.
" Yes," Mio responded her gaze shifting over to the woman buttoning up her shirt.
The woman awkwardly smiled and left.
Mio walked directly to her father, looked into his eyes and said.
" What is this about a marriage? "
Her father sighed.
" You're grandfather sure left us a surprise when he died" he began.
" A day your grandfather died, there was a letter in his will. The letter was of a marriage agreement but I thought nothing of it since it was made when he was still young. But, a few weeks ago…" he trailed off shifting in his seat.
Mio sat down and gestured for him to continue. She wanted to hear the whole story before giving her father a reason why she shouldn't get married.
" The Deeks clan approached us… claiming we uphold the end of the marriage bargain"
Mio sat back pursing her lips. She closed her eyes, digesting the information and breathed out. Her previous calm demeanour shook.
" The Deeks? Why?"
" Your grandfather and the head used to be friends, before the war. They made an agreement back in the day. That one day their family would be one".
A knock at the door broke the tension and the maid from earlier walked in.
In her hands was a tray of sandwiches and tea.
She placed it down on the desk and bowed.
" Thank you, Tina, you may leave," said her father as Mio looked at him.
He seemed to have aged since she last saw him and was thinner than before. The age seemed to seep out from his soul and she could see the worry in his eyes.
" And if we don't uphold the agreement?"
" They'll wipe us out," he said despairingly.
Mio shot out from her chair " But that unreasonable!"
Her father nodded in agreement " That's not the only reason they want this marriage. The clan's in the south are unifying and the Deeks are finding them harder to handle. They want to unify with the uninvolved clans to gain more power and surprise the others"
" So they used the marriage as an excuse".
" Yes".
Mio paced back and forth biting her lip.
This was not a good situation. If she didn't go through with this marriage her entire clan would be exterminated as collateral in the gang wars.
If she did go through with it, it would be against her own will.
Milo breathed out heavily feeling like all her dreams had been crushed.
She turned around facing her old man and said.
" I will do it"
" Mio-"
" But it's not for you. It's for everyone else." with that she walked out of the office, feeling like she needed some fresh air.
Mio walked through the house to the back gardens and stood under basking underneath the sunlight. She used to love this place when she was younger and smiled back thinking back to a time when things were simpler.
As she walked through the garden she saw a tire held up by a string attached to a tree and smiled.
She and some of the men, who were like brothers to her had hung it up when she was five.
Mio remembered all the fun times she had and how as the only lady in the house, she got away with murder.
There was even a time when Mio had run out of the house with a bag of water balloons. When some very important people arrived she had unleashed the water balloons on them.
Being young and naive she never realised the severity of her actions. Until that night when the guests left, she walked passed her father's office and saw two men.
Brother Hong and Long who looked after her as their sister and had helped her fill the water balloons that day. They were kneeling before her father, who looked so cold that Mio shivered just from looking in his eyes.
" You were supposed to watch her," he said and Long and Hong whimpered.
" We are sorry Boss," they said.
" Yes. You are-"
After that Izzy watched as they were beaten and held her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming.
Her naivety vanished that day.
She remained on her best behaviour and after some research discovered who her 'family' really was.
She never thought that is was strange to have so many men in the house, but later discovered that they were a gang.
Once Mio was old enough she left the house vowing never to return.
However, it seemed fate would not allow her to escape. Mio laughed at how she had assumed escaping her ties to the mafia would be easy.
She sat on the tire and swung back and forth until she heard a voice.
" Miss" it was a gruff voice and Mio turned around.
" Hong! Long!" she exclaimed, " You're still alive!".