Bella sluggishly made her way down the stairs, hiding the packet of cigarettes she wanted to smoke in the pocket of her hoodie. Everything was just like it happened the previous year; nothing really changed.
"Good morning," she greeted and took a seat beside her grandfather.
"Happy birthday, baby," her mother wished with a smile and placed a peck on her cheek, but Bella could see right through that smile. Her mother wasn't happy; she just pretended to be for her sake.
"It's time to make a wish before breakfast is served, and I promise to fulfill whatever you wish for," GP said with a smile.
Now that she was well aware of what was going to happen in the future, she wasn't going to make the same wish she made the previous year, which played a major role in destroying her life.
"GP," she called with a calm voice.
"I... I wish to take total control of the family business and bring it to great heights... I wish to become powerful, so powerful that only the mentioning of my name would drive fear into people... I want to become the first mafia queen," Bella said as the air suddenly turned tense, and her demeanor became even darker, which sent chills down the spines of both the elders sitting at the table.
"Bella dear, what type of wish is that? Your father…"
"I've warned everyone about calling that imbecile my father," she retorted in anger.
"No matter what he is, he is still your father, Bella, and you should respect that," Anabelle roared, trying to reason with her sixteen-year-old daughter.
"Well, instead of him wanting respect from me, why don't you ask your stupid husband to respect his ass and stop showcasing his mistress?" Bella scoffed and stood to her feet.
"GP, I've told you my wish, and I hope to see it come true... until then, I would want everyone to respect my decision... and I mean everyone," she said, not breaking her eye contact with her mother before making her way towards the bar.
"Just in case another bottle is missing, know I was the one who took it, GP," she said, grabbing herself a bottle of whiskey.
"Bella, I've warned you about this newfound habit of yours."
"Blah... blah... blah, and I hear nothing," she said in a song-like manner, not minding what her mother was saying.
The old man who witnessed this scene unfold could not stop wondering what made his granddaughter change so much, but he actually felt relieved seeing this new side of her as it was high time someone took his excuse of a son to task.
[You shouldn't be so rude to your mother; she wasn't among the people who caused your pain,] Bella heard the system say, but she just ignored it and continued drinking her drink as she took a stroll.
She knew her mother very well, and even if her father committed a murder, she would still try to save him from facing the punishment. So being rude to her was the only way to make her understand.
[Also, your mother is right. If you continue smoking and drinking, you'll develop a health issue.]
"If you want to become my mum and start scolding me, then you can get the hell out of my head, okay, and…"
*Ding*
Bella was interrupted by a loud ding sound, which made her head throb badly.
"What the hell was that?" she screamed.
[Potential target nearby... just a few kilometers away and needs help,] the system said.
"Excuse me?" Bella said, confused as she was still trying to get used to the fact that she's never going to be alone.
[Run,]she heard Butterfly say.
"To where?"
[Just run.]
On hearing this, Bella took to her feet. She was still unaware of where she was headed, but since the motherfucker in her head asked her to run, she complied.
"Hmm... Butterfly, where exactly am I headed?" she questioned, catching her breath when suddenly a huge screen popped up in front of her.
[Oops, can't believe I forgot to tell you about this.]
"What?"
[I'll explain more of this later; as of now, just know you're the green dot, and the red is our potential target.]
"So it's like a map?"
[Sort of.]
Bella suddenly became unsure of trusting this so-called system, but still, she followed the map. She began doubting if the system was really going to help her or maybe ruin her completely.
She got to where the map led her just to find a familiar figure standing by the cliff, charging to make a jump.
Kiara!
She suddenly recognized the lone wolf in her class, but she couldn't help but wonder why she wanted to end her life.
Still clueless on what to do, she took a sip from her bottle of alcohol when suddenly an idea popped into her head.
"Here, you should drink this before jumping..." she strolled lazily towards her and made a quick estimation of the height.
"With this kind of height, I doubt you'll die... you'll just have some internal injuries and broken bones... but with this..." she pulled her to the other end of the cliff.
"You are surely going to die, baby girl," she said with a lazy smile.
[I don't think that you should be encouraging her to make a jump,] Butterfly warned.
"Just shut up and let me do it my way, okay," Bella mumbled and removed her hood, revealing some of the scars she got as a result of being beaten by her father.
"What do you want?" The girl asked.
"Just come with me, and I'll make sure you get enough power to get back at those who hurt you," Bella said, her eyes darkening, and her aura suddenly became more chilling, sending fear into the girl.
["You surely aren't going to regret this decision.]