"What took you so long? I have waited for you all night; I thought I would never see you again!" Nick exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice. He had been anxiously pacing back and forth after breaking apart from his hug, his face filled with worry and uncertainty.
My lips forced a weak smile as I tried to calm my nerves. My hand started to tremble more as it itched to strike him with my Swiss knife. He tried to kill William, and he lied to me. He f*king lied to me about not trying to harm Ferine.
"I..." I took a deep gulp of air, trying to steady my racing heart. "I...was held and was being interrogated for being your accomplice!" I finally managed to say, my voice laced with a mix of anger and hurt. But deep down, a part of me still longed for the connection we once started to have, despite the betrayal.
"What? That is too much. I am innocent!" He exclaimed, his voice filled with disbelief. "I would never harm Ferine or anyone else for that matter. You have to believe me!" His eyes pleaded for my trust, but the hatred lingered, overwhelming in my mind. I struggled to decide whether to give him the benefit of the doubt or cut ties completely. Since everyone had already assumed he was dead, I might as well finish him as I planned in the beginning anyway.
My brows furrowed as I grappled with the conflicting emotions swirling inside me. The evidence against him was damning, but his desperate plea tugged at my heartstrings. As I weighed my options, a sudden realization struck me: perhaps there was more to this story than met the eye, but it was enough for me to believe that he was playing tricks on me.
Argh! This is bull*s*t! I'll just kill him.
I slid the Swiss knife inside the back of the waistband of my pants and extended my hands to reach him for a hug while I remained silent. After killing him, it would just be like doing everyone a favor, even myself. Even though I am just a victim of unusual circumstances, he still owes me my misfortunes.
However, he refused my hug and looked at me with a mixture of confusion and concern. "What's wrong with you?"
I withdrew my arms and returned the cold look I was trying to hold back in order not to notice it, but he still managed to.
"You did notice that there was something wrong! That's nice! I guess your training isn't being wasted. I did try to strike you with a knife, but you managed to catch my intentions. That's a good thing. You are improving!" I faked a smile, hoping he'd buy it. "I won't be long though. I just took a quick peck. I am not allowed to go anywhere; William is on watch of me, and I'll be in great trouble if he catches me."
"Y...you what?" Nick's face turned pale with the realization that I had just tried to kill him.
"One thing, Nick! Keep your senses up and running all the time, because once you let your guard down, it will be your last breath!" I threatened him with a cold, determined tone. Nick's eyes widened in fear as he realized the gravity of the situation and the true extent of my intentions.
"You don't believe me anymore?"
"Ha! And since when did I ever believe you? I told you! I was just looking for evidence. If I have proven you are guilty, I would not let you live. Why? Outside there, where you longed to go back, people already announced your death! They never wanted you back!" I spat out, almost laughing, my voice dripping with contempt.
"What?" Nick's face turned pale, stumbling down the forest grounds as he processed my words. Realizing that he had lost everything finally sank in, leaving him speechless and defeated.
"That is a bit disturbing as a welcome gesture. You should have at least heard the conversation in the footage?" An old, rugged voice chimed in from behind us. I turned to see a weathered man, his eyes filled with both angst and defiance. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and I despise every word of it."
"Ben?" I mumbled, and that was when I remembered that I asked him to see me last night, but I totally forgot about him.
"Never expected to see me here?" he asked, helping Nick to stand up.
"How did you get here?"
"Let's say a very good friend of yours saw me like a stupid lost puppy dog waiting at the forest entrance when no one of their sane minds dared to go, especially at an unusual time of night, and offered me a ride." Ben's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Oh, good that he found you! I could have been so happy to hear news of you this morning being bitten by snakes and your dead body swarmed by ants!"
"Shut up!" Ben snapped, his face turning red with anger. "I didn't ask for your opinion or your twisted sense of humor."
"Oh, you shut up! Right now, I am not your employee anymore. And may I remind you that you are being spared until your useless son is proven guilty?" I retorted, my voice dripping with disdain. The tension between us was palpable as we locked eyes, both unwilling to back down.
"Oh, really? How about I remind you how much you owe me that even your life won't be enough when I decide to..."
"Well then, that is if you're still alive by then." I cut the old man as I was too fed up with how the organization owed him or how my father had to owe him his life! "Now go back to the house now and pray that your son is not guilty!"
"Feisty little Miss! But I may not be as good at making people in silence, but you see, I got brains, which I could say you lack!"
My hands formed into tight fists as anger surged through me. I couldn't believe this old man had the audacity to insult me after everything. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to remain calm and replied, "We'll see who lacks brains when the truth comes out."
I marched away with frustration as that old man perceived the organization as one of those ruthless killers without considering anything, but the truth was, we do. We do not kill innocent people. Something our organization could take pride in
I kicked on the motorcycle's engine and roared off out of the forest as the wind whipped through my hair. I then went straight to my father as fast as I could. I should be back soon, though I trusted that Cavin might have drowned William with alcohol.
As I slowed down, I took a sharp turn to the back of the casino, turned the engine off, and met my father's intense gaze. He looked as if he had been waiting for too long, and when I approached him, I was not surprised that I'd be greeted with a strong slap, sending a sharp sting across my cheek.
His eyes burned with anger and disappointment, and I knew that I had no way out of this. "What have you been...doing?" His voice boomed, filled with a mix of fury and disdain. I could feel the weight of his disappointment in every word he spoke.
"I...I'm sorry, father! I know I have been neglecting my responsibilities and making poor choices," I stammered, desperately trying to find the right words to appease him. But no amount of apologies could erase the disappointment etched on his face. It was clear that I had let him down in a way that would not be easily forgiven. "But I am here to prove that I am done disappointing you. About the mission I failed last time about the Valdez's, I'll just have to delay it for a while, then I'll be the one to finish all of them when I get what I need! But there were things I wanted to know: Why can't I kill Nick? And what does the Valdez do that they end up on the kills list?"
My father remained silent for a while and looked at me before motioning for me to follow him. We walked down a dimly lit hallway, the weight of tension hanging in the air. As we entered his study, he closed the door behind us and took a deep breath before finally breaking his silence. "Leave us for now," he ordered his men with a voice full of caution.
When all of the men emptied the room, my father turned to me with a serious expression. "Nick is someone you can just kill because we cannot afford to enrage the highest organization beyond us that we do not know," he said, before handing me a small flash drive. "That is the true footage of what happened that night he was accused of stabbing the daughter of the Valdez. Old Ben asked us to take it before the Valdez. As for the Valdez family, they crossed a line that put them on our kill list. It's a dangerous game they're playing, and we must tread carefully. There are secrets that run deeper than you can imagine. The Valdez family holds power and influence that extends far beyond what you may comprehend. Killing Nick or seeking revenge will only lead to more chaos. Instead keep him alive for the time being, when we discover this organization, then I'll let you kill him."
"Highest organization?" I asked.
Father reached for a remote, and a room hidden behind the vast empty wall slid open, revealing a room lined with surveillance screens and medical equipment that cannot be seen in a normal hospital. The screen displayed un eerily familiar sign I had already encountered. I stepped in slowly and I could see the equipment were beyond high-tech, state-of-the-art devices capable of monitoring every move and vital sign of a patient. And in the middle, a tube-like glass chamber caught my attention. Inside the chamber, a figure lay motionless, suspended in a gas that glowed with an otherworldly hue.
"Brother?"