"This isn't how I expected it to end."
Iskandar Malik stood in the pouring rain, his hands trembling as he looked out over the city streets. The neon lights reflected off the wet pavement, distorted by the rain that poured down around him. His mind raced, trying to make sense of the chaos that had swallowed his life whole.
He could still hear Akmal's voice from that final phone call.
"I swear, I didn't touch anything! The numbers… someone tampered with them, Iskandar. We've been sabotaged! The investors are pulling out!"
Sabotage. The word felt like a knife twisting in his gut. His company, his dream, everything he had built was crumbling. The project—his skyscraper, the one that was supposed to define his career—was now a distant fantasy. The investors had backed out, and with them, the funding disappeared.
He clenched his fists, the cold rain soaking through his clothes, but it was nothing compared to the chill of betrayal. He had trusted Akmal, trusted the process. And now, he was ruined.
"You should've seen it coming," a bitter voice whispered in his mind. "You trusted too easily."
Whose fault was it? Akmal's? The investors'? His own? He didn't know. All he knew was that he was finished. The debt collectors were already hounding him, the banks were calling, and the walls were closing in. He was trapped, with no way out.
"How did it all go so wrong?" He replayed every decision he had made, every step that had led him here, but the answers only brought more guilt. He had gambled everything, and he had lost.
His phone buzzed in his pocket—another call, another demand for money he couldn't repay. He ignored it, letting the rain soak through his hair and down his face. The pressure mounted in his chest, suffocating him.
"Maybe it's all my fault," he thought. "Maybe I wasn't good enough."
The sound of footsteps behind him broke through his thoughts. Iskandar barely had time to react before a voice, cold and familiar, spoke through the rain.
"Did you really think you'd get away with it?"
Iskandar turned, his heart stopping as his eyes met the face of the man standing behind him. Zafir. His former mentor, the one who had taught him everything he knew about construction, business, and survival in the cutthroat world of deals and contracts.
But something had changed. The warmth that had once been in Zafir's eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating glare. Zafir had always been a sharp man, but this… this was different. There was no remorse, no hesitation.
"Zafir?" Iskandar's voice cracked, confusion mixing with the fear rising in his chest. "What are you—?"
"You were always too ambitious for your own good, Iskandar," Zafir interrupted, his voice low but firm. He took a step forward, the rain drenching his leather coat. "You should've stayed in your place. But no—you had to push for more, had to rise above your station. And now look at where it's gotten you."
Iskandar's mind raced, piecing together the truth as Zafir's words sank in. The sabotage. The investors pulling out. It was him… it was always him.
"You did this?" Iskandar's voice shook with disbelief. "You ruined everything?"
Zafir's lips twisted into a cruel smile. "Business, Iskandar. Nothing personal. You were getting too big, too fast. Threatening people like me. It was only a matter of time before you stepped on the wrong toes." He shrugged, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "I couldn't let that happen."
The anger inside Iskandar flared, but so did the fear. Zafir had always been ruthless, but murder? Why? Iskandar stepped back, but there was no escaping the truth now. Zafir had orchestrated everything, pulled the strings to destroy his life, and now… now he was here to finish the job.
"It didn't have to be like this," Zafir said, stepping closer, his hand reaching into his coat. The glint of a blade caught Iskandar's eye. "But you couldn't let things be. You had to keep pushing, keep fighting. And now, here we are."
Iskandar's breath hitched, his body tensing as he tried to make sense of it all. "You're doing this... because I was a threat?"
Zafir's expression darkened. "Because you forgot your place."
Before Iskandar could react, Zafir lunged forward. The blade flashed in the rain, and pain exploded in Iskandar's side. He gasped, stumbling backward, clutching his stomach as the blood poured through his fingers.
"Zafir... please..." Iskandar's voice was weak, his strength fading as his knees buckled. "We can—"
"It's too late for that, Iskandar," Zafir muttered, wiping the blade clean with cold indifference. "You were good, but you were never going to be better than me."
Iskandar collapsed to the ground, his vision blurring as the rain continued to pour around him. His body grew weaker, the life draining from him with every breath. Zafir stood over him, a shadow against the city lights, his expression unreadable.
"Goodbye, Iskandar," Zafir whispered, his voice barely audible through the storm. "You've built your last dream."
With that, Zafir turned and disappeared into the darkness, leaving Iskandar bleeding out on the cold, wet pavement.
As the world around him faded, Iskandar's thoughts were consumed by the betrayal. His mind raced through everything that had led him here—his trust in Akmal, his ambition, his blind faith in people like Zafir. He had been so focused on building his future that he hadn't seen the danger lurking behind him.
"I should have known."
The pain faded as his vision dimmed, and his last thought was of the life he would never get to build.
And then, nothing.