I followed the lady with heels longer than the size of a regular pen. The sound of clicking of heels, boots, and my regular slippers echoed through the hall. Brett, my assistant and only friend, was walking beside me with a proud grin on his face, as the woman continued to lead our way out of the enormous mansion.

Finally, after two and a half weeks, I was free. I looked around at the plain walls, with luxurious paintings and showpieces resting everywhere. I don't know why I was feeling a little uneasy.

Perhaps due to the fact that I spent almost all my day just coding and decoding the codes alone in a room without any human or animal interaction, the break of two and a half weeks gave me a unique experience.

The last two weeks were almost like a vacation if you subtract the fact that I was not allowed to roam around or I was restricted from using any mobile phone. I almost enjoyed playing with Kartos and chatting with Max.

"Earth to Adri" Brett snapped his finger in front of my face and my senses came back from my thoughts, and I rolled my eyes at him.

We walked down the long hall, and finally; we reached the end. The woman whose name was I don't know, Lila, umm, Lily, Larry? She turned around and smiled; she fucking smiled, showing her white, straight teeth. Ugh... I hate this woman.

"Thanks, Miss-" Brett said, showing off his gentlemen etiquettes, and the woman nodded. He dragged me out of the gate.

I looked back at the enormous building, and Brett nudged me.

"The fuck is wrong with you, woman." He raised his brows, and I sighed.

"Nothing Shithead." I said, and he gave me a look indicating that he was not convinced by me.

"Okay, first let's get out of here." He said and held my right hand in his left and continued his dragging towards a black SUV placed in front of us.

"I'm driving." I said, and he gave me a horrified look.

"Naaah, woman, I want to see tomorrow's sun, thank you very much." He commented.

"Says the one who stays asleep till noon." I huffed. Brett had always been a night owl instead of a morning cock, despite his liking for the cocks.

I chuckled at my own joke inside my head and he gave me a look, stating, 'Are you fucking crazy?' But then he shrugged it off, as it was quite normal for us.

"I am driving and it's final." He stated as he rushed in the direction of the car and opened the driving seat. Pouting, I followed him.

"Why do you never let me drive?" I huffed, and he chuckled, opening the door for me as if I was telling a joke.

"Because you drive like a person who got high drinking twenty cans of red bull." He commented as he settled himself on the driving seat and I rolled my eyes at him.

"That's oddly specific."

"As it should." he smirked, and turned the engine on, and I sighed and looked out of the window.

Soon, the mansion in which I was living as a 'hostage' blurred out of our vision as the car sped up on the road. I turned my gaze towards Brett and he was giving me a weird, questioning look.

"Who pissed in your makeup?" He asked teasingly, and I smacked his hand, which was controlling the gear, making him wince at the impact.

"B-But seriously, what happened?" He asked again, now in a serious yet gentle tone, and I shook my head.

"Nothing is wrong, Brett." I said, but the tone even made me feel slightly awkward as it came out somewhat in a sulking manner.

"Just spill what the fuck is wrong." He annoyingly snapped as he increased the car's speed and I sighed and again shook my head.

"I don't fucking know what the fuck is wrong with me, Brett," I said in a low tone, and he gave me a questioning stare, indicating for me to continue while we drove.

"Well, just say I don't want to be back at work."

"Well, that suits your lazy ass, but I know that's not the whole truth." He replied, and I huffed, but I decided not to say anything further.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to tell me now, but you know you can tell me anything, na?" He asked softly, and I nodded, giving him a genuine smile.

Brett, aka Beaufort Evans, the computer prodigy, the second best coder in the entire country, and the right hand of me. He has always been by my side since the beginning. I still remember there was a time when he used to treat me as his enemy, because I was the one who broke his streak of always getting the first position. He used to hate me, but the hatred was more like a competitive hatred. We were inseparable because no one else was able to compete against us, and as the years passed, we became best friends.

I remember the moment I told him the information about being involved in a mafia. Hell, not even just involved, but being the leader itself. He first laughed, and laughed for straight five minutes, assuming I was just fucking with him, Then, when I showed him my true identity, he just thought about something for a few minutes, and then he just simply asked to be my assistant.

His words are still fresh in my mind: 'I want to be your damn assistant' He claimed I was too taken aback by his request, or, more likely, statement, to respond.

'I am your assistant. Take me or I will dig up the information about your herd and fucking expose you, bitch. ' He then continued to throw his threats, and I just nodded, as I was far too surprised by knowing someone who wanted to be associated with something so dirty and dangerous.

Since the moment I nodded, we became like each other's shadows; He became my father, my brother, and my hypothetically good mother.

As far as I remember, he used to live in a foster house and I also remember seeing scars and bruises on his face, for which I used to ask endlessly, but he still didn't tell me anything about them, and as a good sister I am, I just let him keep his secret secured in his own heart.

ráaj

secret, not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others.

Every single individual, every single soul has something buried in their hearts which is not meant to be dug out by the others, whether it's extreme as killing someone or minute as losing someone's pen cap.

Discovering and knowing the truth is a good thing because it helps us understand the person more clearly and efficiently, and it helps us understand their feelings and motivations behind the actions they have taken. However, some things are meant to be left untouched, and some things should never be revealed because they cause pain and grief, the unbearable pain of the past.

ātìt

The time that has elapsed; the past.

Isn't it funny how much the past affects our present as well as our future? We just keep living in the darkness of the past, making our present the same gradient as our past. We even forget to live, we forget to laugh. The power of the past affecting us is way too dark.

"What's the time?" I asked, coming back to my senses as Brett just shrugged.

"Take out my phone from the glove box-" He said and continued to drive and I nodded and opened the glove box, taking out his phone, which was switched off in stock of four guns and bullets.

I turned the phone on and the notifications just blew up with missed calls from some unknown number, which I ignored and looked at the time...

09:42pm, Fuck-

"Brett, have you informed the team to cut off the mission-" I asked breathlessly, and Brett's eyes went wide.

"Fuck What's the time?"

"We still have 18.... no no 17 minutes." I replied, and he sighed.

"Phew-I thought we were doomed as we didn't back our words."

"Okay, I am sending the team an update." I said, typing a text to our headquarters.

'The eagle has been in the cage.' I typed in a rush and exhaled a long sigh after the message was marked as read.

"I will fucking infect your devices, you fucking dumbass." I swore at Brett and he chuckled.

"We are almost there though, we could have stopped them face to face." He said, and I rolled my eyes at his lack of a sense of the seriousness of the topic.

*Vroom, vroom, vroom* His phone started ringing, showing some unknown number, but I just ignored him as he was ignoring it. After about five more minutes of driving, we reached our destination. The guards opened the gates for us and we pulled our car into the parking.

The mansion's white walls were gleaming with luxurious golden lights, and the garden was glistening with golden fairy-lights, making it appear to be straight out of a fairy tale. I stared at the beautiful mansion and sighed. No one knows that beauty can be empty too. The brightest thing can hold the darkest memories too-

*Vroom-Vroom -Vroom* The phone again started to vibrate.

"I swear Brett, I will kill the boy whom you gave your number-" I cursed aggressively, and he shrugged.

Sighing, I swiped the green answer icon, answering the call.

"Hello-" I said in a bored tone-

"Kitten, where the hell are you?" In a serious and hurried tone, a familiar voice inquired.

"K-Krystal?"

"Fucking where are you?" She swore with urgency in her voice.

"We just reached the mansion. Don't worry, I informed our team to turn down-"

"Just get out of there-" she commanded, cutting me off.

"What?" I was confused.

"Are you out of your car?" She questioned.

"No," I answered, averting my gaze at Brett, who was looking at me quizzically.

"Good now, take a U turn.-"

"Why?" I questioned.

"Just do as I said-" She commanded.

"Brett take a U turn." I commanded in the same tone as her, and he gave me a look, saying, 'Are you nuts' but seeing my serious expressions, he reluctantly nodded and started the engine.

"Okay, we are doing that-" I said, but it was too late.

As soon as the car started again, approximately thirty people jumped in front of our car, and by their looks, they seemed to be fully trained assassins with sniper rifle in their hands.

"Oh-shit-" I swear, there was no way that we could have handled thirty fucking assassins with just four guns.

"Here we go again-"Brett scoffed and sighed.

"Kitten- what's wrong-"

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