CHAPTER 2: AFTER TWENTY YEARS

Themis’ POV

‘Themis, run for your life now! Go with your brother!’

My mom was trying to stand up while her own blood covered her feet. Two huge men were standing behind her holding guns. My brother and I were trying to run away when someone suddenly appeared in front of us.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Before I could even see the face of the gunmen, the whole place blacked out.

‘Run for your life now, Themis!’

“Mom! I will save you, mom!”

***

“Young master Themis, wake up! Young master!”

I opened my eyes and saw my butler looking at me with his worried face. He immediately handed me a glass of water as soon as I sat up on my bed.

“Thank you, Hansel.” I said as I took the glass of water from his hand.

“What’s the matter, young master?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. I just had the same bad dream again.”

“I see. Maybe you should book an appointment with Dr. Isabella again.” 

Hansel has been working for our family ever since we were just kids. He is a forty-year-old man now, and he’s still faithful to our family. Our parents trust him so much, and so do I.

“No, this has been happening to me ever since that day. I don’t think I would stop dreaming about something that is about what happened that night.” I said to him.

Hansel just nodded. 

I looked at him. “By the way, where is Timothy?”

“He’s already downstairs, young master. By the way, the breakfast is ready.”

“I see. I’ll just take a bath and I’ll go there after.”

“Understood, young master.” He said, then he started walking towards the door.

“By the way, Hansel.”

He turned around and looked at me again. “Make sure that everyone, including all the maids and butlers, will eat with us. I have something to tell all of you.”

Hansel nodded. “Y-Yes, young master."

After taking a bath, I proceeded to the dining hall and saw all of them sitting at the long table, including my twin brother, Timothy. 

“Hey brother, what’s with you today? Why did you ask all of us to eat our dinner together?” he enthusiastically asked me.

Timothy and I are identical twins. You can't really tell who is among us if you don't know our individualities. I love reading books, cooking, doing clerical work, and singing while Timothy loves goofing around, dancing, playing sports, and flirting with women. Also, the only thing that differentiates us from one another is the location of our birthmarks.

I sat in my seat and looked at all of them. “Let’s eat.”

Without asking any questions, they obeyed what I said. 

I was just glancing at them while eating, gathering my voice as I finally spoke. “All of you, listen carefully.”

They raised their heads up and darted their gaze toward me. It was so obvious that they'd been waiting for me to speak. I always eat alone after them since I always have to do office work, so it really surprised them that I invited them to eat breakfast with me when I barely do it.

“We all know that it’s been twenty years now. It’s been twenty years now since Timothy and I started hiding from the people outside to protect the family from the enemies. It’s been twenty years since we lost our mom and dad. And I still dream about them, every single night. What happened back then still haunts me even now. And I think the reason I always dream about them is that mom and dad want me to take revenge on those people who killed them. To the people who destroyed our family.”

“W-What do you mean, brother? D-Don’t tell me you’re planning to attack the enemies and sacrifice yourself? No way, I won't agree with you. Look, we already lost our parents. What do you think will happen if you do that stupid plan?! No one’s going to be left in this family anymore!”

“It’s not the type of vengeance that you think, Tim. I will pretend to be someone, then little by little, I will find the people who killed mom and dad.”

Timothy shook his head. “Then what if they find out about who you really are? Then they’ll kill you! Do you even understand what I mean, Themis?!”

“We can’t hide forever, Tim. And we will never get to give justice to our mom and dad if we don’t do something. I promise I will be very careful, and I will never ever disappoint you. I will never let our parents down. That is why I need all of you to trust me.”

“But sir…” Stella, the oldest maid, started crying, so I stood up and walked toward her.

“Stella, I will trust you to take care of the house while I am not around. Can I trust you with that?”

She hesitated at first, but later on, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at me. “Y-Yes, sir. But promise us you’ll come back alive.”

“I promise.”

“I will go with you.” Timothy suddenly said. “If you want to take avenge for our mom and dad, then I will go with you.”

I shook my head. “Timothy, I need you to stay here to protect what remains for us. I need you to continue running our company just like what mom and dad told us when we were just kids. In that way, you will be a big help.”

“But Them---

“I trust you, my brother.”

He looked away. “Fine. You are so hardheaded. You always do what you want, anyway.”

“Thank you so much. Everyone, do your best as you always do. Protect our family and I promise to go back here when everything’s finally alright again. I promise that when I go back here, we will celebrate victory and we won’t have to hide anymore.”

No one spoke for a while. So, I took a deep breath.

"I am doing this for our family. I will protect all of you no matter what happens."