LILY’s POV ”Sometimes you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain because life’s greatest lessons are learnt through pain.” – Masashi Kishimoto “Mother.”Why is she here? She has never visited me once in all my time working for Kane.“Lily.”She rises from my chair behind the desk and comes over to me in long, slow strides. Her forehead is marred with lines of worry. She is here bearing bad news, I can sense it even before I ask.I take in a deep breath and force a smile.“What brings you here mother?” I throw my arms around her for a hug. She wraps her hands around me in return, perhaps a wee bit too tightly before letting go.“What is it?” I ask again.Her hands fall to her sides and she takes a look around the office, clearly trying to buy some time. “It’s a ni

LILY’s POV“She was fury, she was wrath, she was vengeance.”― Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows We are in the basement of Kane’s mansion and two men are hung upside down from the ceiling slabs, their heads dangling just above a bathtub filled with water to the brim. Their hands are bound at their backs with metal cords. Water overflows from the bathtub and spills onto the basement floor, snaking to every corner of the room.“Please, let me go,” one of them begs. His name is Jim and though I do not recall ever seeing him at the mansion, Russo told me that good ‘ol Jim had served Kane’s father long before Kane even got laid.I do not appreciate Russo’s way of explaining this but I keep mum. Now is not the time to get into an argument with him.The second man, Henri had joined the triad as Kane’s personal mechanic not too long ago. He struggles to be set free, o

LILY’s POV “A brave man can think, a coward cannot.” – Stephen King A scream tears through the night. It is Sergio’s. He has taken a bullet in his arm and instinctively releases his hold on Ian who slumps onto the floor, choking and gasping for air. “YOU BITCH!” Sergio roars. He is hurt and angry, but he is no fool. Then, in a moment too short to properly grasp, Sergio regains his composure and takes another shot at me. I spring away and land somewhere among the deserted furniture in the tiny living room. Ian tries to scamper only for Sergio to slam his foot at the back of Ian’s head, smashing the poor boy’s face into the wooden floor. Ian struggles weakly to free himself. “IAN!!!” I cry out from behind a few rickety wooden chairs as lightning continues to flash across the howling night sky. It is a wonder I managed to have him shot at all, given the lack of proper lighting around us. The way w

Lily's POV   "The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest." - Unknown   I sit alone on a bench of the hospital's discharge ward, not really looking at anything in particular. People walk past me, all in a flurry and caught up in a web of their own problems. I see a young mother cry as her husband comforts her. They had just lost their child. Another old woman is wheeled past me, she wipes her cheeks and whimpers," I don't want to die." She has cancer. And yet another; this time a man. He looks just as lost as I am as he walks past. A nurse whispers to her colleague that he had just lost his fiance in an accident. And as I sit

LILY's POV “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ― Lao Tzu The room falls silent and every pair of eyes in the room follow my steps when I make my way to the head of the table. I stop there with my feet rooted to the ground and let the silence hang as my eyes roam the room, returning everyone’s gaze. Some of the men nod at me wordlessly, giving me the assurance that they stand by me; others avert their gazes when my eyes meet theirs, they do not trust me. Then I see Russo and Ian, their eyes tell me everything. They believe in me. Even Big Bob whom I thought would side Tore gives me a fist pump and a smile. In doing so, I am filled with a feeling of both gratitude and confidence. I am filled with hope. I am filled with a surge of both gratitude and confidence. “Gentlemen, we stand here victorious against the traitor Sergio who paid the ultimate price for his betrayal. We