ONE

Lilian Choi stepped out of the taxi and looked up at the

building in front of her. The Blue Cloud. It was a sleek, modern tower, rising

up into the sky like a beacon of power and influence. Lilian had heard of the

organization before, of course. Everyone in her line of work had. But this was

the first time she had been here, to the heart of the organization that

controlled the world's assassinations.

Lilian had been trained for years to be a killer. She had

been raised in an orphanage, and had been taken in by the Blue Cloud when she

turned eighteen. She was good at what she did, and she had worked for the

organization for ten years now. But this was a new assignment, and she was

feeling a little nervous.

She walked through the glass doors and into the lobby, she

was amazed by the grandness of the building. Although she had previously been

to other organizations to complete her tasks, Lilian was feeling ecstatic by the

new and  fresh task assigned.

As she approached to the receptionist, at the lobby of the building.

The woman sitting in the reception looked up at Lilian as she approached closer.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm here to see Mr. William," Lilian said.

"Timothy William."

“Do you have a reservation for meeting him?” asked the receptionist.

Lilian showed the receipt given by her partner.

The receptionist rechecked and gave Lilian the directions.

"Of course. Please take the elevator to the

twenty-seventh floor. Mr. William's office is the first one on the left."

Lilian nodded and waited near the elevator which goes only

to the CEO’s office. So, the receptionist gave her an access card for the elevator

As she rode up, she thought about her new assignment. She

didn't know anything about the target yet, but she knew it was important. And

she knew that failure was not an option.

Lilian stepped out of the elevator and walked down the

hallway. She saw a door on the left with a silver nameplate that read

"Timothy William, CEO."

She knocked on the door and heard a voice say, "Come

in."

Lilian opened the door and stepped inside. The office was

large, with floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the city. There was a

large mahogany desk in the center of the room, and a man was sitting behind it.

"Ms. Choi," the man said, standing up.

"Welcome. I'm Timothy William."

Lilian looked at him. He was tall, with black hair and

piercing blue eyes. He was handsome, in a dangerous sort of way.

"Please, have a seat," he said, gesturing to a

chair in front of his desk.

Lilian sat down, feeling a little nervous.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here,"

Timothy said.

"Yes," Lilian said. "I assume it's a new

assignment."

"It is," Timothy said. "But it's a little

different from what you're used to. This time, you're the target."

Lilian sat there, stunned. She couldn't believe what she just had heard.

"I'm sorry?" she said.

"You heard me," Timothy said. "You're the

target. And I have to tell you, Lilian, you're a very difficult person to track

down. You've done a good job of covering your tracks."

Lilian felt a chill run down her spine. She had always known

that this could happen. But to actually be sitting here, hearing the words from

Timothy's lips, was something else entirely.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you want me dead?"

Timothy smiled. "Oh, Lilian. It's not personal. It's

just business."

Lilian didn't know what to say. She sat there, feeling numb.

And then she remembered something.

"Roses," she said.

"What?" Timothy asked.

"I love roses," Lilian said. "I grow them in

my apartment. How did you know that?"

Timothy shrugged. "It's amazing what you can find out

about someone when you have the right resources."

Lilian felt a surge of anger. She had always known that the

Blue Cloud was powerful, but she had never fully realized just how much they

could learn about her. She thought about all the things she had done, all the

people she had killed, all for this organization. And now they were turning on

her.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"Now?" Timothy said, standing up. "Now, you die."

TWO

Lilian felt a rush of adrenalin. She thought that her plan

to assassinate Timothy had gone down the drain. Not knowing what his next move,

she grabbed her bag with force. She had set her entire focus on how to

defend herself.

“What? You look startled. Did you actually believe that I would

kill someone whose worth so much for my benefit”.

William said with a straight face.

Lilian was dumbfounded. Although she had been working as an assassin

for a little over a decade, she had always been aware of her surroundings and

the people whom she’d work with.

“ Of course not. I trust you that you would not make such irrational decisions which

would otherwise make you face great loss. After all, it would have taken your precious

time to have such a conversation.” Lilian said while her heart was beating like crazy.

The idea that she was being betrayed by her own organization made her feel a lump in her throat. She was

ready to face them face to face. However, she was smart enough to keep calm

before she took impulsive action.

Lilian sat back down, looking at Timothy glairing with her olive green eyes. She

could see the pride and greed in his eyes, but she knew that she couldn't let that stop

her. She had a job to do, a mission to complete.

But she also had a plan.

She brushed her fingers through her silver silky straight hair and calmed

herself from feeling overwhelmed. and continued.

"I'll help with your tasks, but in exchange for doing the tasks quickly, you have to

help me find some important information. I don't want anyone else to know about this

little transection of ours"

"And what makes you think that a person like me..... would be the most reliable

person that would find you such secret information?" Timothy said with a grin on his face.

"It's because after working in this field for such a long time, the one thing i learned

is that the closer that you are with a certain person, the more unpredictable  they  are.

And that a stranger could be more trustworthy than the ones you are closer to."

Timothy nodded slowly. "I can do that. But what information is so hard for

you to obtain... that you want my help?

"it's about my origin. I want to know who my biological parents are. And where they are." Lilian said with a straight face.

They had a verbal agreement on helping each other. But also made a paper contract for helping each other for completion of their tasks.

Over the next few days, Timothy found bits and pieces of information about her parents and where they were currently staying. Everything he knew about her parents was still not much. It was just a few scraps of information. But. It was enough. Enough to let Lilian know her origin.

Nevertheless, Timothy did not hand Lilian the information that he had gained. He kept the information hidden from Lilian until he collected the exact information about her origin and her story of how she ended up in that shady orphanage.

Meanwhile, Lilian was constructing a fullproof plan on how to assassinate Timothy without him really knowing what was going on around him.

THREE

“Streetlights flickering”. Dead calm alley. Where no one was

in sight. Soft breezes of wind. Which would send chills down one’s spine if

they were to walk down the dark and apprehensive ally.

A woman in her early 20’s, walk with her headphones on. Not paying

any attention to her surroundings. As she slowly woke down on the road into

the dark. She felt someone following her. Her heart started to beat faster, and

faster. Her pace of walking also increased.

The feeling of being followed was haunting her.

“Phone rings”

With her hands trembling, she picked up her phone. “Where are

you?! Why haven’t you returned home yet? It's almost half past midnight. Haven’t

I told you enough times that there have been some suspicious deaths occurring around

here.” The person behind the phone lectured.

“I. . . . . I think that someone is following me. . . . , don’t

hang up. It’s all your fault. Your nagging has made me really believe that someone-”

Before she could continue,

Someone put a cloth on her mouth and held her hands tight. She

was struggling to loosen the strong grip by the person who was holding her from

behind.  He was wearing a black hoodie

and had a mask and gloves on.

She felt like it was the end for her. She was ready to take

her last breath as she could no longer stay awake. She fainted in the arms of

the black hooded man.

He had a smirk on his

face as his prey had been caught. But due to his one miscalculation. He was almost

caught. He left her stranded on the dark alley. The neighbourhood watchman heard

a thud sound, the sound of her falling on the ground. And was in time to rescue

her.

The black hooded man ran as he realized he would otherwise

get caught.

“Hello? Jenny? I can’t hear you.” The voice behind the phone

started to sound with worry and panic as he continued to speak.

The watchman took her

phone and explained what had happened. The person behind the phone rushed to

see her, as she was immediately taken to the closet hospital.

The woman was admitted to the hospital and was unconscious for

a good while.

When she works up, she sees her brother sitting beside her. Looking

worried sick. “Are you still going to complain about my nagging, jenny?” said

her brother in a sarcastic tone.

“I know. . .  But is

Is it really the time to be sarcastic? Did you tell mom and Dad what happened by

any chance?”

Her brother shook his head and said “Do you think I would. Dad

just got out of his cardiac surgery. I know what happened should be explained to

them but I couldn’t bring myself from giving them more stress”

“No, you did the right thing. Let’s keep what happened last

night a secret between us. For now.” Jenny said with a worried look.

A few days passed, and jenny was still in shock and traumatized by

the incident happened in the dark alley.

Jenny was taking extra precautions while going out and would

always triple check to see if the doors were locked or not. But one night, she

left her window open on the second floor and was looking at the street. Everything

was normal, but. The black hooded man saw her. And with the fear of being

exposed, he took the opportunity and climbed into her apartment.

He took a rope and choked her. This time, she couldn’t

survive his attacks and was brutally murdered.

To hide the fact she was murdered the black hooded man took

her and created a scene that looked like the victim had suicided.

Her brother went to buy some convenient store food and when

he returned, she was killed in their own apartment. Police and detectives

arrived at the scene and thoroughly inspected the scene. They assumed that she

suicided as there were no traces of harm on her body could be seen.

The news spread across the neighbourhood. And everyone was

startled. But her brother and jenny had reported before her death about the

accident happened on the dark alley. And was brought to attention after a few

days of investigation. Jenny’s brother knew that she would not take her own

life as she had her career planed ahead of her. And she had worked so much on

it. But the lack of evidence that it could’ve been a murder and not a suicide was

very slim.