Episode 3

Dimitri

I was in my home office when Ivan, my right-hand man and security, walked in with a grave expression.

"What is it, Ivan?"

"My informants told me that a meeting of the head council was called today. It seems they're planning to arrange your marriage to Kovanov's daughter."

Anger possessed me. How dare those bastards scheme behind my back?

"Who was there, Ivan?"

"Everyone from the head council."

"Who called the meeting?"

I saw Ivan tense up, and I already had an idea who it might be.

"It was Mr. Romanov, the head."

"That old bastard is always meddling in my life, but I won't bow to his will, not now, not ever."

"I have bad news, boss. According to the organization's rules, they can demand that you marry, or they can demand your resignation. From what I heard, your father was there to propose a marriage agreement and prevent you from having to resign."

So they want me to get married, well, in that case, I can't disappoint, can I?

"Ivan, do the rules say anything about me having to marry a woman?"

"The rules say marriage; they don't mention the gender of the spouse."

"That's very good."

"Sir, may I ask what you intend to do?"

"You'll know soon enough, Ivan. Be patient."

Malik

In college, one of my professors always said we shouldn't get too involved with the students. It could confuse the children and make us emotionally responsible for them.

But in my opinion, that's pure nonsense. If I think it's necessary, I'll get involved, and it's never been a problem for me.

Speaking of which, I've noticed a significant change in the behavior of one of my students, Jordan Cutlher. He's always late, sleeps in class, and seems constantly tired.

He told me he hasn't been sleeping well the last few days and that he's been helping his father at the family's mechanic shop. He also mentioned that his parents have been fighting a lot lately.

I decided to pay the Cutlher family a visit shortly before dinner. As soon as I arrived, I knew something was wrong. There were two black cars parked in the driveway, and the front door was open. I slowly made my way inside and heard voices. It was men arguing, a woman and a child crying. I assumed it was Jordan and his mother.

When I walked in, the scene that greeted me left me paralyzed. Jordan's father was kneeling on the floor, a man in a black suit was pointing a gun at his head while other men dressed in black watched impassively. Jordan's mother was hugging her son, hiding his face so he wouldn't see that scene.

Unpleasant memories flooded my mind at that moment, and without thinking twice, I walked over there, yelling and placing myself in front of the gun.

"Stop this right now! Can't you see there's a child right here watching everything? Don't you have a heart?"

As soon as I shut my mouth, I realized what I had done. There were a bunch of guns pointed at me, wielded by very mean-looking men. One of them, who appeared to be the boss, was staring at me with eyes that emanated pure hatred.

"Who do you think you are to interfere in my business like that?"

"Mr. Akello..."

Little Jordan ran and hugged my waist, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

"Jordan, why don't you go upstairs and take care of your mom? She's scared. Since you're a strong and brave boy, you can take good care of her, right?"

"But what about Mr. Akello and my dad?"

"I'll stay here and help your dad. You go upstairs and stay with your mom, okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Akello."

I turned to Mrs. Cutlher.

"It's okay, ma'am. Go with him, stay with your son. We'll sort this out."

As soon as the two left, the father, who remained in the same position, just looked at me with tears in his eyes, trying somehow to thank me.

Before I could say or do anything, I was thrown against the wall with all his might by that man. I hadn't noticed him until I was face to face with the beast.

Dimitri 👆

"You little worm, how dare you? Break into my house, meddle in my affairs, and then start giving orders?"

One of his hands was pressing against my throat, and the other was pointing a gun at my head.

Despite being one step away from death, I couldn't help but notice how handsome that man was.

Damn abstinence!

"My name is Malik Akello; I'm the fourth-grade English teacher."

The man remained in the same position, and I was terrified. I had no idea things would get to this point. Where did I get myself into?

"Who sent you?"

"Nobody. I just came because I was worried about the boy, and I wanted to talk to his parents."

"Well, professor, today, I'm the one who's going to teach you a lesson."

He released me but grabbed my arm and placed me in front of Mr. Cutlher.

"Lesson number one, don't make promises you can't keep, professor. This man won't be fine; he's going to die. He owes my family a lot of money, and he has no way to pay, which means he's already a dead man."

"You can't do this. He has a son. What will become of that boy and his mother?"

He looked at me again, and I could see that there was no emotion left in his eyes. He was the coldest man I had ever met, which made me even more afraid of him.

"Lesson number two, professor, what doesn't affect me isn't my problem."

That made me even more outraged. How could that man be so evil?

"But you can't; he's just a child!"

"Third and final lesson, professor, there's nothing in this city that I can't do."

The man turned to the thugs who were there and started giving orders.

"Get the professor out of here. He'll owe me 10 grand for the audacity of meddling in my business, but he seems harmless, so let him go."

Two huge men stopped, one on each side of my body.

"As for Mr. Cutlher, that one will never be able to pay his debt, so you can finish him off."

I can't allow this; I can't let Jordan go through what I did.

"No, wait!"

All the thugs looked at me like they couldn't believe I was still trying.

"I'll pay; I'll pay his debt."