Chapter 2 I

Present day.

"ALDO! ALDO! A man shouted at the top of his voice. He was carrying a frail-looking little lady. "Riel, what happened this time around?" Aldo, the doctor asked. "Aldo I don't know. She just suddenly collapsed again" Riel explained. "I need a stretcher please" Aldo shouted to which two nurses quickly came with one. "Take her to the ER. I'll be there shortly." Aldo said to the nurses. "Don't worry Riel. She'll be fine I promise" Aldo assured. "Aldo...please do everything to make sure she's going to be okay. She's the only one I have please" Riel pleaded emotionally on the brink of tears. ..

Riel's POV

Mia has always been sick. She was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 3. I watched how my parents struggled to pay for her hospital bills. Her health was always an issue. I saw how it exhausted my parents physically, emotionally, and mentally. I wasonly11backthen.I had very limited education. My parents couldn't afford to make ends meet so I dropped out of high school. I didn't know what to do exactly on how to help my parents so I just did the basics. I helped people sell their wares and collected very little in return.

Any money I made, I would give it to them. They felt bad for me but what could they do? They had no choice but to collect it. As if our suffering wasn't enough, my dad just had to die. It was a very painful loss for our family and shortly after, my mom died too. It was then I knew shit was getting real. Their deaths weren't natural. They were killed. It was from the same hood where I met the swine, Fernando Rioz. Fernando used to be my very good friend. We weren't just buddies, we were brothers. We had a lot of things in common. We were both age mates, orphans, poor, hungry, and dropouts. Until one fateful day, Fernando told me about his supposed father. He said, "Riel, I want to introduce you to someone" "Who?" I asked. "My father" "Your father? But you don't have a father" I said as a matter of fact. "I know but he's like a father to me. Riel, I need you to follow me tomorrow. I've told him about you" he said.

That meeting, that meeting was where all my problems began. His 'father' was the Big Boss. He was the leader of the XRV syndicate. We didn't call him the Big Boss or Mr. Ruiz like everyone else. We called him 'father' because he treated the two of us like sons. Although he was closer to Fernando probably because he met him first I could see they shared that father-son bond. The Big Boss never showed any emotion but whenever it came to us, especially Fernando, he would show his soft side. I wasn't bothered about their closeness though. I joined the cartel for the money. I had a very sick sister to treat. Anytime I was about my shady deals, Mia would be looked after by our neighbor. She looked after her till she turned 8. She was like a mother figure to her. I didn't need to be looked after. I was never around. The syndicate required muscles and time. I stayed at the cartel all day and would only return late at night to see my little sister plus I had turned 16. Mia was the only reason I joined the cartel. I stole, sold drugs, trafficked them, sold armories, and dropped bodies for the Big Boss. Fernando did those things too. We were both doing it for the money. He didn't want to go back to the miserable life he lived before where he could hardly eat one meal a day and I also wanted the money not only for Mia's sickness but so she wouldn't live the life I lived. I wanted her to have everything the easy way. And though she did, she was still sick. One thing I liked about myself and Fernando was our will to survive, to strive. We both wanted to bask in the glory of wealth. And aside from that, we were the most feared in the cartel. We were both fearless, ruthless, and heartless. We loved blood very much. I thought the bond will never be broken until one day when we had just turned 18. The Big Boss was planning a grand birthday celebration for us both. I was on my way to his office where I overheard a very familiar name. Dimitrios Duran, My father's name! I didn't believe in coincidences and so I listened further. He was talking about my family with his P.A. They conversed further until I discovered a very shocking truth. I didn't go in any longer. I just stumbled back to my room. Shortly after, I heard a knock on my room door. Knock knock! "Riel, look what Father got us," he said before opening a small box. Inside it was the latest version of guns. I took the shiny black metal in my hands and the only thing that came into my mind was driving a bullet into the Big Boss's head. I looked at the smiling face of Fernando. Just like me, the only time he smiled was when we were together or we were with our so-called father.

After what I heard in the office, I swore I was going to kill that man. I felt bad for my brother, Fernando but even more for my little sister. I never told Fernando I had a sister. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, but I knew Fernando would want to get close to her because of his love for me. He believed we were brothers so he would automatically want to extend the brotherly love to Mia. And as much as I would have wanted it I couldn't. Fernando didn't keep anything from the Big Boss so there was no doubt he would have told him. And the last thing I wanted was to drag my sick little sister into my messy world. I was too far gone in the life of crimes and Mia was the only one who kept me sane. She was the little sunshine in my messy dark world. It was the news I heard that day that made me plot my revenge against the Big Boss. And when I turned 23, I wanted to kill the Big Boss with the very gift he gave me. But he didn't deserve to die easily. I started by kidnapping him in his very own house. I held him hostage then started poisoning him bit by bit rendering him paralyzed. Fernando and the entire XRV cartel searched for Big Boss. Of course, I joined them. I wanted to kill the old man with my very own hands but I had even better plans for him. I sold him to his enemies. Ruiz didn't expect me to be the one behind his kidnapping and torture. I had nothing to be afraid of when I revealed my face to him at the point of exchange. "You thought I would never find out?" I asked him. "How did you know?" He asked me back from his wheelchair. Two of my most trusted bodyguards were behind him. "You don't need to know," I told him. I then faced Mr. Black, our rival, and his enemy, "You can take him." "It was nice doing business with you Riel," he said stretching his hands out for a handshake. I looked at his extended hands before walking past him, totally ignoring him. "But why though? I'm? curious what happened between you both that you had to throw him to the wolves?" I heard Mr. Black ask behind me. I paused in my tracks turning around, "You don't need to know what happened between us. It's a family issue" I said and the word 'family' tasted sour in my mouth. Because I thought that was what we were, a family until I found out the truth.

The exchange took place at the border but unfortunately, after the transaction, I didn't make it home. Another one of my most trusted men informed me Fernando had already found out. I knew all hell would break loose if he found out. He would kill me for sure. And from there, I vanished. Fernando got to the border too late because, by the time he and his men arrived, Mr. Black, the Big Boss, and I were long gone.