003

THE sun shining woke up Hailey from her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes, a clean white ceiling

greeted her the moment her eyes are fully opened, they enlarged as she recalls what happened to her last night. She looked around the room and saw a long-haired man sitting at the side while sipping his morning bourbon while reading today's newspaper using a gun as his reading pointer. The moment Hailey saw the gun, she froze in the bed.

Louis placed his glass of bourbon down the side table and closed the newspaper he was reading. He also put the gun down the side table and turned his direction looking at Hailey. Louis looked at her sharply, it looks like she does not know what is happening. He did not give any expression, he had decided to observe her behavior. They should not be too carefree and get touched by the angelic face that Hailey has.

"Finally," Louis muttered. He walked towards Hailey and stopped in front looking straight at her. Hailey is completely dumbfounded by what is happening and looked at the man in front of her.

"My brother is waiting. Get your ass up," He said then left.

Hailey was confused about what just happened. She really does not have any choice but follow what the man said. She moved to the edge of the bed and place her feet down the floor. The more she thinks about it, everything she has seen so far looks luxurious. From the bed she was sleeping in the entire night, the room she was in, the wardrobe, and all the decors inside the room are expensive-looking things.

"Who is that man?" Hailey asked herself quietly as she walks outside the room. Thankfully that the clothes she was wearing last night were still the clothes she is wearing right now. That just means they have not done anything to her, she does not seem to be missing an organ as well.

Going outside the room, Hailey was left with her mouth open. It is ten times larger and wider compared to the studio she is renting. She walked and looked around, everything looks expensive as if she is going to taint it once she touches them. 

"You like everything you see?" Hailey looked behind her, she froze in her position and cannot move, not even an inch. It was the man last night. Edward looked at Hailey sharply then smirked. He put his hands in his pocket. She looks so scared of him that it just excites him. 

"Follow me, we will do business," Edward's words are like bullets that once you do not move it will kill you. Hailey followed Edward from behind as he walks. He entered a room and inside was the man she saw earlier. His haircut makes him stand out the best in Hailey's opinion. 

She took a looked around, her hunch is that this was the office of the short-haired man. It looks so elegant, everything is expensive. Edward sat down and looked at Hailey relentlessly. It scares her and feels like she is being tied down in a knot. 

"Sit down, woman," Edward said. Hailey did the exact thing he told her, she sat down across from Edward, and sitting in the opposite direction of her seat is Louis. 

Louis was just silent and not saying anything, his legs are crossed, and observing everything about Hailey, something about her makes him feel anxious and he needs to figure it out as fast as possible.

"I am Edward, and he is my brother, Louis, and we are one of the executives of the top criminal organization that has been on the news," Hailey does not know what to react upon knowing their identity. 

"What the- Edward! Why did you-" 

"Sit down, Louis. I know what I am doing," 

"But you can-"

"I said, sit down," Edward's voice is a full authorization. In an instant, he made his brother shut up, it is quite obvious who pulls the strings between the two of them. 

Louis sighed out of disbelief. His brother just blurted out their identity to this thing he brought with him last night, things just went from bad to worse, now, there is no way he can talk with his brother to tell Nick what happened. 

Edward looked at Hailey again, this time the way he stares at her makes her body cold as if his eyes are sucking the life out of her. She does not know what just happened, but right before her eyes are part of the top criminal gang, and the fact that they introduced themselves to her voluntarily, there is no way she can get out of this alive. 

"Now, what I told you is not something we scream and yell in the streets. With you knowing our identities, that gives you power over us, however, you will not sell us to the cops. What you witnessed last night is indeed a misfortune for someone as beautiful as you, so here is a bargain," Edward said. Hailey already knows where this is going, and she just cannot stay quiet after that. it would mean that she does not take her job seriously. Hailey is a public servant, part of her job is to make sure that everyone safe against criminals, and she just happened to witness a murder and instead of doing something, she just froze and lost her consciousness. So she cannot just stay quiet with the members of the top criminal organization right before her eyes. 

"You will stay silent about what you saw, sign a contract and after that, you are free to go," Hailey slammed the table as she stands up and looked at Edward fearlessly, if they think that they can get away from all the crimes they did, they are delusional. Starting tomorrow once she did not get on time from work, everyone in their office will start asking, and if she does not pick up they will go to her studio, the owner of the welder shop will be asked and of course, he will say that he did not see Hailey coming back. Then that is where they will start looking for her, and they will end up here and put Edward and Louis, together with their whole organization behind bars.

Louis on the other hand stood up and pointed a gun in Hailey's head. Edward was amused with the way she reacted. He had already ordered a background check on her, he even arranged a very unfortunate scene where Hailey died tragically as her cover-up. Of course, everything is settled, but it would be a shame if Edward does not get his share of fun. If ever Hailey declines, then that would just be good for Edward in every way possible. 

"I will not be scared this time, point a gun or two at me, I will not be scared. You will go to jail. Wait for it, this day will end with the two of you behind bars, treating people's lives like your toys and playing them when you are bored? You can rot in hell, Edward," Hailey said confidently. Edward laughed at her, she is naive, too naive. Obviously, she is new to this field. Too much hope and dreams, he would love to see her suffering while hitting the rock bottom, she just went beyond Edward's expectations. Based on her reaction, Edward can take a guess. 

"People's lives... " Edward muttered. He looked at his brother and gestured his hand. Louis backed the gun away and left the room for a minute or two and come back dragging someone inside Hailey's office. 

"You said that we play with people's lives when we are bored. I am bored right now, Hailey," said Edward. Hailey scrunched her eyebrows, they already know who she is. She followed Edward with her gaze as he walks near the person that Louis brought in with him. They removed the black clothing that was covering the person's face and Hailey was shocked to see who it was. It was the owner of the welding shop at the side of the studio she was renting. Her eyes widened as Louis gives the gun to Edward. He did not even blink an eye when he pulled the trigger, Edward then looked at Hailey smiling then pulled the trigger once again, and again, and again, until the face of the owner of the welding shop cannot be recognized anymore. 

Hailey was left in awe. She did not just hear a gun firing once, but multiple times, and never in those times did Edward blink and tried to break eye contact with her. He just went on from continuously firing the gun. 

"I guess you are right, we do play with people's lives. Now, Hailey, you made it pretty clear that you have no intention of bargaining with us," He said Hailey cannot move from where she stands, her muscles are stuck and she cannot even lift a finger or say a word. She feels weak and about to throw up. She has no idea of what is going to happen to her now.

"Then, I will have fun playing with your life, slowly. Make it exciting, Hailey," Edward added looking directly at her eyes. He threw the gun on the ground in front of Hailey then left his office. It did not just surprise Hailey but Louis as well. Louis took a slight glance at Hailey before following his brother outside. 

"Edward, that is two kills in a row! You cannot kill anymor-" what Louis is about to say was interrupted when Edward cut him off. 

"I did not say anything about killing Hailey," Edward said looking at Louis unbothered with his brother's concerns. Louis just looked at his brother beyond belief. He's lost it. All Louis can do is to observe Hailey and work on persuading Edward to tell Nick and others about what happened. It will be a big turmoil if they found out about this. 

Hailey was left inside Edward's office, her knees have finally collapsed. He already had a plan if she ever disagree with the bargain. She looked at the owner of the welding shop's body, will she end up like him? Her life just ended right before her eyes and she did not even notice it. 

The moment she saw that gun being pulled from its trigger, her life had ended. 

"Fuck. I messed up,"