Witness

HAYDEN

“Harder!”

My energy was getting drained with the rigorous training but I couldn’t show any kind of pain or weakness. My hands started to lose their control as I kept hitting the punching bag, continuously. If I were an athlete, I would have won many medals in physical games.

When the time ended, I looked at Cornell, who was watching my progress. He was satisfied with me but as always he suggested I should train harder because only a few months left for me to be officially involved in my family’s work.

A low grunt escaped my mouth as I fell on the couch. I wiped my sweat-covered body with the napkin while looking at Cornell, who was talking to my physical trainer, probably about making my schedule stricter.

As I was wiping my sweat, Cornell sat beside me and gave me an energy drink, asking “Are you tired?”

As if he was worried about me!

I didn’t reply but took the bottle from his hand and started to drink it. He said “You only have a few months left. You are going to work alongside your father soon. You are going to lead the people and for it, you have to be strong physically and mentally.”

“I know.” I interrupted him.

“If you know it and if you are serious about it, you should have already finished the work your father assigned to you. He will be back from Italy in a few days. You should finish the task before his arrival.” He spoke in a serious tone.

I, sometimes, felt jealous of Cornell as my father prioritized him more than his blood. No one would dare to even talk to me but Cornell could shout at me and order me around. Although he raised me, I neither felt close to him nor wanted to call him uncle. He also rarely called me by my first name.

“Without our men, without our influence, and with only a certain people working with me, it is not as easy as you think…” I tried to say but he cut me off.

“Your father would do it in a week without having anyone by his side. We all want you to be like your father.”

Whenever I thought about my father, only a few words popped up in my head – Cruel, vicious, and ruthless boss. And, everyone around me would want me to be like him.

I kept quiet, gritting my teeth. If I would become the boss, I would torture Cornell as much as he tormented me. This is what I always told myself.

“Can I ask you something?” I looked at him. “Why are you so loyal to my father? Though I am happy that my father has someone like you with him too much loyalty is doubtful.”

“Hayden...”

Whenever he called me ‘Hayden’, he would turn to the uncle or a guardian mode.

“Your father is not only a boss to me. He is my family. We might not have bonded by blood but we are more like brothers.” He held my face and gave me a serious look while saying “We grew up together, we fought wars together, we protected each other, and we killed together. Mine is not just loyalty, it is something more.”

“True.” I rolled my eyes. “You both are alike. You both always want the same thing.”

“Yes, we both want the same thing. I know you dislike me and your father. But, you should know that we always worry about you. We want to protect you from all our enemies and we want you to be stronger.”

“Sure you worry about me.” I faked a smile.

“If only I had a daughter, you would have become my son-in-law.”

I scoffed. “Thank God! You don’t have a daughter. It’s more than enough to have you as my torturer. I don’t want one more.”

I could see his lips curving up with a small smile. It was so rare that only once in a while anyone could see him smiling.

“Now get up, enough of your break time.” He ordered me.

I had no other choice but to listen to him and I resumed my training. In the evening, I reached my home and took a cold shower. It was so relaxing, no weapons, no blood, no deaths, especially no Cornell.

Wrapping the towel around my torso, I walked to the cupboards to take out my shirt and pants. My gaze fell on the t-shirt that I gave Serena when she fell into a swimming pool. I could visualize Serena standing in front of me, wearing it. She looked so cute in my t-shirt, which was too lengthy and loose for her.

Never in my life have I thought about a girl as much as I was thinking about Serena. She not only made me smile but also brought out many emotions that were inside me. With her, I could smile, laugh, flirt, be childish, and be everything.

Though I could do anything with her, I could not reveal the truth about myself. When I killed our enemy at a hotel, for the first time, I felt scared. Not because I killed someone but because I saw Serena there. Even though she knew nothing about me, the thought of she would doubt me for the murder, frightened me. I wanted to remain as the one she could always adore till the day we would get separated. The day when I would take up my responsibilities, I would have no choice but to go away from her.

My head always knew that my time with Serena was limited but my heart, for some unknown reason, couldn’t accept it. I became so close to her.

One side of me would always want me to have her by my side but my other side couldn’t accept it because it knew the future of a mafia heir – Become the mafia boss one day, marry someone who can help our business, and kill everyone to survive. In all the things, I could never see Serena anywhere.

Despite knowing everything, I couldn’t stop going toward her and doing things for her. People only knelt for me but I made someone kneel for her. Though I kept trying to stay away from her, she was pulling me towards her like a magnet.

The knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. With my permission, the servant entered to inform me one of my guards was waiting for me.

I walked out to see him. He politely greeted me as I stood in front of him. “What’s the progress?”

“We gathered the details. Young boss, we can get into action.”

And then, I smirked. Time to use one of my favorite guns.

SERENA

Resting my hands on the railings, I stood on the balcony inhaling the fresh air that brought a smile to my lips. The road was almost empty even though it was a weekend. I could see only a few couples walking on the road, holding each other’s hands. I wondered if I could be able to act all lovey-dovey once I got into a relationship.

I sat on the floor, took my mobile, and resumed the teenage drama on N*****x. As the male lead started to kiss the female lead, I suddenly remembered the moment when Hayden asked for a kiss, jokingly.

Even though it was a joke, I could not forget the way I was tensed, how red my cheeks turned, and not to mention the raise in my body temperature. As I kept recalling it, my fingers moved to my lips and I started to stroke them gently. I never had my first kiss as I never had a boyfriend.

When I started to imagine myself kissing a guy, I could not help but imagine kissing Hayden. Immediately, I shook my head and slapped my cheeks as I realized what I was thinking. I hit my head with my palm, mumbling “Stop having weird imaginations. There’s nothing between me and Hayden.”

Why not? Accept the fact that you never loved Eric but wanted Hayden to stay by your side.

I could hear my inner self shout out so loud. Sometimes, it is not the other people, who irritate us but ourselves.

“Stop,” I shouted.

When I felt the voices inside my head fade, I turned off my cell phone and walked to my bedroom. As I shut my eyes, every moment I spent with Hayden started to revolve in my head, and when I started to think deeply about his behavior, I was confused.

Sometimes he wanted to stay close to me, other times, he wanted to be distant. He might not have known it but I noticed a kind of fear on his face as if he was scared of someone or losing something. He was a mysterious guy for whom I started to develop feelings without knowing clearly about him.

As I was thinking about him, the alarm sound interrupted my thoughts. I sat straight, tied my loose hair into a bun, and went to the kitchen to prepare a dessert for uncle Otis. He was back in the morning and I decided to meet him as it had been so long since I saw him.

While I was involved in the preparation of a dessert, I got a text from Hayden.

Hayden – Cannot go out with you today. Some urgent work came up.

I rolled my eyes as I saw it. It was Hayden, who asked for the meet, and it was him, who booked a place and everything. He made me feel excited only to destroy it later.

I texted – That’s fine. No problem.

Hayden – I’ll meet you tomorrow. Bye.

I decided to leave uncle Otis's place in the evening as I had plans with Hayden but after Hayden’s message, I planned to stay there for more time.

It was already afternoon, and I quickly took a bath, put the prepared dessert in a box, and got ready to leave for his house. I reached his home in a cab and I noticed the broken flower pots near his doorstep. The door was wide open which confused me. I entered inside without even knocking as I saw the scattered things on the floor.

“Uncle Otis?” I called while I put the box in the fridge. I knocked on his bedroom door hoping to get a response from him but as I didn’t get a response I pushed the bedroom door open. I didn’t find him anywhere so I walked out and tried calling him but his phone was switched off. As I stood outside, I noticed the door of his car garage, which was attached to his house, was opened. As soon as I entered inside, I saw Otis’ watch beside his parked car. When I crouched down to take it in my hands, I heard a loud shout that startled me. Slightly, I raised my upper body, knelt, and saw uncle Otis trying to hit someone but before he did, the man shot him with his gun which terrified me.

I shut my eyes and put my palm on my mouth, stopping myself from letting out a scream. My forehead started to sweat, eyes became teary as my body trembled in fear. And then, I opened my eyes. Uncle Otis was lying on the floor and I could see the man, who killed him. With his evil smirk, blood spilled on his face, and with the gun in his hands, he looked like a psychopath, and a low sob escaped my mouth while I tried to accept what I witnessed.

“H-Hayden?”