LILY’s POV
”Sometimes you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain because life’s greatest lessons are learnt through pain.” – Masashi Kishimoto
“Mother.”
Why is she here? She has never visited me once in all my time working for Kane.
“Lily.”
She rises from my chair behind the desk and comes over to me in long, slow strides. Her forehead is marred with lines of worry. She is here bearing bad news, I can sense it even before I ask.
I take in a deep breath and force a smile.
“What brings you here mother?” I throw my arms around her for a hug. She wraps her hands around me in return, perhaps a wee bit too tightly before letting go.
“What is it?” I ask again.
Her hands fall to her sides and she takes a look around the office, clearly trying to buy some time. “It’s a ni
ROSE’s POV“You are pregnant.”Those were the words of Doctor Antonio when he saw me a few days ago. Three simple words, and yet those three words have completely changed my life’s fortune.“I am pregnant,” I whisper to myself. Tears roll down my face and I touch them with my quivering tongue, tasting its saltiness.“I am pregnant,” I repeat, placing a hand over my belly and gently patting it. My stomach is still flat but in time, a bulge will appear and soon a little child will be born. The world seems more beautiful with this child inside of me.Then, alone in my room, I begin to laugh and cry. Father must have blessed me from the heavens. With Kane’s baby, my life will forever be changed.Yes, this baby will be Kane’s, not Tore’s. It doesn’t matter if it was Tore’s seed who gave life to this child, this child will carry the Ibraco na
LILY’s POV“She was fury, she was wrath, she was vengeance.”―Sarah J. Maas,Queen of ShadowsWe are in the basement of Kane’s mansion and two men are hung upside down from the ceiling slabs, their heads dangling just above a bathtub filled with water to the brim. Their hands are bound at their backs with metal cords. Water overflows from the bathtub and spills onto the basement floor, snaking to every corner of the room.“Please, let me go,” one of them begs. His name is Jim and though I do not recall ever seeing him at the mansion, Russo told me that good ‘ol Jim had served Kane’s father long before Kane even got laid.I do not appreciate Russo’s way of explaining this but I keep mum. Now is not the time to get into an argument with him.The second man, Henri had joined the triad as Kane’s personal mechanic not too long ago. He struggles to be set free, o
LILY’s POVThe hike back up the hill to Tussano brings about a bittersweet feeling. Gone is the feeling of exhilaration I used to feel as I raced up the hill with father, and absent is the tantalizing aroma of mother’s cooking that would draw us back into our houses.Instead, Russo, Ian and I quietly make our way back to the village, moving stealthily and eyeing our surroundings warily. This place has become alien to me and I think it feels the same way to Ian. He says nothing as we move closer and closer to Tussano.Below the hill, two of our most trusted men lie in wait to ambush Sergio should he manage to escape our clutches. We have not enlisted any more help from any of our other men for fear that there might be more moles within the triad so this attack might be our only chance. I hope I can catch him myself, I hope to end his life myself. It is my wish that Sergio will leave no legacy behind to hurt anyone else anymore.
LILY’s POV “A brave man can think, a coward cannot.” – Stephen King A scream tears through the night. It is Sergio’s. He has taken a bullet in his arm and instinctively releases his hold on Ian who slumps onto the floor, choking and gasping for air. “YOU BITCH!” Sergio roars. He is hurt and angry, but he is no fool. Then, in a moment too short to properly grasp, Sergio regains his composure and takes another shot at me. I spring away and land somewhere among the deserted furniture in the tiny living room. Ian tries to scamper only for Sergio to slam his foot at the back of Ian’s head, smashing the poor boy’s face into the wooden floor. Ian struggles weakly to free himself. “IAN!!!” I cry out from behind a few rickety wooden chairs as lightning continues to flash across the howling night sky. It is a wonder I managed to have him shot at all, given the lack of proper lighting around us. The way w
LILY’s POV “The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies. It comes from friends amd loved ones” - Ash Sweeney I hurry along the hospital corridor to Kane's room, ignoring the ER doctor who runs after me with a suture in his hand. “Hey! You can’t run like that! You have a bullet wound in your leg!” the doctor calls out, huffing and puffing as he tries to stop me. I ignore him. Kane comes first. Two of Kane’s men see me as I approach the door to the private room and before any one of them can say anything, I give out an order, “Stop the doctor. I want to see Kane.” They look at each other briefly before giving me a curt nod. And that is as far as the doctor can go. I rush past them and push open the door to Kane’s room intending to tell him of Sergio’s demise but the moment I enter his room, the words die in my throat. I think a part of my heart dies as well. “Oh, hello Lily.”
Lily's POV "The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest." - Unknown I sit alone on a bench of the hospital's discharge ward, not really looking at anything in particular. People walk past me, all in a flurry and caught up in a web of their own problems. I see a young mother cry as her husband comforts her. They had just lost their child. Another old woman is wheeled past me, she wipes her cheeks and whimpers," I don't want to die." She has cancer. And yet another; this time a man. He looks just as lost as I am as he walks past. A nurse whispers to her colleague that he had just lost his fiance in an accident. And as I sit
LILY's POV "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." - Matthew 12:25, King James One would have thought that with the death of Sergio, the age of peace would come to the Mafia world. But reality cannot be further from the truth. The Ibraco triad is not as invincible as it seems to the outsiders; for within the walls of Kane's mansion, power struggle has begun between those loyal to Tore and those loyal to Russo. Today, all members of the Ibraco triad are gathered at the mansion to reach a consensus on how to run the mafia until Kane awakens. The doctor told us th
LILY's POV “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ―Lao Tzu The room falls silent and every pair of eyes in the room follow my steps when I make my way to the head of the table. I stop there with my feet rooted to the ground and let the silence hang as my eyes roam the room, returning everyone’s gaze. Some of the men nod at me wordlessly, giving me the assurance that they stand by me; others avert their gazes when my eyes meet theirs, they do not trust me. Then I see Russo and Ian, their eyes tell me everything. They believe in me. Even Big Bob whom I thought would side Tore gives me a fist pump and a smile. In doing so, I am filled with a feeling of both gratitude and confidence. I am filled with hope. I am filled with a surge of both gratitude and confidence. “Gentlemen, we stand here victorious against the traitor Sergio who paid the ultimate price for his betrayal. We
“We’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day.” —Vera LynnLILY’s POVThe instant seems frozen in eternity. I hear the blast of explosion from the pistol and a thud is heard.And then a wail.It is Wendy’s.I open my eyes, not realizing that I had closed them earlier and see Kane holding the child in his arms. There is blood on his shirt. He had wrestled the gun out of her hand and she had shot him.“Kane!” I yell, running towards him only for Rose to swing the pistol in my direction.“Stay back! Don’t move!” she screams. She seems confused, scared even. The blood on Kane’s shirt blossoms like a red rose.“I shot Kane….” she whispers, her fingers start to tremble. Her eye remains fixated on the pistol in her hands and she looks as if
ROSE’s POVMOMENTS BEFORE ROSE’S SCREAMS.Night has come and I sit in front of my dressing table, combing my hair but I cannot concentrate. Is this the tenth or eleventh stroke?It is too noisy downstairs, I am unable to concentrate.Then I hear them laugh; Lily, Kane and even that annoying Russo. I know they are laughing at me, they’re all hiding in the study room talking about me and plotting to get rid of me. My hand grips the brush so hard that my knuckles turn white.Wicked…they’re all wicked people.Wendy starts to cry in her rib and my head snaps in her direction. I just fed her, why is she crying again?“Shut up!” I yell at her but she too does not listen to me. No one respects me.“Shut UP!” I yell again, throwing the comb at the crib. It lands at the side of the crib, breaks into two and drops onto the flood with a thud. Wendy’s wails escalate to the point w
“It may take a year or it might take a day, but what’s meant to be will always find its way.” —UnknownLILY’s POVI walk towards Kane ever so cautiously, taking one step at a time. And with each step that I take, I tell myself that this is not a dream. Kane called out my name.This is reality.I stop in front of the mahogany desk he is sitting at and he looks up from the paper he is scribbling on. Our eyes meet and my heart starts to pound with a mixture of both joy and fear. Do I go to him or do I stay? What if it wasn’t my name he had called out? What if the physiotherapist heard wrongly?Kane drops his pen and stands up, towering over me. I had forgotten how tall he is.“Lily…” he says my name and at that instant, my walls come crumbling down. Tears line my eyes and my lips quiver.“You remember me?” I whisper. I can barely breat
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” — Sun Tzu,The Art of WarLILY’s POVThere is no point arguing with Rose. It’s like talking to a brick wall. I don’t want to risk another innocent life either. One doctor’s death was enough, the thought of Dr Chase’s grieving grandfather is more than enough to stop me from pressing on with the paternity test.I close my eyes briefly and pinch the bridge of my bode between my thumb and index finger. Ian comes out of the room and leans against the corridor wall next to where I stand. He does not speak, he merely places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.We stay like that for a very long time before Ian finally speaks. “So what next?”I sigh. “We wait, we wait for Kane to truly awaken.”*****The wait is a long one. Days tu
“So brief a time we have to stay, along this dear familiar way. It seems to me we should be kind, to those whose lives touch yours and mine.The hands that help us who may know, how soon the long, long way must go? And might we not their faults forgive, and make them happy while they live? So many faults in life there are, we need not go to seek them far. But time is short and you and I might let the little faults go by.And seek for what is true and kind, in those whose lives touch yours and mine. It seems to the better way, then why not friend, begin today?” – Anonymous. LILY’s POV I stand at the edge of Kane’s hospital bed as a physician tends to him. My feet tap nervously on the ground and my fingers dig into my palm as I stare at Kane who lays motionless with his eyes fixated on the ceiling. The physician is shining a mini torchlight into his eyes and calling out his name. “
LILY’s POV“A strong person is not the one who doesn’t cry. A strong person is one who is quiet and sheds tears for a moment and then picks up the sword and fights again.” - UnknownI stare at Kane’s unconscious form, gently stroking his fingers as I lay my head on his bed.“Please, wake up Kane. I need you.”But of course, he doesn’t. This isn’t like some movies where the male lead wakes up, kisses his beloved and they live happily ever after. This is real…and I hate it.The door to Kane’s private room opens and I do not have to turn to know who it is.“Lily.” It is Ian. He is here to pick me up.I sit up and give Kane a peck on his forehead but he does not stir. Sighing, I stand up and straighten my blouse.Then I turn to face Ian and say, “Let’s go.”I need to see Rose. I have an inkling she was
LILY’s POVThe hour is late and the casino is doing well. It is a full house tonight with patrons all abuzz with excitement as they enjoy drinks and try their lady luck at the gambling table. I should be happy, money is rolling in.But I am not.Instead, what fills my heart is a sense of dreaded anticipation. I stand in my office with the lights down low as I drum my fingers against the full-length glass that overlooks the gambling den.Three days ago, Dr Chase had done a swab on Rose and sent her DNA to the hospital lab for analysis to determine if the unborn child truly belongs to Kane. If all goes well, I should be expecting a call from Dr Chase any time now.I turn away from the glass window and look at the plain white clock hanging on the wall. The second-hand ticks away all too slowly, as if it is taunting me.I sigh. I hate waiting.The phone rings and I jump. Clenching my jaw, I walk towards the phone ever so cautiously.
CHAPTER 61“One lie has the power to tarnish a thousand truths”– Al DavidLILY's POVOnce upon a time, I championed a vision. A vision where life would be full of smiles and handshakes, a vision where life would be only a bed of roses. And as a child, I had told father of my dreams to live such a life and he would always laugh in return, ruffling my hair before stooping to my then childish height and tell me, “Lily, have you forgotten that even a bed of roses will have thorns?”Father was right. There is no such thing as a perfect world full of happily ever after. Worlds like that exist only in fairy tales. The time for dreaming is over and I need to wake up.I need to wake up and realize that life is while life may not have turned out the way I wanted it to, I must stay strong.It has been an agonizingly long week and Kane has yet to awaken. I will not go into the night, I
LILY's POV “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ―Lao Tzu The room falls silent and every pair of eyes in the room follow my steps when I make my way to the head of the table. I stop there with my feet rooted to the ground and let the silence hang as my eyes roam the room, returning everyone’s gaze. Some of the men nod at me wordlessly, giving me the assurance that they stand by me; others avert their gazes when my eyes meet theirs, they do not trust me. Then I see Russo and Ian, their eyes tell me everything. They believe in me. Even Big Bob whom I thought would side Tore gives me a fist pump and a smile. In doing so, I am filled with a feeling of both gratitude and confidence. I am filled with hope. I am filled with a surge of both gratitude and confidence. “Gentlemen, we stand here victorious against the traitor Sergio who paid the ultimate price for his betrayal. We