Chapter 40

The doorbell rang loudly, and not long after, small steps, sounding like a deer hopping, approached the apartment door. Eva appeared at the door, with a radiant smile on her face.

"Are you ready?"Jona asked. Ready for your last supper?

"Ready, darling. Always for you."

The dinner party couldn't have been better than Jona hoped for. His arrival was well received. His handsome face sold a convincing image. He was invited to a warm dinner too warm for a mafia head and Jona felt a bit disgusted by it. Dish after dish served only served as a countdown to the approaching vile act he would unleash. Long ago, Eva had asked Jona to prepare a gift, as her family's tradition was to give one gift to the birthday celebrant on each of their special days, and tonight, it was Mave Milena's turn. Again, a nauseating tradition.

Eva's mother was the first to give her husband a gift. A sweet belt, along with affectionate kisses. Their last kisses. Mave promised to wear the belt on the following Monday when he went to work, but unfortunately, that wouldn't happen.

The second person to give a gift was Eva. Her father laughed loudly when Eva gave him a set of anti-aging skincare. This gift was the result of her constant remarks that her father's wrinkles were getting worse every year and he needed treatment. So he could still look young in the coming years. Unfortunately for him, those coming years would never come. Jona held back a strong urge to burst out laughing.

And finally, his turn. Mave's eyes sparkled, he considered Jona to be a perfect candidate for a son-in-law, and eagerly anticipated a gift from him. Even without knowing that Jona's age was not 18 as he claimed to Eva. His tall stature helped him deceive that foolish family. With nimble hands, enthusiastically, he opened the gift box Jona handed him. His brow furrowed when behind the box, a piece of scrap fabric covered the main gift again. He reached for it, unwrapped the fabric and laid it on the floor. But what he saw there afterward almost made him faint with shock.

A handgun, engraved with a name on its handle. Bov Austin.

And that was the signal of doom. Bang!

"Ah!"Eva's loud scream echoed loudly. A bullet was successfully fired, hitting her mother's chest cavity. Piercing her heart, and stopping its beat. Her body slumped to the floor, creating a pool of blood on it, and splattering the mosaic glass walls.

Mave Milena stared at Jona in sheer horror,"y-you, you devil's ch-"

Jona aimed his gun at Mave's forehead. Taking aim accurately. "Disgusting how you call my father a devil when your job isn't much different from his,"Jona pulled the trigger. "Repent in the afterlife."

Bang!

Blood gushed forth, reaching the ceiling, staining the floors in gruesome abstract paintings. Mave's body lay one meter away from his wife's, his head turned into a dense ball of dark red blood. Footsteps chased each other from afar, from the servants who heard the uproar. But foolishly, they themselves chose their fate. With every servant's head that entered, Jona fired at once. Puncturing every head, like bursting water balloons, creating a lake of blood on the floor. Jona counted as he shot, 13... 14... 15... 16... The total number of servants in this house was exactly 17 people, which meant he hadn't killed one more person yet.

Jona turned his body, this time facing Eva, and sure enough, his seventeenth target was there. A man in a gloomy black suit, with gray hair, a sign of aging. His eyes squinted, creating cracks on his temples. But the determination in his lens remained as strong as a warrior's. Jona guessed that the man was no younger than 50, but his energy still bubbled like a teenager's. Max Clenton. Mave's right-hand man, who had served faithfully for a long time. A former serial killer. Jona guessed, the only person who knew his boss's dark business in this household. And the first person Jona should have killed, but he hadn't done it successfully. Frustration crept in, as one part of his plan didn't go according to his will.

"Stand behind me, Miss!"shouted the old man.

Eva, her face covered in blood, gazed at Jona in terror. "I-Is that, M-Mr. Max?"her innocence repulsed Jona. He despised those who lived softly and naively.

"This devil is a mafia come to steal your master's glory, Miss. No matter what happens, when i say run, you must run to the evacuation corridor, understood?!"

Eva nearly screamed,"b-but, D-daddy, Mommy? Mr. Max too-"

"Don't ask too many questions and just do it, Miss Eva!"

Even the implied fear in Eva's eyes clearly showed that this was the first time she had been yelled at by anyone in her life. It was even more disgusting to Jona. Max Clenton grabbed his dagger, and through his movements alone, Jona could read that the man would confront him. Trying to fight him, as much as possible, giving Eva time to escape. In his eyes, there was readiness to die. Willingness to sacrifice. Jona guessed that the only thing on that old man's mind right now was Eva Milena's safety. And of course, Jona wouldn't let him.

"Now, Miss! Run!"

Simultaneously with the sirens, the man stepped forward towards Jona. Drawing his knife, and instantly targeting Jona's legs, wanting to knock him down and overturn his body, slamming the gun held by the man. But the old man made a misunderstanding. He underestimated Jona's agility. Or maybe, he was too proud of his own skills. Jona firmly grasped the man's hand holding the knife, and he slammed his body, throwing him to the ground. The gunshot echoed afterward, burying one bullet into Max's skull, causing blood to gush from the small hole at the top of his head. Eva's steps hadn't even left the dining room yet. And with long strides, Jona followed. Grabbing her hair and pulling it, hard, until she fell backward, her skull hitting the floor. So hard. Jona intentionally slammed her head onto the cold tiles. Eva screamed in pain.

"P-please, p-please do-on't,"her voice whimpered in plea. But unfortunately, seeing someone suffer sparked excitement in Jona's blood. "I-I'll do anything. I-I really love you, John, i-I'll-" Eva's words choked when Jona placed the tip of the gun against her temple.

"Do you really think words of love can save you at a time like this? Sadly, i never even truly liked you, Eva Milena. I approached you only to kill your father and unfortunately, you,"his gun dug deeper into Eva's scalp, "led your father to his end."

Eva's gaze, initially a mix of pleading and fear, now shifted to anger. "W-what did my family do to deserve this from you?!"she screamed, so loudly, her throat felt scorched. Tears began to well up in her eyelids. More out of anger than fear. "You devil! People like you don't deserve to live! Disgusting! Rot in hell, you bastard!"

Jona chuckled cynically,"want to know something interesting? Your father and i have the same profession. Without your knowledge, your father is also a mafia and he got this because of betraying his own card." Jona's blood surged, staring at the shock etched in Eva's eyes.

"Y-you're lying! Dad isn't like that-"

"Make sure to ask him about it in hell later. Goodbye, Naive Girl."

A tear trickled down from Eva's left eyelid,"r-rot in hell."

Bang!

Jona's return was as usual not warmly welcomed. His father was in a business discussion with his colleagues in the meeting room, so Jona couldn't enter to report his work results. But nevertheless, deep down in his heart, Jona was very grateful.

He didn't want to meet his father too often. So, with his long strides, he sought his father's right-hand man. And fortunately, Jona easily found him in his father's office.

"Can you tell father later that my mission has been successful?"his father's trusted assistant, startled, unaware that Jona was at the door.

"I've also taken care of the remaining bodies. The death alibi has been flawlessly engineered. Everything went according to plan."

The man smiled kindly,"today is Young Master's first day completing a mission, doesn't Young Master want to celebrate it with your Father?"Jona furrowed his brow; it sounded like a disaster.

"I'm not interested,"Jona lifted his foot, about to leave.

"Young Master,"but the voice of his father's assistant stopped him in his tracks. "Is something wrong? Your face looks a little gloomy."

Jona froze upon hearing it. He didn't even realize that his demeanor implied such an expression. No. Usually, he was more adept than anyone else at hiding his facial expressions. Jona didn't know that he had been wearing a gloomy expression all this time.

"You devil! People like you don't deserve to live! Disgusting! Rot in hell, you bastard!"Jona clenched his fists, realizing that the woman's words left a much deeper impact on him than he intended.

"Young Master can tell me if you want,"his father's assistant chuckled. "Because Mr. Bov is unlikely to entertain complaints, right?"

Jona gritted his teeth, trying to contain the surge of uncomfortable feelings in the depths of his chest from overflowing. "Does being a mafia make someone unworthy of living?"the question sounded unbelievably foolish even to his own ears. Jona wondered why he was asking his father's assistant such a thing. "No, forget it. Pretend i didn't say anything—"

"Did someone say something like that during your mission?"Jona was stiff with thought. His father's assistant laughed again. "This often happens on everyone's first mission, Sir. Please don't feel bad."

"In my opinion, we can't do much about this assumption. After all, risking one's life is our business. Most people will see it as inhumane, even degrading maybe,"Jona unconsciously glanced back to observe. "In the 'white' eyes, we are an uncivilized criminal group, disruptors in society, deviating from justice, and a curse to the world. I'm sure no 'white' person would want to associate with us if they knew our profession. We will be despised alongside their purity."

"Only those who have fallen into darkness first can accept us, Young Master. That's why i remember Mr. Bov's words so well,"his father's assistant took a deep breath. "Hate them from the 'white' side. Hate them because they will first consider us as vile as dung. Hate those who hate us. After all, we are the pearl in their milk jug. And our existence until the end of our lives is a curse to them."

Jona's eyes wandered without focus. Enjoying the dimness in his office, just staring at the gray walls that adorned every inch of his home. Although his body was there, his mind wasn't. His thoughts drifted around the air, focusing on one thing. Or more precisely, someone.

Carlie Eloise.

"But to hell with it, even Hades fell in love with Persephone. Black and white, not such a bad combination. If only this were a fantasy world, and we were in a novel. Maybe our relationship would seem harmonious, wouldn't it?"

Two days ago, when they were still in Mexico, Jona's mind raced back to the conversation he had with his father's assistant. Remembering how he was enlightened that no sane person would accept them. Not spit on a mafia figure. And consider them... as Carlie put it, harmonious. Years had passed since Jona took on this job and every passing second, his father's assistant's words were vindicated by the universe. Everyone he encountered would curse him when they knew his true profession. Carlie Eloise was the same, calling his job despicable. At first.

But not so two days ago. She uttered the first sweet sentence Jona had ever heard, after a white person learned his true profession. And that sentence managed to break the warmth similar to what he felt when Carlie held his hand a few weeks ago. The warmth of the sun passed through him, filling the empty space in his chest.

It was a warmth that Jona feared, as it had once destroyed him.

"You can't come in, Old Man!"

Jona's calm was shattered by the noise from outside his office. Before he could react, the door to his guest room was forcefully pushed open. Swaying like a fan and from behind the door, a pair of booted legs stepped in without permission. Jona's eyes sharpened, his blood surged, and his body tensed, as it always did when he faced his enemies. But what appeared at the door, instead of an enemy, turned out to be an ally.

Ahmad Amdalla, one of the alliance leaders, entered with a deep-seated anger evident in his furrowed brows and forehead,"what does it mean that Paul and Paula were expelled from the alliance?"