Protecting The Enemy's Daughter

“Dravin, long time no see. My wife and I just finished discussing about visiting you tomorrow morning,” Brandon's voice echoed calmly.

His wife sat on the next couch with fifteen-year-old Ethan, who was always next to his mother. Being the only child, not only were they treating him like a treasure, but they also never let him out of sight.

“Oh,” Dravin muttered before sitting down, his eyes meeting Brandon's brown eyes. “Is that so?” He asked, a dark smile on his face.

This is so unlike the Dravin they knew.

“Of course,” Stella, Brandon's wife, replied before her husband could. She had a feeling that this wasn't the usual Dravin's visit.

The look on his face. The way he first walked in. Nothing seemed right.

She snapped out of her thoughts, adding, “Dravin, since you are here, would you like to have a taste of the new meal I decided to add to my menu?”

“No need. I am not here for that,” he replied coldly.

“Ethan, go to your room, your mother will join you soon,” Brandon instructed.

There was a moment of silence after Brandon gave that instruction. Stella tried to figure out what was going on but couldn't. Is this another fight? No… if it was, Brandon would have informed her.

They have both known Dravin for ten years now, and he had never acted this way. He was always straight to the point, calm, nice, and playful with Ethan. But it was different today.

“Daddy, I am not going anywhere without mummy. Besides, Uncle Dravin is here,” Ethan objected, a cute frown on his face.

“Ethan, stop acting like a child and—”

“Honey, you don't have to yell at him. If he is leaving, so am I,” Stella interrupted, turning her gaze to Dravin. Unable to contain the chaos going on in her mind, she decided to ask a question. “Dravin, what is the problem? You aren't yourself today.”

“Well, I am not here for this talk,” as if she didn't need to know what was going on, he replied coldly. His gaze still pinned on Brandon, he continued, “No one leaves this room until I am done with what brought me here.”

Without giving Brandon the chance to speak, he continued. “Where is the master file that foolish woman gave you?”

“What file are you talking about? No one gave me any file,” Brandon quickly replied, nervousness laced in his voice.

Dravin chuckled at his response before standing up. Before Brandon could realize what Dravin was up to, he was already pointing a gun at Stella.

“What… what—”

“Woman, shut it!” Dravin's loud voice silenced her.

“I would repeat my question for the last time,” he paused, this time the look on his face was different. Dark and serious. “Where is the file my wife gave you?”

“I… I really don't… know what you… are talking about,” Brandon stammered, trembling on the couch, his heart racing faster.

The sound of a gunshot echoed immediately after he replied to Dravin's question. His knees weakened as he raised his gaze to look at his wife, who was already shot, blood gushing out of her forehead.

He fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face as he watched his wife's eyes close. Without thinking twice, he crawled up to Stella.

He shook her, screamed her name, then felt her pulse. She was no longer breathing. His wife had just been shot by his own friend. The very person he trusted the most.

“Your son will be next,” Dravin spoke coldly, pointing the gun at Ethan, who was dumbfounded, unable to speak or move. “Where is that file?”

“Please—”

Dravin pulled the trigger before Brandon could finish his words. The bullet hit Brandon's chest instead of Ethan's head.

Blood and tears flowed down like a stream, pain wrecking every part of him. This wasn't what he expected from Dravin. He thought friends were supposed to protect each other, trust each other, and be there for each other.

“If you beg me again, I will blow off your head, then your son's. That way, the file won't see the light of day,” Dravin voiced out, then walked up to the spot where Brandon sat down, the very place Stella's body was.

He squatted beside Brandon. “I trusted you. I let you know my plan, but the only thing you could think of is using it against me? Planning with my wife to ruin me? I know a b*st*rd like you will definitely go low, but I didn't think you would go this low,” he voiced out, sounding as if Stella's death wasn't enough to ease the anger burning through his veins.

“I didn't betray you, Drav. I and your wife are trying to stop you. This isn't the right way. You are going to eventually lose everything—”

“Shut it!” Dravin yelled out, slapping Brandon.

How dare he say he would eventually lose what he had been working on for days? Tomorrow, the city would sing his name like he was a god, be at his mercy, and worship him because he would soon be the richest man in the city.

“If you don't tell me where the file is, you won't take the bullet for your son this time,” Dravin muttered, his voice void of emotions.

To protect his son, he didn't care if he let Dravin walk down the monstrous path, which would definitely be the end of him.

“It is in my secret safe in my room. The password is 2304,” he replied calmly. As if he knew Dravin wouldn't stick to his words, he grabbed him by his leg, “Please don't harm Ethan. For the sake of old times, for the sake of our friendship, please,” he begged, tears streaming down his face, desperation laced in his voice.

“That means you are taking the shot for him,” Dravin muttered before pulling the trigger. The bullet went straight into Brandon's chest again, making him fall to the ground.

Knowing Brandon couldn't make it, Dravin rushed into his room to get the file. Meanwhile, Ethan remained frozen, staring at everything as if it was a movie. As if he was having a nightmare.

The little boy who was once treated with love, care, showered with kindness, found it hard to believe this part of life exists… and of all people, his father's friend?

“Ethan,” Brandon's shivering voice echoed, snapping Ethan from his thoughts. “Leave here. You must survive and expose Dravin. The original file is with…”

Before Brandon could complete his statement, he fell to the ground, his eyes shut, and his body completely cold.

“Father… father, wake up! No… no….! Please…!”

“The same nightmare again?”

Ryan’s voice broke through the silence in the room the moment Ethan jolted upright, drenched in sweat. For ten long years, the same memory haunted his sleep, his parents’ murder replaying in gruesome clarity.

He had visited many therapists, taken medication, but he just couldn't stop seeing how his parents got murdered coldly.

“Yes,” he replied coldly, sitting up. He raised his gaze to look at the time. It was already 10:00 am.

Before he could speak, Ryan's voice echoed, “I did not wake you up because you really needed the rest after yesterday's search.”

“I have to keep searching for the person with that file. So far, there is one person who might have the file aside from Dravin's late wife,” Ethan muttered, determined to find the file his father talked about in his dying moment.

After watching his parents die at the hand of their friend over a file, he made it his life goal to find the file and destroy his parents' kil