Third POV
EIGHT YEARS AGO
Jed Griffo, the only child of the prominent Griffo Mafia Family, was notified that upon graduation he would be taking over the family's drug deal business. He had to, he was the only child of Don Griffo, the cruel mafia boss who worked on manufacturing arms for foreign mafia families.
Prior to this, Don Griffo had already become the enemy of the government, but due to his worldwide connections, apprehending him was a difficult task. Even within the government, he had strong ties. Arresting and convicting him was the FBI's greatest goal yet worst nightmare.
Seeing that he was getting older, Don Griffo had to start training his son to successfully take over from him. But Jed wasn't ready to inherit this dangerous empire. He was more engrossed in his coding jobs and dreamt of graduating to be a tech expert rather than a mafia Don.
Despite the regular reminders, Jed proved stubborn. So his father arrived at one decision — the hardest.
He hired an expert hacker to drain all of Jed's accounts and corrupt his working system.
That day Jed's life crumbled. His dream was shattered. But he didn't know where his problem came from. He could only suspect, but was too afraid to raise his suspicions. He had no one to turn to. In severe heartbreak, he turned to his father for assistance but was turned down.
"You're gonna be a mafia Don in the next three years. Start now and learn how to be a strong man. Sorry I can't help you. You can only enjoy my wealth upon taking over from me."
And Don Griffo was serious.
With no money and no jobs, his girlfriend, Cherry Norman, stepped up to take care of his education for the next three years of his stay in college.
"You've been a great help to me while you were doing well. Let me do this for you."
But he declined.
"Just like my dad said, I want to be a man and take care of myself. I don't want to bother you."
Countless requests from Cherry didn't get him to change his mind, even though he loved her so much after meeting in college. So he took a student loan which would span till he was done with college. With his course, it would run up into the hundreds of thousands or even more, but he didn't mind.
He hoped to pay them once he graduated and landed a well paying job. He still didn't want to take up the mafia business. For years, he thought his father had forgotten about him until he was in his final year, just about finishing his studies.
He opened his phone to find a threatening message waiting for him.
"Look!
I've been secretly investigating the life you're living out there in college. You're refusing to take up my business because of that girl you're in love with."
An electric shock cascaded over his body and he shivered.
"Because she's a lawyer and would come out to fight people like us. You've been influenced by her."
Jed's blood boiled.
He never thought his dad was ever interested in his life, being the nonchalant father whose concern was running his business, making billions with the hope of having someone to take over in the future. Him.
"So you have two options: either drop her upon your graduation, or she will be destroyed. She will be wiped off your life and this world if you can't let go of her."
This was a serious threat, and mafias don't joke.
For three days after receiving this message, Jed couldn't think straight.
As if this wasn't enough, another threat came up:
"I'll go after anyone who dares to hire you. I don't care if they are a hundred."
The urge to make him take over was more of an aggression rather than just a goal. Don Griffo wasn't joking in any of his words. Jed was aware of the countless rivals his father had single-handedly taken down.
His dream of graduating to find a well paying tech job to pay off his student loan was slowly shutting before his eyes. He held on to it, but not to the point of forgetting that his dictator father could destroy it. Somehow, he was slowly coming to terms with the unfortunate incident that had happened to him.
His father must have been behind the hacking to pull him closer into accepting his deal…the mafia life.
Jed knew he had to find a way to pay his loan, besides getting the tech jobs which had always been his dream. If he didn't pay, he would be tracked and monitored to prevent him from running away. From him, somehow his dad could be linked. His father had always wanted him to remain anonymous till the time he was ready to take over.
It was dangerous not to pay upon graduating, and with the system here, jobs were only granted to those students cleared upon graduating.
It was unlike other states, but the government would expect him to take remote jobs while schooling. A door which had been closed by his father, a problem which he couldn't just share.
Aside from this, he had to settle his loans, become a real man, and also marry the love of his life, without endangering her.
It was a difficult mission, but out of his abiding love for Cherry, he had to do something. He had to create a way to achieve both of these without leaking his secrets to anyone. Not even to Cherry, who only knew him as a hustling orphan.
In response, he quickly scribbled what came to his mind:
"Since you won't let me enjoy your money without working for it, will you establish a company for me, promote it, then I get to start the mafia business with it and gather some money to pay my student loans?"
Hearing this from his son who never wanted to have anything to do with the mafia world, Don Griffo was filled with joy. He accepted.
"But it has to be linked to the mafia world. Now you start as an intern. You can't do anything outside of the mafia world."
"Yes, Dad. It will be. I'll submit the strategy to you as soon as I come up with everything planned."
"Sure, I'll be glad to establish this company and mobilize clients for you. At least you can start with this."
"But…"
A loud throbbing rocked in Jed's chest. Something negative was going to come. He knew it whenever his dad used "But" and then paused.
"You need to do away with Cherry. Her profession is against our profession. She will be close to people who are our enemies, and because of her, our secrets will be leaked. She would have direct affairs with the law. Do away with her, or we will…"
"No! No! No, Dad." He cut him off quickly, not wanting to hear those words about the girl he loved.
"But I don't want to leave her family. Her parents love me so much, and they even permitted me to live in their family house."
"Then you can marry the younger daughter, Nora, to pay for their kindness. From my investigation, you're good with both girls. She's a doctor and she has had a crush on you right from the very beginning.
Seize this opportunity."
"But…" Jed was troubled, thinking of how he was going to relay this to Cherry. He loved her too much to hurt her, but there was an even greater hurt — letting the girl he loved most in the world die because of him.