Chapter One: The Night the Sky Betrayed Him
The night was heavy over the city, as if the black clouds knew what was about to happen and were preparing to cover everything.
On the rooftop of the building he worked in, Mike stood silently. His hands were behind his back, and his eyes watched the distant lights that had once been nothing more than traps.
After nine years of quiet living… he believed he had finally found a reason to live, a reason that justified leaving behind that dark world.
"After all this time… can I really trust someone?"
He asked himself in a voice no one could hear.
But the answer was hidden in a single image: the face of the little girl he had saved years ago, the small hand that clutched his shirt that day and said in a voice he could never forget:
"Brother Mike… don't go."
He smiled that day, and he smiled now. His smiles were rare, but they were sincere.
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A Small Party… and the Beginning of the End
Below, the hall was beautifully lit.
A simple celebration prepared by the family in honor of his years of service; tables, soft music, and people smiling at him as if he had truly become one of them.
Mike only ate; he drank nothing. He had never trusted any cup handed to him—an old habit from a life among gangs that he could never fully shed.
But despite his constant caution… he felt something he hadn't felt in twenty-seven years:
Safety.
And for a brief moment… he believed he deserved it.
In that moment, the head of the family approached him—the man Mike had spent nine years protecting, the man he saw as a symbol of goodness and light.
His warm face carried nothing but sincere gratitude as he raised his glass, inviting Mike to a toast for "trust and the future."
Mike looked at the glass, then into his eyes. His heart warned him; he saw a strange flicker of hesitation in the man's gaze, but he ignored it.
He justified it to himself; he trusted this man… or so he thought.
And for the first time, Mike decided to take the risk.
He drank.
And the real party began. They danced and celebrated, even the man's seventeen-year-old daughter.
She kept smiling, sinking into conversation and drinks with her father, while her eyes occasionally flicked toward Mike with expressions he could not interpret—especially now that the effects of his first drink were starting to creep in.
Mike was half-drunk, completely oblivious to the girl's glances… and to the sharp look in her father's eyes as he watched them.
The man narrowed his eyes and whispered coldly to himself:
"Just a little more."
---
A Trap in the Middle of Safety
After the party ended, Mike returned to his apartment, a luxurious residential complex not far from the mansion.
The air was fresh, the sky clear, everything suggesting a new beginning.
But at his door… he felt a strange shiver.
Something inside him warned him.
He entered. Closed the door. Turned on the light.
Suddenly… the TV screen turned on by itself.
The businessman— the man who had saved him once, the one Mike trusted more than anyone—appeared on the screen.
His face was pale, his eyes red as if he had cried for a long time, but fear was what dominated his expression.
He spoke in a low voice:
"Mike… if you're watching this, then I… I'm sorry."
Mike didn't move. He didn't understand. His chest began to burn with a strange heat.
The man continued, his voice trembling:
"I haven't been able to sleep for years. I'm afraid of you… afraid of the day you might get angry. You're too strong… and I'm too much of a coward."
Mike felt something burning inside him. Not anger—
A painful disappointment, a betrayal unlike anything he had known even in the worst days of his life.
"Please… don't try to leave. I… rigged the entire building with explosives."
His mind refused to process the last sentence.
"There is no escape."
The man lifted his head and looked straight into the camera, a tear sliding down his cheek:
"I'm sorry… please don't forgive me."
---
The Explosion
Before Mike could move, the building shook violently.
A deep sound tore through the city, then a blinding white light flashed, followed by the collapse of everything.
Windows shattered. The ground cracked. Flames surged like a beast escaping hell to devour every trace of safety.
And within seconds, not only his building exploded… but the neighboring ones as well.
Screams. Fire. Dust.
The blast radius exceeded anything any sane mind could have planned.
Seven hundred and eighty-one people died that night.
Amid all of it… Mike fell into darkness, unable to think of anything except one sentence:
"Even you… betrayed me?"
"After everything I did for you, after learning everything just to protect you! I saw you as a good man, someone who chose kindness instead of corruption like the others… and this is my reward?!"
He closed his eyes as a burning tear slipped down his cheek—
A tear reminding him of the ugliness of betrayal that had pierced his soul.
---
The End of Mike… and the Beginning of Someone New.
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