Advait, the principal, and every staff member went rigid with shock. Their legs trembled beneath them. None had ever witnessed a murder before—real, sudden, and merciless.
They forgot to run. They forgot to scream. Their bodies simply locked in place, eyes wide, breaths shallow.
Gorak turned to his men first, voice low and steady. "Go find out everything about this dead man. Kill his family. Use my political connections to cover this up completely. Don't worry about the cost."
One of the men nodded and slipped out immediately to carry out the orders.
Gorak faced the stunned group again, his pistol still raised. His tone turned ice-cold. "All of you—don't even think about revealing this. If you do, your families will die. Brutally. Right alongside you."
Of course, he could kill them all here and now. Money and connections would bury the bodies and the truth. But without these staff members, the school would shut down overnight. Tomorrow, classes would move to the India Concord, where he would finally receive the breathing technique he had waited for.
He refused to throw away months of patiently pretending to be a normal teacher in this worthless school. He had worked too hard for his chance to enter the India Concord. Losing that opportunity now would ruin everything he had built.
So he could not kill them. Fear would have to keep them silent instead.
Just as Gorak was thinking, a woman spoke up in a low, shaky voice. "You won't be able to cover this up. You killed someone. You'll get caught, go to jail, and face punishment. Even your political connections can't save you…"
She assumed his connections were only low-level. Otherwise, why would someone like him be stuck teaching at a school like this?
She had no idea that becoming a teacher was just a stepping stone for him to gain more power.
Gorak heard her words and burst into laughter. Mockery filled his voice. "You think my political connections are that weak? Haha, woman. You have no idea who I am or how much influence I have. You really think I'm just a teacher? Idiot."
He laughed harder. His men joined in, their chuckles echoing in the tense room.
The others grew even more terrified at his words. They no longer wanted to know his true identity or the extent of his power. If he keep his true identity hidden, they could still cling to a small hope—hope that someone, somehow, would uncover the truth. But if his connections were truly that vast and he could erase everything without a trace, that hope would die completely. So they desperately wished he would keep silent.
The woman regretted speaking at all.
But how could Gorak resist the chance to boast?
He told them everything. He revealed he was a mafia boss. His political connections reached across the entire town and into neighboring ones. No one could touch him.
When the others heard his title and influence, their last flicker of hope vanished. They had heard the rumors. They knew he was the big mafia lord of the area. Covering up a murder like this would be nothing for him.
Killing their families would be even easier.
After that, Gorak left the office. He ordered more of his men to watch the principal and the staff's families closely.
Advait, still on the floor, finally understood. This had never been about punishment for an accident. It was pure revenge. The mafia boss wanted to make him suffer for hurting his son.
Gorak had just killed a person and order his men to kill that person family too, for a small thing, and on the other hand, he himself had hurt gorak's son, he will surely die. But not peacefully like that person. Instead, Gorak would keep going until he died—brutally. His family would die too.
Having understood this, Advait decided to end it today. In his naive mind, if he was gone, Gorak would lose interest. The man would leave his family alone. He would stop the torment, the threats, the endless pain. The boy believed—desperately—that his own disappearance would break the chain of hatred and let his family survive.
He slipped out of the office and ran in one direction, legs burning, tears blurring his vision.
On the other hand, the principal and staff also left the office quietly. They could only hope Gorak would spare them and their families.
But as they stepped toward the school gate, they saw Gorak coming back. Fear gripped them. They thought he had changed his mind and was returning to kill them all.
They were wrong.
From another direction, Gorak's men dragged Advait roughly toward him. The boy struggled weakly, barely able to stand. They threw him at Gorak's feet.
Gorak pressed his shoe hard against Advait's face and shouted coldly, "You damn filth! How dare you try to end my fun? Now you deserve even more punishment."
He stomped down again, rupturing tissues in Advait's ear. Blood trickled out.
He did not stop. He beat the boy brutally, fists and feet landing without mercy.
Finally, he leaned down and spoke. "Don't think dying will save you from your punishment. If you die, your family will take your place. I'll make sure they receive every bit of what you owed. They'll curse you in their minds for leaving them to suffer like that. They will beg for mercy that never comes. They will watch each other break, piece by piece, knowing it all started because their precious son couldn't endure a little pain. They will scream your name in the dark, hating you more than they hate me. And when the last one falls silent, I'll make sure the world knows it was your weakness that doomed them."
He went on, describing in cruel detail the horrors his family would face after Advait was gone.
At last, before turning away, he added, "I'm taking your family with me. You have to stay alive and survive. If you can't, they will suffer in your place."