Blood & Vows

CHAPTER 1 – Boss’s Assistant

“Boss, I brought cookies! Do you want to try some?”

A bright smile rested on Yue’s lips as she held a small container in her hands. Inside the office of Caleb Monton—the most feared mafia boss in the entire city—she was the only person bold enough to walk in as though the world held no danger at all.

The office itself was suffocatingly silent. Dark walls towered around the room, illuminated only by the dim glow of the city lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Men twice Yue’s size often trembled upon entering this place, yet she stood there comfortably, dressed in a simple office skirt and blouse, looking more like an ordinary secretary than someone working under the country’s most dangerous man.

Caleb did not answer.

Seated behind his massive desk, he continued reading the documents spread before him, his cold gray eyes focused on the report detailing the movements of a low-tier gang attempting to challenge one of their territories. The surrounding atmosphere was heavy, oppressive enough to silence even the bravest of men.

But Yue remained unaffected.

Still smiling, she approached his desk and carefully placed the container beside his papers.

“Working too much is bad for you, Boss,” she said softly. “You can’t skip meals again.”

Caleb finally lifted his gaze toward her, his brows slightly furrowed. “What is that?”

“Chocolate chip cookies,” Yue answered proudly. “I baked them myself.”

There was something oddly warm about her smile. Innocent. Gentle. Completely out of place in a world drenched in blood and violence.

Caleb stared at her for a few seconds before looking away again. “You had time to bake?”

“Of course.” She grinned. “I’m talented.”

A faint scoff escaped him, though it was barely audible.

Anyone else would have frozen after receiving such a cold reaction, but Yue simply pulled a chair closer and sat across from him casually, watching him continue his work.

The room fell silent once more, interrupted only by the faint sound of pages turning. Yue rested her chin on her palm as she observed him quietly. Even now, Caleb Monton looked terrifying. The sharp lines of his face remained unreadable, his expression cold enough to make most people avoid eye contact entirely. His black dress shirt was slightly rolled up to his elbows, revealing veins and scars scattered across his hands and wrists—evidence of years spent in violence.

To the rest of the underworld, Caleb was a monster.

A ruthless mafia king with no mercy for traitors or enemies.

A man whose name alone was enough to make entire organizations kneel.

But to Yue…

He was simply Caleb. And that was precisely why she noticed the small cut on his hand almost immediately.

Her smile faded.

A thin line of dried blood stained the side of his knuckles, likely from earlier business he had failed to mention. Her brows knitted together slightly.

Again.

No matter how strong Caleb was, no matter how untouchable he appeared, injuries always found their way to him eventually. Yet he never cared about his wounds, no matter how serious they were. Yue hated that.

“Boss,” she said quietly.

Caleb hummed absentmindedly, still reading.

“You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.”

His answer came cold and immediate, as expected. But Yue clicked her tongue in disapproval before standing up. Without hesitation, she walked toward one of the drawers near the shelf and retrieved the office’s first aid kit. Caleb finally looked at her properly.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” she muttered. “Treating your wound.”

“It’ll heal on its own.”

“That’s not the point.”

Ignoring the dangerous aura surrounding him, Yue grabbed his hand carefully and pulled it closer toward her. Her fingers were warm against his skin as she cleaned the cut with practiced gentleness. Caleb remained silent. Most people would have been shaking in fear by now, terrified of touching him without permission. Yue, however, acted as though this was the most natural thing in the world.

“You should take better care of yourself,” she mumbled while applying antiseptic. “You’re not invincible.”

A faint crease appeared between Caleb’s brows. For some reason, hearing those words from her felt… strange.

Not annoying.

Not unpleasant.

Just unfamiliar.

People either feared him or obeyed him. No one scolded him over something as trivial as a small wound. No one except Yue.

“You talk too much,” he said flatly.

Yue gasped dramatically. “And yet you still keep me around.”

Caleb said nothing. Because unfortunately, she was right. Despite her endless talking, strange habits, and tendency to treat him less like a mafia boss and more like an overworked office employee, Yue was oddly efficient. She handled schedules flawlessly, organized documents better than anyone else in the company, and somehow managed to keep his entire office functioning smoothly.

She was competent. Reliable. Dangerously easy to keep around. And perhaps that was why Caleb tolerated her more than he tolerated anyone else.

Yue finished wrapping the bandage around his hand before giving him a satisfied nod.

“There. Much better.”

Caleb glanced down at the bandage silently. Then his eyes shifted back toward her face. She looked genuinely relieved. The realization made something unfamiliar stir faintly within him before disappearing just as quickly.

“You’re troublesome,” he muttered.

Yue beamed proudly. “Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“I’ll still accept it.”

For the first time that day, the corner of Caleb’s lips twitched slightly upward. It was brief. Almost invisible. But Yue saw it. And for a moment, her chest tightened unexpectedly.

Dangerous.

That tiny expression alone was dangerous. Because the more human Caleb became in her eyes, the harder it became to separate him from the blood-soaked world surrounding them.

A knock suddenly echoed through the office door. One of Caleb’s men entered cautiously, his posture stiff.

“Boss,” the man said nervously. “The informant has been captured.”

The atmosphere changed instantly. The warmth in Yue’s expression vanished almost immediately. Caleb’s eyes darkened.

“Where?”

“The warehouse in District Nine.”

“Did he talk?”

“Not yet.”

A suffocating silence filled the room. Then Caleb slowly stood from his seat, grabbing his coat from the chair beside him.

“I’ll handle it myself.”

The subordinate visibly swallowed hard before nodding quickly. “Understood.”

Yue quietly watched the exchange from the side. Her fingers tightened slightly around the first aid kit. District Nine. Interesting.

Caleb left the office without another word, his men immediately following behind him like shadows. The moment the elevator doors closed, Yue’s sweet smile disappeared entirely. The cheerful light in her eyes faded into something cold. Empty. Silent. She calmly placed the first aid kit back into the drawer before glancing toward the city lights outside the window. Then she sighed softly.

“Looks like tonight’s going to be busy.”

*****

On the opposite side of the city, inside an abandoned warehouse hidden deep within the industrial district, the air reeked of blood and rust. A man tied to a chair trembled violently. His face was bruised beyond recognition, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as broken sobs escaped his throat. In front of him stood a woman dressed entirely in black. No warmth remained in her expression, no innocence. Only terrifying stillness.

Yue looked down at the man with cold, emotionless eyes.

The frightened captive shook uncontrollably. “P-Please… spare me…”

Yue tilted her head slightly.

“How annoying,” she murmured.

Her voice no longer carried the sweetness heard inside Caleb’s office earlier. It was colder now—sharp enough to cut through flesh.

“You sold information to our enemies,” she continued calmly. “Did you really think you’d survive after that?”

The man cried harder. “I-I was forced to—”

A loud crack echoed through the warehouse. The man screamed as Yue casually dislocated one of his fingers. Her face remained completely expressionless.

“You talk too much.”

Tears streamed down the man’s ruined face as he begged desperately for mercy. Yue crouched in front of him slowly.

“You should feel grateful,” she whispered softly. “If Caleb were the one handling this personally, you’d already be dead.”

The man froze. Fear flooded his eyes. Because somehow… The woman before him felt even more terrifying than Caleb himself.

Yue stared at him silently for several seconds before releasing a quiet sigh.

“Any last words?”

The captive opened and closed his mouth helplessly, unable to speak through his terror. Yue nodded once.

“I see.”

Then, in a single swift motion, her fist slammed directly into his temple. The man went limp instantly, his body collapsing lifelessly against the chair. Silence returned. Yue stood there quietly, staring at the corpse for a few moments before shaking the blood from her hand.

No guilt.

No hesitation.

No remorse.

The same gentle hands that carefully treated Caleb’s wounds… Were hands capable of killing without mercy. Yue glanced down at the blood staining her knuckles before smiling faintly to herself.

Tomorrow morning, she would return to the office carrying coffee and snacks again, acting like the cheerful assistant everyone believed her to be.

And Caleb Monton would continue seeing only the harmless woman standing beside him every day.

Completely unaware…

That the monster he had been searching for all this time had been right beside him from the very beginning.