The Killer's Rose

Scars That Never Heal

[Damien's POV]

I made my way into the basement, holding a dagger in my grasp as I witnessed him—Ethan—struggling against the rope binding him to the chair.

Honestly, I never expected such actions from him, but he proved his betrayal. Now I needed to confirm if he was the mole Victor was talking about.

I sat down at the desk placed in front of Ethan, my gaze locked on his downcast crescent.

"I'm... sorry, boss... p... please forgive me..." he kept on pleading, but it was a useless act. He should be well aware that his death, even if he wasn't the mole, had already been decided. His actions back at the room earlier—I had made it clear that no one was to lay hands on her unless I said so, but he went and tried forcing himself on her.

I struck the dagger, sinking it deep into his injured right leg. Blood sprayed as a groan escaped his lips, one that I silenced with my clenched fist slamming against his jaw.

"P... please don't kill me, boss... I won't try that ever again..." he pleaded further. This time, I stood up, drying the dagger that had sunk deep into his leg, leaving more blood to gush out.

I closed the distance, placing the dagger's sharp edge at Ethan's lungs.

"Now I ask you one question, and you answer with a yes or no..." I started as he shakily gave a nod.

"Tell me... Who do you work for? I need a name." I yelled, the dagger's edge slightly scraping his neck, leading to tiny drops of blood flowing down.

"N... no... boss..." he stuttered, sweating from his forehead, as I noticed his trembling hands and legs.

I redrew the dagger, taking my seat back.

"Now that wasn't so hard..." I said, throwing the dagger to the side, one that I could tell brought a sigh of relief from his expression.

But was he thinking his death had been averted?

I brought my rifle from my pocket—one that I aimed at Ethan.

"No... please... boss..." he was saying, but I didn't give him the freedom to finish his words before I pulled the trigger, silencing him at the very echo of my rifle gunshot as the bullet pierced his skull, rendering him dead.

"I heard that you are digging again, Damien..." a voice drew my attention to Uncle Louis, who I had no idea when he had made his way inside.

"What are you doing here, Uncle Louis?" I questioned.

"What am I doing here? What do you mean, Damien? The real question I should be asking is, why? Why can't you just stop all this..." he said, and I could tell he was talking about my criminal empire again.

"I know after Evelyn's death, things changed, Uncle Louis. But I can guarantee you that the same thing that occurred would never seize to happen again..." I was saying, only for Uncle Louis to cut me off with a scoff.

"And you are so sure of that?" he said. "You brought the half-destruction of your lovingly peaceful family, Damien. Yet, another chance is up against the wall, a miracle that can never be explained—your wife's look-alike. This is the chance for your son to be back, for the once destroyed love to return back to his heart, and now here you are building up another storm..."

But why doesn't Uncle Louis understand? I was doing all this, everything I had done so far, from the beginning till where all to protect my family. I admit I failed miserably at that when they were attacked. Even so, he should know that would be the last mistake coming from me.

"I know how dear your niece was to you, Uncle Louis, but she was way more precious to me," I said, only to make my way out of the basement, giving no further words to Uncle Louis.

I met two of my men standing at the doorway.

"Go take care of the body..." I said to them, as they gave a nod, moving to do as ordered. While I returned back to my room, flinging my gun to the side as I sat down on my bed, hands bringing against my hair.

"f**k!" I yelled, not knowing when I had grabbed a glass jar and smashed it against the wall, the shattering pieces echoing through the room. As little found its way sinking into my flesh.

I slowly removed them, tiny blood trickling down, but that was so little to cause me pain. I had been battling with a scar in my heart since the very day Evelyn died, one that never seemed to heal.

I grabbed some disinfectant, pouring a drop on the wounds, as it left a slight sting.

Done with that, I hoped to make my way out of my room, deciding to check on Marcus' condition.

But a beep brought my attention to my phone. It was a message. Checking my inbox, the sender was unknown.

the message read.

I stumbled backward. "Who the hell is this?" I muttered, only to find myself reading the message again. What did they mean the mastermind was still alive? I had made sure to kill every single one of them. But if there was any single truth in this, wherever he was, I would find him and make him experience a horrific hell.

Those were the replies I sent back in the message as my gaze remained on the screen. Whoever this person was, how did they get my number, and why did they send me this now? I knew some plan was brewing up. My gut never said wrong, but each move I made this time would be with very careful thinking. I had to prove Uncle Louis wrong; the incident with Evelyn would never happen again.