To Love the Enemy

Chapter 2: Tobias

It had been over two hours since we were supposed to meet at the mansion. Avril was always punctual, never even five minutes late so by now, I was pacing, heart racing, thinking the worst. Then I heard the familiar roar of her Corvette. Relief hit me like a wave

“Toby… Reggie found out about us.”She sobbed as she ran into my arms, crying as she told me everything.

Reggie was a joke. But Cathy? That was serious. Still, better her than my family finding out.

My phone buzzed. A message from Tyler, my very annoying brother.

Photos of Tobias and I in the mansion.

“Get here in five minutes or someone else gets these.”

Tyler had hated me for as long as I could remember, and now his next target was clear my father, Lucien Hawthorne .

“Avril, go home. I’ll call you,” I said, rushing out.

“Toby, where are you going? What about me?” she asked, walking beside me. I turned to respond, but the sight of her tear-streaked face stopped me cold. My heart broke.

In that moment, I knew, I loved her. And I’d rather kill than see her cry again.

I pulled her into a tight hug, silently praying it wouldn’t be the last.

“I’d burn the whole world down before I let anything happen to you,” I whispered, then stormed out and jumped into my car. I drove like hell, knowing five minutes was impossible, but still trying.

By the time I got home, Morgan, our butler, was already waiting.

“Your father wants you in his study.”

“Where’s my mother?”

“I’ll try to keep her away, Master Toby,” Morgan said, like he could read my mind. But it was too late, I saw my mum rushing toward me just as I reached the study door.

I stepped inside and dropped to my knees, taken down by none other than Tyler. He smiled darkly as he shut the door behind me, locking Mum out.

My father towered over me as I stayed on the floor.

“Of all my creations, I expected the most from you. Theo is a weakling, and Tyler is…” He paused, sweeping his gaze from my eldest brother in the corner to Tyler, then gave a dismissive nod.

He turned back to me. “I thought you were my best creation brilliant, sharp, calculated. Not ruled by emotion like your mother. But I was wrong.”

He paced, basking in his own self-importance.

My father wasn’t just a perfectionist, he was a full blown narcissist with a god complex. He believed he gave life, and had the right to take it.

“A Montreal? An illegitimate one at that” he spat, kicking me with each word.

I tried to shield myself from his animalistic assaults as best as I could.

“Dad, I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.. Tobias wouldn’t...” Theo began, but Dad cut him off coldly.

“Of course he has a logical explanation, your brother wanted my attention, and now he’s got it,” my father snapped. “Tell me, Tobias, did you enjoy mocking me?”

He hurled his whiskey glass in my direction. It shattered on impact, shards slicing into my skin as I felt warm trickle of blood flowing down my arms.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” he asked, now eerily composed as he sank into the chair at the head of the table.

I stayed silent. My father thrived on mind games. He didn’t want answers, just ammunition.

“What was her name again?” he asked casually, pulling an old flip phone from his desk drawer.

“Avril... Avril Montreal,” Tyler answered immediately, like there was a prize to be won. If only he took his own life this seriously maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t be here right now.

Dad typed something into the phone, then slid it toward me.

I looked at the screen and my heart nearly stopped. It was a message addressed to an unfamiliar number:

“Terminate Avril Montreal.”

“So typically,” my father began, smiling like the villain he was, “they send a confirmation text two minutes after my request, to confirm kill or cancel. If I don’t reply, they go through with it.”

I didn’t doubt he would follow through. Everyone in this town suspected it, my father didn’t just ruin lives, he ended them. Anyone who crossed him... disappeared.

But I was betting on one thing: Montreal's had crossed him for years, and he’d always avoided them or left temporal damage.

"I'll call your bluff." I said hoping I played a good hand. He looked at me with an intense glare then started laughing.

“See? Very brilliant. Still calculating. I’m sure you’ve already figured out that I’ve intentionally avoided direct conflict with the Montreal's all these years. But trust me I’ve thought this through and I can always find someone else with clear motive and gain to pin it on, as much as I hate letting someone else take credit for my work, I’ll make an exception this time,” he said his smile thin and cruel.

I glanced down at the phone. It had locked, but a message notification was still visible on the screen. First, an image. Then a message:

"Confirm Kill, Cancel Kill."

“Come on, son. You don’t want this… right?”

But I couldn’t answer. I was too busy racking my brain for the phone’s password. Time was slipping away, and I was playing a deadly game, with Avril’s life hanging in the balance.

The phone vibrated. A countdown appeared on the screen: 40 seconds.

Panic set in as I tried password after password. 20 seconds. I had already attempted over twenty combinations nothing worked.

With less than 20 seconds left, my hands shook. I was running out of ideas, punching in random codes.

10 seconds…

“I’ll do whatever you want!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“I’d have you sign that in blood,” he paused then continued, “but I’ll assume you’re at least a man of your word.”

I was just about to lunge at him when Theo grabbed me, holding me back.

“Dad...the code!” he thundered.

“1404.” Of course, the day his Idol died, the only other person that could compete with his evilness, His father.

I fumbled to unlock the phone and typed Cancel kill. A confirmation flashed on the screen, and only then did I realize I’d been holding my breath.

The moment it popped up, a wave of relief crashed over me.

Avril was safe...for now.

“You’re getting engaged to Lacroix’s daughter. He holds the key to a major deal I’m closing and that’s his only condition,” my father stated as he walked toward the door.

He started toward the door, then paused, eyes glinting like steel. “And Tobias, don’t test me. One text, and she’s gone.” Tyler handed it to him.

The door opened just as my mother burst in. She froze, her gaze locking on the blood streaking my face, and dropped to her knees.

“You’re a monster, Lucien! He’s your son!” she cried, voice breaking.

“Morgan, lock him in his room. I’d rather not have to kill my own son.”

Morgan’s shadow filled the doorway. My mother’s hands shook as she tried to stop the bleeding, but the room was spinning now, blood loss, rage, and fear all bleeding together.

“Ty… call Avril. Tell her… tell...”

Avril’s face was the last thing I thought of before everything went dark.