2025-10-15 00:44:41They’d all arrived minutes later, inside the police station. Both Carter and Carlos stood alone in the evidence room, far from the press.
“Here,” he said, handling over all that was seized from Carlos back to him
Carlos was glad to recover them but most especially, his necklace.
“Thank you.” He said to Carter whose gaze remained stiffened.
But Carlos's eyes noticed something on Carter's desk when he turned to leave. The card on his desk had a familiar logo.
He froze for a while, unable to fathom the reality of the discovery.
“..... Anything else, Mr Rodriguez?” Carter's voice snapped at Carlos, accompanied with a mean gaze as he turned to leave.
And as soon as he walked out from his office, Carter locked the door behind him and pulled out a burner phone.
He dialed a hidden number and the line rang twice before connecting.
“What is it Carter?” A gruff, gravel-thick voice answered.
He glanced at the door.
“Sir... we’ve got a problem.”
“Go on.”
“A guy stopped the Narva team. Too trained to be ordinary. And Jax ended his life with a bullet, save for the men in the custody.” He explained with a low voice. A brief silence erupted between them.
“That son of a bitch knew better than to stay alive. Tell me, do you have the name of the man who’d dared me? ” Stain sneered.
“Carlos Rodriguez.”
“…I’ll keep in touch. Inform me of any further details on him when you have it.” the voice said then the line went dead.
**************
The soft clack of shoes echoed down the sterile marble corridor of the Coast Wesley Police Department.
Carlos stood before the dark-oak door that read:
CHIEF JOHN MATHERS – HEAD OF ENFORCEMENT
His hand hovered mid-air, about to knock. But for a few minutes, he restrained himself.
‘Do I really want to do this?’ His mind churned as tried to recall where he had seen such logo on Carter’s desk.
He took a deep breath.
Carlos frowned, tugging his jacket slightly straighter and finally raised his hand.
Knock Knock.
"Come in," came the baritone voice from within.
He opened the door and walked into the Chief’s Office.
There were leather chairs, filing cabinets, and a wall-wide city map of Coast Wesley. Chief John Mathers, the middle-aged man with a bearded face and steely but kind eyes, stood up from behind his desk. Carlos walked over to him cautiously.
“Mr Rodriguez,” Mathers said with a warm nod and chuckled softly.
“Have a seat. Please.”
Carlos sat across from him with his hands resting on his thighs.
“I believe my men have attended to you.” He asked.
“Yes sir. Thank you.” Carlos said, offering a hand shake.
“It's no big deal, Mr Rodriguez.” Mathers said, returning the shake with a smile on his face.
“I've seen a lot in my time,” he started.
“But taking down five armed robbers without a scratch, without casualties? That’s a first—even for our best SWAT.” John admitted. But Carlos shrugged.
“I did what I had to.”
Just then, Mathers leaned forward as his eyes probed.
“That’s what I’m curious about. How did you do it?”
Carlos hesitated— instantly recalling what the Revenge System had warned him;
> “REVEALING SYSTEM INTEL TO UNKNOWN HOSTS MAY LEAD TO DEACTIVATION OR EXPOSURE.”
But just as he considered giving a fraction of the truth, a sharp knock interrupted them.
“Come in.” John responded to it.
The door opened and Carter stepped in. He’d worn his usual half-fake grin.
“Chief. Sorry to interrupt. We’ve got a code red situation. Classified.” Carter said and Mathers’ expression shifted.
“Give me a sec, please” he said to Carlos.
Carter leaned close, whispering something into John’s ears and he couldn’t make out the words. Mather gave a nod and stood up.
“I’ll be back in just a few. Please wait.”
Carlos watched as both men exited the room.
But just before Carter shut the door, he looked back at Carlos and their eyes locked.
Something in that look wasn’t right. A measuring gaze. Like a man who knew something and was deciding how dangerous it was.
Carlos stood and paced the room slowly, instantly recalling the logo that burned in his memory.
His thoughts spun back on Jax, the robber he had interrogated during the Star Bank incident.
"He has men inside the police... loyal ones."
And then he remembered something else.
Back in the holding cell, before the bank incident, when he’d been briefly locked up…
Carter’s desk.
There lied the same symbol on the small card tucked under a pile of reports—two crossed axes dripping with blood. Exactly like the tattoo on Jax’s arm.
Just then, it dawned on him where he had first sighted the logo before Jax’s.The room suddenly felt colder.
He glanced at the door. Should he run? Set up surveillance on Carter? Plant evidence?
But before any plan solidified, the door opened again. Mathers walked in alone, now with a folder in hand.
“Apologies, Chaos never sleeps in this city.”
Carlos returned to his seat, now fully alert. Mathers opened the folder and flipped a page.
“Now, about the robbery. Did any of those men say something? Give any clue about who sent them?”
Carlos thought carefully. He couldn’t reveal everything—not yet.
“One of them… Jax, I think. He said they worked for someone named Hughes Stain. Told me he runs operations under a bar called Crimson Forge. Apparently, he’s been doing it for decades.” He explained.
“That name’s surfaced before—always in whispers and untraceable. We’ve never had a witness last long enough to make a statement.” Mather admitted.
“Then you do believe me?” Carlos asked and Mathers nodded.
“I just want justice,” he said, voice thick with unspoken emotions.
“I know,” Mathers said, closing the file gently.
“And I appreciate your bravery, Carlos. What you did at Star Bank saved lives. You’ve helped us.”
He stood, walked around the desk, and extended a hand.
“I promise—Hughes Stain won’t touch you. We’ll make sure of it.”
Carlos shook his hand, but his expression was unreadable.
He knew better than to believe promises. Especially when a snake had just whispered into this same man’s ears.
Still, he nodded and walked to the door.
“Thank you, Chief.”
As he stepped out into the evening sun, Carter made a quiet call in a restricted hallway.
His voice was low while the person on the other end just listened.
“He knows,” Carter whispered.
“I don’t know how much, but he knows about you, sir. And about Crimson Forge…..”
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Latest Chapter
“My allegiance to the almighty emperor.”
John straightened his tie and gave a self-satisfied huff, brushing invisible lint from his suit.“Pathetic,” he muttered. They don’t belong in a place like this.”He motioned to the security guards to return to their posts. Then he turned to his assistant.“Make sure everything’s spotless. The owner’s coming in less than ten minutes. Griff Willows doesn’t tolerate incompetence.”He smirked, adjusting his cufflinks.“When the boss sees how well I’ve handled things, he’ll know he can count on me to keep this place in order.”But what John didn’t know, however, was that his moment of “order” had just set the stage for his downfall.*****************Carlos had just stopped by the fountain outside the entrance and in front of the very building, turning towards Lily.“Hey,” he said softly, brushing a tear from her cheek. “Don’t apologize for any of that. You didn’t deserve what happened in there.”She sniffled, shaking her head.
The expected deploy
He had caught the slight tremble in her hands, the way she clutched the hem of her blouse and avoided his gaze. There was something deeply wrong and she was clearly hiding it.When he asked what was going on, she had only forced another strained smile and whispered,“I’ll be fine, Mr. Carlos. It’s… nothing I can’t handle.”Carlos waited for her to say more, but when she turned away to attend to a pile of receipts with shaking fingers, he knew she wasn’t going to open up.His brow furrowed. Why’s she pretending everything’s fine when she’s clearly breaking inside?Without saying another word, he took a few steps back from the counter, scanning the reception area until he spotted one of her co-workers — a young woman with auburn hair and anxious eyes, standing near the far end of the counter, pretending to arrange display tablets.Carlos approached her quietly.“Hey, excuse me,” he began, his voice steady but firm. “You work here, right? You’re close with L
“Miss Andrea, you relationship has officially ended”
Carlos felt an unusual warmth course through him as he stepped out of the Apple Plaza store, the sleek paper bags swinging lightly from his fingers. For the first time in months, he felt… content. The silver gleam of his brand-new iPhone 17 Pro Max caught the afternoon light as he turned it in his hand. The smooth glass and metal design reflected his face — sharper, calmer, more assured than the man who once had nothing but resentment and grief for company.He slid into the back seat where Charles new cab is backed at the waiting area outside the store to unbox the device, syncing it effortlessly with the rest of his new gadgets. A small smile crept across his lips as he powered it on. The screen glowed brightly — his reflection merging with the device’s brilliance and for a brief second, he felt like he was looking at a new beginning.“Finally,” he murmured, swiping through the setup screen.“I can see you are happy with your new purchase sir.” Charles said, observ
Lily Evans 2
“I don’t see your boyfriend around. Where’s he hiding?”It was an innocent observation, but Andrea took it like a slap.Her eyes flared.“Excuse me? You think Axel would ever waste his time following me around like you?”Her voice rose just enough to draw a few nearby stares again. She stepped closer, tilting her head in mock amusement.“You must have grown bold to even imagine that a man like him would be anything like you. Remember why I dumped you, Carlos? Because you were trash. Lower than the average guy who works five jobs just to scrape a living for himself and his broke family.”Her words cut like shards of glass, and several customers around gasped softly. Carlos smiled. His face remained smooth, calm, and almost unreadable, like a lake untouched by the storm raging in front of him.And that calmness… shook Andrea to her core.What happened to him? she wondered, almost involuntarily.Physically, the transformation was obvio
Lily Evans
The morning light seeped through the half-drawn curtains of Carlos’s room, but sleep had long abandoned him. The night’s dream still lingered like smoke after a fire—the burning garden, the armies, the sword that nearly pierced his chest. He had tossed and turned, replaying every moment until dawn finally broke through.By the time the clock struck 7:45 a.m., Carlos was already up, showered, and dressed. His movements were sharper, more deliberate than before. Everything that had happened over the last few days—the fight at the alley, the revelation of his identity, the dream—had woven a quiet determination inside him. There was no running from this anymore.But before he could face the weightier matter of visiting Grace, his mother’s younger sister—the only living family he had left,he was finally going to buy himself a new iPhone.Charles had gladly agreed to pick him up from his place at the earliest hour of the morning at just a phone call from himThe Apple Gadg
The garden and the council
The night was deep and silent, the city’s distant hum faint beneath the veil of darkness.He found himself standing in the middle of a vast, breathtaking garden. The air was crisp, scented with blooming roses and lilies. A golden sun hung high in the sky, its rays bathing the entire landscape in a warm, celestial glow. The wind swept across the wide field of green, making the petals dance like waves on an emerald sea and brushing across his face.For the first time in a long while, Carlos felt an overwhelming sense of serenity. His heart—usually weighed down by confusion and the chaos of his recent discoveries—was light. He stretched his arms out, letting the breeze kiss his skin. He closed his eyes, showing his face to the sun and savoring the moment of peace.When he opened them again, two figures stood before him.A tall, distinguished man, older but with an uncanny resemblance to Carlos—same sharp eyes, same firm jawline, but tempered with wisdom a
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