The Beginning

Caden took them to another room in the building. She told herself that she would accept everything, but she wasn't ready for what Caden showed them inside that room.

There were three men and a woman, all tied in a chair and blindfolded. There were some bruises and cuts all over their bodies and she was sure they were beaten.

Her heart pounded. She was nervous and at the same time, she pity them. She looked at Caden and was stunned to see his expression. No remorse, no guilt. Only rage.

Then she looked at Brie. She expected her to be scared or even just surprised, but Brie was just casually looking at the people in those chairs.

"Who are they?" Brie asked.

"You know them." Caden answered.

Brie took a deep breath and nod at him.

"They are from the Santelmo Clan. The ones that had conflicts with James Santelmo." Brie said.

Caden nodded. "Yes. And they still support the Trekker Clan."

She was looking at the two but didn't have the slightest idea of their conversation. Caden noticed her confusion so he pulled her further inside the room. He asked them to sit at the table a few steps away from the four people in the room.

Then two men came inside with some documents in their hands. A man with long wavy hair and a tattoo on his neck handed the papers to Caden.

"Here. Take a look." Caden handed them the files.

With trembling hands, she took it and took a deep breath before opening the documents. She gulped when she saw the first page of it.

"This is...my mom." She whispered.

The photo was a bit old. Her mom was around nine or ten years old when it was taken. She put it aside to see the other documents. There were photos of her parents and their friends from they were young.

There was a photo of her parents with Percival Jackson and Sophia Anderson, the Jackson twin's parents. It looked like it was taken from a party.

"That was your parents' engagement party. It was the day they were abducted by the Trekker Clan." Caden started.

A lot of photos of her parents and their friends were on the file including Caden's parents. Then her heart throbbed when she saw the photos of her and Lucas. But most of the pictures taken was her.

"I didn't suspect there was someone following me. These pictures were taken maybe just a few steps away from me." She said.

"We're still not sure. Maybe they were zoomed in to make it look like that. But we can't ignore the possibility. They're not only targeting me and the royal family but also those close to us. Right now, they are trying to infiltrate the school by using the bronze class."

She frowned. "They want to recruit the bronze class against the platinum class? Is that what you're saying?"

Caden nodded. "Yes. Most of the students in the bronze class are sponsored by wealthy people. But we found out that some are under the mafia."

"Like my mother." Brie suddenly said which surprised her.

Brie took a deep breath. "Mom was sponsored by the Santelmo Clan before her engagement to my dad. Her debt wasn't cleared although dad continued the sponsorship."

"And as part of the contract, all students from the bronze class will have to work for their sponsor once they asked them to. That's what happened to your mother. Plus the fact that she was threatened they will kill your father." Caden continued.

"But still, I can't understand the reason why the Trekker Clan is obsess with us. And this place? What is this place?" She asked while looking into Caden's eyes.

Caden sighed and stared back into her eyes.

"Willow Green. This is the place where my dad was born. This was their apartment unit. His home, where he witnessed my grandmother's murder."

"Why was she murdered?" She asked.

"She was also a member of a mafia, the Castello Clan. She was a good friend of my grandfather, Matthew Forelli. I guess she was caught up in the feud between the Forelli Clan, the royal family, and the Trekker Clan." Caden answered.

She looked at the photos again. Why would her parents get involved with the mafia? Did the Wilson Clan was caught in between because of being friends with the royal family of Flousia? She thought inwardly.

Caden knew she wanted answers. He held her hand and handed her a vial. She couldn't understand why her hand was shaking when she took it.

"Your parents were kidnapped by the Santelmo Clan. Their obsession with the Wilson Clan was different from the Trekker Clan's personal grudge toward the royal family. But Benjamin helped the Santelmo Clan with the kidnapping in exchange for their alliance with him."

She frowned. "Are you saying he helped them although our parents haven't met each other? I mean, he couldn't possibly know that they will be friends and we will be engaged."

"We're not sure, Alira. We don't know how our parents became close friends. Whether it was all planned by Benjamin or not, I'm still not sure about that. But my fake grandfather is a great game master. We can't ignore the possibility that he made us all connected. After all, he turned half of the mafia clans against us." Caden said.

"That vial. That's the serum injected to Alira's mother to forget everything." Brie suddenly commented.

She was surprised. She didn't know her mom had a mental illness because of the abduction. She grew up knowing that her mom was born with it.

"Why would they inject her with something like this? You said my dad, Uncle Percy, and Aunt Sophie were also abducted. Was it injected to my mom alone or to all of them?" She asked.

Caden glanced at Brie. He knew Brie knows the answer. Then he stared back into her eyes.

"It was injected only into your mother. Because she knew something she shouldn't have. And she did something no one expected." Caden answered.