Zyron's Pov
The crisp echo of the gunshot reverberated throughout the room.
bang.
I dropped my arm and observed the bullet embed itself exactly in the center of the paper target. The room smelled of gunpowder; it was clean and quiet yet somehow comforting. Here I could breathe naturally, not acting. At Austen University, I could live without donning the rich boy's mask.
A voice broke the silence: "Mr. Z, your request is ready. "
Right off, I didn't turn. That voice was familiar: cold, quick, loyal.
I came across a woman in a tailored black suit when I eventually did. Her long black hair was knotted back, her face clean as a stone. In the company, she held a top-level position. The same one I was born into, not the one I chose.
Family in my life is about more than just hugs and dinners. The first elder is Maxine Rain Rodriguez Ortega, my mother. People are scared of my father, Gino Ortega, even his friends. He is a very important person. I arrived in this world. My rank comes from my family, not from my own hard work. And that load? It weighs a lot.
I set the handgun down on the metallic table and took a long, measured breath. Alright.
The lady nodded and spun around. I walked behind her from the firing range.
The hallway floor reverberated with my boots. Each stride matched the consistent thumping of my heart with a metallic clang. I knew what awaited me in the punishment room.
Retribution.
With a mechanical chime, the elevator doors opened. I walked in by myself and pressed the button for the lower level. The polished steel reflected back at me my face. vacant eyes. Tensed jaws. People told me I looked like my mother; today I felt like my father.
Ding.
The elevator opened.
The dim lights flickered overhead as I walked the chilly hallway in quiet. Reaching for the knob, I stopped in front of the hefty door. My hand paused for just a second. Not out of fear but out of rage I had tried to suppress all this time.
Then I went in.
The room was dark. Above a man seated in a steel chair chained to a single spotlight hung. His mouth and eyes were wrapped in fabric as he hung his head down. Three people from the group were around him. Blood was among them.
Of course, that was not her true name. She liked it though. Said it suited her.
She murmured softly, "You're here, Mr. Z."
She moved out of the way so I could see better.
I investigated the man on the chair, Jonas Valdoza. His formerly pristine uniform had crumpled. His face already displayed bruises. The sight made me unhappy. Just a bubbling feeling of unfairness.
Blood said, pointing at him, "Here is your request".
With a little nod, I pointed to another colleague. He moved forward and yanked Jonas' mouth's cloth.
Jonas struggled for breath and coughed.
He questioned, terror clearly coloring his voice, "Who are you? What do you want from me? "
Blood bent her head a bit, lips turned with delight. "You have sinned. "
Jonas shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "A sin? I haven't offended anybody! "
I moved closer, my voice icy and quiet. "Really? You haven't harmed anyone? "
Behind the blindfold, his eyes grew wide. "N-no. . . "
I said, my voice rising, "Maybe youve just forgotten; now that youve already gotten what you wanted. "
He jerked.
He cried, his voice trembling with terror, "Who are you? ! "
I nodded again, and this time the cloth over his eyes was taken off. Pupils adjusting, he blinked under the brilliant light.
He focused on me. And his breath caught.
"Zy-Zyron. . . ? "
I didnt grin. Not once did I flutter.
"You recall now, huh? Your best friend of choice. The girl you wounded.
His voice shook. "Tr-trixy. . . "
Hearing her name made me tighten my fists. I turned my back briefly, grabbed the leather whip from the other member, and faced him again.
You lied to Trixy. Played with her feelings just to get your ex back. Scarlet. "
He waved his head. "I. . . I was desperate. I love Scarlett. "
Then you should have battled for her with your own might rather than利用 an innocent person.
Crack!
He screamed as the whip struck his back.
"You utilized my best friend! "
"B-but she agreed to it! " he yelled.
Trixy nodded. My jaw closed.
"Valdoza, not tell me lies! "
"I am telling the truth; I am not! "
One more gap. His yell sounded much louder.
"Still, should that be the case. . . She might have said yes, yet you still used her! You still twisted her, you still destroyed her.
"Yes! I admit it! I used her! But I had no choice! "
My voice fell off to a lethal whisper. "No choice? "
I took out my phone, opened the folder called "X Files," and held it up.
His eyes swelled. Every image on the screen showed him passed out on drugs in locations he swore he would never be spotted.
"What if I let your father see this? Or better still, the university? "
He nodded violently. "No. . . Please. . . I beg you, don't."
I moved closer until we met face to face.
"Then listen to me. You will say sorry to Trixy. From your heart. After that, you will vanish from Austen University.
He stopped moving. The seconds hung.
"You really don't want to cooperate? Fine. Don't feed him. Keep him here until he learns his place. "
He yelled, "Wait! " "I'll do it. I'll apologize. I'll leave. Just. . . please. . . don't destroy me."
I stared at him a lot. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to keep hitting him until he bled out the lies. But Trixy would want to stop me.
I thus retreated.
"Youre more reasonable than I expected. "
I turned to Blood. "Escort Mr. Valdoza out."
My fingers shook around the whip as I left.
I gazed over my shoulder once more before I shut the door behind me.
"If you ever hurt her again, Jonas. . . what you experienced today will feel like a mercy. "
With that, I departed.
Once more the corridor was silent.
But inside I wasnt.
No matter how cold I acted, every bruise I noticed on him brought back the suffering Trixy must have experienced. And knowing I couldn't have shielded her from it sooner?
That wounded me more than anything else.