Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Samantha could not put her finger on it. The way that he sounded seemed like what he had to tell her was really serious. But something confused her, "How is this related to me?"

"You will understand later when I tell you."

"Can you at least tell me… if… if… I am going to die?"

Using both of his hands, Daniel cupped her face and told her very slowly, "I won"t let that happen."

"Whatever it takes.

"Whatever I have to do.

"Even if I have to lose everything, Samantha.

"I won"t let you die. Do you understand?"

Samantha swallowed, she heard him loud and clear. Despite feeling nervous, she nodded to him, "Yes."

"Now, I"m asking you one last time. You may not like what you are going to hear about me. So you still have a chance to just forget all of these and you won"t have to hear the bad things that I did. You can tell me.

Now... Do you still want to know?" Daniel asked. Somehow, a part of him wished that she would shake her head and say "no" and that they will just forget about today and move on. He was then reminded of what she said about Gael and Becca that one time, ["If I were in her situation… I don"t think it will be easy to accept someone whose hands are dirty. I mean, like Lucas... he is a good person and all. But I don"t think I can live with it either."]

But no matter how much he hated the thought, Samantha had already gotten involved and she was right, she deserved to know the truth.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds before she nodded again. "I want to know. Whatever it is, I want to know."

Daniel averted his gaze and stared at the table in front of them. How could he possibly look at his wife while he tells her how he killed Lavro Yanovich"s son and he even wanted it?

"I was twenty-one when I have just arrived in Country A. I went there after that whole incident with Stefan and Melissa. I value friends.h.i.+p so much that his betrayal had hurt me deeply so I wanted to start from scratch and move on after what he did." Daniel started.

…

Country A

About eight years ago, Daniel met Lucas and eventually became friends with him. At first, he did not know about his new friend"s family background but after the two of them got to know each other for a few weeks, Lucas decided to tell Daniel.

"I don"t really want to tell you, man... because I don"t want to scare you. If you don"t want to hang out with me anymore, I would understand and it"s okay. I just thought that I should be honest with you because you have always been honest and good to me." Lucas stated.

Daniel was conflicted. He had just found out that his friend was actually part of the infamous Olsen Family. Back then, The Olsens were known for smuggling ammunition and supplying drugs. Over the years, they have changed and became even bigger like how it is now.

However, during that year, The Olsen"s organization in the underworld was still only a few years new in Country A. It was Lucas" uncle, Eddie Olsen, who was in charge of taking care of their business in the country.

When Lucas and his father were already in good terms, Lucas started staying with his uncle so Daniel met Uncle Eddie a few times whenever he picks up Lucas when they go out but he never suspected anything from their family. After hearing Lucas" confession, he found it very weird how people could live that kind of life.

"Have you… ever… do you kill people?" Daniel asked, his tone was very innocent.

Lucas knew what his friend was afraid of but he had already decided to come clean so he answered him honestly, "If it"s not necessary, we don"t. We"re not serial killers if that"s what you"re worried about, Daniel. But in this line of work… our family… let"s just say that wars are inevitable. So, people from the organization die while doing their work."

Daniel understood what his friend meant but all he could do was give him a nod.

Thinking that his friend might be curious, Lucas asked, "Do… you want to see how it"s all happening?"

Daniel snapped his head to his friend, "P-people dying?"

Lucas punched Daniel"s upper arm, "No, you fool. I meant, inside Uncle Eddie"s mansion… it"s where we keep... the stuff."

Daniel laughed at his silliness. He a.s.sumed right away and even scared his friend. Why would Lucas show him how they kill people?

Because he was also curious and have nothing better to do as it was a weekend, he agreed to see what his friend wanted to show him.

So in his Matte Black McLaren 12C, they drove towards Uncle Eddie"s mansion. When they arrived, a group of servants greeted them by the door.

Lucas had already told his uncle that Daniel already knew about their family business so compared to how Daniel saw the mansion before, it was now totally different.

Lucas led his friend towards a section near the stairs in the living room and he pressed something on the wall then a small screen with numbers suddenly appeared.

Daniel watched as his friend punched a series of numbers and b.u.t.tons until they heard a click — the wall moved and a flight of stairs going down was revealed.

There was a path that he had never seen previously. "Is it really okay for me to be here?" He worried as they entered and started walking along the pa.s.sage.

"Of course, you"re my friend. No one can say anything if it"s me. Just follow me." Lucas boasted as they continued to walk the long hallway. It stretched for more than thirty meters more with only lights on the wall s.h.i.+ning their path.

They finally reached the end of the hall and in there, Daniel found an extremely large underground storage area. It was filled with different kinds of cargos, containers, wooden crates, trucks and many more. There were a lot of people and Daniel thought that all of them must be working for Lucas" family.

It was something very strange and very new to Daniel. And although he already understood what kind of business Lucas" family had, he did not find his friend bad at all. Maybe what they were doing was bad in the eyes of people, but to him, Lucas was such a great friend.

They toured around the s.p.a.ce while Lucas was happily telling him about all the things in the warehouse. Daniel found it really interesting how he grew up not knowing about everything that Lucas" had grown up to. They were in such different worlds.

After a while, a guy who was in his mid-twenties approached them in a very unusual way. "Yow Lucas!"

Lucas turned around and immediately ducked from the kick that the guy had just done. Daniel did not understand what was going on but he was definitely stunned at what he was seeing. His friend Lucas and the guy who had just arrived have been exchanging kicks and punches but neither one of them looked angry.

Were they being ambushed? Daniel looked around but no one else in the warehouse seemed to mind what was happening!

Daniel was about to dash and help his friend when suddenly, Lucas was sent flying in the air and he crashed onto the crates behind them. "Ow! Did you just kick me for real?" He yelled. "That hurts!"

The guy laughed heartily, clutching his belly as he chided, "You are still very slow. How did you not improve over the years?"

Daniel helped Lucas on his feet and whispered, "Who is this guy?"

Lucas brushed off the dust on his body and formed a smile on his face as he walked hurriedly towards the guy who had beaten him up. "Kevin!"

The two of them exchanged hugs and pats before Lucas introduced him. "Daniel, meet my cousin, Kevin Olsen. He"s Uncle Eddie"s son."

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief after learning who that guy was. "I"m Daniel… Daniel Cho." He shook hands with Kevin but was surprised that Kevin started squeezing his hand a little too hard.

Daniel who was at first startled began to return gripping his hand as hard as he could until the two of them smiled at each other. The pair seemed to have come to an understanding.

Kevin chuckled at their little interaction, "Nice. Lucas, your friend has a firm grip. He seems pretty strong. This is going to be fun." He commented.

That was how Daniel, Lucas, and Kevin started hanging out together.