Chapter 3
The Shadow Gang had risen to power, establishing the infamous Shadow Group, and by the time my mom reached the building’s imposing gates, it was already 1
a.m.
My mother sat alone on the cold steps, her back hunched, her bare feet pressing against the unforgiving pavement.
Her hair was tangled, wild, and her eyes- hollow, lifeless–stared into nothingness. The security guards on patrol cast wary glances in her direction, but none dared to approach.
Though the Shadow Gang ruled with an iron fist, they had a strange, unspoken rule: they never turned away the lost, the broken, the elders.
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When he had fallen, I could still remember those long, frostbitten nights–nights like this one–where we clung to each other.
As the first light of dawn broke, military trucks rumbled down the road.
More gang cars followed, their headlights cutting through the darkness.
My mother, her anxiety mounting, began pacing frantically, her eyes darting to each passing vehicle, as if hoping for a glimpse of him.
Then, from the shadows, “Old woman, get out of the way, or I’ll throw you in a brothel…”
She froze.
“I need to see Carter!” she shouted “When is
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he coming? Tell him–I need to speak to him! It’s urgent!”
The guards sneered at her, the disgust clear on their faces.
One of them laughed cruelly, but the head guard, a man hardened by years of dealing with the worst of the worst, only shook his head and made a call.
Moments later, Carter’s men appeared, their tattoos glowing under the streetlights like warnings.
One of them, a giant of a man, led my mother to a secluded room just outside the gates.
“I’m waiting for Carter!” she screamed.
The tattooed man sighed. “Lady, your daughter broke up with Carter a long time
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ago. He’s about to marry Leila. What the hell are you doing here? If you want money, say it. But don’t you dare think for a second you’re getting anything else. And if it weren’t for your daughter, you’d be buried in the gutter by now. So, move on.”
My mother stood her ground. “No! I don’t want money! I just need to see Carter!”
Without warning, a sleek luxury car barreled down the road. My mother, frantic, dashed toward it.
But the car didn’t stop.
It didn’t even slow down.
My mother was thrown to the ground with a sickening thud, her body skidding across the pavement, her limbs twisting and contorting as she tumbled down the stairs.
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“Mom!”
My world shattered in an instant.
“Mom, please! We’re not looking for Carter anymore!”
“Mom, please wake up!” I begged.
“Mom, don’t leave me! You can’t be hurt! You
can’t…”
This was the first time in my life I had screamed her name so many times. But she can’t hear me.
