Dear Principal

Chapter 10

Haden's POV

"Your plan didn't work, Haden. And we just lost a million because of it." A hoarse voice matched the older man who sat across a table in an old, tarnished chair. His parched lips barely moved, but the seething anger remained noticed, "Lord help me, I hope you have a reasonable explanation."

Having experienced dealing with my father's anger, I nodded, but truthfully, I had no clue how I would figure this out. It's a natural notion not completing a task and being thoroughly punished. My father sent my brother away on vacation, and the truth is that my brother successfully completed his missions, but as for me, I've always struggled with them.

From the first day I began training, my father would bellow with snarling comments, telling me I wasn't working hard enough to earn his respect.

Oliver is my last hope. Was my last hope.

I needed him to get my freedom from this conniving and undermining family. Oliver is the cognition not to have to deal with this constant dread.

"Well? What is your next plan?" My father spoke again, taking a sip of his wine.

Since turning myself into a porn star didn't go as planned, I would have to do different things. Things that require force.

I can't break and enter, that would be too obvious, and gassing is old school. Kidnapping is out of the question because Flower Girl was a fight I didn't want to reenact.

I brushed a hand through my stubble, "let me think about it some more, dad. Right now, I need to figure out the basics."

This reply didn't seem approved by my father as he placed his glass down with a force that caused an ear-deafening shock. I winced and watched him stand over his desk with a snarl defining how pissed he was.

"I'm sorry, Haden. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do not have a plan b?" I pressed my lips into a thin line and played with my serpent ring, "after all those years of training you, teaching you the basics of our business and the meaning behind it all, you are telling me you do not have a second plan to put in action after your first one failed!?"

There was a heavy tension between us after my father raised his voice. I did not need to hear my three rights again. I knew what I was doing but needed to see the potential in winning.

What my father didn't see was Jo protecting Oliver. Oliver did not want me around him anymore after I screwed up. If I even go near him, Jo will come between us again.

There are many reasons why I can't just barge in and kidnap Oliver as my father wants. There are everyday human things that are getting between me and my target. But my father didn't see that because he never saw the work he put us through. He didn't have to do the missions as a teenager because his dad put him on the throne before he could even talk.

My father expects me to be like his father, but I won't tolerate being dragged around by some old fool who can't see anything but the money in front of him.

"I'll figure it out, dad," I mumbled.

"Figure it out? When, Haden? When will you figure out who you're supposed to be catching and what you're supposed to be doing?"

His question irritated me because I knew all this, and he continued prying it on me. The pressure I'm going through daily to try and capture Oliver is enough already.

"If you would bring me that little snitch before he opens his mouth, you'd be on vacation." My father slapped a book on his desk, pushed it toward me, "reread it. Read the damn book till' you can't see nothing but your fucking nose." He hissed.

I winced again and curled my lip as I took the rippled book in my hands, looking over the cover title with knitted brows.

I scarcely remember reading this book when I was younger. My brother would sit in the far corner of my bedroom with his phone barely hanging in his hand. He babysat me through my entire reading progress because that was his only chore. I recollected the times he would glare at me over his dimly lit screen and advert his gaze back to whatever he was doing like he loathed being my sitter. Sometimes he would even roll his eyes and snap his fingers when I tried sneaking my phone from beneath my blankets.

I threw the book, watched it slide across my father's desk, and stared up at him with a snarl.

"I'm not going to read some child's play."

***

Oliver blocked my number a few days after the incident. He also avoided me at school and was always with Jo in the hallways, making it difficult for me to approach him. It made me angry at the time, but the graduation ceremony frustrated me the most.

Jo didn't have the right to come between Oliver and me.

There is a side of me that wants to continue with this mission and wants to have financial stability for my family. But my other side doesn't want to hurt Oliver because I can see this kid's potential.

I parked at Le Cafe and waited for Oliver.

I did not expect him to show up; if he did, he wouldn't be alone. Jo will follow him around like a lap dog. He's always been that way, and Oliver appeared to like that. It's like he felt safe.

I remember the night I went to his apartment. Oliver was blankly watching TV, unamused by the show. When he opened the door and failed an attempt to lie to me, I realized something wasn't right. He'd missed a week of school, and it worried me, not for his health but for the money, and it felt unrealistic. That night, I held Oliver in my arms and understood what love was like. It's not a fantasy dream you never wake up from, but a pure, tangible thing you can feel and touch. There was no electricity when I punished Oliver. It did turn me on, but it wasn't what I wanted. Oliver taught me to open up in a way I feel comfortable. But there isn't anything I can do to get that back.

My father depended on my skills to get my hands on the money and disappear. I did it with the Flower Girl and can do the same with Oliver.

I played with my ring at the thought of that girl. Where is she now? What are these men and women making her do? Is she happy?

I never learned about the dark side of my job, and my father would always brush off my questions when I asked. My brother is the only aware sibling I have who holds all the details of my father's company, but then again, I'm supposed to replace my father once he steps down. I wondered where these people we kidnapped disappeared to.

Loathing and not being aware of anything is typical for me because my father never talks about my mother, doesn't discuss business other than the missions, and keeps everything between my brother and him. I never get a glimpse of what is happening around me, and I blame my father.

My patience began deteriorating, and I saw no sign of Oliver anywhere.

If I don't get my hands on him soon, I will be shark's bait by the due date.

"No sign of Oliver for now, dad. But I'll figure it out, don't worry. I know how much this means to you." I sent the voice message through our secure group chat before throwing my phone on the passenger's seat and letting a muffled growl out.

I'd imagined this would be easier than this, but Oliver is out there, hiding and living his life all at once.

What gives me the right to ruin someone's life because of my father's requests? I'd thought about that for a while and never really could wrap my head around it.